Taking a Break

Judging by the sound of the cheering in the Merkaz on Wednesday, one might have guessed that a famous celebrity had arrived. And, you would be partially correct. We definitely had some celebrities represented, but not in the way that you might think. Each of our Middle School students had picked a character from a book and organized themselves with the help of Mrs. Amkraut into one of the more interesting fashion shows that I have ever seen.

With judging by the faculty, the entire student body selected which characters were the best in a variety of categories ranging from most curious to most colorful. The Middle School students designed their costumes and wrote their own introductions as Schechter parent Sheri Gross invited them to take the stage. So many wonderful characters came to life from Bilbo Baggins to the man who had caps for sale to Frog and Toad. Our students were truly excited by watching their favorite characters  from children’s literature come to life before their eyes and it is time for us to take advantage of that.

We are mid-way through Read for Life - Go for the Gold and it is incredible to see the number of books voluntarily read by our students. Yesterday, I saw a teacher looking intently at the wall filled with student book reviews. When I asked what she was doing, she said she was getting ideas for new books to read both for herself and for her class. She took their comments seriously.

I have previously written about the power of reading and winter vacation is the perfect excuse that you have been looking for to encourage your children to read. Ask your children who their favorite character was or the character that they were most intrigued by (If you need some inside information, here is a link to the cast of characters from the fashion show). Make time in your vacation schedule for a quick trip to the library or if you are travelling take advantage of the ebook lending library that our local libraries have. It would be awesome to see the already crowded book review wall even more full when we return in January.

I wish our staff, students, and parents a well-deserved, much-needed break. I look forward to seeing you all back here on January 6 to continue our terrific school year. There is a lot more excitement and wonderful learning opportunities to come as we move into the New Year.

Best wishes for a safe and relaxing winter vacation.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Stop, Do, Hug

Most of the time, I have a hard time remembering what I ate for breakfast. It’s not that I am having a hard time remembering things. It’s just that as things go, it is not one of the more important things in my life. Memory, though, can be a funny thing. We will forget the name of a childhood friend, but remember the lyrics to an 80’s sitcom theme song.

Some memories, however, are incredibly powerful and have burned themselves into our brains. Psychologists refer to these memories as flashbulb memories. These are memories where the images, and perhaps sounds or even smells, of a particularly surprising event that was either important or emotionally powerful become pictures in our brain.

Many of us share common flashbulb memories depending upon our age. It might be the Kennedy assassination, the Challenger explosion, or September 11. Or, the memories may be intensely personal, such as the birth of a child or your wedding day. Last year, we acquired a new flashbulb memory with the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I can remember very clearly what was going on at my school, who I was with, and, certainly, how I was feeling emotionally. This weekend, with the anniversary approaching, I am sure that many of these memories will be stirred up again as stories reappear on TV, Facebook, and the newspaper.

In the light of such a dark memory, our challenge is more than just how do we preserve the memory of those killed on that horrific December day or what steps our leaders need to take to prevent a future senseless loss of life. Our challenge lies closer to home. As parents, grandparents, teachers, or caregivers, how do we create positive memories that will overpower the horrors that could shadow our children’s lives? How do we create brighter lights that will push the shadows away?

From the darkness that is our collective memory of Newtown, take time each day, each week, each month, to brighten the lives of the children around you. Show them your love. Put down your phone and focus not on the constant barrage of emails and status updates, but on the status of those in front of you. Take them with you to engage in acts of chesed (kindness) and teach them the value of repairing the world around us. Show them the importance of treating each person that they encounter with dignity and respect. Help them treasure everyday moments and let them know how deeply you care about them. Create memories with them that they will treasure for a lifetime and empower them to do the same for their children, God willing, in the future.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Me and My Buddy

Thursday morning was a great day for door duty during arrival. Not because it was a balmy 60 degrees at the beginning of a Cleveland winter that the entire community has been warning me about, but because I had really good company. Two eighth graders joined me at the door to welcome students into the school. Each stood by a door, smiled, and greeted students, parents, and staff as they walked in with good morning or boker tov.

About midway through arrival, a preschooler ran in the door with a big smile. He was stopped by another eighth grader in the hallway who pointed out who he had just run past. The preschooler turned around and saw that his middle school buddy was one of the students at the door. The smile got bigger, particularly when his buddy called him by name. He ran back, had a quick conversation, and with even more energy, bounced his way towards his classroom.

This is the power of our preschool-middle school buddy program. As you’ve heard before, each child in the preschool has a middle school buddy who joins them many times throughout the year for an activity that is planned collaboratively between the two divisions. Earlier this week, the buddies joined together again to share in a Chanukah celebration. Sitting in the promenade, together with Kathy Fromson, they sang songs, danced, and lit the chanukkiyah(Chanukah menorah). The enthusiasm and ruach (spirit) reverberated down the hallway and brought smiles to the parents volunteering at the Book Fair and to staff walking past. The activity concluded with classroom projects where the the buddies worked together to frost (and eat) cookies, play games, and make dreidels out of marshmallows.

