Lyv Akres and Noah Klein – Informal Jewish Life educators

Meet Noah and Lyv, our Informal Jewish life educators

Hi! My name is Lyv Akres and I’m an Informal Jewish Life educator at Emanuel. I was an Emanuel student and graduated in 2019. After an incredibly confusing few years of lockdown where I studied, worked and dreamed of being back at school, I finally had the opportunity to join the Jewish Life team! Working at Emanuel in this role has been a dream since I was a student. The enthusiasm the Informal Jewish Life team have about Judaism and creating a fun environment full of ruach was so exciting and inspiring. I love meeting with the Year 6 Jewish Life leaders on a Monday to plan and organise festival celebrations and the weekly celebration of Shabbat are certainly the highlight of my week. When I’m not at Emanuel I spend my time studying education at university and volunteering for the Dayamani foundation, a non-profit that provides education to rural communities in India. 

Howdy! My name is Noah Klein. My friends and students call me Noz. I was an Emanuel School student from 2006 until 2019. After graduating I spent time working, travelling the world and starting university, feeling ready to finally spread my wings and discover the real world outside of the bubble. Then I chose to come straight back to where it all began – at Emanuel!

I loved being a student here purely because Emanuel fostered an environment where I could feel safe, to not only learn, but do whatever it was that made me unique. Whether this was writing a speech to deliver to the School about why cereal was indeed a soup, or making my Art Major Work about my struggle with perfectionism, I always felt that Emanuel pushed me to be my best and thrive in whatever area I was interested in. I wanted to give back in some way to the School for everything it gave to me, and this is why I came back to be part of the Informal Jewish Life team. I love the ability to impart what I learnt to the students and provide them with a space where they can learn and critically analyse their views and ideas in an informal setting. After all, being not that much older than the students allows them to connect with us and to view us in a more relatable way. When I’m not at Emanuel, you can often find me studying psychology, playing basketball or tennis, or spending time with friends and family.