Our Team

 From left- Dr. Rona Novick, Tamar Appel, Elyn Rosenthal, Claire Wurtzel, Ethel Salomon, Debbie Niderberg, Sara Diament, Margaret Sarro

Debbie Niderberg, Co-founder and Executive Director, helped launch Hidden Sparks from conceptual development to its present size. She also works with a foundation to support workforce training programs for underserved communities. Before coming to Hidden Sparks, Ms. Niderberg was the founding Executive Director of The Nash Family Foundation, where she was instrumental in helping develop and launch a Kosher City Harvest program in NY,  a new Medical Simulation Center (MSR) at Sheba Hospital, a medical fellowship program for Israeli doctors, and introduce the Schools Attuned program into Jewish day schools across the state. Prior to this, she co-founded an interactive Jewish children’s museum in New York, the Jewish Children’s Learning Lab, which traveled to venues around the United States. She began her career at NY UJA Federation and managed the Outreach and Special Projects division for the Fund for Jewish Education.  In 2018 she was a participant in the Maoz-Advot year-long program for educational leaders. She is the grateful mom of 6 children (and 2 sons-in-law) and a savta.  

Rona Milch Novick, Ph.D, Co-Educational Director of Hidden Sparks, is the Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration at Yeshiva University and holds the Raine and Stanley Silverstein Chair in Professional Ethics and Values.  She is a trained cognitive behavior therapist with her own private practice and the author of Mommy, Can You Stop the Rain?  a picture book about the role adults can play in helping children face challenges and become resilient.  As one of two educational directors for Hidden Sparks, Dr. Novick provides training, supervision and ongoing mentoring to the Hidden Sparks teams of coaches, principals and Internal Coaches. Dr. Novick has been featured in an ELItalk.

Claire Wurtzel, Co-Educational Director, taught in Bank Street College School of Education for 18 years and served as Chair of the Department of Special Education. Subsequently, she served as the Director of Faculty Development for the Churchill School and Center in New York and later, and as the Director of Faculty Development for the New York City Schools Attuned initiative for All Kinds of Minds. In this capacity, Ms. Wurtzel oversaw Schools Attuned courses, mentor training and facilitator training for over 400 New York City schools. As one of two educational directors for Hidden Sparks, Ms. Wurtzel helped develop the training and curricula and provides ongoing facilitation, supervision and mentoring to Hidden Sparks coaches and school leaders. Most recently, she and her husband, Bill Wurtzel, co-authored the book, Funny Food: 365 Fun, Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfasts. 

Tamar Appel, Director of Education for Hidden Sparks, is a past Associate Principal of Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, NJ, having served there as a teacher and administrator for a combined 18 years. As an educational leader, she has created a culture of ongoing professional development, supportive and productive mentorship of faculty, and academic excellence. She has also served as a mentor for school leaders through Prizmah’s YOU Lead Program and for new teachers through the Jewish New Teacher Project, and has pursued her own professional growth through programs including the Summer Institute for Principals at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Tamar is passionate and confident about the potential for growth in every student, teacher and school, and she is excited to facilitate this as part of the Hidden Sparks team.

Tamar can be reached at Tamar@hiddensparks.org

Ethel Salomon, NYC Parent Education Center Director, comes to Hidden Sparks with extensive experience in supporting children, parents, and schools having most recently served as Principal of General Studies at Yeshiva Ketana of Manhattan.  She has been advocating for children and parents of diverse learners in the yeshiva and day school community for over 20 years since her prior positions as the Director of Special Services for the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey and the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva. Mrs. Salomon holds an MA in Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and an MS from Brooklyn College in Educational Leadership and Supervision.

Ethel can be reached at Ethel@HiddenSparksPEC.org

Margaret Sarro, Manager of Operations, has worked for Hidden Sparks since its inception in 2005. Margaret manages all day-to-day operations of the organization making sure that everything from scheduling to billing runs smoothly and efficiently.  Prior to working for Hidden Sparks, she was the Grants Manager at The Nash Family Foundation where she worked to determine funding needs and allocations and, coordinated grant inquiries and applications and monitored financial reporting.

Margaret can be reached at Margaret@hiddensparks.org

Elyn Rosenthal joined our operations team in 2013. She has broad experience in event coordinating, fundraising, marketing and communications both in the non-profit and public sector. Elyn is very involved in social action causes and is an activist in organization such as the John Huess House Project and the Dream Street Foundation for whom she volunteers as a counselor every summer in their camp for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Elyn can be reached at Elyn@hiddensparks.org

Tamar Bauman, a School-Clinical Psychologist, is a senior coach and mentor for Hidden Sparks and has been with the organization since its inception. She has 20 years of experience helping children with mental health, behavioral, and academic challenges. Dr. Bauman has provided ongoing education and coaching to Jewish Day School teachers as well as mentoring and supervision to coaches in training. Prior to her involvement with Hidden Sparks, Dr. Bauman worked for the School Mental Health Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. There she treated children with a range of emotional and behavioral struggles through individual, group, and family therapy. Dr. Bauman has also organized social skills and bully-prevention programming for schools and has provided  learning, social skills, and anti-bullying workshops for students, teachers, and parents. 

Hollis Dannaham, M.Ed., is a special education and literacy consultant, coach, mentor, and workshop facilitator for Hidden Sparks. She has been empowering complex learners for 40 years as a learning/reading specialist, special educator, administrator, and consultant in public, private, Jewish Day, and charter schools. Along with her work for Hidden Sparks, Hollis currently is the Director of Student Support Services at the Middle Way School in Saugerties, NY, and has a thriving tutoring practice. Career highlights include working as a learning specialist at the Student Success Center of All Kinds of Minds, opening the Carmel Alternative High School, and being the founding Director of Academic support at a Brooklyn charter school. Hollis’ goal is to support joyful learning for all children and joyful teaching for all teachers.

