Employee Directory

Mrs. Applegate’s background is in Early Childhood Education and she has a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. She is currently teaching in a Kindergarten classroom and previously taught in First Grade. Mrs. Applegate received her B.A. degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She feels passionate about teaching and her philosophy that 'learning is not a race, but a walk of discovery.' Mrs. Applegate uses a multi-sensory approach that is interactive and engaging for all types of learning styles. Her hope and goal is that each student is successful and has experienced the joy of learning and growing together.

“Listening to the children singing in Hebrew and learning about the Holiday Stories throughout the year truly warms my heart.”

Mrs. Bezalel attended Miclala Leminhal College in Israel and she completed an accounting major. When Mrs. Bezalel immigrated to the United States, she found her passion was to teach Hebrew to children. She then became certified in early childhood development. Mrs. Bezalel completed various Hebrew courses to be able to teach Hebrew as a second language and has now spent the last 27 years at TVT and. It is her love of teaching Hebrew to children every day, and seeing their faces light up as they experience their love of the Hebrew and Jewish heritage that has helped Mrs. Bezalel to stay at TVT.

In Mrs. Bezalel’s free time, she enjoys cooking, Israeli dancing, reading and drawing.

"I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but more importantly music, for in the patterns of music and all the arts are the keys to learning." -Plato, 410 B.C.

Mrs. Brown is a graduate from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Her major was piano performance. She also studied at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. Pnina Saltzman was her master teacher. Mrs. Brown has been involved in many music organizations, including the Music Teacher Association of California and The Orange County Orff-Schulwerk Association where she has been the Vice-President of Programming for the past 15 years. Mrs. Brown’s education, combined with her love of children coupled with her love of Judaism, makes Tarbut a perfect fit.

In her free time, Mrs. Brown loves to be with her family and friends.

“I love to inspire the artist within every child. Whether we are learning the art of decoupage, painting, drawing, sculpture, mural collaboration, or ceramics, a common thread connects each lesson. We are engaged in the hands-on, creative process- exploring, experimenting and expressing ourselves to create a unique artistic learning experience."

Ms. Wyles will be teaming up with Helaine Yeakel to teach Art at the TVT Lower School. She has her Bachelor of Fine Art from University of New Mexico, and has been a professional artist for over 15 years. She has had great experience working creatively with companies like Disney and Universal Studios. Ms. Wyles has a passion for teaching art to kids and has an extensive background in private and non-profit art education. She is also an artist and volunteer with the Laguna Plein Air Painter’s Association (LPAPA), where she mentors children in the history and fundamentals of Plein Air Painting. In her free time, Ms. Wyles can be found either surfing, dancing Flamenco, or painting outdoors and in her studio.