The importance of this collaboration is not in the type of activity that is put together, but rather in the relationships that it builds between the two groups. Having an older buddy connects our preschool students to the rest of the school and sets their sights on the many opportunities that are in their future at Schechter. For our middle school students, a preschool buddy is more than just a lens into their past. It is an opportunity to learn how to mentor and serve as a role model for a younger child. They begin to understand what it means to have someone look up to you with wonder in their eyes and want to be just like you because you are the epitome of cool for them.

The power of a Schechter education lasts far beyond our doors and we want the connection to Schechter to last longer than just a preschool to eighth grade education. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a number of our alumni took time out of their holiday celebrations to help us create a new brochure that highlights just how powerful a Schechter education is. You will find this new brochure in your re-enrollment packets next week.

To help us continue to build these relationships, alumna and faculty member Orli Rabkin has taken on the role of Alumni Coordinator. Our alumni just received the latest Alumni Note. If you are an alumnus or know one, please help us keep up with the many amazing things that our alumni are doing. Send us a kvell or give us an update on what’s happening.

This is how we forge Relationships for life.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Dedication to Thanks

Earlier this week, I was asked about the convergence of Chanukah and Thanksgiving, commonly being referred to as Thanksgivukah. My initial thought was that it was going to be easy to decide on what kind of potato side dish I was serving for Thanksgiving dinner. On the surface, the two holidays have very little in common, except perhaps for the recent popularity of deep fried turkey. However, if we dig a little deeper, the connection between the two holidays is stronger than one would think, even if this overlap is an oddity of the calendar.

Chanukah’s origins lie in either the military victory over the Syrian-Greeks or the miracle of the oil depending upon which sources you want to look at (which one is accurate is a whole other conversation for another time). Chanukah gained its name, which means dedication, from the need to re-dedicate the Temple after it had been defiled by the Syrian-Greek government. With the re-dedication, they were able to celebrate Sukkot (an eight day holiday) during which the Maccabees had been too busy fighting the enemy. Sukkot is the holiday that many people have thought that Thanksgiving is modeled after. Whether this is historically accurate is debatable, but the two holidays share the importance of giving thanks, praising God, and taking stock of what we have.

This synergy between these holidays is what made my experience with our middle school students on Monday so poignant. As part of our Tikkun Olam program, a group of students traveled with Mrs. Foley and Ms. Stone to the Kosher Food Bank to help pack grocery bags of food for those in need. The students reflections’ about how thankful they were that their needs for food, shelter, and clothing were met were incredibly powerful and have stuck with me throughout this week. Just prior to Chanukah and Thanksgiving, our students were discovering what it meant to be thankful.

The convergence of Thanksgiving and Chanukah is more than an opportunity to fry traditional Thanksgiving foods in oil or to create turkey-shaped chanukiyot (Chanukah menorahs). It is a chance to explore the deeper meaning of these holidays. Perhaps, Thanksgivukah is not a silly mash-up of the two holiday names, but rather is a signal for dedicating ourselves to giving thanks.

Use the opportunity that the calendar provides us this year to to re-dedicate yourself to living a life of gratitude. As you light each candle this Chanukah, give thanks for the blessings that grace our lives. Enjoy the warmth of family, friends, and community as you eat your Thanksgiving feast and watch the dancing flames of the Chanukah candles.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Building Community

So I have to admit, one of the things that I was nervous about was moving to Cleveland when we were expecting a child. It’s one thing to change jobs, move your family, and find a new home. It’s a whole other thing when you do this and your wife is five months pregnant. Some of the anxiety was logistical. How quickly could we find an OB? What hospital would we use? Who would take the kids if Ali went into labor in the middle of the night?

The rest of the anxiety was about community.

And I and my family are grateful that it is just not something that you have to worry about in Cleveland. I have written before how appreciative we are of the support that we received as we made the transition. With the birth of our son, Gilad Lev, the strength of this community is even more readily apparent. Whether offers of meals, playdates for the girls, or just checking in to see how we were doing, this is a community that understands what it means to be a part of a kehillah.

Judaism is not a religion that functions well in a vacuum. We require a quorum of ten, a minyan, for some of our most important prayers and rituals. Our ceremonies are often at their most meaningful when said as part of a community whether it is saying gomel (a prayer of thanksgiving after an illness, surgery, or long trip), welcoming a child into a community as part of a Brit Milah, or hosting Sheva Brachot (special meals for the bride and groom during the seven days following a wedding).

Keeping a community going takes work and you can see it in the hours of volunteer work that goes on here at school. You can see it in the speed with which the Schechter community mobilizes to support families experiencing life cycle events. And you can see it in the pride that we show when we talk about our community.

So, keep talking, keep volunteering, and keep strengthening Kehillat Schechter. Join us at the next Kehillat Schechter meeting (December 9, 7:30 PM), volunteer for the book fair, participate in the school’s annual campaign, and come sit with me and talk all things Schechter at a Bo N’Daber session (December 16, 8:15 AM). And as someone who has seen first hand just how powerful and impactful our community can be, thank you.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Power of Reading

With the school abuzz about our new enlarged reading week program, Read for Life – Go for the Gold, I have been thinking a lot about reading. Growing up, I was a voracious reader. I always had a book, sometimes several, that I was working my way through. I even recall getting in trouble a few times at school for discretely (or at least I thought I was being discrete) hiding a book under my desk. I still read constantly, both professionally and for pleasure. It is a habit that I don’t want to kick.

