Kibitzer June 1, 2018

The 8th graders are having a great time in Israel--here in Ein Gedi.

#IlluminateAkiba

From the Desk of

Some might think a Nerf war, escape room, learning about Shabbat, scavenger hunt, a Bar Mitzvah, davening, hide & seek, Zmirot (singing Shabbat songs), Settlers of Catan, Shabbat meals all in the span of twenty-five hours might not be possible to pull off, and they would be wrong. Some might think a group of sixth and seventh graders would lose steam after at least ten hours of this, and they would be wrong as well. Some might also think a Head of School would be exhausted after running a marathon Akiba Shabbaton in the building, and they would be correct. What they would be wrong about is if they thought I did not love every second of it.

This past Shabbat, I had the pleasure of running an Akiba Shabbaton in Hyde Park and attending Ezra Erlebacher's Bar Mitzvah. Ezra did a fantastic job! It was such a pleasure to spend time with the students outside of school, enjoy Shabbat together and participate in what I can only assume was the most massive Nerf war in Akiba's history. I suppose I knew we were having a great time when one student who had just planned on staying for a short time before Shabbat called his parents and asked if he could stay the entire time. Also, a group of students who attended the Bar Mitzvah and were not on the Shabbaton stopped by to say hello and found themselves there for hours. As we learned in our learning session, Shabbat is "a day of contentment and holiness that G-d has given His people." Shabbat was alive and well last week. I look forward to many more Shabbatonim and meaningful Jewish experiences with our students.

Shabbat Shalom!

Dr. Eliezer Jones

Head of School

From the Preschool

By Carla Goldberg, Preschool Director

It is with bittersweet feelings that we approach the last day of Preschool and Kindergarten. We had a wonder ful year filled with laughter, hugs, new friendships, and many new accomplishments for our children. This past school year the children have read over a hundred books, painted hundreds of pictures, and created dozens of structures. They have baked muffins, written stories and sung Shabbat songs and most of all they have skipped up the walkway in anticipation of coming to school and seeing their Akiba family. Thank you for trusting us with your precious children, we are honored and privileged to have spent this year learning alongside them.

It is hard to say goodbye to all of the families who will not be returning to Akiba, and will be moving on this summer to near or far or to another school in Chicago. It is hard to say goodbye to some of our wonderful teachers, Kelli, Lexie and Tori, who will be starting a new chapter in their lives. They have all been a part of the fabric of our preschool for so long and will be truly missed.

It is particularly hard to say goodbye to Barbara Simon, the founder of our preschool and teacher in the Purple room for 35 years. Barbara built our school on the foundation that play based education is truly best practice for early childhood education. Barbara has taught so many children over the years, including my own, and I know that all of the parents join me in thanking her for providing our children with a space to grow, explore and thrive. I hope that you will join me and the Akiba community on June 24th to celebrate Barbara and Akiba at our annual fundraiser.

Preschool

On Wednesday, the Kindergartners and their 3rd/4th grade buddies spent the day at the Lincoln Park Zoo for an end-of-the-year field trip. They had great weather and so much fun!

These past few weeks, the children in the Yellow Room have continued to learn about the life cycle of the butterfly. They transformed themselves into eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis, and finally beautiful butterflies. They've thoroughly enjoyed using Photoshop and the iPad to incorporate technology and art to create their metamorphosis.

Grades 1-8

Self-portrait series by the 1st/2nd graders in Miss Friedman's class: How interesting to compare the images from the beginning and the end of the year!

Symmetrical Self-Portraits

At the beginning of the school year, the great classmates in Miss Friedman's 1st/2nd grade did symmetrical self-portraits. They worked hard at cutting, looking at details, and paying attention to their writing. They were quite proud of their work. Fast forward to the end of May, and they are ready to work on the next round of their symmetrical self-portraits. Cutting came easier, and they didn't need to be reminded by teachers to make sure that they weren't missing anything, and their writing was much more legible. As exciting as it was for the teachers to see their growth, it was much more exciting for them! It's been a great year in Room 201 with Ms. Harris and Miss Friedman!

The 2nd graders visited Room 209 today and had lunch with next year's 3rd grade teachers: Mrs. Leonard, Rabbi M, and Mr. Esse. Before that, they spent some time in Mrs. Esse's class to see what 3rd/4th grade is like.

Mrs. Leonard's 3rd graders wrote brochures for current 2nd graders with tips on how to succeed in 3rd grade.

Mr. Millner's 8th period Language Arts class has been discussing a major plot point from Among the Hidden. Students have been getting a better understanding of what a totalitarian government is and how powerful it can be. They have been fully immersed in the world and characters created by Margaret Peterson Haddix and have made some predictions for its conclusion. Spoiler Alert!

Before the 8th graders left for Israel, they received a goodbye letters in Mrs. Brackman's class, as well as bird flashlights to use on their trip, reminding them to keep in touch and always "tweet" messages and regards to friends and family.

Mrs. Crook and Debbie Lekousis have been busy weeding out and packing up the library to make room for the construction of our new makerspace over the summer.

7th Grade Trip to Springfield

The 7th graders had a great time in Springfield.

Art with Debbie

Kindergarten students explored contrast, texture, shape, pattern and line with copper, silver, and gold metallic tempera paints. They used stamps to form interesting pictures and patterns. Then they used brushes to make dots, lines and other kinds of brush-marks onto the black paper. The shimmering contrast between the sparkly metallic paint and black paper made for lots of experimentation and fun!

Kol Hakavod, Alumnae!

How amazing that alumnae Dena Lebowitz ('13) and Leah Basa ('12) are serving in the IDF together and just graduated from basic training!

Participate in our Annual Fundraiser!

Create a Jewish Legacy

Thank you to our donors who are already participating in Create a Jewish Legacy.

Find out more about making planned gifts and bequests here.

Refuah Shleimah

...to preschool teacher Melinda Deegan and Adyra Jones (6th). We wish them speedy and smooth recoveries!

Mazal tov

... to

Ezra Erlebacher and family on his Bar Mitzvah this past Shabbat.

... to Chana Cantz and her family on her Bat Mitzvah this past Shabbat.

... to Joseph Friedman and his family on his Bar Mitzvah on May 19.

Congrats

...to alumna Shira Basa (class of '11), who performed at Carnegie Hall with the El Camino College Choir last weekend.

Volunteers Needed

...for the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival on Sunday, June 10, 2018. There are multiple time slots available. The festival has food, music, activities for kids, and more. Let's make Akiba's presence known at this fantastic event! Please contact Kelli Harris.