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:

MHA Triathlete Does It Again

Isaac Graber, an 8th grader in the Academy, put on another impressive athletic display by placing amongst the top finishers in the 32nd annual St. Louis JCC Labor Day Triathalon. The competition consisted of a 200 meter swim, a six mile bike ride, and a one mile run. Out of 200 young Jewish athletes in the race, Isaac finished 2nd in his age bracket and 6th overall. Way to go!

Rosh Hashanah Baskets

If you haven't yet ordered your Dinstuhl's Rosh Hashanah gift baskets through the PTA, there is still time. They are a wonderful way to share the simcha of Yom Tov with family and friends, and to support the MHA at the same time.

To learn more about the PTA's Rosh Hashanah Baskets click here. For the order form click here.

Parsha Shiur Online

This past week's parsha shiur, part two in our Introduction to Ha'amek Davar is now available by clicking here. If you download it please leave a comment here and let me know what the quality was like and how easy or difficult it was to understand. Thanks!

Flag Football

The Boys Intramural Flag Football league got off to a flying start today. Under the direction of Coach Carr most of our boys in grades 7-12 took to the field for a series of competitive, yet fun (and safe!) games of football. Along with the Lower School baseball team and the Girls High School Soccer team, this is yet another example of the fantastic work Coach is doing in improving and expanding our Athletics program.

Shiur Online

Thanks to Gershon Yarmush, the first of my weekly parasha classes for women focusing on the Torah commentary of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Neziv) is now available online. Please note, though, that during these first several weeks we will be working through the Neziv's introduction to Ha'amek Davar, rather than learning passages from the weekly parasha itself. Our goal is finish the introduction, and hopefully even his introduction to Sefer Breishit, by Succot so that we can then begin looking at each parasha starting with Bereishit and do so with a deeper understanding of why the Neziv writes what he does and how he arrived at the insights he offers.

To listen to the first of the introductory shiurim click here.

Joseph Weilgus Speaks to the High Schools

The man who in 2002, at the grand old age of 24 years old, was named Harvard Business School's Not-For-Profit Entrepreneur of the Year visited our high schools yesterday to talk to our students about making a difference in this world.

Joseph Weilgus, who has also been named to Crain's 40 under 40 and the Jewish Week's 36 under 36 amongst many other accolades, spoke to our students about the way in which he transformed his college visits to a local pediatric ward dressed as a clown, into Project Sunshine, an organization with 10,000 volunteers in 100 cities across the globe that provides an array of services to 60,000 children in hospitals.

While our students were mesmerized by Mr. Weilgus's tales of stars and celebrities who have joined the ranks of Project Sunshine volunteers, they also watched intently as he showed them that he always carries two business cards in his pocket "a boring white one and an exciting yellow one." Joe said that whenever he meets people he gives them both and tells them that "the white one is where I make my money and the yellow one is where I give it."

Perhaps even more importantly, Joe spoke about the fact that Project Sunshine came about due to a need he recognized which wasn't being met. As a visiting clown he saw that the children in the pediatric ward needed so much more than a guy in a colorful suit with a painted face and a red curly wig. They needed tutoring and counseling, they needed companions and friends, they needed a little bit of happiness and a whole lot of hope. He cited Pirkei Avot which tells us that in a situation "where there is no man, do your best to be the man" and said that that's all he tried to do. He then encouraged our students to look around their world, find a need that speaks to them, and then do their best to "be the man" who fills it.

New Class for Women

Beginning this Thursday at 11am in the Lower School Library, I will be giving a weekly parsha class for women focusing on the Torah commentary of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin. As some of you probably know, Rabbi Berlin, known as the Netziv, was the subject of my doctoral dissertation and has occupied a special place in my intellecual and religious world ever since. My goal in this class is to bring you into his world, to understand the Torah text as he understood it, and to appreciate the creative, penetrating, and insightful mind of one the 19th century's most storied Torah personalities.

For those who can't make it, I will try to record each class and post the recording on the web for all to access. More details on that will follow shortly.

For those who intend to come, please be sure to enter via the school's front entrance and to get a visitor's pass from Aviva at the front desk before heading down to the library.

Hope to see everyone there!

We're Off!

