At the end of the service, the students and their families exited the sanctuary at Congregation Sinai, gathering in the courtyard where they performed the ancient ceremony of "kiddush levanah", literally "sanctifying the moon." I was mesmerized as Rabbi Berkenwald lead them in the ancient chant welcoming the moon. There is something so innocent in a tradition whose roots predated our understanding of the solar system, one based on ancient beliefs of a moon being "born" each month. It is an innocence that reflects the point in the lives of these fourth graders who are on the verge of pre-pubescence.

As I looked up, I saw the string of a series of moons in its different phases that the students had created in their JSTEAM class. These moons not only represented our students' learning the scientific explanation of the cycle, but also featured lights created by electrical circuits that the students assembled. In the closing moments of the ceremony, Rabbi Berkenwald encouraged the students to reach up and try to touch the moon. Stretching their arms and laughing, I could sense those fleeting moments of magical thinking - of wanting to touch the moon but knowing that it would be impossible. Like their fading belief in the tooth fairy, their life experience and learning of science has brought a realistic skepticism that begins to squelch childhood worlds of pretend and make-believe. Yet, perhaps it is from this ability to pretend and make believe that students learn to imagine the impossible and strive to innovate. In ancient times, our current modes of communication and transportation would have been looked at as insanity. The idea of space travel and lunar landings would literally be viewed as being as realistic as touching the moon.