Sara Reichman, a clinical psychologist, serves as a Hidden Sparks coach. She holds a doctorate from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University. She served as Senior Psychologist at New York University Medical Center, where she gained extensive experience working with children and families and was part of a multidisciplinary team that performed neurodevelopmental evaluations. Dr. Reichman then worked as a Senior Psychologist at a pediatric multi-specialty practice treating children, adolescents and families. She is a psychologist in private practice.

Andrea Rousso taught for 33 years before joining the Hidden Sparks team as a coach and facilitator. She initially taught emotionally fragile children with special needs, and subsequently served as a teacher-trainer for special education.  Andrea received a Bank Street Early Childhood Education award for her innovative  curriculum and teaching style, and  was a certified facilitator for the Schools Attuned Program of All Kinds of Minds. Andrea also works as a part-time consultant in three NYC public schools, where she meets with teachers to assist them with curriculum adaptations and understanding classroom behaviors.

Esther Fradel Schwartz is a senior Hidden Sparks coach and mentor. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in interdisciplinary studies from Touro College and a Masters of Science in Education from the College of Staten Island CUNY. Before becoming a coach in 2010, Mrs. Schwartz gained twelve years of teaching experience in early childhood and special education classrooms and was an adjunct professor of education at Daemen College. She also coordinated the Mishan Letalmid and Shutfim: Parent Partners programs for Toshia, providing assistance to parents and teachers of children with learning and behavioral challenges. Mrs. Schwartz is the author of a popular social skills curriculum “My Place, My Space” published by Focus in Education.

Lily Howard Scott is a curriculum developer and a social and emotional learning coach for Hidden Sparks. She teaches in the Continuing Professional Studies department at Bank Street College of Education and provides professional development to teachers and school leaders around the country. Her work is centered around how educators can help children navigate their inner lives, connect with one another, and explore and empathize with varied perspectives. Lily presents regularly at national conferences (such as CASEL’s SEL Exchange, NCTE’s Annual Convention, and the Teach in Color Arts Integration and Steam Conference, among others) and her writing about the importance of a child-centered, holistic approach to learning has been published in Edutopia and The Washington Post.

Deanna Stecker is Hidden Sparks’ differentiated instruction consultant.  She is a learning specialist with over 25 years of experience working in Jewish day schools, most recently at Schechter Manhattan where she was the Coordinator of Learning Support for 15 years. Her expertise includes guiding and mentoring educators, parents and students in the implementation of differentiated instruction across all subject areas, identifying and modeling high-impact evidence-based practices, and problem-solving around learning and behavioral challenges that impact student progress and school culture. Deanna has mentored teachers through the Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP), and helped to create an early literacy program at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. Deanna holds an MA as a Reading Specialist from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Molly Warner is a Hidden Sparks coach since its inception and  has been involved in education in various capacities for 38 years.  She holds two Master’s degrees in Special Education from the Bank Street College of Education, as well as a from Columbia University’s Teachers College in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.  Molly spent 12 years as an elementary classroom teacher at the Dalton School in Manhattan after which she led teachers workshops for All Kinds of Minds, both with the New York City public schools and through P’TACH.  For 10 years, she was the middle school learning specialist at The School at Columbia University.  

Roxanna Neiman, Director of Education in Israel, is a cognitive behavioral therapist specializing in Learning Disabilities Diagnostics, and coach in the field of learning disabilities and attention deficit. Roxanna holds an M.A. in Educational Counseling and was the Jerusalem District Inspector of educational counselors, and State Inspector in the Department of Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit at the Ministry of Education. In this capacity she developed a model to identify and assist children who experienced  learning disabilities and also played a central role in the preparation of programs for teacher training at the David Yellin institute in Jerusalem, strategies for helping children with learning difficulties and attention deficit challenges.

Eden Israeli, Coordinator for Israel Programs, is the Learning Disabilities Coordinator for the Society for Advancement in Education  (SAE), and is responsible for establishing and operating a new SAE division for treating youth with learning disabilities. This process includes: staff training; providing subsidies for youth to undergo psycho-didactic evaluations; and holding seminars that treat specific academic and emotional difficulties – such as time management skills, test anxiety management, and learning strategies. Eden’s focus is cultivating the professional staff in all SAE schools and residences, so that their work with learning disabled youth will be more effective. Eden has over 15 years of experience in treating learning disabilities. She holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Special Education from the Hebrew University, and was certified at Bar Ilan University to conduct didactic evaluations and Applied Behavior Analysis. Eden spent some years in the US as a Judaic Learning Specialist at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.

Beatrice Brom is an External Coach in The Community High School in Kfar Adumim. She  has worked in education for close to 40 years, holding an MSc. from the State University of Utrecht (Holland), a school counselor certificate from  Michlelet Yerushalaim College in Jerusalem, and a license  from the Israeli Ministry of Education as supervisor for school counselors. Beatrice taught biology in Holland at Teachers College and High School, and worked as a school counselor in Israeli high schools after moving to Israel. 

Ariella Lichterman is an External Coach in  Dorot Elementary School and holds a BA in special education and an MA in educational counseling. She is a certified didactic diagnostician, has training in remedial instruction and learning strategies and is a group facilitator. In addition, she is a personal coach, a mind-body therapist, and a CBT psychotherapist for parents, couples and families.  Ariella is a counselor and an expert in the field of learning disabilities and ADHD in MATI Raanana and in the Ministry of Education’s department of learning disabilities and is a regional adviser in the learning disability program.