Reading with my children has been one of the joys of parenting for me. Even before we were sure that they could understand what they were hearing, we have been reading books. It started out simple with books like "But Not the Hippopotamus" by Sandra Boynton and as the girls have aged we have moved on to more sophisticated books. Recently, we have taken the plunge into chapter books. It has been an incredible experience to see my daughters sit enraptured by classics that I remember reading when I was young.

When we look at the benefits of reading, we talk about how reading at an early age helps brain development and generally promotes positive outcomes from children. More recently, I have read that reading has the power to shape our students into strong leaders. Reading can enhance abstract reasoning skills, broaden horizons, and increase vocabulary. In my own personal reading, I often find that reading outside of my professional field stimulates new thinking. Perhaps, most importantly, reading can reduce stress and increase our ability to be empathetic. All of these are vital to developing leadership skills.

If we know all of this, then the answer is simple – let’s get our kids (and ourselves reading). Our overall goal during Read for Life – Go for the Gold is to instill a love reading in our students. You will be hearing about grade level challenges to complete books, magazines, and basically read anything with print on it (yes, that includes comic books). Encourage your children to jump feet first into these challenges and find books that inspire them.

We want everyone to get involved in our Olympic-themed reading events. Come help out at the Scholastic Book Fair, November 21-December 5. Schlep your children to the library to feed their reading habit. And, perhaps most importantly, have them see you curl up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa and share with them your experience of being instantly transported away to a different place or time.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Ari Yares

Building A Better Mousetrap

Our students came to school on a recent Wednesday morning and were met with a strange sight. Jutting into the lobby from the Student Services hallway, were five colored cones, a glass bottle, several marbles, and a yellow plastic hedgehog in what looked like a lunchbox. The sign on one of the cones read, “What do you think this is?“ If the student looked a little further to the left, they saw tables with tubing and pipes, boxes and a scale, toy cars and marbles, and a host of other random objects.

Curiosity then took over.

What is this strange creation? It’s a Rube Goldberg machine. Named after Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Rube Goldberg, these machines do a very simple task in a very complex manner through a series of chain reactions. Our Rube Goldberg machine is a very large, complicated mousetrap. (Ok, technically it is a hedgehog trap. Aren’t you relieved that we couldn’t find a mouse to trap?)

Since this strange assembly appeared in the building, students have been adjusting it, adding to it, modifying sections, and trying to make it work. They have asked teachers about it and proposed their own theories as to why something new is in the hallway and what to do with it. Some of them have even climbed up onto the tables to tinker.

Initially assembled as part of a faculty meeting, our Rube Goldberg machine is taking on a life of its own. It has become a magnet for students; often capturing their attention long after they should have wandered off. Students are exploring how the device works and proposing their own “hacks” to figure out how to get that ball to roll down and close the mousetrap better.

We are embracing learning from failure as these improvements work or don’t. Collaboration is a must as they explore new solutions. Our machine is so long and complex that no one person can do it all.

Gross Schechter Day School is a place where we want to engage our students’ creativity and curiosity even when they are walking in the hall. Don’t just take my word for it, watch our students as they first get to know our mouse trap and watch the video a student made for a friend's Bar Mitzvah.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Ari Yares

Schechter Pays Dividends

Dear Shareholders,

As the school’s new chief executive officer, I wanted to share with you that Gross Schechter Day School is proud to announce that we will continue our practice of paying dividends on your investment in the school. Our forecasts predict that this investment will continue to grow in the future.

Just this week, we have seen our dividends pay out in the following ways:
Gabe, a seventh grader, was inspired by the Rube Goldberg machine in our hallway to build his own at home. His purpose, however, was not to catch a mouse, but rather to wish his classmate Jack mazal tov on his Bar Mitzvah in a unique and creative way.

At another Schechter Bar Mitzvah, David, an eighth grader, shared words of Torah and inspired the congregation to embrace the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests). He spoke about his own family’s desire to elevate this mitzvah and how his experience as a student ambassador and member of Kehillat Schechter has pushed him to make this mitzvah his own.

On Sunday, a group of Schechter middle school students volunteered as solicitors for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Super Sunday. With confidence, poise, and energy, they called potential donors asking them to step up to the plate to support the Cleveland Jewish community. Josh, a sixth grader, so impressed a donor with his confidence and enthusiasm that the donor dramatically increased the donation!

A group of 5th graders wrote, starred, and produced their own video for their planet project and had the self-confidence to include their own blooper reel.

Several alumni have reached out to Middle School lead teacher Davida Amkraut asking to partner with her and counselor Dana Blocker in the transition to high school process for this year’s 8th graders.

Three Schechter alumnae at Laurel School recently scored in the top 2% of all participants in the Ohio Mathematics League competition in their first contest of the year.

And, of course, this week’s Super Mensches are part of the school’s dividends.

Gross Schechter Day School is excited to share with you these dividends and the return on your investment. We look forward to making similar reports in the future.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Ari Yares

Listen, You'll Love It

Journeys begin in strange ways. Some of us are struck by wanderlust. Others have a burning desire to see something or have an experience. A few of us make a phone call and a journey begins.

