Heads Up from SJCS A Point of View from Seattle Jewish Community School

We always love hearing about the impact of SJCS on our students after they graduate.  We especially love hearing about how SJCS alumni use the lessons learned here to impact the wider world.  Kayla, Class of 2010, was inspired by many events during her time here at SJCS to create a mitzvah project collecting pajamas for children at a local shelter through the organization New Beginnings for her Bat Mitzvah. 

Kayla’s  5^th grade trips to Operation Sack Lunch to serve lunch to the homeless was one large inspiration for her.  HaMorah Batsheva (Beth Huppin), 5^th Grade Judaic Studies teacher and 2010 Covenant Award Recipient, focuses her class around the question: “What do Jewish texts offer us in our quest for a meaningful life, one built around caring for others?”  As such, Beth uses Operation Sack Lunch as a way to experience Jewish values in action.  Kayla was also motivated by a guest speaker discussing her experience with homelessness and a class discussion about tz’dakah with Danny Siegel who spoke of a homeless child receiving his first pair of pajamas. 

Kayla, through the help of her Girl Scout troop, her school, and her synagogue, collected over one hundred pairs of pajamas.  A summary of Kayla’s Bat Mitzvah project was published in The Mitzvah Project Book this year.

Congratulations to Alim, 2nd grade students and teachers, for a phenomenal 20-minute film totally b’ivrit/in Hebrew. At Tuesday’s model seder, the entire school was treated to a preview of the movie during maggid/telling the story of the exodus. And yesterday, parents and paparazzi clamored around the red carpet as students made their way to the auditorium for the official premier of full-length feature.

A special mazal tov to teachers Jeff Stombaugh and Iris Brumer for their creativity and commitment. So what learning occurred and what skills were practiced? Experiential, Hebrew language; cooperative and collaborative work skills; creativity and imagination; critical analysis of text focused on narrative, conflict, and character; presentation skills; and, social justice.

SJCS students performed the mitzvah of kibud z’kenim, honoring the elderly, when they sang for the residents at the Kline Galland Home. This annual event gives SJCS students an opportunity to experience one of the many mitzvot they learn about daily, and also gives them the opportunity to shine in front of an eager audience!

Enjoy!

HaMoreh Jeff and HaMorah Iris are directing the next big blockbuster at SJCS – Yitziat Mitzraim (Exodus From Egypt) – a trailer for which can be seen below or on SJCS’s YouTube Channel.  Students have been assigned their roles and have been rehearsing this all Hebrew script about the Passover story.  Creating this movie is helping to augment the students’ conversational Hebrew skills taught with TaL AM and is also reinforcing their understanding of the story of Passover.  A partial screening of the film will take place during the All School Model Seder on Tuesday, April 3rd.  A full screening for parents is scheduled for Wednesday, April 4th at 3:00 p.m.

Enjoy!

SJCS was the winner of a  2011 Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education Challenge Award for our innovative approach to outreach.  SJCS’s strategic planning is considering the needs of young families raising Jewish children and is finding a way to meet their needs while  also giving them a chance to visit our campus and community well before they are making their elementary school decisions.  This is an excerpt from the PEJE blog post about our work.

Surveys (including the PEJE/Measuring Success Parent Surveys) told us that 53% of SJCS families, much like Laurie’s, never considered a Jewish day school before their first child was born. And no one can choose a day school if they aren’t first considering it! So our Gateway is creating a giant pool of “Jewish” for families to splash around in before they consider plunging into the deep end.

Read more…

HaMorah Shoshana - Kindergarten teacher, music teacher, and one of the founding teachers of SJCS –  gave the following speech upon being honored at this year’s Gala.

Counting is important in Gan. Counting by twos, by fives, by tens, counting to 100. Counting in English, in Russian, Ladino, in Hebrew.

Counting is also important in the Torah. We count the days of creation, days and nights of rain, years in the desert, years of a person’s life, commandments to be received, and mitzvot to be fulfilled. There’s even a book, BaMidbar called Numbers in the Torah! And in Ba Midbar with census after census, we learn that everyone counts. Everyone is important to the community of B’nai Yisrael.

And certainly counting is important in our rabbinic history. The rabbis hold us responsible for reciting 100 blessings a day. Only 100??!! Clearly the rabbis did not count on 20 years of a certain kindergarten teacher from SJCS.

I am humbled to stand here tonight, just one teacher from among my many colleagues. But I don’t stand here alone. And that is the first blessing of my daily 100. I must count all of the people who came before me, my parents and teachers, my mentors and friends. And all of my colleagues who stand with me now in my many settings. Morah Shoshi with her humor, passion for education, and the ability to see the good in the most challenging of situations, and all the others who daily inspire me, challenge me, and re-energize my creative spirit and soul.

