Mazal Tov to Our Honorees

Malka & Steven HElft

Ayala & David LAllouz

JOrdana & Rabbi JOnathan Morgenstern

Barbara Seader

educator award

Malka & Steven HElft

Malka and Steven Helft are the proud parents of Sophie ('24), Liah ​('26), and Gabriel (’28). They have been enthusiastic members of ​the Westchester Day School community since 2013. Malka is the ​founder of Think Chic Interiors, an interior design firm serving ​Westchester County and Connecticut. She is a passionate advocate ​of the Day School and serves on the Executive Committee of the ​Board of Trustees as the Chair of the Recruitment Committee. Over ​the years, she has been an active member of the PTA, working with ​the Back to School Carnival & Book Fair committees, among others. ​She has volunteered to teach the “Learning to Look” program for ​the past six years during which she has had the privilege of ​watching her kids and their peers thrive in the classroom. Steven is ​a gastroenterologist at Optum Tri-State Medical Group. He has ​never missed a school play and is very involved in his children's ​educational and extra-curricular activities ranging from weekend ​science projects to softball games. You will never catch him at a ​board meeting of any kind. Steven and Malka established the Dr. ​Arthur Helft (Z”L) Israel Fund in 2021 to help deepen the connection ​of WDS students with Israel. Steven and Malka are active members ​of the Hebrew Institute of White Plains. Malka serves on the ​Interiors Committee and has spearheaded many community ​initiatives. They are inspired by the devotion of the WDS faculty and ​administration to the success and happiness of their children.



Ayala & David Lallouz

Ayala and David Lallouz are the proud parents of Aaron ('27) and ​Flora ('29) and have been a part of the WDS family since 2017. ​Since their first visit to WDS, Ayala and David felt confident that it ​was the right place for their children. Ayala began volunteering with ​the PTA during Aaron’s first year at WDS, beginning with co-​chairing the Spring Boutique in 2018. Ayala then took on the role of ​PTA co-president from 2018-2020. In this role she co-chaired ​many events, including Chopped with Naomi Nachman, Meet the ​Author with David Adler, and a school-wide family Challah bake. ​Ayala has also been involved in the Teacher Appreciation committee ​which selects and distributes teachers’ gifts throughout the year. ​Ayala began volunteering with the Learning to Look art appreciation ​program in 2018, and currently chairs the program. Ayala and David ​are active members of the Young Israel of New Rochelle, where ​David is a leader of the Sephardic Minyan. Together with the WDS ​leadership, David is looking to spearhead efforts to incorporate ​Sephardic traditions into the academic and religious life at WDS. ​Ayala is an attorney by training, and is currently a stay at home ​mom. David is an attorney and is currently Head of Mergers and ​Acquisitions and Chief Legal Officer at the Bruderman Family of ​Companies. He is also Chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions ​Committee of the New York State Bar Association since 2021.

Jordana & Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern

Jordana and Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern are the proud parents of ​(soon to be) four Westchester Day School graduates- Simon ('14) ​along with his wife Lauren, Ayden ('17), Ella ('19), and Jacob ('23) ​and even prouder grandparents of baby Aryeh. God willing, with ​Jacob’s “mezinka” graduation, the Morgensterns will have been ​actively involved with WDS through their children for almost 20 ​years. In addition to Rabbi Morgenstern being a WDS parent, he has ​also served two stints on the educational team at WDS, having ​served as the Dean of Students and Judaic Studies faculty member ​from 2006-2008, and then again, as the 7th grade Chumash ​teacher in 2018-2019. As the Rabbi of Young Israel of Scarsdale, ​Rabbi Morgenstern has also led and supported many joint initiatives ​between the school and the shul. Jordana has been an active ​member of the WDS parent body throughout the years as well, ​having participated on many PTA committees, chairing multiple 8th ​grade and dinner video committees, and as co-chair of numerous ​WDS Dinners. Jordana and the Rabbi have been true ambassadors ​of our beloved school and have been stalwart supporters of WDS - ​its warmth, its mission, values, and Hashkafa - for close to two ​decades and they look forward to their continued involvement in the ​school well into the future.

Barbara Seader,

educator award

Known to her WDS students as Mrs. Seader, Barbara grew up in ​Scarsdale, one of four children, and attended the public schools there. ​She graduated from Brandeis University and earned a Masters Degree ​in Healthcare Administration from Baruch College. She then met Bruce, ​her husband of now 44 years. Following her Masters, she worked for ​several years at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn as a hospital ​administrator. Barbara opted out of the workforce to raise her ​daughters, Jennifer and Erica. When Jen was in the 6th grade, Barbara ​fell in love with the math curriculum Jen was learning, which sparked a ​new career path for her! Barbara began taking advanced math classes ​at local colleges to be able to enroll at Manhattanville College for her ​(2nd) graduate degree in math education for grades 5 through 12. She ​worked at Scarsdale Middle School as a teacher’s aide in math and ​then student-taught there. At a Teacher’s Job Fair at Manhattanville, in ​the spring of 2007, she met Rabbi Einzig (former WDS Head of School) ​… and the rest is history. The 75th Anniversary of WDS marks Mrs. ​Seader’s 16th year teaching at Westchester Day School. In her 5th and ​6th grade classrooms, Mrs. Seader tries to instill in her students the ​same passion and love of math that she has. Teaching Math brings Mrs. ​Seader so much joy, and especially teaching at WDS - which she ​shares “feels like home.” Perhaps the only thing that brings Barbara ​more passion and joy than teaching, is her family. Barbara has 4 ​grandchildren: Jonah (10), Drew (7) - a proud WDS Ganon graduate, ​Ella (5), and Ethan (2). Barbara feels very fortunate that her family lives ​so close, so she can spend time with her children and grandchildren ​often!