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Thank you to the family who donated the Purple Room's new loft (they want to remain anonymous), and to Ron and Don Lisak, who put it up over winter break.
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Games, Competitions and Auditions
by Miriam Schiller
Principal
Welcome back! The New Year has brought snow, sleet, icy rain and frigid temperatures, but no one is hibernating here at Akiba. Everywhere I turn, something exciting is happening.
Perhaps the most exciting news of all: Our first ever Akiba-Schechter Basketball Team has a name and a mascot: The Akiba-Schechter Stallions! The students on the team created several potential names and logos and had the entire Middle School vote via Google. The Stallions will compete in their first game with GEMS World Academy on Wednesday, January 25 at 4:00 p.m. We encourage everyone to come cheer on our team and show your Akiba spirit. The game will be held at the Lakeshore Fitness Club, 211 N. Stetson Ave. We are in the process of creating Stallion Fan Gear, which we hope you will purchase and wear to the games. To place your order, please click here. Go, Stallions!
In other exciting news...
Just before the break we kicked off History Fair, so students are busy deciding what their topics will be and learning the first steps of independent research. (Learn more about signing your child up for History Fair Workshops after school here.) Individual classrooms are holding their annual class spelling bees this week and geography bees a week after. The school-wide Spelling Bee will be next Thursday, January 19 and the School Geography Bee (Grades 5-8) will take place on January 26.
Today we announced this year's Annual Musical (ask your child what it is; it's still a secret as of press-time!), and auditions will be the next week. Rehearsals will begin on January 23. On January 24, Middle School parents and students will share a Spaghetti Dinner at 5:30 p.m., feature Mad Science activities for students and a presentation on children and social media for parents. Earlier in the day, we'll be holding a Kindergarten & Coffee event for prospective parents and current preschool parents to learn more about the next steps at Akiba's Kindergarten.
Last, but certainly not least, before break we announced that Dr. Eliezer Jones
will be the new Head of School for the 2017-2018 school year. He will be visiting at the end of January and the beginning of February, so I hope you will get to know him better. A Q&A with Dr. Jones follows.
Shabbat Shalom,
Miriam
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Q&A with Incoming Head of School Eliezer Jones
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I was born in Brooklyn, NY and lived there till I was ten years old. I moved to San Diego, CA when I was ten and then Los Angeles when I was sixteen.
Favorite Jewish holiday?
Hmm....this is a tough one. I like so many of them. However, if push comes to shove, I would have to say Sukkot. I love building the Sukkah with my kids, spending time outdoors in the Sukkah with my family (I suppose that may change once I move...) and truly enjoying a Chag that to me has always been a message of welcoming all Jews under one tent.
How did you get into education? Jewish education?
My plan, when I was younger, was to become a clinical child psychologist. While I was pursuing my Ph.D., I worked in informal Jewish education alongside grad school, internships and my post-doc. Along the way I fell in love with Jewish education and education in general. This led to further pursuing formal education in Jewish day schools. I went into clinical psychology to make a difference in the lives of young people and chose to remain in Jewish education for the same reason.
What's your favorite part of teaching?
There is nothing like seeing a child light up when they discover something new, when they solve a difficult problem or when they realize abilities they did not know they had. This is what a teacher gets to see on a regular basis and, more importantly, play a role in it.
You're currently General Studies Principal - what subject under General Studies is your specialty? Why did you choose this subject?
As a Principal, I would not say I have a subject specialty, although I have taught AP Psychology, improv, Judaic studies, innovation and design and more. One of the things I loved about Akiba-Schechter is the philosophy that we teach students and not subjects. My specialty is integrating innovative models of teaching and learning into the classroom along with creativity. This is what I am most passionate about and try to work with my staff on bringing that into all subjects.
What got you interested in going into school administration?
The opportunity to be an educational leader is not only an opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of students in the school, but the entire field. Education, in general, is going through a revolution right now, and Jewish education needs to follow suit. Being in administration allows me to work with some amazing educators as well as be a model for growth and change for the field.
When you're not at school, you...
I love spending time with my family geocaching, hiking and playing Settlers of Catan. I am also a huge fan of comedy improv, enjoy building drones from scratch. I can be found skateboarding around my neighborhood. It is also sometimes difficult to pry my Kindle away from me when I am reading a great book on educational innovation or Jewish thought.
What are your expectations of living in Chicago versus California?
That I will be very, very cold many months out of the year? All kidding aside, I love California and have no idea what Chicago living will be like. However, after meeting the many staff and families of Akiba-Schechter, I am confident I will love Chicago just the same. What I am not confident about is what I will look like in a Parka.
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Preschool
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The children in the Blue Room are going to explore the solar system and so they got busy painting a rocket ship to start their voyage.
