Day schools celebrate High Holidays

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

Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School

The school began its third year of classes on Aug. 25 with a student retreat. Charles Herman of the NESIYA Program in Israel facilitated a two-day program on "community." The program included textual study and creative expression while encouraging the students to think about what it means to be a community.

Jess Schwartz welcomes to its campus several new faculty members, Vic Sampson, chemistry and biology instructor; Ron Epperlein, SAT prep and statistics instructor; Todd Turner, Spanish instructor; Rabbi Peter Levy and Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, Judaic instructors; and Levana Alon, lead teacher for Hebrew language/studies.

This year will be the first Jess Schwartz graduation, Thursday, May 20, 2004. Graduation chairwoman is Robin Loeb.

Student Government under the leadership of President Ari Lewine is busy with their fall plans. Election for class representatives was held on Sept. 17. STUGO will also be kicking off their magazine sale on Oct. 20, so wait to renew your magazines through Jess Schwartz.

Participation in "Book Buddies" began Sept. 18.

The students have been busy during this month of Elul, studying halachot (laws) pertaining to shofar and teshuva/repentance. Daily minyan have included shofar blowing and the reciting of the 27th Psalm in preparation of the Days of Awe.

The girls' volleyball team and the boys' flag football team just played their first games of the season and won.

Phoenix Hebrew Academy

We are looking forward to an exciting and challenging year for everyone. A new schoolwide Parsha Quiz program has begun. Students earn fun prizes throughout the year for participation.

Students celebrated Rosh Chodesh Elul on the morning of Aug. 31. After davening together as a school, they enjoyed treats courtesy of the PTA. To signify the approach of Rosh Hashana and the blowing of the shofar, the snack included whistle pops.

Each grade commemorated the Sept. 11 anniversary in their individual classrooms with age-appropriate discussions led by their teachers. Stories of heroism were discussed as well as the importance of fighting terrorism and remaining strong both as Jews and Americans.

The annual Shofar Blowing Contest is scheduled for the week before Rosh Hashana. The students are already practicing the notes displaying tremendous ability. With all the expert shofar blowers, the contest will be hard to judge.

The popular Dor L'Dor program, that brings Kivel Seniors into our classrooms, has begun. Both students and seniors love the weekly visits.

The middle school will be viewing the Declaration of Independence when it stops in Phoenix during its nationwide tour. It's a great opportunity for students to see history come alive.

The fun-filled plans for our special Sukkot Chol Hamoed activities are underway.

The string orchestra of the Phoenix Symphony will present two performances for PHA students.

The PHA-PTA Spaghetti Under the Stars Dinner, an annual family event, is planned, as well as our annual schoolwide roller skating field trip.

Pardes Jewish Day School

On Sept. 4 and 5, the fifth and sixth graders participated in the Phoenix Zoo Night Camp. This event reinforced their classroom learning about endangered species and natural habitats. After participating in a night hike and viewing animals in their nocturnal habitat, students camped out at the zoo.

On Sept. 11, the Pardes Panthers' flag football team, coached by Etgar Wagner, defeated the team from Kachina North with a final score of 28-0.

On Sept. 12, following kabbalat Shabbat, elementary school students began their preparations for the High Holidays by participating in a workshop where they learned to blow the shofar. Other High Holiday activities are planned leading up through the beginning of October.

Other upcoming events are the Elementary Division Sukkot Breakfast on Oct. 10; and Kindergarten Consecration on Oct. 24.

The King David School

The school year started off with 196 students, a 23-percent increase in enrollment over the previous year. KDS welcomed 14 new members of the teaching staff.

A Curriculum Night was held for all grades to familiarize parents with educational goals for 2003-2004.

The KDS Middle School began the school year with a Break-a-way Retreat held at an area hotel. The bonding experience was productive in establishing mutual goals and objectives for the school year, which included increased self-esteem, self-motivation, independent thinking and taking responsibility for one's actions.

Team building activities focused on getting to know teachers and the other students, mutual respect, and accepting each student as he or she is.

On Aug. 27, four musicians from the Sedona Red Rock Music Festival provided the students with classical music cultural enrichment.

In conjunction with Kivel Campus of Care, the Dor L'Dor Program continues again for the third year. The program pairs seniors from Kivel with various classrooms at KDS for the benefit of both. Students are very fond of their respective bubbies and zadies and look forward to their weekly visits.

This month the younger students are preparing for the High Holidays by making bsamim boxes. The scent of the boxes is helpful during the Yom Kippur fast. The students will also use them for Havdalah.

The older students are starting to study for our first Bracha Bee.

For Rosh Hashana, the students are taking a more in-depth look at the halachot in the Mishna Berurah.

The Tri-City Jewish Community Center Day School

The Tri-City Jewish Community Center Day School has started off with a bang this year. We have added a new fourth- and fifth-grade combination class. Our new teacher, Lindi Samakosky, is a new addition to our staff and the children are enjoying every moment. Aside from our normal specials (P.E., art, music, choir, Spanish, Hebrew and Judaics) we have added a "Friday Rotation" class for our students. Each class will spend one trimester in science lab, computers or music theory.

This year, the day school is selling honey cakes for Rosh Hashana. The students learned about the significance of this holiday and what it means to them. They talked about the traditions, celebrations and, of course, having a "sweet new year."

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