As part of their nervous system unit, the 5th  graders went on a virtual field trip with the help of Dr. Kobi Koffler, who has been showing our 5th graders the inner workings of his Neuroscience Lab for the past five years. This year, the students conducted their tour through Zoom. They were able to see neuron images under magnification and real specimens. Dr. Koffler answered questions about clinical trials, scientists helping injured veterans and the ethics of animal testing.

By  Sarah Greenstein,  School Counselor

At San Diego Jewish Academy, our commitment runs deep to creating a campus environment and culture that is resoundingly, No Place for Hate, and to provide meaningful anti-bias education for our faculty and students that impacts the world outside our campus

community. This moment in our nation's history demands that we act definitively and purposefully. As we wrap up this school year, we are proud to announce that San Diego Jewish Academy Lower and Upper Schools have earned our 2019-2020 designation as an ADL No Place for Hate School. We commit to diving deeper into our anti-bias education for the 2020-2021 school year by expanding our No Place for Hate education and advocacy programs school wide. 

In the past few months, as we pivoted to provide our full educational program via the virtual platform during the current global pandemic, the need to offer creative pathways for human connection, community building and collective compassion became increasingly more important.  As our young people navigate their academic, recreational and social worlds almost exclusively online, the No Place for Hate program gives us relevant and meaningful  avenues for exploring how we treat each other both in person and on the screen. It helps us to shine a critical flashlight on the power of words, images, and all sorts of media in contributing to an online culture of caring and acceptance rather than hate or negativity. 

In GMLS, our student leaders from the Kindness Committee helped envision and plan a powerful campaign entitled "The Kind Words Project- What Words Can Do." This initiative kicked-off with a Modeh Ani assembly virtual introduction to the responsibility we carry to use our words to make the world a better place rather than to hurt others. Student leaders Avi (1st grade) and Emunah (5th grade) McCurdy; Ari Gimbel (1st grade), Gabriel Shuster and Savannah Becker (2nd grade), showcased their sample posters, demonstrating the choice to use (or not use) certain language to heal and unite rather than to hurt. In the following week, students attended virtual guidance lessons focused on the power of words, with a specific emphasis on how young people use their words online. Students created their own posters and contributed to a meaningful video highlighting SDJA's commitment to kind words. 

In the upper school, students engaged in two separate virtual No Place for Hate events, as a follow-up to our high school "All Words Matter" campaign. Through these programs, students explored the use of stereotypes, slurs and hurtful jokes. Students were invited to share their observations through a communal virtual journal slideshow.