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A big thanks to Dan Bochnovik (the dad of Maria in the
Lime Room), who kindly built a work bench for the
Purple Room and even supplied a bag with hammers!
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One of the highlights of my day is co-facilitating the Tefillah (prayer) workshop with Ms. Kass for a group of 5th-8th graders each morning. At the start of the week, our first full week in many, I asked them to share highlights from their
Sukkot
and
Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
holidays. I framed the question around the potential importance of pausing before returning to the normalcy that so many of us have likely been craving. The suggestion was that we don't look forward too quickly and wind up missing what the past may have offered us. The sharing was inspiring and included time with family, a celebration of a new Torah in the Hyde Park community, lulav shaking, the special programming at the school and, understandably, loads of sleep.
I, too, shared an experience during the holidays, and it involved Airheads, Jelly Bellys, Fruit by the Foot and seaweed. These were all part of the delicacies served in my Sukkah when it served as the final stop of the Skokie Akiba Sukkah Hop. However, while the seaweed was excellent (it was the item that went the quickest), the real stars were all the of the fantastic Akiba students and their families that piled into our Sukkah and backyard laughing, smiling, playing and enjoying the holiday together.
While the event was indeed a highlight of the holidays for me, the aspect that stood out most was that it was parent initiated and organized. Thank you to the Zaffs for suggesting we do a Sukkah hop and an added special thanks to them and the Lowenthals for being the other stops on the hop. In a similar vein, I was moved by the parents who showed up for the first Breakfast in the Sukkah that we had for parents to spend some time with Ms. Kass and me. We enjoyed bagels, coffee and bees, lots and lots of bees. It was a beautiful informal gathering and I enjoyed spending time with all of you.
When parents get involved with enhancing what we do at Akiba, greatness is possible. I look forward to more parent involvement in areas like our PTO, the annual campaign, and general volunteering. Thank you to all the parents who made my first Sukkot in Chicago meaningful and special.
Shabbat Shalom
Dr. Eliezer Jones
Head of School
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Capture the Opportunity - Parashat Noach
by Rabbi Holman
After the deluge in this week's Parsha, Noach and his family began to rebuild the world. Although they eventually became seventy family groups, they all spoke one common language and lived in one communal settlement. They set their aspirations to maintain this unity by building a tower. To G-d, this was a historic opportunity to right the wrongs of the preflood generation, whose discord led to the most heinous crimes. Unfortunately, to G-d's dismay, their unity was expressed in a tower which was to serve as a strategic element in a plot to rebel against G-d and thwart any future attempts to punish them for their misdeeds. "Behold, they are one people with one language, and this is what they begin to do?!" exclaims G-d. Let us use this insight to pause and appreciate the harmony in our own lives and our own community and use that unity as a springboard for further good.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Visit from a delegation of Chinese early childhood educators this past May.
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Taking Community Building to China
"Clearly, they recognized something unique was going on in our school," says Carla. She's excited about this tremendous opportunity and challenge. "In order to put together this course on community, I need my community!" Right now, she says her first step is to document what we do. "Most of what we do is so organic to the way we operate, that we have to capture it first to be able to see how we actually do it." She's asking all parents who are interested to please
contact her and share with her, either in writing or a short video interview, what community at Akiba-Schechter means to them. "I want to bring all those voices with me to China."
This international exposure establishes Akiba as a leader in early childhood education, but mainly Carla sees it as an opportunity for Akiba itself to go deeper, higher and wider: "It is documenting what we do and taking it further."
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The Green Room kids loved hanging out in their "Sukkah."
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In the spirit of Simchat Torah, the preschoolers visited Congregation Rodfei Zedek, and Rabbi Minkus showed them the Torah and all its beautiful accessories.
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Fall collage by Raanan and Annette, documented by them as follows: "This is a tree castle with flowers around it. The sticks and flowers and leaves are around it to help it from falling down. We don't want it to fall down because it can break easily. I liked my partner because he is working with me. No one should touch our flower tree.
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Exploring Fall
The
Kindergarten has been exploring the fall season over the past few weeks. This began by going to the park across the street and gathering items from nature. When the children returned, they worked in small groups to sort their findings. This led to a class discussion about which items were the easiest or hardest to find, how many of each they had, and the "odd" items that were found. In the last stage of this process, the children created a fall collage as a group project.
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Sukkot was especially fun for
Kitah Alef. The kids made doves of peace for the school Sukkah and got to eat in the Sukkah a few times. Here they're hanging out in the Sukkah with Bnot Sherut Meklit and Shaked as well as Ms. Kaz.
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In a BIG soup pot, mix 1/2 cup of kindness, 2 cups of trust, 2 cups of learning, 1 tsp. of arguments, 1 cup of honesty, 1 cup of friendship, 1/2 cup of laughter, 1 cup of niceness, 3 1/3 cups respect, 3 tsp. playing, 1 cup caution and 1 cup of love. Stir well and you will have the most delicious FRIENDSHIP SOUP! This recipe was created by the Great Classmates of Room 201 (Miss Friedman/Ms. Harris's class).
