Day schools prepare for summer

Day School Roundup

The Day School Roundup is a monthly feature in which the local day schools update the community on what is happening on their campuses.

Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School

Students have been busy commemorating Yom Hashoah and celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut. The school received a generous donation from the AVI CHAI Foundation which they used for their Yom Ha'atzmaut event. On May 15 there was a special stargazing party for the students and their families to observe the lunar eclipse. On May 19 the second Coffeehouse with songs, scenes and sweets was held at Temple Chai. On May 21, the school sponsored a College Night for all current sophomore students and their parents.

The first Awards Assembly was held May 22. Many students have received both local and national recognition. Among the recent honors, Ben Beller placed eighth in the country on the Le Grande Concours, the national French contest, which over 95,500 students entered. Ben Beller and Ari Lewine, both sophomore students, also took the first AP exams given at the school.

Classes end on May 29 with a special siyum by the founding headmaster, Jay Schech-ter, and a yearbook signing party. Final examinations begin on May 30. The school officially closes the second academic year on June 4. Although classes will be over, the office will be on summer hours and open throughout June, July and August. The first day of school will be Monday, Aug. 25.

Pardes Jewish Day School

The kindergarten classes, under the supervision of Dafi Sandler, collected $245 in tzedakah money, which they sent to Phoenix Children's Hospital. They asked that the money be used for entertainment for young patients.

Grades kindergarten through fourth celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut by visiting a variety of stations, which dealt with aspects of life in Israel. One station was a kibbutz, where students sorted clothing by age and gender. These clothes were donated to the Jewish thrift shop. Other stations included song and dance, food, the Kotel, maps and making "flag windsocks."

For Lag B'Omer, grades kindergarten through fourth will participate in Field Day activities. This will be followed by a barbecue and sports presentation in which all students who participated in after-school intramurals will be recognized.

Middle school students wowed parents and faculty at the "Spring Showcase" held on May 7 at the Kol Ami campus. The program highlighted students' accomplishments in instrumental music, poetry, and Shakespeare.

The in-school science fair for seventh and eighth grade was held on May 7 as well. Nicole Damari placed first, Jake Schaffert placed second and Ellyn Korn placed third.

The eighth grade visited Washington, D.C., the week of May 13 on the first trip to celebrate their graduation from middle school.

The annual Student-Faculty Softball game was held on May 12 at the Kol Ami campus.

The King David School

The school celebrated Passover with several grade-appropriate activities. Parents joined kindergarten through second-graders for a mock seder meal. Third- and fourth-graders recreated the experience of the Israelites' wanderings in Sinai with a hike at North Mountain Park.

The middle school enjoyed an educational Passover Scavenger Hunt.

At the annual science fair on April 1, kindergarten through eighth-graders displayed a variety of science projects on various topics from the viscosity of liquids to homemade rockets, along with entertainment by The Mad Scientist.

Eighth-graders experienced an exciting trip to New York City the week of May 11. They visited the Guggenheim Museum, toured Ground Zero, saw the Broadway show "The Producers," and visited Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, among other sites.

The sixth-graders also had an adventure on their trip to Los Angeles where they visited the Museum of Tolerance, Universal Studios, Venice Beach, and other sites. The highlight was a guided tour of Hollywood.

On April 16, the second-graders will be presented with their first book of Beresheet at the Kabbalat Torah Ceremony.

Students' artwork and musical talents will be on display at the Art Walk and Musical Evening on May 29.

The community is invited join KDS as they honor our graduating class at the eighth grade graduation ceremony on June 1. (CHECK DATE) Call the school at 480-991-4333 for details.

Tri-City JCC Day School

Student Council elections were held for the first time and the candidates and their campaign managers strategized about creating slogans, posters and speeches. Elections were held after speeches were presented to the student body with the following candidates elected: Moriah Greathouse, president; Aubrey Jaros, vice president; Bentzi Kielsky, treasurer; Julie Greenwood, secretary; and Samuel Cooper, Savannah Willmott and Sydney Kerr, representatives of their respective classes.

An all-school barbecue was held prior to the Spring Concert performed by the day school chorus. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by the combined school chorus.

As the school year draws to a close, plans for end of the year celebrations and participation in the preschool/kindergarten graduation are being made.

Phoenix Hebrew Academy

The fifth- through eighth-graders participated in the Central Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at Arizona State University, April 1 -19. Eighteen students won 28 awards including first places in Life Science, Energy and Materials, Ecology and Environment and the prestigious Society for Technical Communication. Kudos to Mary Bolen and Kathy Kerr for all their hard work helping our budding scientists excel.

Yom Ha'atzmaut was celebrated with a schoolwide celebration. Under the direction of Margalit and Yair Shlomi, the fifth- and sixth-graders memorialized the brave soldiers who gave their lives in defense of the Jewish homeland and then the celebrating began. The students recited stories and poems in English and Hebrew. They sang songs and the boys performed a dance. The programs were very spirited and set the tone for celebrating Israel's 55th Independence Day.

Seventh- and eighth-grade students watched Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation's inspirational video. This Foundation is an organization that promotes not speaking loshon hora (gossip) and encourages our words to be constructive. Then via a phone hook-up with thousands of other Jewish children, our students recited Tehillim (Psalms) for the betterment of the people of the people of Israel.

Fourth grade, under the guidance of Rabbi Yaakov Stolberg, finished learning Sefer Bereshit (Book of Genesis). This momentous occasion was commemorated with a siyum. Each student read, translated and gave a D'var Torah based on the blessings that Yaakov gave to the 12 tribes of Israel.

The kindergarten class, led by Judy Jurkowitz, treated parents and younger siblings to a play about Earth Day. Our first grade, under the direction of Naomi Silver, were presented with their first Chumashim.

Please join us for kindergarten graduation 6:30 p.m.Tuesday, June 3, and our eighth grade graduation at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 4.

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