Kibitzer October 26, 2018

The Afternoon Explorers are doing a long term study of mushrooms. Here they are making mushroom prints.

#akibacommUNITY

I recently had a conversation with a parent around the topic of a very well viewed (over fifteen million to be exact) TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson titled "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" While I can't answer that for other schools, I can say we do the opposite. We celebrate, nurture and support our students creativity.

So today, I thought I would share this video with you. If you have never seen it, it is worth the twenty minutes. If you have seen it, it is worth another twenty minutes. Click on the video below to watch. Enjoy!

I look forward to seeing you all explore your creativity on Sunday, at the Makerspace Grand Opening and Open House. Be creative, bring a friend!

Shabbat Shalom!

Dr. Eliezer Jones

Head of School

Words of Inspiration from Rabbi Cohen

Dance in the Darkness

From the Day School

Leadership

by Miriam Kass, Principal

Our 7th and 8th graders are embracing their roles as leaders in the school in new ways this year. They are divided into five leadership committees: Ruach (spirit), Ambassadors, Mishpachot (families), Chesed (kindness), and Israel. The committees meet one period per week to plan and develop projects. This week's Pre-Shabbat Pep Rally (working title for the new-this-year weekly Middle School Friday assembly) was planned and facilitated by the Ruach committee. The students prepared a hilarious spoof of the popular NPR show,

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: Wait, Wait, the Wifi's Loading. They wrote a terrific script, involved the entire Middle School, and entertained us all with their production.

This Sunday, you will see our Ambassadors at the Makerspace Grand Opening and Open House. They will be greeting families and helping children at the various scheduled activities with smiles, warmth and poise. The Mishpachot committee is busy planning the first full Buddy Program for the 7th/8th and 1st/2nd grade buddies to get to know each other. The Chesed committee is brainstorming and researching which local Chesed organizations to partner with this year. And the Israel committee is developing authentic ways to bring more of Israel to life in and out of the classrooms throughout the school. It is wonderful to see our oldest students in action in these committees as they channel their energy and hone their leadership skills.

Preschool

In the Green Room, the children used pine cones, corn and pumpkins to make impressions in soft clay.

The Blue Room children took a deep dive under the ocean to explore the ocean animals. Each child chose an animal to personally research and then created a habitat for the animal. Here Mayuri is working on her habitat for a sea anemone.

After learning about the story of Noah's Ark and the rainbow, the Purple Room explored colors and color-mixing last week. Here they are experimenting with watercolors.

Grades 1-8

The 1st and 2nd graders in Mr. Salk's class have begun their plant studies. Here Shalom and Daniel are examining leaves and recording their observations.

Kitah Bet has started learning Sefer Bereshit (The Book of Genesis) from their own Chumashonim. They love learning about the creation of the world, as well as other stories in the Torah. They practice reading from their Chumashonim, and they are learning to recognize the difference between Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew, both in reading and in writing. The students love singing Torah songs, creating their own bible plays, and making their own Torah picture books.

Rabbi M's Mishnah class works on figuring out a Mishnah about Shofars in groups prior to learning it from Rabbi M.

5th/6th graders scrutinize clips from The Prince of Egypt.

The Prince of Egypt and Biblical Sources

The students in Mrs. Gold's 5th/6th grade Tanach class are becoming movie critics. As they learn the Pesukim of Parshat Shemot (prakim alef-gimmel), they will be watching clips from The Prince of Egypt and analyzing which scenes are based on Pesukim from the Bible, which are based on Midrashim, and which may have no source at all. The students will also be creating source sheets to go along with the movie!

Treading for eggs, paying rent and collecting wages - the 3rd/4th graders during a Great Depression simulation.

A Great Depression Simulation

Mr. Esse's 3rd/4th grade class is learning about the 20th Century. After a unit on World War I, they have turned their attention to the Great Depression. In order to understand the complex relationship between all the various institutions that collectively failed and struggled, the class did a simulation as workers, farmers and landlords. They saw how diminishing income to the workers had a negative effect on the farmers and landlords, who relied on the workers income for their own income.

