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The 3rd/4th graders in Mr. Esse's Science class built catapults using Popsicle sticks, rubber bands and plastic spoons. Yesterday they tested their shooting capabilities in the hallway by catapulting lego cubes.
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11-year-old Frank Neuhauser of Louisville was the first spelling bee champion crowned on the word gladiolusto and winner of $500 in prize money. What started as a promotional event for the Louisville Courier-Journal and few other newspapers in 1925 is now a world-wide phenomenon that was launched into competitive popularity by ESPN in 1994. The champion now receives $40,000 cash from Scripps, the Scripps National Spelling Bee engraved trophy, a $2500 U.S. savings bond from Merriam-Webster, $400 of reference works including a 1768 Encyclopædia Britannica Replica Set Deluxe Edition, a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium and a trip to New York to appear on Live with Kelly. The Bee has come a long way, and I was concerned about this since we have our Spelling Bee next week.
Learning is not a competitive sport. It should be a collaborative activity that one challenges themselves and is supported by others. The high-stakes Bee worried me that it might create an unhealthy atmosphere of competitiveness among our students. I feared that it would overshadow the beauty of learning the sophisticated syntax that makes up the English language. However, on Wednesday, I watched the Geography Bee, and I realized my fears were unfounded.
I saw a group of Akiba students sitting together, answering difficult geography questions and showing support for each other. There was no sense that any child was there to "win" against another. Although each child was on their own, there was a sense of support, care, and cooperation. There was a sense of team. There was a sense of Akiba. Congratulations to Aaron Faier who won first place and to Ezra Erlebacher who won second place at the school Geography Bee and I look forward to another display of beautiful learning next week at the Spelling Bee.
Dr. Eliezer Jones
Head of School
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What I Learned from Millie
by Carla Goldberg
Preschool Director
I met Millie when I began teaching in Akiba's preschool many years ago. Millie ran the school office back then, and a young teacher like me not only saw her every day, but, like all of us, I also got plenty of advice from Millie, quite often unsolicited.
We all know that we should care for others, but Millie taught me how to actually do that in practice within the school community. "Ask about their families," she told me one day after observing an interaction between me and a visitor. With this practical tip, she showed me how to care for others and also how important it is to stay connected to family and friends. From Millie I learned not only how important it is to check in on people, give them a call, and see how they are doing. "Don't just ask how they are doing," she advised, "ask about the family." This was advice on how to build a relationship on a deeper level, not a superficial one, truly from a place where you care about other people. That's how you build a community, a network of people, Millie-style.
Shabbat Shalom!
A wonderful feature story on Millie was published in Chicago Jewish News yesterday:
Please note: The
Tanielle Miller Foundation, Glenn Miller and Ruth Rotenberg, are hosting a lecture commemorating the 13th yahrtzeit of their daughter Tanielle,
ע"ה
, (an Akiba alumna) and in memory of Millie Miller
ע"ה
, on Sunday, February 4, 11:15 AM, by Rabbi David Fohrman, author, Torah scholar and founder of Alpha Beta Academy, at Or Torah, 3800 Dempster in Skokie. Topic: "A Continued Illumination of Megillat Esther: How Did Mishloach Manot Come To Be? The Secret Story of Esther and Mordechai"
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The "crew" for our school musical (pictured here are Menachem, Sam and Raffi) has been putting in a lot of work creating the props without which no performance could be staged.
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Parashat B'Shalach
by Rabbi Holman
The Torah is read publicly every Shabbat, but it is also read in the synagogue every
Monday
and
Thursday
morning. Why do we do this? When the Jews left Egpyt, as recounted in this week's Parsha, they crossed the Red Sea. The miracles were so amazing that they actually pointed and said, "This is my G-d!" Strangely, though, after they left the sea and continued on into the desert for three days, they ran out of water and complained, "Why did Moshe take us out here into the desert to die?" Where was their trust in G-d whom they had just witnessed and experienced three days prior to that? Moshe then realized that when we are not actively engaged in our Judaism, in our connection to G-d, we tend to fall back to our original habits. He therefore convened a court of leaders and instituted the public study of Torah so that we should never have three days pass without engaging with our roots and with the substance of our values. To this day, we continue to read the Torah publicly on Shabbat, Mondays and Thursdays to maintain this connection. Shabbat Shalom!
