Today, you won’t run into many students who appreciate and enjoy a teacher or school faculty member more than BT and Anne Arundel High school students embrace Mr. Jeffrey Amdur. Amdur, who is 71 years old, has been teaching in schools since 1971. I got a chance to talk to the now part-time Librarian at Beth Tfiloh, and asked him about his career in schools and what else he does in his very interesting life. 

He started his journey at Lindale junior high school in Glenn Burnie in 1971, where he worked the scoreboard and taught foreign languages. After a four-year-stint there, Amdur taught at Anne Arundel High School in Anne Arundel County. From 1977 to 2001, Amdur taught Spanish and French there, as well as ran the scoreboard for the winter sporting events. In college, at Loyola of Maryland, Amdur majored in French. He later went back to school for Spanish and took a course in Mexico and Spain. In 2001, Amdur went to work at Beth Tfiloh, while simultaneously still working at Arundel doing the scoreboard and public address announcing.  

He joined Arundel High School in 1977 as a French teacher. As a big sports fan, Amdur volunteered to run the scoreboard for the winter sporting events such as basketball and wrestling. Prior to him, the public addressing roles were held by students and sometimes parents. One day in the early 80’s, a planned student announcer for a wrestling match didn’t show up. Amdur, who had no previous broadcasting experience, stepped to the mic, and gave it a shot. He quickly became what one principal referred to as “The Voice of Arundel Sports.” 

Amdur carried that title when he transferred to BT in 2001, while continuing to do the PA and scoreboard at Arundel. Amdur became a Spanish teacher here when he saw an ad for the position in the Jewish Times. Two years later, he joined Mrs. London in the Beth Tfiloh Upper School library. In addition to the positions he held at BT as an educator, Amdur continued his passion for winter sports running the scoreboard at Beth Tfiloh.  

Soon, Amdur became the first Public Address announcer in Beth Tfiloh history. In Amdur’s second year here, the Hurwitz Gym opened. “It was nice to be playing with a real [hardwood] floor” Amdur said.  

The Weiner Tournament, an annual basketball tournament held at BT, is Amdur’s favorite event of the school year. Like most students, Amdur loves the buzz of Weiner week and appreciates the students that help make it exciting. “Whether the basketball team was good or bad it didn’t matter” Amdur expressed. Amdur says “Probably the best single athlete that BT has produced” is girls basketball player Stacy Hollander – now Coach Fuld.  

Amdur takes a lot of pride in his craft. He makes sure he gets all the player names perfect before he introduces them. His voice can be recognized easily around the halls at BT. His “Last minute of the period” call and “Blue Baaaaall” with an extended aaall to hype up the crowd. His passion for Beth Tfiloh and basketball here is widely admired around the school.