Do the Write Thing

Over the last month, there has been an incredible amount of excitement in the air around reading. One of the goals of the Sveta Grinberg Read for Life Program is to create that excitement and buzz around reading, and, judging by the number of books read by our students during the program, it did.

We should be equally excited about writing, and here at Schechter, there is a lot to be excited about. In the last two weeks, our students have won high honors in the Power of the Pen competition (including our seventh grade team advancing to regionals) and swept Federation’s writing competition for Yom HaShoah. Mazal tov to all of the students and kol hakavod to their coach, Davida Amkraut!

Some may feel that writing is an art form that is slowly being lost because of texting, instant messaging and social media. And receiving a message like “AFAIK” (as far as I know) or “BRB” (be right back), probably reinforces it.

Yet, written communication is becoming even more important because of the dramatic increase in the places, times and formats that we do write.

Writing is something that you will see emphasized starting in our four-year-old classrooms as students begin putting together sentences in their journals (often with some fascinating creative spelling). These skills grow and develop over time. Our first graders engage in creative writing and start drafting reports. Third graders are learning research as they draft their President speeches. In fifth grade, they discover the challenge that an ambiguous prompt can provide as they write short stories based upon a series of pictures from Chris Van Allsburg, and of course, writing abounds in all classes as our students enter middle school whether they are working with Mrs. Amkraut in Language Arts, Mr. Norton in Science or Giveret Slain in Hebrew.

Even just outside my office door is a wall filled with graffiti about our school-wide read, Rules. Students with varying levels of writing sophistication have filled it with thoughts and observations about the book.It is these kinds of scaffolded writing experiences that have led to the successes that our school has had in the Power of the Pen competition year after year.

A Schechter education prepares students to use their writing to effectively communicate ideas!

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

Power of a Jewish Mother

While our fourth graders are researching famous Jews for the Wax museum project, their teacher, Donell Newman, has been reaching out via e-mail and Facebook to several of the people selected by the students to see if they can get questions directly answered. Sometimes, though, you have to try a different channel to get a hold of them, like their mom.

One of our students had selected Browns offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz as his famous Jew. Schwartz is one of the few visibly Jewish NFL players. Mrs. Newman had reached out to the Browns’ front office, but had not heard back yet from them about arranging an interview with Schwartz. Late one night, Mrs. Newman’s husband, Scott, suggested that she try a different approach - contact his mother.

Mrs. Newman scoffed at the idea, but she did it anyway.

Pretty quickly, she got a response from Olivia Goodkin, Mitchell’s mom. “I’ve passed along your e-mail. Please let me know if you don’t get a response.”

Mrs. Newman did get a response and a series of emails starting going back and forth between Schwartz and her. Mrs. Newman’s hope was that Schwartz would answer the student’s questions and thus enrich his Wax Museum presentation. A lot more than that happened.

“You know,” Schwartz wrote, “I’m going to be in Cleveland in a week or two. How about I stop by the school?”

And he did.

This morning, our fourth graders were treated to a question and answer session with Mitchell Schwartz. He then joined us for the closing ceremonies for the Sveta Grinberg Read for Life program as our celebrity guest.

Sometimes you just need to call mom.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

In their own words

"I liked making mummies with my buddy!" Ever think you'd hear that from a first grader?  Or hear an eighth grader say, "My buddy was incorporating what he learned in class when we played the game online.  He knew so much!" These were some of the rave reviews given by our first graders and eighth graders after spending an interactive, dynamic field trip for both the first and eighth grade classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Middle School Social Studies teacher, Jesse Ebner, and first grade teacher, Marci Friedman, created a great opportunity for collaboration, growth and deeper learning. Prior to a field trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the eighth graders met with the first graders twice before the field trip and then met them twice after.  The pre-field trip classes were focused on some joint learning on ancient Egypt (the eighth graders had studied Egypt a few weeks earlier, and the first graders were currently working on a unit about Egypt).  They used  computers to play a game called "Mummy Maker" to learn about religion in Ancient Egypt and the mummification process.  They also used the computer to learn about hieroglyphics and "translate" their own names to hieroglyphs.  They made "name plates" with their name in hieroglyphs and drawings to represent themselves and the items they would take with them to the afterlife.  

On the field trip, the eighth graders and first graders took separate tours focused on seeing items they learned about in their respective units.  Eighth graders saw ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian artifacts, as well as ancient India and Chinese religious artwork.  First graders focused mostly on Ancient Egypt.  Then, both groups got together for a fun scavenger hunt throughout the museum, lunch and free time in the hands-on "Gallery One."

