Schechter Shavua: March 9, 2020

#SchechterPride in….

Elisheva, a Gesher student who joined our Schechter community this school year. Elisheva’s teachers are proud of the way she embodies Schechter’s core values. They describe, “Elisheva is a kind and caring person. She will go out of her way to make sure no one is left out and shows Lev Tov in everything that she does. She is patient and understanding of other people's feelings.”

Early Childhood Celebrates the Wonders of Winter

The children in Sh’kedim proudly presented their latest Reggio-inspired project work to their parents this week. Their “Wonders of Winter” project emerged out of a love of dramatic play and developed students’ creativity and collaboration. The students’ love of winter activities led to the creation of a skating rink in the classroom and winter decorations throughout the classroom. During the course of their unit, Sh’kedim welcomed two special visitors who shared their passion for hockey (Coleman Werner) and ice skating (Gesher teacher Limor Shefer). At this week’s project culmination, students wore costumes they created themselves during their hockey and ice dancing demonstrations. A special additional feature: the students also created a child-sized Zamboni to clean the ice!

After the ice show, parents and children visited the student-run snack bar featuring snacks they baked themselves! Sh’kedim teacher Michelle Fontaine said, “It was such a joy to see the children’s incredible work being shared with their families.” For more photos of their creativity and imatination on ice, please click HERE!

Celebrating STEM through Gesher's Invention Convention

What does it take to become an Engineer? The Gesher students have spent the past two months learning about the design process in science class as they followed the steps to devise and construct their own inventions. The students were tasked with identifying a problem they (or others) face in life and devising a unique idea that did not already exist to solve this problem. The students worked for several weeks creating their inventions and designing a board to display the process of their work. Some inventions included: magnetic pencil box, a band to hold your shoelaces together, a pencil sharpener that dispenses the shavings straight to the garbage, and a lockable tablet case.

Last week students had the opportunity to present their ideas to judges, peers, and parents at the Invention Convention. Eric Schneider and Jake Mendelssohn came as guest judges to listen and give feedback to each presenter. Some questions they asked to probe the students in their creative process included:

"Did you consider trying other materials?"

"What worked well?"

"What challenges did you have?"

"How can you improve your product?"

"How much would you sell your product for and where?"

The students showed tremendous confidence in their work when responding to these questions, and they took suggestions well. Click HEREto see photos of the students with their innovative ideas!

Infusing our Education with Israeli Culture and Customs

Last Wednesday, Schechter’s Hebrew teachers were excited to host our first Infuse Israel parents’ night! Parents from Early Childhood through 8th grade came to experience the Infuse approach to Israel’s education and to learn how the program is integrated into the classrooms. The evening included three interactive centers that focusing on Israel’s resources, art, and maps.

To start, each parent chose a resource card that depicted one facet of Israeli culture or history and then shared his/her thoughts about that topic with the group. Parents then split into two groups to visit the Art and Maps centers. The map center introduced the parents to the idea that every map tells a story, and every map is the product of a series of decisions taken by the map-maker. The Art center introduced art through the eyes of Israeli artist Hanoch Piven, who explores the question: “What Are We Made Of?” by using objects to create personal portraits that describe each individual connection to Israel.

The program ended with an enthusiastic Israeli dance and delicious Israeli food including hummus, tahini, olives, pickles, Israeli salad, and Israeli snacks like chocolate, Bamba, Bisli, and Bazooka gum!