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The Blue Room celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday and the kids were fortunate to have Felix's grandfather visit and read to them. We love when our wonderful grandparents visit our classrooms.
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A few months ago I was asked by PRIZMAH if I would write about "creativity" as a leadership disposition for their educational journal HaYidion. Being extremely passionate about the topic, I quickly agreed. I wrote the article over winter break, and it was published in the 2018 Winter edition. I highly recommend people reading the entire journal, but I certainly hope you will take the time to read my article as it will give you more insight into what I believe to be important in education and what I value at Akiba-Schechter.
Click here for the article and I would also love to point your attention to the vital article Ms. Kass wrote below.
Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Eliezer Jones
Head of School
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Get in Trouble?
By Miriam Kass, Principal
"Will we get in trouble for walking out on March 14 to honor the 17 people killed and to protest gun violence?" One of our 8
th
graders called this question out to me over her shoulder as we passed each other in the hallway last week. For more reasons than I could count, the question stopped me in my tracks. An 8
th
grader, inspired to take action about a serious, topical issue in society! A teenager believing that her voice mattered! A student mourning the loss of other students and teachers. A Jew looking to make a difference in the world. But why was she asking me if she would "get in trouble," and what does that really mean? Without enough time to answer the question fully, I invited her to ask me again when we had some time to talk about it, but that the short answer was no.
The next day in my homeroom, another 8
th
grader asked me if we were going to join the National School Walkout on March 14. This was clearly on their minds, and I decided to seize the moment. So, I asked: Is walking out of school an appropriate and effective response to the outrage and pain we feel about the school shooting in Parkland, Florida? Students shared reasons for both sides of the argument, but more questions were raised than answers provided. Who is the audience of such a walkout? Why are people choosing this school shooting to make a big deal about when there is so much gun violence in our own city and we haven't done anything about it? What if students are only trying to get out of class? What if students who walk out use the time to talk and laugh and don't take it seriously? What about the younger students who might be too young to hear about gun violence and death? What are other schools in Chicago doing to mark this issue? Does it really make a difference if 100 students in Chicago walk out of school? The conversation was far reaching.
Mr. Seigle and Ms. Chipman gave the 7
th
/8
th
graders a chance to discuss and debate these questions further in their Humanities classes this week. They provided time for interested students to work together in small groups to come up with proposals of whether and how Akiba should respond to the Parkland tragedy and/or to gun violence in general. The students will present their proposals to our whole staff on Monday afternoon, and the staff will discuss the options. If there is a group of students who propose to walk out of school for 17 minutes on March 14 at 10:00 AM, we will likely support them. If students propose that we spend 17 minutes learning or reciting psalms to honor the lives lost, we will support them. If these discussions continue as we seek the best way for our school to respond to the many sensitive issues, we will support them. I am convinced that we will only "get in trouble" if we discourage our students from finding and developing their voices.
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Legoman (a talented and creative preschool parent) came along with the Yellow Room kids.
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| On Purim, the middle schoolers always run a fun carnival for the younger students. |
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Haman apparently made a good target!
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Mr. Amiel makes one cool sherriff!
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| Teachers had fun, too! (Debbie is said to have been the rabbit...) |
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In the Blue Room, Tamar works on making a picture of Egypt using oil pastels on sand paper.
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Kindergarten is already transitioning from the silliness of Adar to preparing for Passover by creating their own Seder plates.
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This week the Purple Room did Dr. Seuss books in honor of his birthday. They were reading different books each day. Monday they cooked "not green eggs" but yellow eggs and bagels. Tuesday they celebrated with Mrs. Crook in the library. Then you may have seen the kids walking around wearing red and white skinny hats that make them look a lot like The Cat in the Hat!
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Save the Date to Honor Barb Simon:
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| Julian (8th) reads to Evan (2nd). |
Dr. Seuss Day
Several years ago we introduced a buddy program to celebrate children's author Dr. Seuss. His birthday frequently falls during Adar, the month of Purim, and so we're able to capitalize on the goofiness of Adar. 7th and 8th graders read Dr. Seuss books with their 1st and 2nd grade buddies, and sometimes the reading is even done by the younger kids. Students are encouraged to bring in favorite Dr. Seuss books, as well as props from his more famous stories, and we always have enough Dr. Seuss books in Hebrew for our Hebrew-speaking children.
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Mr. Salk and students clearly had fun at the Shushan Purim roller-skating field trip last Friday!
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In Mr. Salk's 1st/2nd grade, Miriam is examining the skulls of different animals, including counting teeth and measuring the length of each skull.
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Shakespeare in the park with 7th and 8th graders enacting scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream for Humanities class.
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8th Grader Aaron Faier Qualified for the State Level of the Geography Bee!
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| Congrats and good luck, Aaron! |
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Mrs. Brackman's Tefillah (prayer group) received beautiful new English-Hebrew prayer books. They are special prayer books with pictures and reflections to help students to understand, learn and connect to the morning prayers.
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Mazal Tov to Mrs. Schinasi's Chidon HaTanach (National Bible Contest) class. They have been studying and preparing tirelessly, and it has paid off. This Wednesday was the third and final qualifying test, and they earned high marks. Based on the scores, the National Chidon committee will decide whom to invite to the national contest in New York. We will let you know in the next Kibitzer!
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Middle school students created colorful designs.
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School Musical: Fiddler on the Roof 
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Thank you to our donors who are already participating in Create a Jewish Legacy.
Find out more about making planned gifts and bequests here.
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Alumnae Met in Israel
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| Alumnae Leah Basa (class of 2012), Talia Yahav ('13) and Davida Gordon ('13) got together in Israel, two of them in their IDF uniforms! |
Bottle Caps Collection is Over! We got 7,000!
Thanks to all who contributed to Room 209
Green Team's bottle cap collection. The goal was to collect 1,000 by Passover and amazingly, they already got almost 7,000.
School's Out, JCC Is In!
More info on Hyde Park JCC Spring Break program.
ATT Summer Program
Register before March 15th for the Early Bird Bonus Discount. Have your child experience an awesome summer. Make new friends, learn new skills and develop talents with sewing, drama, sports, art, science, rocketry, dance, cooking, magic, robotics, self-defense, computer programming, daily trips and more. For more information call Susan Feuer/Shelley Stopek at 773-973-2828,
www.att.org
to view brochure and apply.
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Dates to Remember
Monday, March 12
Professional Development Day
12:00 PM Dismissal (Grades 1-8)
Programming will be available for students staying at school
Friday, March 23
10:00 AM
Kenwood Academy
5015 S. Blackstone Ave, Chicago
Free preview performance
Sunday, March 25
10:00 AM
Kenwood Academy
5015 S. Blackstone Ave, Chicago
Get tickets here ($12 in advance; $15 at the door)
Wednesday, March 28
Passover Break Begins
Monday, April 9
School Resumes
Annual Jewish Day School Night
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
7:00 PM Registration
7:15 PM Dessert Reception & Program
Featuring David Lieberman, Ph.D., award-winning author and internationally recognized leader in the fields of human behavior and interpersonal relationships.
Holiday Inn North Shore
5300 West Touhy Avenue
Skokie, IL 60077
Millie Miller Remembered
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March 9, 2018
Volume 14, Issue 13
Candle Lighting:
5:31 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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