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Using branches they collected in the neighborhood, the Kindergartners made beautiful blossoming almond trees for Tu B'Shvat.
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Follow Carmel, the Purple Room's guinea pig, on Instagram to see what life as a classroom pet is really like!
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The Green Room has been learning about trees to prepare for Tu B'Shvat. In this photo they are using the overhead projector to add animals to a forest scene.
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Doll Houses that Light Up
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Basya (right) shows off the haunted doll house she made with her classmate Raizel (not pictured). Notice the blood in the bath tub and on the stairs!
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The 7th and 8th graders in Ms. Rotfeld's Science class have been studying electricity and were tasked with building an electrified, free-standing structure that has at least two rooms. The buildings had to have structural support, one parallel circuit, one series circuit. The wiring had to be neat and put away, and it had to be decorated with furniture. This doll house pictured definitely fits the bill and then some!
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Geography Bee Winners!
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Mazal tov to our Geography Bee winners: 1st place: Aaron Faier (8th, pictured right), and 2nd place: Ezra Erlebacher (6th)
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7th and 8th grade Humanities students have been exploring westward expansion and urbanization at the turn of the 20th century. Here Merav, Aviva, Izzy, and Naomi are reading an historical account of the era and discussing how it helps them better understand the novels they are reading.
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Shlomit's Dovrei Ivrit (Hebrew speakers in 1st/2nd grade) show off their Tu B'Shvat art project.
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The Wolves, i.e. our girls basketball team, at their game last week.
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1st and 2nd grade artists composed their own fabulous snow scenes using "scumbling" or dry-brush technique. They started with paper with the same color as the winter sky, then drew landscape features in a limited palette, i.e. brown, black, gray and reddish-brown. Over this they layered flurries, snowstorms, and sometimes blizzards of thick white paint to create a beautiful wintry scene.
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by Thea Crook
We had a really interesting day in the library last Friday. The
Yellow and Blue Room children taught me all about
penguins. They explained why the penguins walk with a waddle, how the penguin dads help keep the eggs warm, and how resourceful the moms need to be to provide enough food for the family. The children were able discuss the different types of penguins and were eager to tell me about the Macaroni penguin and that some penguins could actually fly.
Fortunately there was still time for me to read
Scholastic First Discovery: Penguins a book with transparent pages and magnificent photography. I look forward to seeing this group when they have completed their next module. I know I will learn more from them!
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Cuddle Up & Read 
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Preschool Family Play Day
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Mazal tov
...to Judaics teacher Baila Brackman and her whole family on her son Shmulie's Bar Mitzvah this past Shabbat.
...to Maxi Gonder (Green Room) and his family on the birth of his baby brother Benjamin.
Condolences
...to Akiva Joseph (2nd) and his family on the passing of his grandmother Perla Pflaster. Shiva information via Congregation Or Torah. May her memory be for a blessing.
Donate Shoes
The
Chesed Club is collecting old and new shoes (any kind!) to donate to the
Chicago Center for Torah and Chesed. Please drop them off in the bin in the atrium. They've already been able to donate four bins of shoes!
Collecting Plastic Bottle Caps
Room 209 (Ms. Levine's 3rd/4th grade)
Green Team is saving plastic caps, lids and bottle tops
. Their goal is to collect 1,000 by Passover. Please bring your caps, lids and bottle tops to Room 209 or the grade school office. Thanks!
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Dates to Remember
Monday, January 29
Professional Development Day
12:00 Dismissal
View programming for kids who are staying until 3:30 PM.
Wednesday, January 31
Tu B'Shvat (New Year of the Trees)
School in Session
Wednesday, January 31
Enrollment Deadline
Current students are automatically re-enrolled; please
notify Yelena Spector if you don't want that.
Wednesday, February 7
5:30 - 7:00 PM
Sunday, February 11
3:30 - 5:00 PM
Thursday & Friday, February 15 & 16
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Sign-up info coming soon
Monday, February 19
Presidents Day
No School
Save the Date: School Musical
Sunday, March 25
10:00 AM
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January 26, 2018
Volume 14, Issue 10
Candle Lighting:
4:38 PM
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Affiliated with the Associated Talmud Torahs and supported by the Kehillah Jewish Education Fund
773-493-8880
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