On Friday, June 12th, special achdus care packages were delivered to the homes of ALL Bais Yaakov students. Yes, you read that correctly. Over 1700 personal deliveries were made much to the delight of our youngest preschoolers through our oldest graduating seniors. Each girl received a drawstring bag filled with a sweet treat and all the supplies needed to complete her part of our Bais Yaakov Achdus Patchwork Quilt Project .

During this unprecedented time of disconnection, the Bais Yaakov Achdus Patchwork Quilt Project allowed students to reconnect and once again feel part of a whole. It provided girls with a unique artistic medium within which they were able to creatively express their thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Each girl was given a gray square of fabric, her patch, and all materials and instructions needed to decorate it. Over the summer, all patches will be sewn into one of three quilts. Each quilt will then be hung in one of our three school buildings.

We so appreciate all of our special Bais Yaakov parents who partnered with us in helping their daughters complete their patches and then delivering the patches to one of our drop off locations throughout the community. The participation of our families in this project was absolutely phenomenal and the creativity of our students, amazing.

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to an exceptional committee of volunteers who made this project possible. Thank you Perri Goldenhersh, Sora Greenlinger, Ariella Grunhut, Molly Horwitz, Leah Klein, Yocheved Lieder, Aliza Samet and Sarah Scheller . We greatly appreciate all of our volunteer drivers, thank you. A special thank you to Rachael Komet and Nechama Cox who helped to procure and prepare our materials. It was no small feat and we are grateful. We appreciate Perel Leah Levitin, Yocheved Roth and Ayala Gross for their design and printing expertise.

It is our tefilah that just as we sew each patch into a large quilt, our girls will once again be able to learn together in their classrooms as part of our larger Bais Yaakov family.

END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES IN LOWER ELEMENTARY

 The glorious weather of the last week of school allowed for many exciting outdoor end-of-year activities for the Preschool and Lower Elementary Division. Among the more than 30 different activities were drive-through events, outdoor games and a photo booth. Each event had music, balloons galore, and decorated cars adding to the excitement. The Second Grade celebrated a siyum on Parshas Noach and Parshas Lech Lecha with a huge teyva!

The highlight of the last week was welcoming so many students and parents back onto our campus. We salute the creativity of our teachers, ending the school year on a positive, upbeat high. Kudos to all our parents for the effort which families made to decorate their cars for each of the exciting end-of-school events. Many smiles were brought to the girls' faces and the good cheer was palpable!

We enjoyed a communal atmosphere that re-framed our sense of togetherness as a school family! We wish each family a healthy and relaxing summer.

END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES IN UPPER ELEMENTARY

One of the main elements in Third Grade is the introduction to the Shmona Esrei . From the halachos of how to say and act during the tefilla , to understanding each word, to aligning the brachos with a tune that relates to its kavanos . To celebrate their accomplishments, Mrs. Chaya Hoffman , our Limudei Kodesh Coordinator, together with the moros, facilitated a special drive-through activity that allowed each talmida to stand out and feel special in the eyes of her morah and in the eyes of Hashem . Enjoy the slide show of the smiling faces of our Third Graders as they joined us on the Park Heights campus for this special event.

The moros and teachers in both the Third and Fourth Grades had a wonderful time greeting their students at the end of the year activities at school. Some teachers were also able to host their students at their homes to either pick up a treat or farewell prize or actually celebrate their year-end siyumim together as a class. We thank every morah and teacher for creating such amazing end of year experiences, including decorative cookies by the Third Grade Homeroom teachers, to the Zoom renditions of the play Heading West in Mrs. Yehudis Bamberger and Miss Chomi Bernstein’s reading groups, to the special award ceremony for Morah Batya Kahn’s students.

One beautiful aspect of the Fourth Grade is that they complete the entire Sefer Breishis at the end of the year. Mrs. Hoffman and our Fourth Grade moros arranged an amazing drive where each student had an opportunity to be greeted by her morah and take a picture together with her mother. They also received a special gift in honor of completing Sefer Breishis along with a video presentation that was sent out to the girls and their mothers with divrei bracha from Rabbi Stein , Mrs. Hoffman , and Mrs. Jacobovitz . The girls also each participated in the video montage reflecting on their most special memories in Bais Yaakov Elementary. It was truly a remarkable event.

The Fourth Grade Reading Group teachers end each year with a special reading activity honoring those girls who participate in the yearlong reading initiative on completing and reporting on books the students read during the year. This year, the teachers decided to recognize each student with a special gift of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic, Little House on the Prairie . The students received this beautiful gift together with other treats and the Memory book that the Reading Group teachers prepared, by having each student write a descriptive paragraph on their most fond memory of Bais Yaakov Elementary.

TZESCHEM L'SHALOM TO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

The unbelievable school year culminated with four exciting goodbye drive-through events coordinated with care and attention to every detail by Mrs. Brenda Sherman , Mrs. Gitti Horowitz and the incredible office staff. The festivities started with the Eighth Grade drive-through on Wednesday evening where teachers and administrators reunited to say goodbye to our beloved Eighth Graders. The evening came to its climax with the Eighth Grade soiree organized by Mrs. Miriam Mellman and the G.O. heads on Zoom. The soiree was chock-full of impassioned speeches, divrei bracha , an entertaining teacher’s skit arranged by Mrs. Rochelle Goldberg and Mrs. Shari Rochkind , and a beautiful yearbook video crafted by Mrs. Goldberg and her outstanding yearbook editors. Thursday found the Fifth Grade teachers rallying in front of the building with smiles and good cheer as they bade farewell to their dear students. Friday was a marathon of good wishes as the Sixth Grade and Seventh Grade teachers came out to connect one last time with their precious students. Each drive-through was highlighted with festive balloons and bags overflowing with gifts and goodies as a testament to just how much each talmida means to each of the administrators, teachers and staff at Bais Yaakov Middle School.

FESTIVE DRIVE THRU ENDS THE YEAR WITH SIMCHA AND ENERGY

With music filling the air, the high school enjoyed a spirited closing to the school year. The clouds parted for the sun to shine, just as a festive drive thru began in the high school parking lot, on the last Thursday of school. Car occupants included graduates and students, many driven by their mothers and/or fathers, with all faces bathed in broad smiles. Thank you to the G.O., Gemach, and Discovery for the parting gifts and special thanks to the many teachers who came to liven the affair and wish warm good-byes to the students. May we be zoche to a school start in September in our Bais Yaakov home, with the same level of simcha and energy.

A final flourish to the school year ending was the sixth and final phone “ shmuez ” given by Rabbi Zweig via a Thursday night conference call. These talks took place throughout the Covid school season and were aimed at generating a feeling of school togetherness, at the same time offering hashkafa ideas. These ideas related to the season, including thoughts relevant to Pesach and Shavuos , as well as to our challenges vis-à-vis Covid 19. A constant refrain in the messages was our indebtedness to our Rabbanim , whose steadfast resolve and wisdom have guided the community and protected our health through the current crisis. The last talk included a portion, based on comments from Rav Dessler, Z"TL, and others, that focused on how Hashem sometimes removes external Yiddishkeit supports, so that we could each pause to reflect on the level of our inner connection with Him. Anyone who missed the last talk (approximately thirty minutes) may still access it by calling 712-432-3019, 1999, 8469.

A happy, healthy summer to all!

Bais Yaakov would like to once again thank Leonard Attman, and the families of Edward Attman, a"h and Seymour Attman, a"h for their generous sponsorship of Lag Ba'Omer activities in memory of their mother, Ida Attman, a"h.