Beren Buzz 💙 January 14, 2021

Parashat Vaera

Candle Lighting 5:26 p.m.

Havdalah 6:28 p.m.

Parsha Talk

Over the years I've been privileged to teach many students, some of whom were incredibly quick to pick up new concepts, some of whom were phenomenally hard workers, and some who had both of these qualities. What does the Torah have to suggest about the relative merits of hard work versus intellectual speed?

"A Mussar and a Mitzvah"

This week's Mussar and a Mitzvah features Ezra Miller (10th grade) and Molly Goldstein (12th grade). Click here to read about a mussar and mitzvah in Parashat Vaera.

Beren Boys Bekius

Check out this week's Beren Boys Bekius Parsha Podcast featuring Seniors Jake Teller and Jeremy Morgan.

#instaberen

From the desk of the STEAM Lab

We had a blast practicing our patterning, sequencing, and coding with and without robots this week in STEAM. We made our very own robots and painted with bolts and gears!

Scientific Theories

7th graders in Ms. Goldstein’s earth science class had a special visit from Rabbi Kellerman this week. They discussed the relationship between Torah and science and were given the opportunity to ask challenging questions about both how Judaism views science/scientific theories and Judaism in general.

Practice Makes Perfect

Students in Morah Miriam's 1st grade Judaics class enjoyed practicing finding the right place in their Chumashim!

Solving Two Step Equations

The 7th grade students in Mrs. Rosenzweig's class were super happy to see the results of their hard work as they solved two step equations without any difficulty. The students felt very accomplished and proud of themselves.

From 2D Ideas to 3D Models

As a part of an ongoing project that 4th grade has been working on for the past 2 years about flooding in Houston, this week students began to bring their 2D designs to life. Students are using recycled boxes from their kitchens to create structures designed to withstand the normal flooding patterns in Houston.

Winter Blast

This week Morah Aviva's ECE4 class had a winter blast—digging for treasures in their ice box, matching upper and lower case snowballs, and identifying hot and cold objects with their corresponding winter gear! They also learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his dreams for peace and love in the world. The children loved listening to Morah Regina discuss the importance of peace and solving conflicts with kind words.

Parsha Plagues

Students in Morah Alissa's and Morah Sandy's ECE3 class made cups that were half red (for blood) and half blue (for water) representing the first plague in parashat Vaera. When a Jew drank water it was simply water, but when an Egyptian drank from the same source it turned to blood.

Kindergarten Dreams

Kindergarten students in Ms. B's class have been learning about MLK Junior and his part in history. They discussed their own dreams and wishes for a better world.

Eras

Students in Ms. Rowan's lower Montessori class had a lesson on Common Era and Before Common Era on a timeline. They also learned about centuries, how they are counted, and how we refer to them.

Birdhouse Designs

6th grade students in Mrs. Rosenzweig's class are now in the 3D printing portion of their Birdhouse Geometry project. The students are very excited to see their CAD designs become a solid birdhouse. All birdhouses are different design prisms (triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, etc). The next part of the project is to find the volume and surface area of the birdhouses.

Soccer Nets

Thank you so much to the Schlachter family for our new soccer nets! Despite the cold weather this week, the students have been having the greatest time on the field.

Ulpan Maasi

Ori and Aviva Friedmann gave a special Ulpan Maasi (practical experiential learning) lesson in honor of Eliezer Ben Yehuda. The students learned about the words he revived in the Hebrew language, and they played a matching game and had a Hebrew contest.

Save the Date

RMBA Giving Day

January 19–20, 2021

We are excited to launch our first Giving Day, a family giving campaign aimed at raising $10,000 for faculty professional development and securing 100% family giving participation.

Donations will be collected online, and while the purpose of our family campaign is not to "buy prizes," we hope you will accept some of the fun rewards as a token of appreciation for your support and participation.

Community Events

YOM LIMMUD 2021

Sunday, February 14, 2021

9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Our event will be entirely virtual this year. This offers our community the incredible opportunity to hear from presenters from around the world! Each presenter will either currently live or have lived in the country they discuss. We will host 20 sessions including a PJ Library program, a family program for middle school ages and up, as well as a teachers' track.