With the opening of our high schools this morning our academic year is now in full swing. And what a start it's been! Time and again from every corner of the school I hear people saying that "last year was good, but there's even better in the air this year." From preschool to high school, ABCs to APs, Ariyot to Bava Kama, our incredible faculty has hit the ground running. Here's a brief glimpse at the magic which has brought our old building roaring back to life once again:

From Movies

Faculty Growth

As the continuous growth and development of our faculty has been, and continues to be, one of our top priorities here at the Academy, I wanted to make mention of those faculty members who took of their precious summer vacation to pursue professional development opportunities and further the process of making themselves better teachers and our school a better school.

Back in July, Mrs. Gersten and Mrs. Perl went with Mrs. Tsuna and Mrs. Walker to a three day SDE conference in Chicago on Differentiated Instruction. Mrs. Tsuna led our Middle and High

School faculty in a session during In-Service in which she shared

some of the valuable tips and techniques she learned at the conference. At our wrap-up session at the close of In-Service, Mrs. Tsuna's presentation received high praise from all who attended.

Our two new Upper School Judaic Studies faculty recently completed rigorous programs in continuing education. Rabbi Kugielsky spent his second summer at the Jewish Education Leadership Institute Program at Loyola University, from which he will be receiving his Masters Degree in Education. Rabbi Stein completed the Educational Leadership Advancement Initiative through the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education at Bar Ilan University.

Speaking of Rabbi Stein, he and Mrs. Perl are currently in New York participating in the first "Academy" of this year's Jewish New Teacher Project. JNTP is a subsidiary of the New Teacher Center in

Santa Cruz, CA. Their mission is to train veteran teachers to become effective mentors for new teachers, thereby preventing "new teacher burnout" and improving student performance. Both Rabbi Stein and Mrs. Perl have been paired with Academy teachers who are still in the beginnings of their teaching career and will be working with them throughout the year, with the guidance of the Jewish New Teacher Project, to help them reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and grow in their effectiveness in the classroom.

Mrs. Kugielsky, our new 4th grade Judaic Studies teacher, attended a three-day workshop on using the Tal Am curriculum, while Morah Yehudit was in Israel teaching similar sessions for Judaic Studies teachers from across the globe.

I had the privilege of attending Yeshiva University's National Leadership Conference in Orlando together with several of our community's lay leaders. It was both thought-provoking and inspiring as it brought together lay and professional leaders of Orthodox communities from across the country to discuss the most significant challenges and the greatest opportunities that lie before us in the months and years ahead.

At the event Josh Kahane, incoming first Vice President of our Board of Trustees, received an award from Yeshiva University President Richard Joel for his work as part of a task force that is looking at ways to grow small and mid-size Jewish communities across the country.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that ALL of our faculty read pertinent educational literature over the summer which they shared with their colleagues at In-Service. After all, every teacher at the Academy understands and appreciates that the more we grow, the more our students will grow. The more we learn, the more our students will learn. We're all, therefore, hard at work doing our own learning and growing so as to see even more of the same from every Academy student.

Rabbi Stein Joins the High Schools

Our High School students are in for a treat with the addition of Rabbi Noam Stein to our faculty for this year. Rabbi Stein comes to us after having served as a limude kodesh teacher, the school's Community Service Director, the Director of the Advisory Program and the 10th Grade Coordinator at SAR High School in Riverdale, NY. Prior to SAR, Rabbi Stein served as a teacher and as the Dean of Student Life at the Ma'ayanot High School for Girls in Teaneck, NJ. Rabbi Stein, who will be teaching Talmud in our Boys High School as well as Halachah and Jewish Philosophy, earned his BA in English Literature from Yeshiva University after spending two years learning in Kerem B'Yavneh in Israel. He then went on to receive his semicha from YU and, most recently, he completed the Educational Leadership Program through the Lookstein Center in Bar Ilan University.

In addition to his teaching, Rabbi Stein will continue his passion for cultivating student leadership and enabling meaningful student service opportunities in our high schools. Amongst many other responsibilities he will be creating a Community Service Program in our Boys High School, coordinating and enhancing the Community Service Program in our Girls High School, working together with Rabbi Gersten to create new student programs and leadership opportunities, and working to enhance the extra-curricular learning opportunities for our high schools.

Rabbi Stein's reputation as an accomplished talmid chacham, a progressive pedagogue, and teacher beloved by his students, should help our high schools reach even greater heights this coming year.