Working on Israel Statements

Last week, the 8th graders began a special 8th grade elective where they will be spending half of the time focusing on fundraising for their Israel trip, and the other sessions learning about our connection to Israel through the LINK curriculum.

The goal of the program is to allow for the students to create their own Israel statements and find out why Israel matters to them on a personal level.

8 Questions for an 8th Grader: Toibeh Sarah Gersten

Toibeh Sarah on her Bat Mitzvah day.

We continue our series of featuring an 8th grader in each Kibitzer; today it's Toibeh Sarah Gersten:

Since when have you been at Akiba? I have been at Akiba since Kindergarten.
What neighborhood are you from? I live in West Rogers Park.
Is being an 8th grader different from your previous grades at Akiba? When you are an 8th grader, there is a sense of leadership, and it is special to know that others look up to you and follow you.
What is your favorite subject at Akiba and why? My favorite subject at Akiba is Math because I enjoy solving puzzles, and I feel that it is a challenging subject.
What do you think is special about Akiba? The reason why Akiba is special is that there is a sense of unity among students and faculty.
What did you learn from recently having your Bat Mitzvah? My Bat Mitzvah showed me that there are so many people in my life who care about me, who are not necessarily family.
When you're not at school or doing homework, what do you like to do? When I am not at school, I take Taekwondo and basketball, read, bake, swim and play games with my family.
Do you have any idea yet of what you want to be when you grow up? I am not sure what I want to be when I grow up. There are many things I want to do such as becoming a teacher, architect, engineer or nurse.

Art with Dara

Middle schoolers have been working with pen and ink.

Welcome to Our New Teachers!

Dr. Jana French teaches the 5th/6th grades.

Coach Lee Gruen is now teaching Kitah Alef,_ half of the 3rd/4th graders, and all of the 7th/8th graders in regular PE classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. He will also coach the boys' basketball team and coordinate all the games for both the boys' and girls' teams. Practices begin on Monday! GO WOLVES!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, November 8 and Friday, November 9, 2018.

Thursday: No school for Grade School. Preschool and Kindergarten are in session until 3:30pm. No Late Pick-Up. No bus service.
Grade School Conferences are Thursday only, 8am-9pm.
Preschool and Kindergarten Conferences are Thursday, 4-9 pm and Friday, 8am-12pm.
Friday: No school for everyone.

Scheduling: Go to www.schoolbookings.net star ting at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 25.

Sign up will close on Friday, November 2 at 12pm.
Grade school parents: enter event code K9r92.
Preschool & Kindergarten parents: enter event code 4gtvx
Enter your contact information, your child(ren) name(s) and their teacher(s). Select the available conference times and you will receive an email confirmation.
If you need a reminder of your children's teachers, log in to ParentsWeb and click on "School Schedule".

Contact Miriam Friedman-Parks if you have questions.

Makerspace Grand Opening & Open House

Help us spread the word to family and friends.

Bring a new family to the event, and you will be entered in a raffle

to win a family fun day for up to 10 people in the Makerspace.

RSVP today!

Grandparents & Special Friends Day

RSVP here.

Lunch & Learn

Thursday, November 1

12:00 - 1:00 PM

MetroKlub Downtown

733 W Madison

Rabbi Cohen is excited to host our second Lunch & Learn for parents and friends, and hopes you can join him for a meaningful discussion. Please email Rabbi Cohen to RSVP by Tuesday, October 30.

This Lunch & Learn is generously sponsored by the Waitzman Family in honor of Benji and Evan's first birthdays. If you are interested in sponsoring and/or hosting a future Lunch & Learn please let Rabbi Cohen know.

Shabbat Flower Sales

8th graders will be selling flowers to earn money for their Israel Trip. There are two different sizes of flowers:

small bouquets: $6

larger bouquets: $10

If you are interested in buying flowers, you can pre-order them and send your child with a check (made out to Akiba-Schechter) or cash, or you can buy them in the atrium after school on Fridays. If you wish to pay with a credit card, you may do so only if you spend at least $20.

Mazal tov