After the trip, eighth graders wrote their own reflection blog posts  Then, they met with the first graders to share what a blog looks like and explain how they write their own blog posts. The eighth graders helped the first graders write rough drafts and then use the iPads to publish their first blog posts!

Here’s what we heard from our eighth graders about their experience:

"It was fun to be with and hang out with our younger buddies."

"They (first graders) know what they saw at the Museum and what they learned, but they couldn't put it into words.  I attempted to help them put their thoughts into words and spell hard words like, hieroglyphics."

"We learned some leadership skills.  The first graders looked up to us as the oldest grade in the school.  They probably look forward to being in eighth grade when they could be the ones teaching their first grade buddy about ancient Egypt."

"Remembering being in first grade and having a book buddy, it would've been really cool to have a blog from first grade to look back on."

"It's strange to hear first graders have blogs. I didn't even know what the internet was in first grade!"

"I like working with the first graders, it was just fun. Working with younger kids gives you a new perspective on what you are learning."

"I thought it was nice that the first graders really look up to us. They like being with us."  

Our first graders had similar reflections ranging from, “I was able to learn more from my buddy" to "I am excited to blog again." Another shared, "It was cool to blog because it was my first time”; while one student told us, "I felt happy because I had someone to work with me and explain things to me and she was so nice."

Kol HaKavod to Mrs. Ebner and Mrs. Friedman for facilitating this shared unit and for enabling our students to begin sharing their own words!

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares


Eighth Grade Blogs (password is Schechter):  

http://talyasocialstudies.weebly.com/eighth-grade-world-history/field-trip-reflection-blog

http://noahsocialstudiesblog.weebly.com/eighth-grade-blog-page

We're expecting!

As you’ve probably heard, we’re “expecting” and not just one baby, but at least a dozen or so.

Our Schechter family is growing with the opening of our Infant Care Center in the B’nai Jeshurun facility. We will be welcoming infants and toddlers starting at six weeks of age into this warm, caring and nurturing environment.

We’re excited to be creating a program where parents will feel comfortable entrusting their children into our care. We want to be our parents’ partners as their children grow and develop from infants to toddlers to young children and as they move into their teen years. We want to share in your joy over developmental milestones and hold your hand through those more challenging moments of parenting.

Our Infant Care Center is about providing a Schechter experience at the earliest age and offering a much-needed resource to Jewish Cleveland. We’re putting the finishing touches on our new home next door and we’re grateful to our host, B’nai Jeshurun Congregation, for welcoming us in. These finishing touches will create an inviting environment for infants and toddlers filled with toys for a range of ages and spaces to explore for our crawlers and toddlers.

The Infant Care Center will deliver a low child-to-teacher ratio and a warm, welcoming environment supervised by Schechter’s well-trained and excellent Early Childhood Center (ECC) staff. The environment will promote healthy child development and flex with each child’s needs through careful observation of each child. It will foster growth towards independence, and we will partner with parents to meet their desires for their children’s care and well-being.

Not only do we care about providing warmth, education and support to our students, now starting at a VERY early age, but we are able to provide great resources for our parents, as well. We’re also excited that our brand new lunch and learn series, led by school counselor, Mandy DuBro, is kicking off soon. The sessions are focused on the book, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, written by two Jewish moms and child care experts. Each session will help us build our toolbox as parents. Join us for this engaging series of workshops during the last two Fridays of each month starting in February. You can find more information at www.grossschechter.org/lunchandlearn.

Please help us spread the word about our new program and all of the wonderful ways that Schechter is “growing”.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Strengthening Our Hearts

I’ll have to admit that I have not seen the new movie Exodus: Gods and Kings, but I understand why Ridley Scott was drawn to the story. The narrative of the Exodus is compelling filled with dramatic tension, flawed characters, and wondrous miracles. While I think my vision of the Exodus may be more Prince of Egypt or Charlton Heston, we can be enriched in our understanding of our sacred texts each time a new creative force attempts to interpret them into a new medium.

Over the last several weeks, the story of the Exodus has been unfolding from the bimah of our synagogues as we read the opening parshiyot of the book of Exodus. Like the movies, this story is keeping me engaged and curious as a I read along.

One thing that has caught my eye was the constant repetition of the Hebrew phrase which we translate as the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. It appears twenty times between Vaera and Bo as we witness the interaction between Pharaoh and Moses with the plagues occurring in the background.

