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January 5, 2018
יח׳ טבת תשע׳׳ח
Candle lighting for Hollywood 5:26pm
 
Kindness In The Kingdom This Wednesday January 10



Looking forward to an extraordinary night showcasing our talented stars. This is a performance you don't want to miss!
In This Issue
 
Greetings From The Head Of School


Last week we lauded the fathers (and uncles or grandfathers) who joined us on a special day of learning with our daughters. But what about the mothers? During one of our intake interviews for a potential student we asked the girl what does your father do? And she named his profession. And what does your mother do? Nothing, she replied. Both Mrs. Wolf and I were quite taken aback by that response.  I said - how can you say that- your Mom is raising 5 children, is running the budget for the home, is scheduling all of your appointments, catering all your meals,  it's like running a corporation!  I think the young lady got the message.  

And then I came across this very pertinent vort - message from Rabbi Yechiel Spero:

" It is interesting that David Hamelech's mother is not well known. In fact very few people know who she is. While everyone seems to know that David's father was Yishai, David's mother is not mentioned at all in Sefer Tehilim. Her name was Nitzeves Bat Ada'el. The question is, why did David not mention her name? " A possible theory is that many women by nature are more modest and prefer to be in the background. Nevertheless, there is a remez, an allusion to her name. It says in the Shir Shel Yom Shelishi, " Elokim nitzav ba'adas Kel" Hakadosh Baruch Hu stands together with the congregation of Klal Yisroel. In those words, you can almost hear her name. What greater message can a mother give her child  - that no matter the circumstances, Hashem will always be with you!  Rav Spero continued - "perhaps we can extend this one step further. It is true, mothers very often don't like to be in the limelight. They allow their husbands and children to get all the credit. Nitzaves, she stands there, Bas Ada'el, she knows that there is one witness that matters, Eid Kel. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the witness. He knows what she has done."

So with this in mind we should all be appreciative of what the women in our lives do -for us,  for their spouses, their children and their own parents.

Did you bring home flowers for Shabbat? What a simple gesture to say Thank You!



Have a Shabbat Shalom.
Dr. Rochelle Brand



Calendar News

Please click here to view the complete calendar and latest news on our website  shaareibina.org

Save The Dates:

January 8 and 9 - Students NOT in production will have regular classes.  Teachers (unless you have been spoken to directly by a member of the administration) should report to school as usual.  
January 10 - All students and teachers  will go to the Littman auditorium - dismissal at 1:20
January 10 - PRODUCTION -KINDNESS IN THE KINGDOM
January 15 - Better Together
January 15-17 -  Names Not Numbers interviews 
January 18-2 -  Winter break - no sessions
January 29 - school resumes

 
D'var Torah Parshat Shemot
By Esti Weinberger - Grade 9


Throughout most of Perek Gimmel, Hashem and Moshe are deep in conversation, discussing Moshe's critical part in the redemption of Bnei Yisrael. Finally Hashem ends with the words "פָּקֹ֤ד פָּקַ֨דְתִּי֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם...וְשָֽׁמְע֖וּ לְקֹלֶ֑ךָ", answering Moshe's unspoken question of how this plan was going to unfold. But why would Bnei Yisrael listen to Moshe, just because he says "פָּקֹ֤ד פָּקַ֨דְתִּי֙"? This topic is begging for clarification and leads Rashi and Ramban to  jump into action and explain, with many different reasons, why Bnei Yisrael would indeed listen to Moshe after he recites these "code words". 

Rashi, as usual takes a straightforward, literal approach to answering the question and says that they would listen simply because these words were a Mesorah passed down through the generations of Yaakov, and all of Bnei Yisrael knew that this phrase meant freedom was coming. 

Ramban agrees with Rashi but analyzes the subject deeper. He delves more into the matter and asks a follow up question- How would the nation know Moshe was legit and not a trickster, since all of the Jews in Egypt knew the words? The Ramban offers two plausible explanations. Firstly, he says that when Yaakov passed down the code words he also conveyed an additional, separate knowledge of the initial time these words were used, so that  it would in fact be legitimate and no one would attempt to deceive them. 

The Ramban's second opinion states that the way the nation would know Moshe was the true redeemer was because of the fact simple that he knew the words at all. So we ask, Why wouldn't he know them, after all he was part of Bnei Yisrael and it was common knowledge among the Jews? The reason is that he, unlike the rest of his brethren didn't grow up in his father's house, but rather in the palace where he wouldn't have been taught a Jewish principle such as this. Since it was widely known that Moshe had been a prince in the king's house, and had minimal Judaic teaching, the Jews would not question his validity and believe that Hashem had indeed appeared to him and spoken these words. 

This comes to show us that Hashem has reasons for everything he makes happen in this world. If Moshe had grown up with his family and been taught like they had been, he could not have been the savior of Bnei Yisrael.





Help Your Daughter Earn A Sweat Treat 


It's time to add grandparents, step-grandparents and close friends and family members, to our Sha'arei Bina family mailing list.

Below is a link to the Grandparents form. Please click on the link, print and complete the form before Friday January 12, and have your daughter bring it into the office. The reward? A sweet treat and the opportunity for us to share new highlights and photos with extended family members.

Looking forward to  many new family additions.



Focus On The Classrooms


The Art Studio 
Mrs. C. Brody







Art is a powerful tool that that once acquired remains forever. This week our students continued working on their animal oil pastel paintings building up layers for value and texture such as fur, feathers, or skins. One student said as she was packing up to leave, "I really love using these oil pastels even more than paints! We are looking forward to continue our work and learning more skills, technique and mediums.




