January-February 2012 - The Jewish Georgian

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Page 36 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN January-February 2012 By Belle Klavonsky CREATIVE WITH A CLASSIC. Davis Academy eighth-grader Rebecca Greenberg and 7th-grader Sophia Bussey work on a puppet for a school production of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. The puppet performance was the culmination of academic and creative activities during January that integrated the arts into the curriculum at the Davis Academy Middle School. The project was led by Davis faculty and visiting artist and puppeteer Marilyn Price. YOUNG READER. Davis Academy students work with a variety of tools in everyday learning. Kindergartener Renee Vaysman concentrates on a writing activity using a listening program that helps her learn how sounds make up words. FRIENDLY AUTHOR. Award-winning children’s author Eric A. Kimmel spent a day at The Davis Academy Lower School reading from his newest book, The Golem’s Latkes, and his most popular book, Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins. Students enjoyed Mr. Kimmel’s stories and asked questions about his work and the writing/publishing process. FRIENDS FROM ISRAEL. The Davis Academy welcomed three 8th-grade Israeli students and their teacher, who visited and studied at Davis during January through the ORT Lipson International Studies program. The program is a win-win, allowing Davis and the Israeli students to learn about each other’s cultures. Left to right: Davis 8th-grader Meredith Galanti, Israeli student Polina Gogian, Davis 8th-graders Lily Sandler and Lille Brown, Israeli students Betty Khaimov and Lior Mashim, Davis 8th-grader Mallory Goldenberg, and Israeli teacher Tamar Katz JOYFUL DAY. Davis Academy 2nd-graders had much to celebrate after ceremonies in which they received their permanent Siddur books from their parents. Afterward, they gave thanks and sang songs on the occasion of this meaningful milestone. MUSICAL EXPRESSION. The Winter Concert showcased the budding talents of nearly 50 Davis Academy Middle School students, who performed a repertoire ranging from classic rock to contemporary. Here, Alex Heller plays the Keytar, and Matthew Diamond plays guitar; both are 7th-graders. SENIOR EXPERIENCE. Weber seniors returned from their five-week Senior Poland/Israel Experience tired but happy to be home. The trip began with one week in Poland, where students explored a millennium of Jewish history and learned of the complexities of rebuilding modern Jewish communities. After Poland, students traveled to Israel, where the country became the classroom. Students enjoyed experiential learning based on important chronological events that molded the Jewish people and the State of Israel. WRESTLING WITH SUCCESS. The Weber Wrestling Team is receiving local recognition for its strong start to the season. Recently featured in The Northside Neighbor, the team received accolades for coaching, teamwork, and dedication. Head coach Zachary Shindell was a member of the first Weber wrestling team and won an individual GISA state championship his junior year. Sophomore team member Jonathan Geller (pictured) was subsequently recognized as The Northside Neighbor’s Male Athlete of the Week. CHALLENGE AWARD. The Weber School is one of twenty-seven U.S. schools that received a $25,000 Challenge Award, designed to drive increased revenue through innovation, by Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education. One hundred twenty-seven schools submitted a total of 141 applications. The Weber School’s PEJE Challenge initiative is the establishment of its first-ever endowment. The endowment initiative was launched at a special event on January 18, at which Weber introduced two honorary endowed funds named in honor of two very special Weber friends and leaders, Carol Nemo and Felicia Weber. ENTREPRENEURS-IN-TRAINING. In January, Weber welcomed several new semester-only classes, including a new entrepreneurship class. The class recently began a project in which individual teams must develop a product—a child’s toy—meeting specific requirements and using a selection of random items. The five teams had to develop three product ideas, narrow down their ideas to the best one, select a name and tagline for the toy, draw the toy, set a price, and then design the box in which the toy will be sold. UN BUEN HOTEL. Sophomores in Liza Suarez’s Spanish II Honors class furthered their learning about Spanish-speaking countries by creating a brochure, written entirely in Spanish, for an imaginary hotel in the Hispanic country of their choosing. In order to fully develop and design their brochures, the students researched and compiled information covering the geography, people, government, and culture of their respective countries. They incorporated sentence structure and vocabulary learned in the previous semester to create compelling brochures for countries such as Puerto Rico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Spain. SKYPE TALMUD. Weber Judaics teacher Marc Leventhal is leading a “Skype Talmud at Lunch” series. Students use Skype software to make video calls over the Internet, discussing Talmud with students from Barrack Hebrew Academy, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Posnack Jewish Day School, Plantation, Florida. Most recently, the students discussed Tractate Sanhedrin, one of ten tractates of a section of the Talmud that deals with judicial procedures, both civil and criminal. The discussions are lively, as the text addresses questions of criminal law and punishment.