This is what happened to me. About half a year ago, I picked up the phone and called Susan Siegal to wish her mazal tov on her appointment as Head of School of B’nai Shalom Day School. Susan was a colleague and a friend from the Day School Leaders Training Institute and I was happy and excited for her.

“Listen,” she said to me, “You need to come to Cleveland. You need to see the school. You’ll love it.”

A few hours later, I got a call from Seymour Kopelowitz, director of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland. “Listen,” he said to me in his South African accent, “You need to come to Cleveland. You need to see the school. You’ll love it.”

Over Shabbat, I said to my wife, Ali, “They say that we will love it. Should I go?” Her response? You won’t know unless you go.

Sometimes you just have to pick yourself up and go someplace to truly know it. There is something frightening in taking those first few steps on a journey. I felt it last spring and I can only imagine that Abraham felt it when God commanded him to go to a strange land, as happens in this week’s Torah portion. Lech L’cha! Go forth!

There is something strangely compelling in that command. Abraham does not know what he will experience, but without listening, without taking that risk, his life would have never changed. He goes forth, journeys to a new land, and in doing so, enriches himself (and an entire people) in ways that he would have never imagined.

Each of us that has enrolled our children at Gross Schechter Day School has at some point answered a call to go and visit. Someone set our feet on a path to the school whether it was a friend, a colleague, or a relative. We did not know what to expect, but took a risk in the hope that we would find a find a school that would be a good partner as our children grow and develop, a second home for our family, and a community to share times of joy and sadness.

It is now your turn to find someone and give them that same message. Join us as we build our team of parent ambassadors who will set others on this journey. Please come to our Parent Ambassador training next week on Monday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 to help us spread the message ofLech L’cha.

Listen, you’ll love it.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Ari Yares

Settled vs. Settling

Over the last few months, I have been frequently asked the same question. It usually goes something like this, “Are you feeling settled in Cleveland?” or “How are you settling in?” The truth is that we felt settled and adjusted to Cleveland pretty quickly. Much of that was due to the warmth of the welcome that we received over the summer and the offers of support.

Feeling settled feels good. We know where things are. The close proximity of the Jewish community and the larger communal resources makes life here just a little easier. Even at work, I’m feeling settled in. My office is almost completely set up, I’m getting to know the kids, and now that we’ve had a full week of school, a sense of routine is almost within my grasp.

Feeling settled and settling, however, are two separate things. The first is good for my home life and adds a level of ease for my professional life. The second is great for home as we get used to our new environment and enjoy all that Cleveland has to offer. But, it is not what I want to have happen at work.

Settling means accepting the status quo and not taking a stance that we can grow and improve. Building on our many strengths and taking the school to the next step is something that has been a topic of conversation among the staff since the school year began.

The staff started the year with broad “How Might We” questions and these have led us to develop seven new, more focused questions to tackle (in no particular order):

• How might we foster empathy, resilience, and social problem solving in our students?
• How might we be a greener school?
• How might we support and implement more cross-curricular collaboration?
• How might we promote student leadership?
• How might we create experiences that emphasize our students’ emotional and spiritual connections to Judaism?
• How might we design learning experiences that foster student creativity and curiosity?
• How might we better meet the needs of individual learners?

These are questions that do not have simple answers and ones that we do not expect to have answers for overnight. Instead, our initial goal has been to brainstorm as many possible answers to these questions as we can. No idea is off the table.

Eventually, we will narrow our choices to a few ways of addressing the questions and begin to develop prototypes that we will try out in our school. As we proceed, we may find that we need to change the question, narrow the focus, gather more information, or look at it in a different light.

It has been an incredible experience watching (and joining in) as the faculty grapples with these questions. The mantra of “go for quantity” has yielded some interesting ideas and I am curious to see where they go. In that spirit, I invite you to join in our conversation by adding your voice to our brainstorming. Partner with us as we seek to find even more answers to these big questions.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Ari Yares

P.S. I’m looking forward to welcoming Shabbat with so many of our 3rd to 5th grade families this evening. Over 140 members of the Schechter community will gather together to celebrate Shabbat. Wow!

Reflections - September 14, 2013

This has been a hard week to not be reflective. Maybe it was the post on Facebook from a local news station that reminded me that 12 years ago, our view of the world changed. Maybe it was thinking about where I was on that sunny September morning and feeling that same sense of the unknown that followed watching CNN footage of the events in New York, then Washington, and finally a few hours away in Pennsylvania.

Maybe it was remembering the frantic nature of not being able to reach my wife, then my girlfriend, by phone and knowing that her grandparents were flying to New York that morning. Maybe it was seeing the representatives of Pepper Pike's police and fire department lined up outside of school during the Peace Ceremony. Maybe it was watching the flag lowered to half mast.

Maybe it was hearing about the hesed activities undertaken by the 6th grade during their retreat. Maybe it was listening to classroom conversations about teshuva. Maybe it was reading a blog post from a colleague’s wife about the need to apologize and thinking about how we value relationships. Or maybe it was just that all of these thoughts were flowing through my head during the Aseret Y'mai Teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance that run from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. And my reflections have increasingly turned to Yom Kippur as it has drawn closer and closer each day.