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Grades 1-8
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Ms. Friedman's 1st/2nd graders enjoyed observing pillbugs during a science investigation. They used magnifying glasses and acted like scientists as they observed how the bugs moved through their environment. All students had the opportunity to both feed the pillbugs and spray the soil with a spray bottle to keep it from drying out.
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During writing workshop in Mrs. Levine's 3rd/4th grade, some children are writing, producing and directing plays. This is a photograph of children performing in the play "Egypt" starring Toby Frankel and written by Azi Altgold, Lilac Marcus and Annabelle Glick.
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Ms. Levine's 5th/6th English Language Arts class has been reading biographies and presenting samples of their person's work. Here Netanel performs a piece by Bach.
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| Instituted by Mrs. Willner-Schreiber, the Creative Writers Cafe is now student led since her departure last year. Mrs. Crook has agreed to be their consultant, but they mobilized the group and set goals for themselves. They held their first meeting in the library this week. |
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Kindergarten students made fold-and-cut paper dolls. They cut through all six layers of paper to make three "boys" or three "girls" and then added creative details to personalize them. The results are really adorable.
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4th grade artists just finished making alligator-themed key chains with beads and lanyard. They followed a printed diagram, helping each other figure it out step by step.
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Spelling Bee
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The School Spelling Bee will be held on
Thursday, January 19
. The class bees will be held in the days preceding Thursday. The complete list of spelling words may be found here, in case your child wants to study beforehand.
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Thank you to all our donors for their support of the Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School Annual Fund. The donor list is on our website. We appreciate your generosity.
If you made an Annual Fund gift or pledge and your name is not on the list, please contact Alexa Markoff, Director of Development
.
We're happy to report that we raised $100,000 so far. However, we do need to achieve higher parent participation. Any amount counts! Please use the
link
to our secure website to Give today. Impact today.
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Lunch and Dinner To Go Ordering
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| Shabbat-to-go dinner prepared by our chef Eddie |
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The Hot Lunch menu is now online! Check it out! You can still register for lunches for January through June.
Dinners To Go: We offer the following options, all of which you can order on the website:
Shabbat To Go (menu online!)
Weekday Meal
See the current lunch menu for ready-to-send options. $7/person.
Remember: 18% of sales from dinners-to-go support the 8th grade trip to Israel!
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Middle School Spaghetti Dinner
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featuring
Mad Science for the kids and a special presentation by
Marsha Nagorsky, Akiba-Schechter parent (Rafi, 6th grade and Sam, 4th grade) and Associate Dean for Communication & Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago's Law School:
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Practical Advice for
Responsible & Safe Social Media Use
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Tuesday, January 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
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2017-18 School Calendar
Download our key dates for the next school year!
Still Looking for Assistant Fencing Coach
Our fencing program is bursting at the seams! We are looking to hire an assistant coach to help out on Tuesday and Thursdays afternoons. Please
contact Coach Price if you know anyone who is interested.
Soccer at the Hyde Park JCC
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Dates to Remember
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Monday, January 16
Martin Luther King Day
No Classes
Thursday, January 19
Tuesday, January 24
8:45 - 9:45 a.m.
Tuesday, January 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 25
Akiba-Schechter Stallions vs. GEMS World Academy
Lakeshore Fitness Club
211 N. Stetson
4:00 p.m.
Thursday, January 26
Geography Bee
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January 17, 2017
Volume 13, Issue 11
Candle Lighting:
4:23 p.m.
Parasha: Vayechi
Mazal tov
...to board member Avy Dachman for being named one of Chicago's top doctors by Chicago Magazine
Refuah Shleima
...to preschool teacher
Sharon Vadeboncoeur who is undergoing chemotherapy.
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...to Shaina Grossman (8th) and her family on the passing of her grandfather.
...to Rina Yahav (6th) and her family on the passing of her grandfather.
May their memory be for a blessing.
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Don't forget to set up your amazonsmile account to benefit Akiba. Thank you!
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Asher Judaic Artwork and Essay Contest
For students in Grades 3-12: Only one week left to participate in the ATT's Asher Judaic Art and Asher Essay Contest. Deadline for art/essay submission is
Monday, 1/23/2017
, by
5:00 p.m
. Established by Helen & Norman Asher, the contest provides students the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity, their ability to research Jewish topics, and express themselves through writing/art.
Winners receive recognition and prizes at the ATT's Awards Presentation and Annual Meeting. For more information, visit
www.att.org
or call 773-973-2828.
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Since 2004 Akiba-Schechter has received
$491,576
from the Kehillah Fund; this month it is $3,707. Over 1,400 community members participate in the Kehillah Fund's recurring donor program in support of Jewish day school education, and every month $71,000 is distributed to Chicago area day schools.
To learn more, please call
(847) 745-1668 or visit
www.kehillahfund.org
.
Thank you for your support!
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Affiliated with the Associated Talmud Torahs and supported by the Kehillah Jewish Education Fund
773-493-8880
Check out our new website!
www.akibaschechter.org
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