Pre-Calculus/Advanced Algebra
Mr. St.Bernard


This week the girls learned about exponential growth and decay functions. An exponential function is a function that has a variable as an exponent and the base is positive and not equal to one. For example, f (x ) = 2x is an exponential function because the exponent is a variable while the base is a constant. Many real world processes including the growth of life as it populates an environment and the increase in a savings account collecting compound interest to the rate in which medicine is absorbed in the body (take every 6 hours) and the cooling of warm objects placed in a constant surrounding temperature can be modeled using exponential equations.




The girls were tasked with developing an exponential formula to model the growth of cancer cells. In order to accomplish this, they used M&M's to represent the cells. Initially, two M&M's were placed in a cup. The cup was then turned over and the girls counted the number of M&M's with an "M" face up. They then added that number of M&M's to the initial amount and repeated the process 14 times each time recording the population of "cancer" cells as it grew.  



The next part of the experiment called for the girls to find the growth rate of the cells and develop their own equation and graph based on the data that they collected. The results were text book exponential curves! Before the experiment they were asked  how fast did they expect the cancer cells to grow. Most groups said that the cells would increase at about a 50% rate. After calculating the growth rate they found that their guesses were not that far off. They were also asked why their predictions did not match the actual results and how that can affect someone that is undergoing treatment.




Pre Algebra
Dr. Ferguson



In Pre Algebra we learned that slope describes how steep a straight line is. Slope is defined as "rise over run" and is seen as the "change in y" over the "change in x". If you pick two points on a line, (x1,y1) and (x2,y2),  you can calculate the slope by dividing y2-y1 over x2-x1.

Students learned that slope can be positive, negative, zero, or undefined. We made up adventures for "Slope Princess". Slope Princess is an avid skier who enjoys the Aspen slopes. Positive slopes are very difficult for to climb. Negative slopes are so much fun because she can show off all of her moves that she learned to her friends. Zero slopes are no fun because they are horizontal, whereas undefined slopes are terrifying but exhilarating because they are vertical.

After the adventures of Slope Princess, the students delved into their creative sides to do some math graffiti of what slope meant to them.





6th & 10th Grade English
Ms. Alecia Chapin & Ms. Monica Vera

This week, students in 6th grade worked on final drafts of their Historical Fiction book reports. To promote students' writing skills and teach writing as a process, 6th grade students were paired with students in 10th grade in order to engage in a productive peer review activity that helped the 6th grade girls express themselves in writing more clearly, while enabling the 10th grade girls to demonstrate their own growing knowledge of writing powerfully. The activity was a great opportunity for students to share what they're learning with each other, and it was a joy to see the enthusiasm and thoughtful advice the older girls were able to share with their younger peers. It was especially rewarding to hear girls ask questions about genre, audience, and purpose as they offered feedback about content and style. It was similarly fulfilling to see how receptive younger students were to 10th graders' ideas. We look forward to more learning opportunities in writing across grade levels as the year progresses!





Names Not Numbers 






The 8th Grade as part of their Names Not Numbers program visiting the Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach.


Production News

Wednesday January 10 
Showtime!
 
Below please find instruction for the day of production 


Drama
No jewelry, No earrings (because they sparkle it effects the lighting) 
Tights and crew socks as per role. 
 
 
Dance 1 - Penina's Dance - 
All of the dancers in the waltz should be in ball gowns with a petticoat underneath. They must also all have white tights on that cover their feet as we will not be wearing shoes. No knee socks please. 
 
Dance 2 - Prince's Ball - Batia's Dance -
Costumes: 
Tights:
Noble women and peasants - White Socks: 
Knights and noble men - knee highs that match the pants 
 
Shoes: 
Noble Men - black/brown combat boots (boots that meet the pants)
Knights - black/ brown combat boots 
*if you don't have these shoes, they can be easily found at Target or Walmart
Noble Women - formal shoes that won't fall off your feet on stage
Peasants - shoes that match the costume and won't fall off on stage
 
Clothing:
Noble women and peasants - costume is being made
Noble men - puffy white shirt and tuck into brown long pants
Knights - same as Noble men, Vest 
 
Hair
Knights and Noble men - French braid, tucked in
Peasants and Noble women -, should be at the theater earlier for Batia to do their hair. . 
 
 
 
 
Dance Three (Alyssa's Dance)
Noble women , the girls should wear a fancy white blouse (-make sure not see through).  Black footless tights and black crew socks.  The corset and skirts are being taken care of by the costume committee, but still need to be paid for if they haven't already. 
Hair style: Hair should be out of the face while dancing. The same goes for makeup- whatever kind of style they want to go for is fine.
 
Peasants a white shell to go under a dress being made by the costume committee. 
white footless tights and white crew socks as well. There is no specific hairstyle they should wear just preferably something their hair won't be in their faces. Their make-up can be whatever they want as well.
 
For the production, they should not be wearing any jewelry (it shines with the lights which is distracting) so, no earrings, necklaces, bracelets etc. They should also make sure to remove any nail polish on their nails. 
 
 
 
All Backstage Crew:
Black "crew" shirts
mid-calf black skirts.
NO PENCIL SKIRTS (you won't be able to move in them) 
Black socks or tights
 
Concession/Usher:
I am SBTAG shirts with white blouses under them 
Uniform skirt (blue) 
Socks or tights.
Shabbos shoe ballet style

NO GUM CHEWING THROUGHOUT THE PERFORMANCE

NO GOING OFF STAGE IN PANTS BEFORE (while getting ready), DURING (intermission) or AFTER (when the show is over) THE PERFORMANCE 
 

Please do not leave the theater after the performance before you make sure that the back of the stage is clean and that al costumes are returned properly. Make sure you say goodnight to Ms. Bodkins before you leave.
 
 
Lots of smiles!
 











   
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