Connie Simon, kallat Torah, and Eric Poe, chatan bereishit, were honored as Congregation Beth Shalom volunteers on Simchat Torah morning.
Simon has been a member of Beth Shalom since 1992. Since becoming a member, she has served on both the Beth Shalom Board of Directors and the Board of Directors for Sisterhood, serving as the co-chair and treasurer of the gift shop. Simon has also served as High Holiday appeal co-chair, Torah Fund co-chair, Torah Fund treasurer and Sisterhood vice president of education.
She has served on many Blue Valley School committees, the PTA and PTO boards at Cottonwood Point Elementary, Oxford Middle School and Blue Valley North West High School and volunteered with Jewish Federation, National Council of Jewish Women and KCUSY. Simon has been a teacher at the Beth Shalom Preschool since 2006, where she loves helping young children discover and learn.
Simon grew up in St. Louis at Shaare Zedek (Kol Rhina) where she was president of SZUSY. After high school, she attended Emory University in Atlanta where she earned degrees in psychology and sociology. She worked in medical research, grant writing and administration and, after moving to Kansas City, worked as a senior coordinator and research associate for the KU Cancer Center.
Simon has been married to her husband, Richard, for 30 years. They have two children, Benjamin and Elie, both alumni of Beth Shalom Preschool.
Poe grew up mostly in the KC area. He joined Beth Shalom in the mid-90s where he and his wife, Helaine Cohn, were married a few years later. They were both members of Tefillah 2000 and the inaugural adult b'nai mitzvah class. Eric is a board member, serves on the ritual committee, is part of the Rising Song group, is a Zoom Minyan regular, and serves as a tech advisor for the synagogue. He is also studying Talmud as part of the 14th cycle of the worldwide Daf Yomi project.
Simon graduated from UMKC with a Bachelor of Information Technology degree. He is a team manager and software developer. He is an ambassador for CoderDojoKC, an organization that teaches children how to program computers, and for Kansas City Women in Technology, an organization that supports and mentors local women in various technology fields.
He and his wife have two daughters, Hannah and Rachel. Hannah is currently studying for her bat mitzvah in 2022.