Most of our traditional commentators look at this as the increasing development of Pharaoh’s stubborn nature. His resistance to changing his mind builds and eventually the hardening of his heart is attributed to God. Some interpretations of the text say that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was done to demonstrate the incredible power of God. Others are troubled by the lack of free will that these passages seem to infer. Instead, they say that Pharaoh was given several chances to change his mind and repent. Each time that he refused, he backed himself further into a corner making it harder and harder for Pharaoh to change his mind and save face. God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was merely an example of human nature at work.

Somehow, these interpretations weren’t satisfying to me (like many people’s impressions of Ridley Scott’s movie). They don’t fully explain the divine intervention needed during the last five plagues. A chance reading of a more obscure commentator, Hizkuni, brought me new insight. Hizkuni writes that God wasn’t making Pharaoh stubborn; he was strengthening Pharaoh’s heart so that he did not die of fear!

Now, all of a sudden, this makes some sense.  The plagues are fear and awe inspiring. Nature is running awry as God is proving God’s supremacy over Egypt. Had Pharaoh’s heart not been strengthened, the events of the Exodus might have unfolded differently and the Egyptians might have not given the Israelites their full freedom.

Most of the time, we want our children to aspire to be like our heroes, but perhaps in this one case, we want our children to have a little Pharaoh in them. We want them to strengthen their hearts to be able to face the trials and tribulations that await them as they grow. We want them to have an inner strength that grants them resolve to forge forward in the face of adversity. We want them to have the strength to have convictions and take action to see those thoughts become reality around them.

So while I will wish that you live until 120 like Moses, I also wish for you to strengthen your hearts like God did for Pharaoh.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

Read for Life

It has been an incredibly busy week. We have had evening programs, step up nights, field trips and special programs throughout the week. These changes to our routine help deepen our students’ classroom experiences and connect them to the real world, the next steps in their education, and ignite their passion for learning.

At the risk of stealing the thunder of our faculty, I’m very excited that our expanded Reading Week program is continuing the excitement next week. This is an incredible celebration of reading and literacy that the faculty and staff have been hard at work on for weeks. Last year, our theme was “Go for the Gold: Read for Life,” and students experienced a series of  Olympic-themed programs that encouraged reading and promoted literacy.

This year, the theme is “Schechter Celebrates Reading,” and I’m delighted to announce that the program is now the Sveta Grinberg Read for Life Program.

Who is Sveta Grinberg?

Sveta is the daughter of Mikhail and Ida Grinberg, who, unfortunately, passed away as a young adult. Sveta is most remembered for her passionate love of reading. She was never without a book, or several, and enjoyed learning and exploring as she read. At work, Sveta encouraged others to read. She kept a box by her desk and placed her finished books in it for her colleagues to grab and read for themselves. In her memory, her parents created the Sveta Grinberg Memorial Literacy Endowment Fund at Schechter as an enduring way of celebrating this important aspect of Sveta’s life.

Over the last several years as the fund has grown, it has supported our Reading Week program and now supports the larger and longer Sveta Grinberg Read for Life Program. It is in Sveta’s memory that we dedicate this program and we hope that all of our students will share her love of reading as they grow.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School

A Warm Blessing

As the song goes, “Baby, it’s cold outside,” but, despite that, it feels warm inside the walls of Gross Schechter. It’s more, though, than just the warm feeling we get from the heaters working overtime to beat back this week’s plummeting temperatures. There is an additional warmth that I’m feeling as I watch our staff settle back into teaching, coaching and nurturing our students.

That warmth comes from hearing from teachers who are so dedicated to creating incredible learning experiences that they constantly ask if we can open the building for them on Sundays or during vacations for them to get things ready in their classrooms.

It comes from sitting with a group of teachers who have volunteered to plan our Read for Life program and are meeting, not just after school, but after a faculty meeting, to put the final touches on our annual celebration of literacy and reading.

It’s seeing teachers jump up to cover for an absent colleague even though this means missing out on precious planning time or lunch.

I’m warmed by seeing staff working with students after school on projects, helping them catch up on missed assignments or re-teaching a concept to ensure that a student masters it.

The warmth comes when I hear about a teacher sitting with a child who was feeling down and eating lunch with them to help cheer them up.

I see it when our staff turns out for recitals, games and plays to watch our students shine on the field or stage.

It appears in the e-mails from staff sharing the accomplishments of our alumni in high school and beyond, and the pride that we take in seeing our graduates succeed.

This warmth is a blessing which was the focus on last week’s Torah reading, Vayechi. The text contains the source for our Friday night blessing of our sons to be like Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh. But let’s face it, we don’t know much about them (and while we bless our daughters to be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, we don’t know much more about them).

This week, I’d like to bless all of our children to be like our teachers and grow to have their compassion, dedication, energy and initiative.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares
Head of School