Marcie Platkin has been the executive director of the North Shore Jewish Center since July 1999. Marcie was born in Laurelton, Queens and raised in Jericho, Long Island. She graduated from Ithaca College and received her Masters Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University. She first worked as a community organizer for the Jewish Association for Services to the Aged (JASA) and then continued with JASA as the director of a senior citizen center within a Brooklyn housing project in the Manhattan Beach area.

In 1988, Marcie served as the constituent and community advisor to State Senator Donald Halperin, as he represented the Sheepshead Bay/Midwood/Flatbush areas of Brooklyn. When Senator Halperin became the State Commissioner of Housing under Governor Cuomo, she continued to serve and represent them as administrator of the Family Self-Sufficiency Program. In 1994, Marcie left the public sector and became a social services coordinator for low income housing tenants.

Marcie is extremely proud to be the executive director of our wonderful congregation and is a member of NAASE, the Conservative movement’s professional organization of synagogue executives. Marcie says there is a feeling of chevra and fulfillment working for NSJC and she is involved in every aspect of congregation life. She is the “queen of multitasking” and enjoys working with her staff. Marcie brings her strong administrative management and people skills to NSJC as well as her personal commitment to Judaism. Marcie cherishes the membership as they have embraced her as a member of the synagogue family and she is committed to seeing NSJC thrive.

Marcie and her husband, Marc, live in Jericho. They are members of Temple Beth Torah in Westbury. They are proud of their two sons, Michael and Ross. Marcie can be reached at: executive.director@nsjc.org

Heather Welkes

Religious School Principal

Heather Welkes will be entering her third year as the Jewish Learning Center Principal. She has two education degrees and has taught in several school districts on Long Island, in addition to Suffolk Community College, several Religious Schools, and has even directed a summer camp. On top of that, Heather owns her own side business that offers musical "Mommy and Me" classes to children under 5.

Heather has always loved all things Jewish and her childhood synagogue was her home away from home. She was involved in her youth choir, her synagogue musical theater program, and participated in her Hebrew High Program while student teaching as a Madrich. She was on her youth group board and attended the "March of the Living" in her senior year of High School, which took her to Poland and Israel to study the Holocaust. In college she participated in the Jewish Student Society and after college came back to her childhood synagogue, now as a religious school teacher. After moving to Suffolk County, Heather began teaching at Temple Beth Emeth of Mount Sinai and finally came to North Shore Jewish Center, teaching the Alef class six years ago.

Heather loves working as a principal because it allows her to use her creative energy to execute the curriculum in new and engaging ways. She keeps up to date with the world of Jewish education by attending network meetings through the Jewish Education Project, and attending professional development programming. She loves working with the kids in our program and looks forward to another wonderful year!

Please feel free to contact me at principal@nsjc.org or stop by just to say hello.

Mary Ellen Shouler

Bookkeeper / Office Manager

Mary Ellen came to us as a temp in 1999 and now works full time. This multi-talented lady loves working at NSJC because we are more like a big family, something she says you rarely see in a typical workplace. She is impressed with how our members look after each other and pull together in good times and bad.

Known for her sweet and calm disposition, Mary Ellen who has a BS in computer science and was a “stay at home mom” for 15 years, is always helpful even while multi-tasking on the computer, phones, door buzzer, doing bookkeeping, fixing a software problem or helping out a member. Her warm smile greets everyone who enters the office.

Mary Ellen grew up in Smithtown and still lives there with her husband, Steve, and their four children. In her spare time she loves woodworking, gardening, boating and remodeling. She has been known to apply her “handi-woman” skills in our building, as well.

Gustavo Hernandez

Custodian

Our daytime caretaker, Gustavo, was born and raised in Columbia, South America where he worked on his family’s farm taking care of the animals and learning to operate and repair large farm machinery.

He has been working at NSJC since 2002 and most appreciates how kind our members are to him, and each other. He is especially fond of the teachers and students, helping them with their Spanish while “high-fiving” the kids as they pass by.

Gustavo loves his job because he can apply his many skills and talents for the benefit of our members. In his spare time he paints, does construction and fixes cars.

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