One Minute With... Debbie Gerber
By Libby Barsky
Special to The Jewish State
Name: Jill CimafonteOccupation: Director of Early Education at Temple Emanu-El, Westfield
Address: Fanwood
Family: Married 16 years to Ed Cimafonte, a chief technical officer of a marketing company. Has three boys; 15 year-old twins and a 12 year-old.
Community activities: Member of Temple Emanu-El; active on the parent committee and education committee. A founding member and current vice president of Jewish Programming for Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-JR), a national early childhood organization supporting educators in the Reform setting. Also has been active in a sub-group of Habitat for Humanity called Women Build, building houses in Newark for single mothers and their families.
Hobbies: "I like to do yoga, and (I like) playing racquet ball and also reading."
Self-portrait: "Outgoing, friendly, and thoughtful of others."
Motto: "Life is a journey."
Bad habits: "Not being able to say 'no' to the many requests I receive, but I'm getting better at it."
Greatest accomplishment: "Being a mother and wife. Professionally, I've been the director of Early Childhood Education at Temple Emanu-El, and I've been a part of the school's growth and to constantly raise the bar of our standards."
Favorite TV: "'Seinfeld' and 'The Daily Show.'"
Favorite food: "Chocolate and potato chips, and I really like dark chocolate covered pretzels."
Best childhood memory: "Doing gymnastics. It was a big part of my life. It was socially fulfilling, and gives one a great deal of self-assurance. I started when I was eight in elementary school in Cherry Hill. My second grade gym teacher, who was also a gymnast, selected students to be in a special early gymnastics class before school started. He started his business training gymnasts in his own gym. I was on the high school gymnastics team and was also the captain. My old gym teacher was switched from elementary school to high school as a gym teacher and became the coach for the women's gymnastics team."
People don't know that I...: "Order tea-- a tall skim chai-- in Starbucks, where most people drink coffee. But I don't drink coffee."
Last book I read:: "'A Thousand Splendid Suns,' by Khaled Hosseini. (It's) a beautifully written story about life in Afghanistan. I learned more about life in Afghanistan and the region."
The biggest Asset in our local communities: "For me. Temple Emanu-El offers something for everyone. Our early childhood program serves children 13 months through Kindergarten, then the religious school continues their education."
The biggest problem in our local communities: "We could benefit with even more communication with each other."
If I had more time, I would...: "Get involved in finding the causes for Autism."