The image that mostly clearly burns into my mind is standing in the congregation watching the chazzan (cantor) and rabbi entreat God on our behalf as the clock slowly ticks down during Ne'ilah, the closing service. We wait with bated breaths (and empty stomachs) as we eagerly listen for the final blasts of the shofar. It is a final opportunity to say the Vidui, the confessional prayer, one more time. It is a chance to engage in cheshbon hanefesh, checking the soul to see if we have lived the life in the past year that we set out to.

As we prepare to close out the High Holiday season, I am taking in all the changes in my life over the past year (new job, new city, new community) and thinking about the ones to come in the next. I am thanking my family, colleagues, and staff for their support and encouragement through all these changes and am doing my best to do the same for them. I am asking forgiveness for  those I have inadvertently hurt or offended and hoping they will accept my apologies.

Please, God, may we have the strength to ask forgiveness and to recognize the errors of our ways. Please, God, may we continue to grow and behave better to one another as  we go through the process of teshuva. Please, God, may the coming year allow us to  improve the world in which we live through acts of hesed and tikkun olam. 

Lo Bashamayim Hi

The Talmud tells the story of Rabbi Eliezer who was so convinced that he was right regarding an issue of Jewish law that he called on various inanimate objects to prove that he was correct. First, the walls of the Beit Midrash, the house of study, shook to demonstrate that his position was right. Then, when his colleagues were unconvinced, he called upon the river to flow backwards, but this did not convince them. Finally, frustrated Eliezer calls upon the heavens to justify him and a bat kol, a voice from above, confirmed that he was correct.

One of his colleagues chastised him, though, quoting a pasuk (line) from this week’s parsha(Torah portion), Nitzavim-Vayelekh, stating that “lo bashamayim hi” (it is not in the heavens). All of sudden, God laughed and agreed with Eliezer’s colleagues that it was up to them to interpret and understand God’s laws. This phrase, through this story, has been used frequently to justify our ability to interpret and bring new understanding to Jewish law. Yet, if you read just a little further, the Torah is trying to tell us even more than that we have the authority to interpret Judaism.

The text continues, saying “It is not over the sea so [that you should] say, 'Who will cross the sea and get if for us, so that we will be able to hear it and keep it?' It is something that is very close to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can keep it.” So if we learned from the first story that it is in our hands to interpret our sacred texts, what is our understanding of this next verse?

Judaism is about experiences and using it as the lens through which to view the world. This to me is the essence of what our mission is at Gross Schechter is as a Jewish day school. Within our walls, students engage in their Judaism as a living laboratory - thinking, doing, and feeling. They are acquiring more than just Jewish identity; they are building Jewish literacy.

This morning, I visited with some of our preschool students as they were celebrating Shabbat. Seated in a circle, our four year olds were smiling as several of them were quietly seeing just how much challah they could get into their mouths. As we chatted, they were able to articulately state what was special about Shabbat and how it was different from other days. Some shared about specific foods, challah, grape juice, and, of course, chicken soup. Others talked about having friends and family join their Shabbat table. And, from the enthusiastic way that they greeted me, it is clear that these students understand what hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests) is. For our younger students, this is Jewish literacy.

For our older students, through the generosity of the SaltzmanYouth Panel, our students are engaging in learning and doing as they participate in the Middle School Tikkun Olam program. Just this morning, students visited with residents at Menorah Park, helped out at the Ronald McDonald House, and worked to eliminate invasive cattails at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes which will help maintain and preserve the ecosystem and Ohio's native species. Our students are learning first-hand that Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, has us in a variety of settings. They are taking their understanding of mitzvot and putting them into action.

In our preschool yesterday morning, if you had walked by, you would have found an interesting combination of big and little kids. Middle school students were making the first of many visits to their preschool buddies. They delivered a personalized Shanah Tovah card introducing themselves and then got down on the floor to play. The preschoolers were so excited by the visit that after the middle schoolers left, multiple classes began to draw their own cards to send back to their big buddies. This is the start of a year long relationship. And hopefully many years beyond that too.

Even in the short two months that I have served as Head of School, it is readily apparent that Schechter is about talking, acting, and loving engaging in Jewish life. At the end of Parshat Nitzvavim, we are given a choice. We have heard the blessings that await us if we follow God’s commandments and we have heard the curses if we choose otherwise. We are encouraged, as the Torah states, to choose life. A life that is enriched through mitzvot, connected through community, and embraced in the richness of Judaism.We look forward to seeing you all at Monday’s Totally Kosher Rib Burn Off as we continue our tradition to serve as a gathering place for the entire Cleveland Jewish community.

How Might We

Not too long ago, the most popular soap in America was Colgate’s Irish Spring with its deodorizing green stripes. Some of  you might remember this commercial. Proctor and Gamble, the competitors, found themselves spending month after month trying to develop a green striped soap to compete with Irish Spring. Each attempt met with failure when market tested.

Enter a young designer, Min Basadur, who with a simple question changed the focus. Instead of asking, how to make a green striped bar that people would prefer over Irish Spring, he shifted their thinking by asking a question that they had  ignored: “How might we make a more refreshing soap?” Asking this question opened the designers’ minds and eventually led to the creation of the soap Coast, still a top selling brand.

