High Schools Rank in Top 10% of Nation

If you haven't read my Dean's Message in the school newsletter each of the past two weeks, I urge you to do so (click here for two weeks ago, here for last week).  In them you'll learn that our little high school out in Memphis, TN has done pretty well for itself on the SATs.  In fact, you'll learn that our average scores on the verbal section of the SATs over each of the last two years puts us amongst the top ten percent of high schools in the country.  You'll also learn that Math and Writing are not lagging too far behind...

High School Discovery Program

The Boys High School new Discovery Program is off and running.  The new program, created by Rabbi Lubetski and implemented by Rabbi Stein, allows students to choose from an array of exciting electives that meets their particular interests.   The electives are broken down into four categories: Learning, Service, Creativity, & Skill Building.  Each student has to pick four with at least one coming from both the Learning and Service categories.

So wander on in to the Boys high school during last period each day and don't be surprised to find students learning to cook in the kitchen with Chef Arie Hazzan, learning to wire outlets and jump start cars with Executive Director (and resident Handyman) Mr. Hirsch Serman, doing studio art with Mrs. Flieschhaker, practicing for Model U.N. with Mrs. Kutliroff, going at each other in Debate with me, learning bi-chavrusa with the kollel, peer tutoring younger students in the library, exploring current events in Israel with Rabbi Goldberg, preparing to fight poverty in the inner city, practicing with the school band, writing for the school newspaper, and - believe it or not - a whole host of other activities.

Head of OU Visits High Schools

Both the Boys and the Girls High Schools were privileged with a visit by the new Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Steven Weil.  Formerly the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills, Rabbi Weil is now the professional leader of the OU, the largest organization of synagogues in the United States, as well as the country's largest provider of kosher supervision, and - of particular interest to our kids - it is the umbrella organization for NCSY.

Rabbi Weil, who met with community leaders the night before in an effort to better understand the dynamics of our community and its aspirations for the future, mesmerized our students with talk of the latest products soon to be kosher as well as with words of inspiration regarding their dual loyalty as citizens of the United States and proud, unabashed, Jews.  Clips of his words to our girls can be heard below.

From Rabbi Weil Visit

3rd Grade Play

The third grade introduced this month's Middah of the Month - Hachnasat Orchim (Welcoming Guests) - with a breathtaking theatrical performance, written and directed by their talented teacher Morah Yehudit and her equally talented husband, Moreh Shimshon.  Not only was the acting great, and the lines recited to perfection, but as you'll see from the video clips below - the entire play was performed in Hebrew.  It's but another shining example both of the results we're seeing from having transitioned to a Hebrew Immersion environment for all Lower School Judaic Studies last year, and of the way we're combining Hebrew language with core Jewish values and sacred Jewish texts in a way that's fun and exciting for all of our children.  Well done, Kitah Gimel!

From 3rd Grade Play

From 3rd Grade Play

From 3rd Grade Play

Kindergarten Blast

Kindergarten has had quite a blast these past couple of weeks... literally.  From the blast of their volcanoes in science enrichment to the blast of the waves against their pretend Ark and from the blast of Fall weather against their cheeks as they explored the Memphis Botanical Gardens to the blast they had searching for words throughout the school with their 5th grade buddies,  it's been one exciting adventure after another for our Kindergarten kids.

Catch-Up

I sincerely apologize to all of those avid blog-followers out there, that it's been a while since my last post.  Don't think for a second, though, it's because school life has simply been dull.  Nothing could be further from the truth. So here goes a little game of catch-up...

Shiur Online

The audio and source sheets from today's shiur on Bereshit are available in the audio section of our school website: www.mhafyos.org.  We focused on the Netziv's understanding of the story of Cayin and Hevel (Cain and Abel). Enjoy!

Rapping in Hebrew

Our 5th graders were rapping, singing, banging, bumping, and jumping to the words of a Hebrew poem they learned with Morah Yehudit.  Luckily, I captured it all on video...

