Grew up in an at home daycare in Oshkosh, then went to school for business and into sales, then wanted out
Isabella “Ms. Bell” Roberts started her career at Gan Ami Mequon over two years ago after realizing she wasn’t passionate about her then-job.
Roberts attended UW-Milwaukee and earned two business degrees, one in marketing and one in human resources. After college, she went into recruiting sales. “I feel like when you get the degree, you feel very pressured to get a job in the field you went to school for, and I made that decision when I was what? 17? It doesn’t make any sense!”
The recruiting job didn’t align with who Roberts is at her core. “Yes, I’m very driven and organized, but I felt like I didn’t have a purpose and I was super unhappy,” she said. When Roberts would get together with her best friend, and now colleague, Anthony Nash, she found herself constantly complaining about her job. At the same time, Anthony would talk about how happy he was working at Gan Ami Mequon. He told her she had to come visit and see what he was doing.
One visit with those amazing children and she was hooked. Not long after, she was meeting with director Karen Faust and accepting her new position as lead teacher of the 4-5-year-old room. “It immediately felt like a weight was lifted off my chest once I started here. It just made sense. Communicating with the kids feels purposeful and it comes easy to me. I like planting little seeds of teaching our kids how to be kind and have empathy because I feel like our world needs more of that and it feels good doing it!”
When Roberts told her mom about her career change, she wasn’t surprised at all. Roberts grew up alongside five to eight other children at her mother’s in-home daycare in Oshkosh. “I kind of felt like I was just getting siblings left and right.” She helped her mom all the time and caregiving came naturally to her. “In the summer, I would help with breakfast, diapering, playing outside and planting in our huge garden – there was so much gardening!” she recalled. While teaching at Gan Ami includes more educational practices, it still feels very similar to the work she did with her mother years ago. With Gan Ami centering on the Reggio Emilia approach, both places share a lot in common. Much of the learning takes place outdoors and focuses on gardening, woodworking and artistic expression.
In addition to her childhood experiences, Roberts also worked as a behavioral technician for 2-4-year-olds with autism during college and loved it. “There’s a lot to learn about yourself when working with kids, I have to be so sure about what I’m doing and how I’m communicating with students,” she said. “They can only do so much, but they can also do so much in the same breath. These kids humble me and teach me so much about myself!”
Roberts grew up in an agnostic home and said she was always encouraged to think for herself. Anytime she had a question about religion, she was met with a kind, “What do you think?” Roberts is the youngest of four children, and while religion wasn’t part of the home, she was taught to always lead with respect, be kind, try hard, ask why and show up.
She has always been curious about religion but never practiced herself. “Learning all this stuff about Judaism has been a whirlwind but I get really into it. I think it’s fun to tell the stories,” she said. Roberts has enjoyed learning about Judaism through LOMED classes, Gan Ami professional development and children’s books. She feels deeply connected to the Jewish values she is now teaching. “I love that the kids are encouraged to ask questions and I can relate with the core Jewish values, kindness, mutual respect, curiosity because they are the exact values I grew up with!”
Roberts resides in Mequon with her fiancé. She works out at the JCC every morning before work, and in her free time she loves to travel, garden, bake, and play volleyball and golf.
MEET AN EDUCATOR
Writer Nicole Boico is the associate director of the Coalition for Jewish Learning of Milwaukee Jewish Federation. This regular feature, from the Coalition for Jewish Learning, is to celebrate local educators. To suggest someone for coverage, contact Boico at NicoleB@MilwaukeeJewish.org.
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