Lovely story, but what does this have to do with Gross Schechter Day School. Earlier this week, we posted a series of  pictures on Facebook of the staff during our opening faculty meeting. If you looked closely, you saw groups of Schechter employees diligently trying to build towers out of paper bags, spaghetti, string, and masking tape that would hold a marshmallow up in the air. This design challenge encouraged our staff to take risks, rethink their assumptions, and then assess the steps needed for project design.

As we talked about our experience with this activity, we explored the values that are important in continually improving  Gross Schechter Day School, such as enthusiasm, innovation, collaboration, transparency, and respect. We then began asking our own ‘how might we’ questions. For example, how might we be more reflective, how might we be more adaptable, and how might we encourage creativity. To help answer the last question, staff offered answers like creating  more open ended assignments for students where there may be no “correct” answer and incorporating more inquiry-based  education across the curriculum. Others suggested finding ways to let kids determine how something will be done.

The essential question of ‘how might we’ will inform our work as a staff throughout this year. Stemming from the larger question of how might we enhance and grow Schechter, the staff will be working in smaller groups to innovate and improve our school, grow a school that our parents our proud of, that our community kvells about, and that achieves our  goals of educating students who can meet the challenges of the 21st century as mensches for life.  I will keep you informed throughout the year as we ask these ‘how might we’ questions and come up with some next steps.  And I will look forward to having some similar conversations with you at my regular Bo N’Daber (Come Talk) sessions.

And It Was Good: A Report on the First Day of School

It has been a good day.

 

We began with a bright, sunny day as students slowly arrived for the first day of classes. There was  excitement in the air, and it wasn’t just from the coffee and donuts that wonderful parent volunteers from the Kehillat Schechter Committee were passing out. Parents were taking pictures, old friends were greeting each other, and new friendships were forging.  Even our community partners, the Pepper Pike Police Department, were smiling when they stopped by to see how our first day of school was going.

 

This was good.

 

The excitement continued to build as we entered the Merkaz to welcome our kindergarten students. Our kindergarteners joined the day school community, in front of their parents and the 1-8 grade student body. I had the privilege and honor of reciting my first bracha, the Shehechiyanu, as Head of School and, in this case, my first blessing as a Schechter parent. Together with my fellow kindergarten parents (my oldest daughter is in this class), we recited Shehechiyanu as we watched our sons and daughters become kindergartners and start the their formal school years.

 

This, too, was good.

 

My colleague and friend, Rabbi David Kosak of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah, joined us to offer the Priestly Blessing and to share the story of a young Hillel and his thirst for knowledge. We hope that all of our students model Hillel’s desire to learn and that they grow to be like Ephraim, Manasseh, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah as the blessing recalls.

 

This was good as well.

 

Our teachers surprised the students by donning wigs and grabbing pom-poms to sing “Gross Schechter is Going to Be Fun” to the tune of Cyndi Lauper’s hit. This touch of silliness and spirit brought smiles (and perhaps some laughter, as well) to the students faces. It was just a small part of the enthusiasm that staff has brought in the days leading up to school.

 

And this was good.

 

After students dispersed to their classes, I walked through the school and was greeted by “Good morning, Dr. Yares” and “Boker Tov, Dr. Yares.” I am looking forward to longer visits with each of our grade levels in the coming days.

 

This was also good.

 

With the arrival of the pre-schoolers next week, we will start the school year with an enrollment of 269, an increase of 4% over last year. And another great year begins.

 

There is bracha that we say upon hearing good news, ha-tov v’ha-maiteev. Today truly has been a day filled with good news. I began my day with Shehechiyanu, thanking God for allowing us to reach this moment. I end my day reciting ha-tov v’ha-maiteev, thanking God for the goodness that has graced our lives today and with hope for more opportunities to say this bracha in the future.

Some Good Questions

Nobel laureate Isidor Rabi was famously once asked why he became a scientist rather than one of the many other career options available to someone of his intellect. He is quoted as saying that his mother was responsible for making him a scientist. Instead of asking him what he learned in school today, Dr. Rabi’s mother would ask him, “Izzy, did you ask a good question today?”

Dr. Rabi’s mother was less concerned about filling her child with knowledge and more concerned about fanning his growing curiosity. Knowledge would come with questioning, but better questions would yield the kinds of information that you need. Last Wednesday’s parent open house at school was a success because of the kinds of questions that were asked. Our conversation ranged over a wide number of topics from my adjustment to Cleveland to promoting the school to the teaching of tefillah to building leaders.

Two major themes emerged from the conversation. The first echoed some of the conversations that I had with parents back in May during one of my whirlwind visits to Schechter. Our parents want to know what is going on in school and we need to do a better job ensuring that information is sent out in a timely and useful fashion. This is more than just letting you know when the next evening program is, it means turning our classrooms and programs inside out (figuratively, of course) and sharing the incredible learning that makes Schechter an experience for life. It means creating opportunities to connect learning to home life and the world around us.

When I think about this school, I also think about how it connects to the families. To that end, we  want to strengthen our partnership with our parents. We’re looking to see how we can make our programs more accessible for families with multiple children.

The second theme focused on dealing with the oft quoted phrase “Schechter is a hidden gem”. Parents, staff, and community members are fiercely proud of the school, but often follow up with comments about how too few people are aware of who we are and what we do. We need to work on building Schechter’s reputation through a variety of channels. We need to improve our “curb appeal” by increasing our signage on Fairmount. We all need to have more conversations about what makes this a great school and keep a positive buzz in the air.  We all need to click ‘share’ on our Facebook status messages to help get the word out.  We need you to kvell about what your kids are doing in school and how they are become mensches.

