Molly Lin-Utzig
Kindergarten/1st Grade
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Zach Zagon
Second Grade
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Zach was raised in the Bay Area and has been a part of the CBT community since childhood. He both attended Hebrew School and had his Bar Mitzvah at CBT. During the week he works as a Special Education Assistant at Valley View Middle School and is currently a student majoring in psychology with the goal to become a special education teacher. In his free time, he enjoys powerlifting, playing with his dog Moose, and spending time with his family and friends. He is excited to be teaching second grade at CBT on Sundays and strives to create a fun environment where his students can learn more about their Jewish heritage.
Rina Kirsch
Third Grade
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Originally from Massachusetts, Rina moved to the Bay Area with her family 7 years ago and has been living here full time for the past 3 years. She graduated from Juniata College, located in Pennsylvania, in 2019 with a degree in Biology and Theatre Performance. She was an active member of United Synagogue Youth, Hillel, and attended Camp Ramah New England. She has several years of experience as a TA and a substitute teacher, most recently working at CCJDS. She is very excited to teach the 3rd-grade class!
Ellen Fasman
Fourth Grade
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Mitch Goldman
Fifth Grade
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Julie Trost
Fifth Grade
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Julie is a Bay Area native and had her Bat Mitzvah in Tiburon, CA. She attended college and earned her Teaching Credential at UC Davis, completed graduate degrees in Reading and Language Arts at Cal State East Bay, and taught third grade in both Newark and Walnut Creek. She loves teaching reading and writing among other things. Julie lives in Walnut Creek with her husband, her two sons, and six bunnies. The Trosts have been members of CBT since 2012.
Rebecca Abraham
Sixth Grade
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Rebecca Abraham grew up in Tempe, Arizona. She moved to the Bay Area after completing her Masters in Speech Language Pathology at Arizona State University. While in college, Rebecca was an active member of Jewish life on campus, taking classes in modern Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, and holding leadership positions in the Hebrew language club ‘Medabrim’ for two years.
Throughout her time in Tempe, Rebecca was an active member of her home synagogue. She was a camper and then a counselor at a Jewish overnight camp. She worked with a wide range of ages first as a madricha, and then as a teacher. During this time, she also tutored B’nei Mitzvah students and Modern Hebrew classmates.
Outside of the classroom, Rebecca works as a speech language pathologist at 2 nursing homes in the East Bay. When not at work, she loves choral singing and crocheting. Rebecca lives in Concord with her partner. Rebecca is a founding member and current chair of Keshet at CBT, a social group for people of all genders, orientations, and ages at the synagogue.
Marshall Sachs
Seventh Grade
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Marshall has been passionate about Jewish education ever since first working as a camp counselor at a Jewish camp at 17 years old. Over the years he has served in many roles including religious school teacher, summer camp program director, and youth director, and is excited to join the staff of B’nai Tikvah. Marshall has a degree in biology from UC Berkeley, and recently completed a master’s degree in teaching through Miami University’s Project Dragonfly. During the week, he is a science teacher at Orinda Intermediate School. In his free time, Marshall loves being out in nature, hiking, and traveling to learn about new places.