Names, Not Numbers in the Commercial Appeal

Earlier in the month I blogged about the Names, Not Numbers program for which our seniors were conducting and filming interviews with survivors of the Holocaust. The Commercial Appeal had sent a reporter to the school during the filming, and her article was in today's paper (Dec 30). In the print version the article titled "Project Puts Names to Holocaust Survivors" appears on the first page of the second section, and online the article can be found here or by searching for 'margolin' on the CA's webpage.

Congratulations to Rabbi Gersten and our high school seniors for their hard work on this important project.

Color War

As a surprise for the students, Color War, traditionally held in the beginning of June, was moved to Monday, December 22nd. Some early concerns that Color War just wouldn't be the same without outdoor activities quickly proved to be unfounded. Coach Carr made sure to keep everyone busy playing spirited games of basketball and kickball in the gym all morning, with a showcase basketball game featuring 5th-8th grade boys in the afternoon. Loud and enthusiastic cheers could be heard from various parts of the elementary school all day long as team Red and Black and team Blue and White tried to show who was best. The lunchroom was the site of many entertaining relay races, often with hula hoops or balls, all designed to encourage team cooperation and spirit. The day cumulated in a presentation ceremony in the gym, with each team showing off a beautiful handmade banner, acting out a funny skit, and singing several songs and cheers. After the final point tally team Red and Black was declared the winner by a very slim margin, but judging by the smiles on the children's faces, there were clearly no losers when it came to Color War.

Champions

The 2nd Annual Cooper Invitational Tournament was an unprecedented success. Conceived and implemented by Coach Josh Kahane, it surpassed anyone's wildest expectations and brought national attention to our school, our boys, and our community. The fact that our Cooper Macs landed up defeating several larger schools and winning the tournament championship was but a small part of what made the weekend so special.

On behalf of the school, I wanted to express my deepest gratitude to Josh and his assistant Jonathan Wogan for the hours upon hours of selfless work they devoted to this event. Their commitment to our school and its vision of growth should be an inspiration and motivation for us all.

Chanukah

Nothing brings our school to life quite like Chanukah. Click below for a quick glimpse into the myriad of programs, events, and festivities that have permeated our classrooms and hallways over the past few days...

November Winners

The winners of November's Dean's writing award give us a glimpse into two less common areas of student writing. In the non-Judaic category, we had a tie between 1st graders Esti Samberg and Racheli Perl. In their terrific paragraphs we see how our earliest writers are learning to express their emotions and offer detailed descriptions through the written word. In the Judaic category, the winning piece was a work of historical fiction by 10th grader Maddie Tavin who put herself into the world of an early traveler to pre-modern Israel.

Please visit our Writing Award wikispace to read their excellent work.

It's Tournament Time!

The 2nd Annual Cooper Invitational Tournament is set to begin this Thursday evening at MJCC. Beginning this afternoon, eight boys high school basketball teams from Jewish day schools across the country will descend on our community for a weekend of competition, camaraderie, and fun. Our own Cooper Macs are off to a great start this season, but they are counting on strong fan support to propel them through the tournament. So, clear your calendar for the weekend and plan on being at the JCC to cheer our guys on!

You can find a schedule of all of the events on the official tournament website. And, for those, who simply can not make it to the games - fear not! You can listen to them on webiste's live webcast.

Thank you Coach Kahane for putting it all together and best of luck to all!!

Powerful Preview

Words can hardly describe the educational experience our 12th graders have had this week as they conducted their interviews for the Names, Not Numbers program. From Auschwitz survivors to a Dachau liberator and a partisan fighter, the stories our students uncovered, documented, and preserved defy description. Instead, I offer you three things:

First is a behind the scenes preview of the type of content you can expect from the videos they are making. It is a small clip I have posted of our girls interviewing Mr. Weinreich, which only begins to scratch the surface of his incredible tale.

Second is a suggestion to keep your eyes out for an article on our students and their project in an upcoming edition of the Commercial Appeal.

Last, is a date: Tuesday evening, March 17. That is when we will hold our public showing of the documentary that award winning videographer, Mr. Eric Spaar, is making about our students and the work they will have by then completed. So, save the date. It's not something you'll want to miss.