In addition to those external steps to raise our profile, we need parents to engage internally. As you learned about when you enrolled your children for this year, we have added a requirement of 15  parent engagement hours per family. We will be rolling out a volunteer website in the coming days to help coordinate volunteer efforts. Stay tuned.

Your questions help guide our work to create an experience for life for your children. I want to hear your creative ideas and last Wednesday’s session is only the first of many that I will be hosting throughout the year. Learning, as Dr. Rabi noted, is about asking questions.

In Hebrew, we would say Bo N’Daber. Come and let’s talk. So join me for the next conversation on Thurs., Sept. 12 at 8:15am.

We've Arrived!

My almost three-year-old daughter had an interesting reaction to our move. When she arrived at the house, she began scampering around looking in each room to see what was there. Each look into a room was punctuated by her exclaiming, “wow”, there is a new toy, chair, etc. I had expected her to be excited, but I did not expect her to look at her old toys and furniture in such a new light. For her, everything seemed new, even if it was old, because it was placed differently in our new home and this brought with it excitement for her.

Her reaction has mirrored what I have felt as I have settled into my new professional home at Gross Schechter Day School. Yes, some things are truly new - the office, the much shorter daily commute, and the faces around me. On the other hand, some things are technically not new, such as the challenges and opportunities facing a Jewish day school. What my daughter has taught me is that context is incredibly important and seeing things in a new context can take the mundane and elevate it to a higher level.

As the summer builds towards the start of the school year, I am striving to learn about all things Schechter and getting to know our context better as I work to chart our course for the future. My commitment to you as the new Head of School is to listen, be transparent, and be honest. As the school’s lead administrator, I am partnering with our staff to create a culture of accountability, coordination, flexibility, and understanding. We are building a school that has capacity for growth.

We are already working to strengthen our communications. The staff is hard at work this summer ensuring that your child will have a meaningful year in the classroom and that parents will be more informed about and engaged with the activities happening throughout our school. We will be launching a new website that will make it easier for you to stay informed and create a strong digital presence for Schechter.

During the past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to sit with some key supporters of our school and hear why they have stayed involved with Schechter and how they think we can grow. I am looking forward to having many more of these opportunities. We will be setting up a series of open house gatherings during which you can tell me what you love about our school and offer suggestions where you see a place for change. The first one will be on Wednesday, July 31^st, at 7:00 PM in the Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Media Center at the school.

You will also find me enjoying a popsicle on the Schechter playground on Sunday, July 28^th, at 4:00PM -- a program open to all families -- and also at Wade Oval Wednesday on August 7^th, at 6:00PM (see attached Summer Family Events Schedule).  Please come, (re)introduce yourself, and enjoy some summer fun with us!

Warehouse

With about three weeks to go before our move to Cleveland, our house on Long Island is beginning to look a lot like a shipping warehouse. We’ve run out of places to discretely stack boxes and now they are beginning to take over the living spaces. As we have packed, we’ve had the opportunity to go through files and clean out the attic.

We’ve made some interesting discoveries along the way (e.g. why did I still have tuition bills from college in a filing cabinet?) and had some moments of warmth as we found early examples of our girls’ artwork and things from our wedding. As we worked to pack up our lives and transport them to another city, these touchstones with our past are making the transition easier, even as we look to eliminate some of the clutter that we have acquired.

I recently spent a very packed two days in Cleveland making a few discoveries of my own, even though we are not quite ready to begin unpacking in our new home. I am continuing to enjoy the warmth of the Cleveland Jewish community and our own community, Kehillat Schechter.  Each conversation that I had helped me uncover and unpack more about my new professional and personal home.

Perhaps the most important discovery is the fierce passion that the members of Gross Schechter’s kehillah have for the school. Parents and staff shared moments of pride for the school, as well as their hopes and requests for the future. Among the highlights were strong academics, caring students, and a staff committed to professional growth. Many people expressed a desire to strengthen our communication, both internally and externally. Also shared was a desire to enhance the bonds that connect us as a kehillah through volunteerism and social activities. As we move into the beginnings of a new recruitment season, we also need to make sure that we build a stronger community presence, so that no one thinks that the gem that is Gross Schechter is hidden.

These, along with our other objectives of continuing to enhance our academic offerings, support our students’ growth, and securing the school’s financial health, will be among the things that the staff, lay leadership, and I will be working on as the summer begins.

In these closing days of the school year, Susan Siegel and I have been in close communication as the transition nears. I am grateful for her help and support, as well as the support from the school’s staff and lay leaders. I join with the community in wishing Susan b’hatzlacha rabba (much success) with her new position in Greensboro.

With just a few short weeks to go, the excitement and anticipation is building.

Just a Skype Call Away

Over the course of the year, I have shared with you a variety of sounds that have been heard in the hallways and classrooms of Schechter. Last week, our Upper School lobby was the site of a new sound. Listen to it here.

Recognize it? It is the sound of an incoming Skype call. Student Life Director Mike Hirsch has brought a netbook and wireless modem on the senior class trip to Israel. Each time we  hear that noise, whoever is in the hallway gathers around one of the LCD screens in the lobby to check in on the latest news of the trip.