Everyday I feel the blessing that I have been able to spend more than a third of my life in an environment where creative thought is acknowledged, appreciated, and even more, encouraged.

Every day I remember the blessing of having been noticed. Of having been truly ‘seen.’ When she interviewed me over 20 years ago, Debbie Butler saw more in me than I saw in myself. She saw beyond the moment and in so doing opened our eyes to 20 years of possibilities.

Everyday I feel the blessing that is Joyce Shane, may her memory be for a blessing.  To have been mentored by one of the 36 righteous souls- and any of us who knew her agree that she was- to be mentored by her in the ways of derech eretz, of the holiness in greeting another, of love of language, words, unconditional love, and Torah… well you can see how easy it is to get to 100.

I am blessed that my ‘work’ materials are glue, paint, a guitar, and imagination.

That I get to teach people to play.

That at SJCS we continue to focus on WHO we will be when we grow up, not WHAT we will be.

I am blessed that they figured out how to put Velcro on children’s shoes. No really. I used to say that I would teach kindergarten as long as I could bend down and tie children’s shoes. See? Velcro… easy another 10 years.

I am blessed to be a part of a larger community that cares enough to provide our children with a joyful Jewish identity that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

I am blessed to spend my ‘work’ days in pursuit of Divine connection and to be able to help others to do the same.

Albert Einstein said, “Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.” Hmmmmm. Divining… a… purpose. A Divine purpose.

My ultimate blessing is to feel that I have divined my purpose.  After years of acting training, which my parents miraculously didn’t try to dissuade me from, I drove to my first teaching job at Temple B’Nai Torah 22 years ago, thinking, “This is what I’ve been rehearsing for all my life!” Those years counted. Those hours of practice and performance counted. They prepared me for my Divine Purpose… Guiding, loving, and playing with your children.

I am honored and humbled to receive recognition for something that I believe each of us is capable of doing. Each of us can make our short visit here on this earth, in this school, in this moment, count. Just like the Israelites standing at the foot of Sinai- we can make it count for ourselves, for those who came before and for those who will come after. Each of us does count. We are B’nai Yisrael. We are the people. And this is OUR k’hillah. Our community.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me find my way. For bringing me home. May we all continue to count. Ken y’hi ratzon. May it be God’s will. May it be ours!

Chrys Hunstiger is the Director of Curricular Activities.

This year, SJCS adopted two new curricular programs: Everyday Mathematics and TaL AM. Vertical alignment between grade levels, highly engaging materials, a focus on deep, conceptual understanding, and a rich supply of support materials make each of these research-based curricula a strong addition to the SJCS program. 

To help support the lifelong learning of our teachers and to facilitate the implementation process, SJCS has provided on-going training and support for each program. Next week the General Studies staff will continue the work started in the summer with an Everyday Math expert. She will be in the building all day, both observing classes and meeting with grade-level bands to deepen the understanding and use of the curriculum. 

In February, haMorim Amee, Jeff, and Yiscah will travel to Los Angeles for their second intensive two-day TaL AM training institute. Like our SJCS students, they will be immersed in Hebrew as they increase their knowledge and skills.  Additionally, monthly on-site mentorship with an experienced TaL AM teacher will continue throughout the year.

Deb Frockt is the Director of Advancement.

Earlier this month, many from the SJCS community gathered at the home of teachers Shoshana and Jeff Stombaugh to hear memories of their father/grandfather. The outpouring of support from adults – parents, alumni parents, colleagues, friends, and community members – was moving but not unexpected.

What was unexpected? The sight of so many SJCS students – not alumni but current elementary school children – sitting at the feet of their beloved teachers, listening patiently, respectfully, and empathetically to the memories of the mourners. Roles were reversed. Students, who are usually the recipients of support, were now there to lend it to their teachers.

It shouldn’t have surprised me. Our students have sensitive and caring parents who know the importance of a shiva call, a visit to the mourner. Daily, I have the privilege of seeing faculty model and explicitly teach “character development.” And yet, seeing these children support the mourners – a skill that many adults find daunting – was profound.

In almost every checklist of 21st century learning, character is ranked as a core competency, with empathy considered a critical component of character. There’s no standardized testing for character, no percentile that will delineate those who excel, no ranking to put on one’s college application.

In an ever-more global, interconnected, complex, and rapidly changing world, business and education experts know character matters. So what does this critical but broad term mean? I like this definition: the ability to understand oneself and to behave ethically and morally, guided by the values of respect, responsibility, integrity and good citizenship.

