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SCHOOL NEWS - January 2010
Dear Parents,
Along with this newsletter is your child's progress report. All of our
students have made good progress this term and we're looking for even
greater improvement during the Spring semester.
We send home our
monthly school news letter home via kid mail and in an email letter to
you to ensure you get a copy. If you missed our first edition sent out
in November, you can find it on line at our website. Here is the link:
http://marathonjcc.org/archives-school/news-december09.html
Please Mark Your Calendar
Tu
Bishvat, the Jewish Arbor Day, falls on Saturday, January 30th.
We as a school will be celebrating Tu Bishvat on Tu Bishvat this year.
We are planning a very special family education opportunity which will
include a family service, topical workshops, and a Tu Bishvat Seder with
the entire congregation. More information will follow. The program
will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 1:00 p.m. Since all students and
families are expected to attend this special learning opportunity, there
will be no Sunday the following day, January 31st. This
Shabbat program will be in lieu of Sunday School!
Family Education
December was a busy month for the school as we prepared and then
celebrated Hanukkah together. Our students helped lead Friday night
services on the last night of Hanukkah. They all did a beautiful job
and we were proud of them. Those who also joined the community for the
Sisterhood Hanukkah dinner had a great time. The students and parents
showed off their Hanukkah knowledge by playing a special Hanukkah
edition of Jewpardy.
At
our Hanukkah Family Education Opportunity our teachers led excellent
workshops on the meaning of miracles along with some charades, making
your own clay dreidle, a 2nd Hanukkah craft project, a latke making
workshop, as well as a Hanukkah concert by our own teacher Cantor
Irene. We want to shout out special thanks to Paul Gibley and Amy Thau
who led the latke making workshop and Ellen Schiff who led the second
craft project. Todah Rabbah!
Shoresh
The month of December in the Shoresh class was dedicated to
Hanukkah. We learned songs, blessings, and holiday traditions.
Making a "dreidel out of clay" was our favorite activity!
Morah Melissa
Kita Aleph/Bet
This month we learned about Hanukkah; the meaning behind the story
and the inspiring message we take from it. We celebrated with a
Hanukkah party, played dreidel and lit the menorah. We have almost
completed our Israel scavenger hunt, as we just finished learning
about the Negev. In Navi class, we learned the story of Ruth and
acted it out in a play. We wrapped up the semester with a final
Hebrew reading exam, and student-teacher conferences. Each student
was given an evaluation of how they did this semester and what they
need to focus on for next semester.
Morah Stephanie
Kirah Gimmel
December was a very busy month for Gimel. We continue to learn
about cities in Israel. In our prophet study we are just about
finished with Joshua They children continue to love to act out the
different chapters from prophets. We practiced Chanukah blessings
and worked on learning VShamru for Fri evening services. We
continue to work on improving Hebrew reading. We have wonderful
tutors and all the children go to them to work on improving their
reading skills. The Chanukah workshop was great. The kids who
attended the Drama workshop enjoyed the plays we acted out. The
two older groups acted out an original play written by Adina
Gutierrez, one of our very own Gimel students. The youngest
children acted out charades. Gimel was also invited to a Chanukah
party hosted by the Aleph/Bet students. The Hey students brought a
game they made to play with the younger students. We listened to
Chanukah music and ate doughnuts along with other snacks!! Best
wishes for a happy and healthy new year!!
Mrs. Amar
Kita Dalet/Hey
During the month of December Dalet - Hey class concentrated upon
improving the reading and chanting skills of different Shabbat
prayers. The students learned how to lead the Kiddush for Hanukkah
Friday Night service and other prayers as Ashrei, blessings before
and after reading the Haftarah and Yigdal ( Hymn to conclude the
Shabbat service). They also learned all about Hanukkah history and
learn to sing the song " Ocho Kandelicas" by Flory Jakoda ( A Ladino
Hanukkah song which counts the eight little candles for the
Chanukiah). We had a lot of fun with many celebrations at school for
the end of the semester. In one of them, the students design a great
game for the youngest to play and learn about Hanukkah facts. The
kids worked very hard to make the board game fun and dynamic and I
am very proud of all of them.
Thank
you again to everyone for the generosity, kindness and collaboration
as well as the great gifts that we received over the holiday season.
All the best for 2010
Irene and Allison
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