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The 3rd/4th graders in Mrs. Leonard's class have been learning about animals. Each child is writing his/her own Animal Diary in class. In Science with Mr. Esse, they have been learning about the food chain, working together to assemble their own food chains.
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Aviva examines an image of the Wall of Names at the Holocaust Memorial in Paris and writes her interpretation of its theme.
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Memorial Design
The 7th/8th grade Humanities classes are beginning their final project for their unit on slavery: a proposed memorial to slavery to replace or supplement an existing Confederate monument. Today, they did a gallery walk of Holocaust memorials to examine how artists convey themes through the structure and design of a monument. Students will design and create models or drawings of their own memorials to slavery.
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| Meeting during recess on Mondays, Ms. Rogan's Craft Club made pendants out of washers and gears and painted them with alcohol inks. |
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Mr. Esse's 5th/6th grade History classes are starting a unit on Mesopotamia. To understand the history of the area, students are learning about the geography of the region. They are playing a game called City-State Empire Madness, which is a mix between RISK, Settlers of Catan and Mr. Esse's imagination. They will be capturing territory, collecting resources and trying to expand their empires.
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All book report cereal boxes, games and travel brochures lined up.
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A Different Kind of Book Report
Mr. Millner's 5th/6th Language Arts class did a "Choose Your Own Book Report" project. students were allowed to self-select a novel and choose from 24 different "not-so-typical" book report templates. Some examples:
- Create Your Own Cereal Box: Come up with a cereal name and design a cereal box that tells all about the characters, plot, and setting of the story. In addition, create a brief commercial to advertise your cereal;
- Design a Game: Use various aspects of your novel to design a game involving cards, spinners, and/or dice, as well as a playing board and game directions;
- Interview a Character: Impersonate one of the main characters in your book and come up with questions and detailed responses for an interview.
- Create a Travel Brochure: Highlight the various attractions and reasons to visit one of the settings of your novel.
- Diary Entries: Write a diary from the perspective of a character as if you were writing a biography or autobiography.
Overall, the students enjoyed the opportunity to have the freedom to both select their book, but also their projects they wanted to complete in order to show their comprehension and appreciation for the novel they chose.
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Mrs. Brackman and Mrs. Gold's Jewish Thought classes visited the preschool to teach them about Sukkot and to celebrate with their younger friends.
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Playing Giant Connect 4 - something new to do during recess!
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1st and 2nd grade artists folded origami swans to decorate their Sukkahs. They personalized them with nicely drawn features and bright feathers. They also made fantastic depictions of Ushpizin for their sukkah.
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Lots has been brewing in the library to turn it into more of a Maker's Space - here's a "maker activity" going on during Kids Club.
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#ThisIsOurBackYard - Dr. Jones Meets Dr. Jones
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| In the spirit of good neighborly relations, our Dr. Jones met with Dr. Gregory L. Jones, Principal of Kenwood Academy. |
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Picture Day Next Week!
Tuesday, October 24
for Grades 1-8
Wednesday, October 25
for Preschool/Kindergarten
Mazal tov
...to 3rd/4th grade teacher
Julia Levine
on her recent article published in HaYidion: Kindness Matters (see p. 32)
Mazal tov
...to Director of Operations Larisa Kenen on her daughter Abby's Bat Mitzvah last weekend.
Free Movie Tickets
Sunday, October 29, 2:00 PM
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Dates to Remember
Tuesday, October 24
Picture Day for Grades 1-8
Wednesday, October 25
Picture Day for Preschool/Kindergarten
Wednesday, October 25
Mishna Fair (5th/6th grade)
5:30 - 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 29
Preschool/Kindergarten Family Brunch
10:00 - 11:30 AM
Thursday, November 9
Parent/Teacher Conferences Grades 1-8
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM; No School for Grades 1-8
Parent Teacher Conferences Preschool/Kindergarten
4:00 - 9:00 PM; Dismissal at 3:30 PM
Friday, November 10
Parent/Teacher Conferences Preschool/Kindergarten
8:00 AM - 12:00 noon
No School!
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October 20, 2017
Volume 14, Issue 4
Candle Lighting:
5:41 PM
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Condolences
...to preschool teacher Angela Moore on the death of her father, and preschool teacher Emily Schoenberg, on the death of her grand-father. May his memory be a blessing.
...to preschool teacher Kelli Harris on the passing of her grandfather. May his memory be a blessing.
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Refuah Shleima
...to former preschool teacher
Sharon Vadeboncoeur
who's in the hospital
undergoing treatment.
...to Science teacher Michelle Rotfeld's
fiance Michael who's recovering from surgery.
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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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