Yiddish has a term for someone who possesses character –  mensch. Despite its antiquated gender specificity and old-world cadence, it’s an incredibly efficient and 21st century-relevant word. I’m not waiting for NAIS or any other educational thought-leaders to adopt it, but…

Developing character – guiding children to become mensches – is at the heart of the SJCS curriculum. Apparently, what SJCS has always valued, is now seen by others as a necessity for future success.

SJCS received an awesome present the first night of Hanukkah – a $25,000 Challenge Award from PEJE. We know Hanukkah presents are very much a reflection of American culture and rampant consumerism, but we’re not complaining – thank you PEJE and PEJE funders!

SJCS was recognized (and rewarded!) among North American day schools for our Community Hub Program Initiative.  So what does Community Hub Program Initiative mean in plain English?  More great programs and options for children and families in Seattle and its north suburbs. We are grateful to our 2011 partners for their collaboration on these great offerings that complement our core K-5 Jewish day school program.

Summer day camp in Seattle in partnership with the JCC.  Our inaugural July 2011 session was so popular, we’ll be hosting two sessions in 2012.

Co-op preschool in partnership with the Seattle Jewish Cooperative Preschool and the JCC. This grassroots idea has flourished for parents and children 18-35 months.

Story times every month for preschoolers with PJ Library.  There’s always a guitar, lots of songs, and an open gym/playground – plus a craft.

Read our Challenge Award Press Release.

Shoshi Bilavsky, Head of School

A viewpoint from Shoshi Bilavsky, Head of School

One of the best loved Jewish holidays in the United States is Hanukkah – also known as the Festival of Lights. No wonder people love Hanukkah with lights everywhere on the streets and a feeling of warmth and hope in the home during the cold, dark winter. The family gathers each night to light candles and eat latkes, and the children receive Hanukkah gelt (money) or gifts.  

The Talmud tells us that beginning with the 25^th of the Hebrew month Kislev, eight days of Hanukkah are to be observed, during which no eulogies are to be delivered and no fasting is permitted.  When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem, they defiled all the oils, and when the Chasmoneans (the Maccabees) defeated them, they searched and found only one remaining jar of oil with the seal of the Kohen Gadol (the High Priest in the Temple).  Although it contained only enough oil to burn for one day, a miracle occurred, and the oil burned eight days.  A year later, the Rabbis designated these days as holidays on which praise and thanksgiving were to be said. (Talmud, Tractate, Shabbat 21).  In commemoration of these events, we light candles in the hanukkiah for eight days remembering the oil that burned in the Temple menorah.

If you take a glimpse into the Jewish literature on Hanukkah, it is clear to me that these eight days are dedicated specifically to, the internal light that brightens the soul.  Undoubtedly, Hanukkah is a victory celebration.  However, I think the emphasis is not on the struggle against tyranny, the land liberated, religious freedom, or the military victory against overwhelming odds.  It is actually the celebration of a spiritual struggle and, ultimately, victory.  Despite the Hellenization of a significant number of Jews in Israel, the Jewish people refused to surrender to the tidal wave of the dominant Greek culture which proclaimed that it alone was civilized, contemporary, and relevant.  By stubbornly insisting on maintaining their own identity, their core values, and the spiritual way of the Maccabees, the people not only survived but also revived Jewish life for the future.

Are we facing the same challenges today as they did?  The Greeks followed their eyes. The Jews followed their souls.  Today we live in a free, safe society with the freedom of choice.  And yet – do we follow our souls or our eyes?  I think most of us are more fascinated with the external lights and thus follow our eyes.  There is the ongoing battle between the eyes and the soul:  the outer light versus the inner light.  The eyes breed desire while the soul fosters content.

At SJCS, we nurture our children’s souls.  We teach them to better the world by acting every day with kindness, compassion, and justice towards each other. We encourage them to look beyond external, physical beauty, and instead, to seek the internal beauty of others.  We teach our children not to be limited by what humans can see, touch, hear, and smell – but instead, we help them become aware of the essence of humanity – and what they can become as they reach beyond themselves to connect with others.

Our sages teach us that the flame is a physical manifestation of the spiritual:

 ”Ki Ner Elokim Nishmat Adam“  – “כי נר אלוהים נשמת האדם” - ”The candle of God is the soul of man.” 

Like the human spirit, a flame can die or fly; it can be extinguished with the flick of the finger, or it can light up an entire world if provided with sufficient fuel.  

The light of Hanukkah is small.  If each of us keeps our light pure, this small light will grow and radiate over the entire world.  We are indebted to the parents who entrust their children to us.  Together, we are supporting the next generation that will help the flame grow even brighter.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Hanukkah!

Sources:

Talmud Shabbat 21

Chanukah: Light or Fire? by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper (http://www.ou.org/chagim/chanukah/light.htm)