From 5th Grade Ivrit

From 5th Grade Ivrit

From 5th Grade Ivrit

Extraordinary Student Gift

Her speech took us all by surprise.  It wasn't the poise and eloquence of 7th grader Meryl Musicante's Bat Mitzvah speech that surprised our teachers and administrators sitting in the audience that shabbat morning a few weeks ago.  We expected that from Meryl.  What no one expected was her announcement, in front of all who had come to daven in Baron Hirsch that morning, that she planned to give a significant percentage of the money she received for her Bat Mitzvah to the Margolin Hebrew Academy.

Sure, bnei and bnot mitzvah have given a percentage of their gifts to charitable causes before.  It's a wonderful practice that we should all highly encourage.  Yet, so often our young men and women are encouraged to contribute toward the needs of those who live great distances away or locals whom they've never met or with whom they'll never have a meaningful relationship.  Seldom do we encounter a young man or woman, who realizes that sitting in their very own class are students whose families need help.  Seldom do we see a young man or woman who recognizes that attending a Jewish Day School is an extremely costly endeavor that many in our own community simply cannot afford.  Seldom do we meet a young man or woman who understands that giving of their Bar or Bat Mitzvah gifts to their school can help give the gift of Jewish Education to students for whom it might otherwise be out of reach.

Yesterday, Meryl handed me an envelope at carpool that had "Donation to School" written on the outside.  I opened it up to find a check for $900.  It was an extraordinary gift from an extraordinary student.

May we all draw inspiration from her stellar example.

What a day!

It all started with the Boys High School launching it's Sukkah Wars right after davening this morning during which three teams split to learn the intricacies of hilchot sukkah and then set out to build one which incorporated as many of the halachot as possible.  From there it was the lower school's turn to celebrate Sukkot with an assembly that featured a performance from Mrs. Kugielsky's new Music and Dance program, a story from Rabbi Kugielsky, and dancing to the music of our Junior High band.  Then it was on to edible sukkah making in 4th grade, Simchat Torah marching in Pre-K, model sukkah judging and a whole host of other activities.  Who knew school could be so much fun...

  

 

From Sukkot

Parsha Shiur Online

Today we covered the Netziv's Introduction to Sefer Bereishit (the Book of Genesis).  It is often regarded as one of the most fascinating documents to come out of 19th century Eastern European Rabbinic circles.

Here's the audio and the source sheet.  Again, all of the shiurim and source sheets are now available in the download section of our school website: www.mhafyos.org.

Please remember that there will be no shiur next week.  We will resume on Thursday, 10/15 at which point we'll be going through passages from the weekly parasha.

Enjoy!

Clay Snakes

One of the features of the Tal Am program (which we now use to teach many of our  Judaic subjects in our 1st through 4th grade) that makes it so unique is it's focus on incorporating multiple intelligences into the learning process.  Most obvious to anyone who walks into a Tal Am classroom are the myriad of visual stimuli which cover the walls, as well as the songs which will likely be playing.  Perhaps less obvious, though, is the kinesthetic learning which takes place in the Tal Am classroom.  That is, learning through movement and actions.  A wonderful example of precisely this type of learning took place in our second grade classroom today. Under the guidance of Morah Rachel Goldberg, our second graders, who are learning the early stories of Bereishit in Chumash, created clay representations of the curses which Hashem bestowed upon Adam, Chava, and the Snake due to their failure to follow Hashem's command.  Doing so allowed those students who may not have fully understood the nuances of each passuk through visual and auditory means, to sink their hands into it and learn it that way.

Look closely at the picture to see their handiwork and the way in which it corresponds to the pesukim from the Torah.

Chesed Morning at CYHSB

As a means of getting post Yom Kippur year off to the right start, the high school boys spent a few hours this morning doing good for others. Under the direction of Rabbi Stein, they split up into three groups.  Two visited hospitals and the third visited a variety of public areas in town in an effort to raise awareness and funds to fight malaria.  In addition to heightening their sensitivity toward others, the boys learned that even with limited time and limited resources, we all really can make a difference in this world.

