- November 1, 2024
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Though she may have not realized it early on, Susan Goldfarb has always had a passion for education. Her whole life is a manual on how to experience new things and keep one's mind sharp.
Goldfarb, the program director of the Education Center at Temple Beth Israel, has been working at the center for 37 years off and on.
Originally starting as a part-time marketing director in 1986, she took over the Longboat Key Education Center full time as executive director in 1997. The center merged with the temple in 2021 and became the Education Center at Temple Beth Israel. During the merger, Goldfarb was named program director of the center.
“Because when you stop learning,” Goldfarb explained, “you kind of dismiss yourself from the world. You're not in it anymore. Learning things enhances your whole life.”
Originally from Toronto, Goldfarb holds degrees in English literature and in music along with a diploma in theatre technology. She also studied abroad where she followed her curiosity to find her passion as a chef in Paris, live in Israel for six months and chase after her favorite singer Leonard Cohen in Greece.
After she finished her studies in the early 1970s, she and her first husband Richard Goldfarb moved to Florida in line with her husband’s dreams. Goldfarb shared that her husband became the first professor at State College of Florida to hold a doctorate in English literature and the first to offer a four-year program when it was Manatee Community College.
Goldfarb first dipped her toes into working at the Longboat Key Education Center in 1986 as a part-time marketing director. She continued doing marketing at the French Hearth.
Goldfarb was also the first woman server at Cafe L’Europe where she worked alongside Longboat Key restaurateurs Ray Arpke of Euphemia Hay, Harry Christensen of Harry's Continental Kitchens, and Michael Garey of the Lazy Lobster who was her busboy.
She said that she still keeps in contact with her former co-workers, “So a few weeks ago, (Garey) was cleaning up a table. And I say 'I see you're still bussing tables?' And we laughed together. I know everybody on this island, I’ve been here for such a long time.”
Later, Goldfarb went back to her marketing roots to work for different companies around the area and even opened her own PR and marketing business, which led her back to doing marketing for the Education Center.
During this time, Education Center founder Laura Taubes took a liking to her. Goldfarb explained that she wasn’t enjoying her marketing business and Taubes could tell, “(Taubes) said, ‘Do you love it?’ And I said, ‘No, because most of my clients are real estate people, not really into it.’ She said, ‘You need to take over the school.’”
Fulfilling Taubes’ wishes, Goldfarb became executive director for the Education Center in 1997. During her years in the position, she took the center from 30 programs to approximately 150.
“Given my background, my husband's and just the passion I have for education in general, (that) made me go out there and look for people, to look and see where some of the interesting people were teaching and what they were teaching,” said Goldfarb.
Lecturers at the Education Center have nonstop praise for the work they do with Goldfarb. She takes her connections and eye for passionate educators to bring people to the center that will stimulate the minds of Longboat Key.
“Susan has put together some of really top notch retired professors,” said Thomas Carabasi, long-time lecturer at the center and department head of photography and imaging at Ringling College of Arts and Design. “Even if they're not retired, she puts together an incredible assortment of really fine courses that are very relevant to current events. It's a treasure to have in the community.”
Loyal Education Center clients come back every year to see what Goldfarb has been cooking for them that year. Paul Francis, who has been attending the Education Center for 20 years, explained how the programs make him feel more connected to the world, “When you're living on an island like Longboat Key, and what is a partially senior community, you can be easily detached from the wider world. And I think she keeps that connection open.”
Her regulars share the same passion that Goldfarb values: lifelong learning.
“That little school is a great school for Longboat Key," said Susan Benjamin, a lecturer on musical biographies. "You are there as a snowbird, you just can’t be in the sun all the time and as much as we love to play tennis and swim, it's so wonderful to have something that stimulates your mind, something that is fun, something that is entertaining, something that is educational.”
Year-round staff has created a hard-working but tight-knit family atmosphere. Program Administrator Charity Kurtyka said that Goldfarb saw her passion for education and took her in when she felt lost in her career. Her husband Carl Kurtyka also works at the Education Center as the technical director.
The Education Center was greatly impacted by the pandemic and almost closed down. With the help of the current executive director Issac Azerad, the Temple Beth Israel took the Education Center under its wing three years ago and helped it get back on its feet by making Goldfarb and the center a part of the temple. This provided support and space for the programs of the center to continue while still offering opportunities to attend remotely.
“It's not just education, it's not just entertainment,” said Charity Kurtyka. “It really is connection and community. That's really what is magic about it.”
Goldfarb said, “That's what I spend my time doing: dreaming up things to bring to people to learn.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Laura Taubes' name.
