Bais Yaakov e-Newsletter

בס''ד

Bais Yaakov
e-Newsletter

MIDDLE SCHOOL

16 Iyar 5777 / May 12, 2017 Parshas Emor

EIGHTH GRADE SCIENCE FAIR

Are your eating habits affected by the way food looks? How much Vitamin C does your orange juice have? Why do onions make you cry? How much sugar does a ripening banana have? Will plants grow better when they are listening to Beethoven or Shwekey? Will the pH of food affect its bacterial growth? Does age affect memory?

For almost two months, Bais Yaakov Eighth Graders investigated these and other questions. Working together in groups of two, the girls used the scientific method to write hypotheses, do research and perform tried-and-true experiments to obtain results. They displayed their results using graphs on tri-fold boards and presented them to judges and the community at large at our annual Science Fair on Tuesday evening, March 22, 2017. Project topics ranged from botany to neurology, mechanics to chemistry, materials science to microbiology, engineering and more. The judges were amazed at the breadth of knowledge gained and the creativity and ingenuity the girls exhibited during the entire process.

SIXTH GRADE "HOW-TO FAIR"

What could be better than having fun while learning? When the 6th Graders started their writing unit on essays, they began by writing about a project that everyone in the grade would have fun doing. After much hard work, they celebrated their achievement at the How-To Fair, making projects such as s'mores, stress balls, marbleized paper, strawberry smoothies, and mini-tote bags.

B'MORE INCLUSIVE

Mrs. Yael Zelinger, director of B'more Inclusive of the Center for Jewish Education (CJE), services for Jewish Disabilities and Middle School Bais Yaakov parent, came to Mrs. Goldberg's 8th Grade English classes to deliver workshops on Disability Awareness.

Mrs. Zelinger began her workshop with talking about each person's strengths and weaknesses, while pointing out that we are all good at certain things and need help with others.

Next the girls were divided into teams and given simple relay race instructions. The catch was that some girls were given secret instructions of not being able to participate until given a hug, a handshake, cheered on, instructions repeated 3 times, or having their name called. This resulted in half the girls racing to win while others had to wait and be "frustrated" with not being able to keep up with the rest and to feel different and challenged. The lesson continued.

Finally the girls were asked to form an inner and outer circle. Each girl then turned to face one partner and were asked to discuss the following questions: Mrs. Goldberg's classes study a unit on disabilities and each girl researches and presents a Power point to the class. Since the students are already well-versed and sensitive to disabilities, Mrs. Zelinger's presentation is extremely meaningful.

Mrs. Zelinger plans on following up with two more workshops. Thank you Mrs. Zelinger for this very enlightening program.

RE-ENROLLMENT FORMS DUE!

Re-enrollment forms were sent out this past week. Please be sure to fill them out and return them to the Business Office promptly.

If you have not received them or have any questions, please call the Business office at 443-548-7700 ext 9500.

BOOST SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

The online application for the 2017-2018 BOOST Scholarship Program is now active on the MSDE/ BOOST web-page.

Click here for the application and instructions. Each
parent/applicant will be required to create a login and password. Please note that all prior BOOST scholarship recipients must also create a new login and reapply, as well. If their financial eligibility is unchanged they will receive renewal scholarship(s) for the second year.

Please check the income guidelines and submit applications carefully. There were many families last year who thought they would not be eligible and ended up losing out on getting a scholarship.

If you are in need of a letter for your BOOST application, please be in touch with the business office or email [email protected]t

All BOOST applications require a letter of enrollment and are due on June 15th at 11:59pm.