January-February 2012 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 37 2011 SHIRIYAH. A crowd of 750 people attended Epstein’s Eleventh Annual Middle School Shiriyah at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The production was led by Musical Director Michal Spiegelman with the support of choreographer and Israeli folk dance instructor Meliss Bachar and Middle School staff. As has become tradition, the grand finale included Epstein alumni, who rushed to the stage to join in the singing of Shir Israeli. Here, Rachel Greenwald, Aly Satisky, and Mikayla Hertz stand up to support the earth as they and their classmates perform “It’s a Small World.” TEAMWORK. Three years ago, in an effort to prevent the spread of the flu, The Epstein School partnered with Teamworks, a job skills development program run by Jewish Family & Career Services, to have developmentally disabled volunteers serve lunch and thus reduce the chance of students spreading germs to each other. Since then, the school has seen a significant drop in illness and absenteeism. In addition, Teamworks participants bring much joy and perspective to the school. First-grader Hannah Friedman has her lunch served by Teamworks volunteers Jemel Wynn (from left), Trevor Smith, and Asherhee McNeil. GYM RENOVATIONS. At The Epstein School, the Ramie and Joyce Tritt Gymnasium is getting a fresh look, thanks to a gift from the Henry and Etta Raye Hirsch Heritage Foundation (Lisa and Seth Greenberg and Michelle and David Hirsch) to refinish the walls. New insulation has given the gym a much-needed lift. The school also has used money from a Refurbishment Fund set up by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta to update window coverings and repaint the walls of the gym. Ben Siegel, Max Marcovitch, and Ross Brill play in the newly renovated gymnasium. GOOD SPORTS. One of the middle school girls basketball teams from Torah Day School of Atlanta played the Atlanta International School in the TDSA gym on November 29. While the girls did not win this game, they played with remarkable sportsmanship, resilience, and determination. A WINTER GARDEN. TDSA Kindergarten students have their very own garden. Located just outside their classrooms are raised beds containing beautiful winter crops, including potatoes, radishes, and dinosaur kale. Aside from planting, weeding, and watering, during the colder months, the students will decorate their garden with hand-painted rocks and decorated popsicle sticks to help identify their crops. CPR TRAINING. TDSA 8th-grade girls attended a CPR training class on December 1. Coordinated by science teacher Mrs. Christine Hippeli-Castle, the class taught students how to be first responders in an emergency. Now trained in CPR and AED usage, the girls will receive Heartsaver AED membership cards from the American Heart Association. The 8th-grade boys were trained in CPR and AED usage earlier in the school year. CHANUKAH PLAY. TDSA 2nd-grade girls worked with teacher Mrs. Vita Resenson on their Chanukah play, which they presented to the kindergarten students—entirely in Hebrew. NEW STUDENTS. Torah Day School of Atlanta hosted over 30 incoming kindergarten students. The pre-kindergarten students were treated to special activities, a pizza lunch, and a performance by Young Audiences. MENTORS AND TEACHERS. TDSA 8thgrade boys make wonderful role models as they review Hebrew with the Kindergarten boys. TEAM LALA. Greenfield Hebrew Academy students Shannan Berzack, Zoe Bagel, Quinn Rabinowitz, and Rose and Dov Karlin recently took part in a 5K walk for PanCan, an organization raising money and awareness for pancreatic cancer. Rose and Dov’s grandmother, Lala, was diagnosed February 1, 2011, with pancreatic cancer. In honor of their grandmother and in support of finding a cure, Rose and Dov created Team Lala, and entered the walk along with 1800 other supporters. Team Lala raised $2,500 for PanCan. SPORTS AND REHABILITION. Recently two disabled athletes from the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled came to GHA. One of the athletes, Asayel, an 18 year-old swimmer, spoke of his hopes to be in the Olympics someday. Asayel’s home was attacked a little over two years ago; during the attack he was shot and lost his leg. Students learned that the purpose of the center is rehabilitation through sports, and to help people with disabilities flourish. SCIENCE FAIR WINNER. GHA student Ari Stark was this year’s winner of the Science Fair. Ari chose to do his project on keeping cut flowers fresh. Ari learned that by using the drug Viagra, his flowers remained fresh.
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January-February 2012 - The Jewish Georgian

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