Day school students begin a busy new year

Day School Roundup

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.

The King David School

Before the winter break, every grade level participated in Hanukkah projects and activities. Kinder-garteners and first- and second-graders put on a special Hanukkah production for their parents.

The entire school presented a Winter Extravaganza on Dec. 18. Each grade level did a routine, song, dance and script choreographed to celebrate the school's upcoming move to the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus. It told the story of the school's past, present, and future.

Hearing and language screenings took place for all students in December.

On Jan. 8, the school participated in the Jewish Day Schools' Maccabiah games in collaboration with the Bureau of Jewish Education and the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center.

On Jan. 15, the fifth graders attended a performance of "The Beauty Machine" by the group Childsplay at the Tempe Performing Arts Center. The presentation focuses on age-appropriate issues such as conformity self-esteem, self-image and peer pressure.

The middle school will learn, bond and improve their skiing skills at a ski Shabbaton from Feb. 6-8.

Middle school students are taking an active role in the publication of the school's weekly newsletter. Each week a student writes "Thoughts for Shabbat" (based on the Parsha) for our weekly newsletter to parents.

The PTO published the first edition of The King David School Cookbook, filled with recipes from parents, staff and community members, as a fund-raiser for the school. The first edition was a success and sold out within four weeks. A second printing is being ordered.

Tri-City Jewish Community Center Day School

The first graders have been learning about animals and took a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. They observed a variety of different animals and their habitats.

They have been discussing Tu B'Shevat and planted seeds.

In order to begin to understand Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the class drew faces of all ethnicities and finished the sentence, "I have a dream..." with their own dream for mankind.

The second/third graders learned about Washington, D.C. They looked at pictures showing the Tomb of the Unknown Solder. They saw where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech and discussed its meaning in great length. They attended Childsplay's "The Beauty Machine."

The fourth/fifth graders participated in a memorable read-aloud. The story "Hana's Suitcase" is about a Japanese woman's determination to educate the children of Japan about the Holocaust. The class has also been studying the American Revolution. They have seen how determined the patriots were in their attempts and their success in uniting our country. After learning about kinetic and potential energy, students designed their own roller coaster and labeled the parts where kinetic and potential energy would have been present.

The students have been learning to read and write sentences in Hebrew. They are having fun using their conversational Hebrew while playing a variety of games. The older children have been translating prayers and reading about holidays. They have been discussing traditions, too. All the older grades will be participating in the Torah Fair next month.

Pardes Jewish Day School

The elementary division chess team, under the supervision of Coach Adam Zweiback, recently competed in the "State Grades" Championship held at Arizona State University. The first-grade team won fourth place in the state. The third-grade team placed third in the state and our fourth-grade team placed seventh in the state. We are very proud of players Avi Goodman, Noah Zweiback, Jordan Addison, Josh Steinberg, Julian Weinstein, Aaron Goodman, Jacob Zweiback and Blake Meyers.

The children in Lisa Speck's fourth grade entered a poetry contest for young poets from Arizona. Out of thousands of entries, six children were chosen to have their poems published in the anthology "A Celebration of Young Poets." Congratulations to Austen Blackwell, Leah Nomkin, Brett Rudin, Arin Segal, Calyn Shahon and Rikki Sher.

Seventh grade is beginning their tutoring program with Esperanza Elementary. It is a six-week literacy program, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. Pardes is the only middle school participating in the program.

Our eighth-grade students are shadowing students at Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School, Phoenix Country Day School, International Baccalaureate programs and public high schools. They have already held one fund-raiser, a yard sale, to raise funds for their eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., and are planning a night of babysitting and a car wash as future fund-raisers.

The fifth and sixth graders have been invited by the fifth and sixth graders from King David to do desert planting at Dreamy Draw for Tu B'Shevat on Feb. 6.

Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School

The students are back from break and ready to begin a new and challenging spring semester. Currently students are preparing for the American Mathematics Competition by participating in a schoolwide math contest. Some of our students have placed in the top 5 percent of the nation in previous years and we are aiming to make this a trend. Ron Epperlein, Colleen Megowan, Sharon Walker and Felice Weiner are administering one math question per week. Each question is worth a point value corresponding to its difficulty. Participation is optional; however, students can accumulate points to earn prizes.

The geometry classes are also creating a quilt. Each student has made their own decorative square piece consisting of typical geometric shapes. The students and teachers will combine efforts to compose the final architectural design.

The new Assistant Headmaster Rabbi Shmuel Afek has begun leading the newest addition to minyan. they now offer a study minyan in which students read from a spiritual text and openly reflect on its meaning. This option has been added to our existing Egalitarian and Mehitzal services. Our minyans are open to the public and take place from 8:25-8:55 a.m. and 1:25-1:45 p.m.

Eleanor Hirsh of the Valley of the Sun Jewish War Veterans Foundation has chosen our students to display their literary abilities by writing essays discussing the freedom(s) they would give up or trade in exchange for government protection against terrorism. They will be competing amongst themselves and three students will be awarded monetary prizes.

Phoenix Hebrew Academy

The school opened after winter break with many great programs planned. The results of the Winter Learning and Davening Contest are being tabulated. Many students participated in this contest, which challenges students to learn a bit of Torah and daven each day during vacation. Prizes will be awarded to the winners.

The academy joined other Valley day school students for the annual Maccabiah Games, held at the VOSJCC. All the students had a great time with the different activities and visiting with other schools. Students are now vying for a chance to be one of the 15 Excellence in Arts students, chosen by art teacher Kristen Reed. The winners will visit the American Beauty exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. Sixth, seventh and eighth grades have been invited to participate in a Shabbaton on Jan. 30-31 at the academy. This annual event is always exciting and fun for everyone. The upper grade students are looking forward to a great Shabbat experience.

Sixth grade is hard at work rehearsing their production of Homer's "The Odyssey." They will be performing on stage for the school, friends and family. The PTA is hard at work planning the school's annual Tu B'Shevat family picnic, which is scheduled for Feb. 1.

Home