Through our digital connection to the seniors, we have been treated to beautiful scenes of Israel and tasted the seniors’ enthusiasm for this incredible culminating experience of their Schechter education. Their excitement has been a welcome break from the serious atmosphere that surrounds finals and Regents’ exams as we move closer toward the end of the school year.

For many of our students, this trip seems like such a far away activity for them. Having our seniors, along with their chaperones - Rabbi Rabin, Mrs. Hiltzik, and Mike Hirsch, on the screen, we bring this closing Schechter experience a little closer and whet the appetites of our 6th through 11th graders just a little bit more for a trip that will be the experience of a lifetime.

So, we continue to look forward for each time that we hear the sound of a Skype call coming in and wish our seniors a continued nesiyah tova - a safe and enjoyable trip.

Managing Expectations

As I write this, I'm circling on a small plane somewhere above the New York metropolitan area. We've been delayed because of air traffic concerns and weather.

How do I know this? The pilot has used the PA system several times and done a pretty decent job of communicating with us. He had shared with us the timeline and updated us with new information each time a deadline has passed.

Now this is in stark contrast to my experience earlier this morning when I was waiting for my original flight. The information was slow to come from the gate crew about the delay, its cause, and the impact. Information on the many LCD screens on the airport was not current, not was the airline's website.

When I fly, and I've done a lot of it recently, I expect and understand that there will be delays with security, boarding, take off, and landing. I recognize that flying involves working with a complex system and that things can go wrong.

Today, they clearly have and I'm ok with that. The problem is not that there are problems; there will be. The problem is that in attempting to manage our expectations of the flight, the airline has done little to communicate that we as passengers have value and instead relies on our captivity to this system.

When you fall short of expectations that you have set for yourself and shared with others, you have to actively manage that failure. This means more than just working to fix the problem; it means communicating with others that you understand the problems that you are causing for them. It means displaying empathy.

Sometimes empathy can be relayed verbally and that may be enough. For bigger problems, you may need to tangibly show how you value others. Depending upon the type of organization you run, this demonstration of empathy may vary. For the airline, a little empathy could mean simply sending the drink cart firm the aisle again. You can even demonstrate empathy by simply following up after the problem and sore your customs that they have value to you by asking them about their experience.

Empathy is how we show each other that we matter. And we do.

Where's the Brake?

When I get into a car, I have a few basic expectations of how the car will work. There will be a steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal, etc. Some things, like the radio and air conditioner, I know will be different and take a few moments to get oriented to, but it's not going to be rocket science.

Late Monday night, I had flashbacks to my first days as a driver when I didn't feel one hundred percent comfortable in the car. It started with sitting in the parking lot of the car rental agency in the Chevy Captiva that they had given me looking for the power outlet to plug my cell phone's car charger in to which was nowhere to be found. Feeling a little foolish for not being able to identify a basic car feature, I flagged down the attendant and he pointed out where it was, underneath a set of sliding cup holders in the center console.

"Ok," I said to myself, "Odd placement, but somewhat understandable from a design perspective. It's out of the way and won't interfere with operating the car's other features."

So, with this important task out of the way, I pulled out of the rental agency and drove to my hotel. Upon parking, I found myself again scratching my head and growing increasingly frustrated with my car. I was on a slight incline and wanted to engage the parking brake, something my father had taught me to do whenever parking the car. First, I tried engaging it with my left foot which is where the parking brake is located in both of our cars. My foot hit nothing but air and the floor. Then, I looked to my right to see if it was a hand brake, but there was nothing there (yes, I did look to see if it was below the cup holder with the outlet). I kept looking all over the dashboard and floor of the driver's seat, but I couldn't identify it. The car had to be designed with an emergency brake, right?

Would you know where the parking brake is?

Finally, after a short struggle to locate the car's interior lights, I opened the glove compartment, pulled out the manual, and identified a small button, pictured here, below the gear shift that engaged the parking brake.

Needless to say this whole process was completely counter intuitive. The car's designers had not taken into account what we were used to in designing this feature and instead, for whatever reason, had created a brake that was completely different from most other cars. Their lack of thinking about the user's experience lead to a high level of frustration for what should have been a very simple task.

In designing experiences for our faculty, students, or parents, we need to think about how they are going to interact with it. When they approach a learning experience or a faculty procedure will they know what to read, where to click, or what to do? Or will it run counter to what they are expecting and then potentially run into frustration.

This does not mean that learning experiences can't be challenging or that a process can't be complicated. It just means that the user's experience needs to include instructions, reference material, or guidance. My driving experience lacked any of this until I took out the car's manual which is not something that most of do on a regular basis.

I'm sure that the car's drivers have gotten use to this strange arrangement. I know that several years later, I'm used to the push button ignition button in my Prius and the funky joystick that serves as a gear shift. When I bought the car, the salesman pointed out these changes from the norm and made sure that I understood how they worked. If the rental agency attendant had just pointed out this unusual arrangement, I might have avoided the whole ordeal.

Simply put, design matters. Put yourself in the shoes of your users and try to walk a mile in them. If you trip, get blisters, or can't even get started, redesign the experience.