High Holy Day Service Schedule 2012/5773 - Temple Beth Tikvah

On a hot sunny day, I arrived in Yokneam, our Atlanta sister city, for a short visit with the youth baseball team. This program is
made up of 35 students, ages 8-14, and coached by Yosef Ross. Along with Micki Niakanii, the sister of Hedva Weiner, Kivunim
class teacher, we delivered Atlanta Braves baseball caps to the local Yokneam Braves. Big smiles were abundant as we handed out
the caps. We spent a wonderful afternoon watching the kids practice.
The exciting part about visiting the team was that the 2011-2012 Kivunim class
(11th and 12th grade students – Wyran Ward, Austin Schiffer, Allison Cohen,
Sarah Scott, Jacob Kaplan, Sydney Korshak and Megan Zimmer) led by Hedva,
worked together on raising the money to send to the team. These hats were part
of the $4,100 the kids raised. The personal delivery by Micki and I made the
gift all the more special.
Thanks to everyone who donated to this worthwhile cause. The smiles on the
faces of the children made it all the more worthwhile!
Our first day of school will be on September 9 th . We are starting the new year
on a sweet note as the students will have apples and honey. Dr. Joel Margolies
is coming again to teach our students about the Shofar. Our Tefilah service will
end as the Shofar is blown.
We have three open houses planned during the first few weeks of school. The open house dates are September 9 th for 7 th grade, September
23 rd for PreK – 3 rd grade and September 30 th for 4 th – 6 th grades. We would like all the parents to come and meet the teachers
and learn about the years curriculum.
Parents will receive an email with their child’s teacher name(s), classroom number and carpool number right before school starts.
The religious school teaching faculty is looking forward to the new school year. Please note that the email address for the religious
school has changed. Our new email is rschool@bethtikvah.com.
I would like to wish all of our students and parents a wonderful start to the new school year!
Shalom
Hassia Levin
Religious School
Early Childhood Education Center
A few months ago, I, along with 15 other women from across the country, were accepted to the first cohort of JECELI, the Jewish
Early Childhood Leadership Institute. This new collaboration between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College
-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) was developed in consultation with Bank Street College of Education and with generous support
from the Jim Joseph Foundation. JECELI provides new and aspiring Jewish early-childhood-education directors with 15 months of
intensive professional development focused on best practices in early childhood education and Jewish education.
With the support of my family and encouragement from Rabbi Greene, Seth Zimmer, the Board of Trustees, and ECEC teachers, my
15 month adventure began…. In May, I went to Connecticut and spent some time with the other members of the cohort gaining insight
to what we will be learning as the program continues. Now to a “normal” person, packing up and going to a place that is unfamiliar
with people that you have never met, could be a bit unsettling. But those that know me best know that my biggest fear was
that I would have to share a room with a stranger! I spent the weekend at The Isabella Freedman Retreat Center, learning and getting
to know other Jewish Early Childhood Directors. It was an amazing experience, and I had my own room!
In July, I spent two weeks in New York City, delving into more intense learning. Everyday, we would attend class for 8-9 hours.
These classes were taught by educators from JTS, HUC and Bank Street College of Education. We discussed everything from Torah
Study to elements of supervision to social media. To say that I learned a lot is putting it mildly! At the end of each day, my head
would spin with information and the excitement of implementing new ideas into our programs.
I am looking forward to making our fabulous school and community stronger with the new things I learned. The program continues
throughout the year, with a trip in February and then back to New York next summer. Look for updates and come visit our Early
Childhood Center. Learning is not just for children- there are “JEMS” (Jewish educational moments) in everything!
Jenifer Friedman
ECEC Director
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