Staff Spotlight: Iris Mascio

IRIS MASCIO, DIRECTOR OF BET SHALOM YELADIM PRESCHOOL

With Eric Bressler

This issue of Tapestry is all about Bet Shalom Yeladim (BSY), our synagogue’s preschool. It’s a doorway into our congregation for families with small children and hence a very important feature of Bet Shalom. To acquaint all our members with BSY, let’s begin with a profile of the preschool Director, Iris Mascio. 

(Eric:) Thanks for helping us get acquainted with you, Iris. Please tell us about your family:

My husband John and I have six kids, four girls and two boys. Nola (4) and Caleb (1) attend BSY, and my oldest son, Isaac, attended BSY when he was 4 in the pre-K program. Our four older children are now all in Bet Shalom Religious School. Our oldest child, Leah, had her bat mitzvah last year at Bet Shalom. 

John and I grew up around Cleveland, Ohio, and John still has family there. My family moved to western Michigan when I was in college, and they still reside there. John works as a cybersecurity specialist for Target. I have worked with kids since we moved here about 8 years ago. We live in Otsego, close to the Albertville Outlets. It can be quite a drive for me to get to work, but it’s much easier than driving to Minneapolis where I worked for almost 5 years. 

What brought you to Bet Shalom?

We had been part of a small Reform congregation in Kalamazoo for a few years, and Leah had started her religious school education there. Soon after moving to Minnesota we looked for a Reform congregation to join and to continue our children’s religious school education. I met with Rabbi Avrin and was impressed with her warmth and her welcoming personality. We have been members of Bet Shalom ever since. 

I was really happy with the education Isaac received at BSY before starting kindergarten. Amber Brumbaugh, past BSY Director and now Director of Operations, and the teachers were so warm, kind and caring! I helped as a sub at BSY occasionally before I had my fourth child, Elli. When I saw the ad come up on Indeed for an opening for the position as Center Director, I contacted Amber immediately!

What experiences have you had in early childhood education?

When I was about 16 I worked as an aide at child care centers with infants through school age kids. I continued to work in early childhood while getting my Master of Arts in Teaching and my teacher’s license in Ohio. I was a substitute teacher in their public school system from elementary through high schools. I continued to work as a toddler and pre-K teacher when we moved to western Michigan. 

When we moved to Minnesota I worked as an Assistant Director at Huntington Learning Centers and later as an Assistant Director at a Kindercare Center in Maple Grove. I got an offer to help a local school teacher open her own child care center off of Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis. It was a Spanish immersion school; I didn’t speak any Spanish, so that was an adjustment! But I truly loved my time as the Director there. It was a small center with only three rooms, but I stayed there for almost 5 years working with some amazing teachers and really enjoying the small community we built.

What’s your favorite part of being the Director at BSY so far?

Getting to know the families and teachers at BSY and becoming part of the community! I’m happy that my kids are getting the full range of Jewish education starting as infants and going up to consecration in BSY and the Religious School. Working with Amber has been such a joy and I feel that I have a lot of support from all of the Bet Shalom staff. 

What do you enjoy most about early childhood education?

One of my favorite things about working with young kids is that they are totally honest. There is no reading between the lines or trying to decipher codes in their language. If they like you, you will know it, and if they don’t, you’ll know that too. And they are so excited about everything; bubbles, water, learning a new letter, writing their names…. Each new learning experience is just all-encompassing, and you really feel their joy. 

What are you looking forward to most in the next year at BSY?

Hopefully we can add additional qualified and passionate teachers to our roster. There has been a teacher shortage in the past couple of years; our teachers are amazing, but we just need more of them. In addition I would love to develop more training programs for teachers, offer more learning opportunities, and provide families with more information on common early childhood concerns and issues. 

What do you like to do outside of work?

I am deeply passionate about anything involving history. I’m currently finishing up my Masters in History and have been working on my thesis for almost 9 months. It’s about Islam in the Balkans and how it has survived and changed in the 20th century. So I do a lot of reading! Which I love anyway, but lately I’ve been watching a lot of history documentaries and historical fiction shows. I love taking walks with my kids, hanging out on our front porch, and visiting my family.

Who is your hero or inspiration?

My hero is Eleanor of Aquitaine. I know it’s a little crazy, but as a woman in the 12th century she was a Duchess in her own right and one of the wealthiest people in the world. But more than anything she was tough and determined. She knew what she wanted and did not abide by the rules set out for women at that time in history. My third daughter, Elli, is actually named in her honor!