Tubing at Pickwick

The Girls High School spent today away on their start of the year, camaraderie building school trip.  Whereas past years have featured canoe trips and amusement parks, this year's was a little different.  Organized by Rabbi Stein, the high school's new Director of Student Life, the girls went to Pickwick Lake and spent the day boating and tubing.  While they have yet to return, these shots courtesy of Mrs. Kampf's iPhone, seem to suggest that they're having a pretty good time...

  

Apple Mummies and Clown Covered Eggs

I was sitting at my desk working on my computer when Rabbi Kugielski came in to tell me that there was something happening in the 7th grade that I should know about. The 7th graders were mummifying apples. Under the direction of our Upper School History teacher, Dr. Whitney Kennon, and with the help of our enrichment teacher, Mrs. Cindy Massey, the 7th graders were replicating ancient Egyptian preservation techniques - only with apples rather than humans. Each student drew a face on their apple to give it a more humanesque form, measured its pre-burial weight, and then mummified it in a mixture of baking soda and salt. Next week, they'll play archeologist and dig up the (hopefully intact) remains of their royal fruits.

As I left the students who were making mummies out of apples, I noticed that in the room next door our 6th graders were busy making clowns (and

a variety of other things) out of eggs. This wasn't history, but Hebrew, and our kids were bringing a story they had learned with Moreh Shimshon to life.

Want to hear the story? Just click on the video below...

From Apple Mummies

Something in the Air...

There is something pulsating through our Boys High School these days that is hard to put into words. From yesterday's unveiling of a brand new, wide-ranging slate of electives under the direction of Rabbi Stein (including - but not limited to - cooking, band, chidon ha-tanach, debate, beis medrash, art, peer tutoring, mechanics, community service, study skills, and more) to this morning's pre-Yom Kippur Tisch under the direction of R' Gersten, and from the launching of the inaugural edition of The Cooper Chronicle to tomorrow's shabbat Shuva learning program and next week's Sukkah building, there is an infectious enthusiasm and energy permeating from every corner of the school.

Ken yirbu!

We're live!

Our school's new website is now live! Please check it out at www.mhafyos.org.

For those who have been listening to our class on the Neziv, please note that the files will be uploaded directly to the "Downloads" section of our new site: http://mhafyos.org/index.php/downloads. We hope to have each shiur and the source sheet up shortly after it is given (11am on Thursday mornings) so that you can listen before shabbat. This coming week we will look at the Neziv's introduction to Bereishit and then we will do a selection from his commentary on the weekly parasha beginning after Sukkot.

Please give us feedback and suggestions for the new site. Thanks!

Rosh Hashanah in the Lower School

Moreh Shimshon and our new Bnot Sherut led our Lower School in a fun-filled pre-Rosh Hashanah program today. From creating cards to dipping apples and from baking challahs to solving puzzles, a good time was had by all!

Shiurim and Source Sheets Online

Today's parsha shiur as well as last week's are now available online, as are their accompanying source sheets. This week we moved ahead with the Neziv's introduction to Ha'amek Davar and also added in an insight from Harhev Davar which focuses on Rosh Hashanah. Our plan is to finish the introduction to the commentary next week, look at his introduction to Sefer Bereishit the week after, and then, following Sukkot, begin exploring passages from parashat hashavua begining with Bereshit.

We are excited to announce that we will shortly be launching a brand new website at www.mhafyos.org which will directly host all of these shiurim. So, instead of waiting for the blog post, you'll be able to go directly to the downloads section of the site and get the latest shiur as well as thos you might have missed.

For the time being, though, here are the links:

Shiur #1 / Source Sheet #1

Shiur #2 / Source Sheet #2

Shiur #3 / Source Sheet #3

Shiur #4 / Source Sheet #4

Enjoy!

A Pirate in Pre-K

A Pirate (who looked eerily similar to our new Early Childhood music teacher, Mrs. Kathlyn Prentice) visited our Early Childhood classes today. Within a few minutes of her arrival, the rug in each classroom was transformed into a ship at sea and our children were off on a magical, musical journey through dance, rythm and song. Little did they know it, but sprinkled along the way were lessons about parts of the body, counting, vocabulary, and much more, making our new music program not only one of the most enjoyable parts of our children's day but one of the most enriching as well.

Here's a short clip from PreK-4's adventure: