CJDS News
February 7, 2014
7 Adar 1 5774
Issue 188
COLUMBUS JEWISH DAY SCHOOL
Upcoming Events
SIXTH GRADE CELEBRATES THE DECADES
CJDS Special Sunday
Sunday, Feburay 9
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Sequoia Lanes
See inside for details
CJDS sixth graders have been going back in time. The class
is wrapping up a unit on the 20th century, focusing on the
decades; the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Each student focused
on a specific decade and explored the cultural, political and
pop culture trends that helped shape the decade, and, taken
together, the 20th century.
Early Dismissal – Parent/
Teacher Conferences
Thursday, February 13
2:20 pm
Students used their research to create presentations using
Prezi, incorporating information with photos and video
clips. They are also building dioramas to represent their
decade.
No School – Parent/Teacher
Conferences
Friday, February 14
No School – Presidents’ Day
Monday, February 17
Students used their research as the basis for a game of
Jeopardy they created for the residents at Wexner Heritage
Village, with the questions organized by decade. They
constructed a giant game board, and played the game with
the residents. They asked residents about their specific
memories of events and trends.
Gavi chose the 1940’s for his project
All-School Kabbalat Shabbat
- Third Grade Leads
Friday, February 21
1:40 pm
CJDS Gym
Field Trip –
3rd, 4th & 5th Grades
Tuesday, February 25
Columbus Symphony
Admissions Open House
Tuesday, February 25
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Maya presents her research on the 1950’s
Susan and Gina man the Jeopardy board
at Wexner Heritage Village
CJDS STUDENTS COLLECT WINTER CLOTHING FOR NEEDY FAMILIES
One week a month Temple Israel is opening its doors for overflow
homeless families from the YWCA Family Shelter. When they did
this in January, they found many of the children needed clothing and
outerwear.
The third and fourth grade girls are spear-heading an effort to collect
items for these families in need. The girls are collecting clothing,
gently used children’s books and gently used stuffed animals FROM
ALL GRADES. Additionally, the third and fourth grade girls are
making rainbow loom bracelets for the children and cards and notes
to go with them. On Feb 17 (Presidents’ Day) Judy Miller will bring
all of the items CJDS collects to Temple Israel and lay them out attractively on tables before the YWCA clients arrive.
If you are interested in volunteering to help Judy Miller at Temple Israel on 2/17 from 10 am - 12 p.m.
email her at [email protected] to let her know you’re available.
Judy’s Journal
Judy Miller, M.S.
Head of School
Dear CJDS Families,
Eran Rosenberg and I were proud to represent CJDS at the recent Annual Jewish Day School Conference
entitled “Moving the Needle.” Together with over 500 day school leaders from across North America and
beyond, we shared three days of interactive learning and discussions about bringing innovative programming
to our schools. The event was tailored for day school leaders, responsible for the 30,000 students in the 144 day
schools that make up the RAVSAK (community day school) and PARDES (Reform day schools) networks.
Each day began with tefillot at 7:00 a.m. and ended with small group networking sessions late in the evening. Eran and I
were energized as we learned from the experts and from one another. We attended workshops on a myriad of subjects including:
meeting the needs of diverse learners, enhancing classrooms with blended learning, new paradigms in Israel education, using social media to
build relationships, professional development for Jewish educators, making day schools sustainable for the future and building enrollment in day
schools. The sessions were led by experts and the discussions were lively and inspiring.
I had a few moments to visit with Dr. Mark Kramer, Executive Director of RAVSAK, the Jewish Community Day School Network. In their
national publication, RAVSAK recently featured an article on our integrated robotics program in K-6th grade. He congratulated us on being
a lead school in innovative STEM education. We can be proud of our CJDS teachers who have made this program so successful! And of your
children, whose creativity shines bright.
Eran and I returned from the conference with new energy and inspiration to continue “Moving the Needle” at CJDS. May our efforts help our
children, families and community to go from strength to strength.
Shabbat shalom,
Judy Miller
Head of School
NEWS & NOTES
Don’t forget this Sunday, February 9 is the CJDS Special Sunday presented by the third grade! See page 4 for details.
Congregation Tifereth Israel presents the Justine Hackman Memorial Young Jewish Artist Music Competition. Auditions are Sunday, March 9 from 12:45 pm to 4:30 pm. A concert performance and cash prizes
are awarded! Contact Gail Rose at 239-1424 for more information. Deadline for entry is 2/27/14.
Blood Drive at the JCC College Ave. – Wednesday, February 26th. The need for blood donors is never completely satisfied. New donors must be found when long time donors can no longer give. Please come Monday February 26th, to the
JCC between 12:00 noon and 6:30 pm to give the “Gift of Life”. You can arrange an appointment by calling the Red Cross
at 1-800-Give Life or go to the Red Cross website at www.redcrossblood.org sponsor code: tolifecolumbus.
The CJDS Lost & Found is overflowing. Hats, gloves, even some winter coats are piling up. Please stop by the
office the next time you’re at CJDS to check out the Lost & Found bin for items that belong to your child(ren).
Class of 2012 Alum Kyra Freeman will be inducted into the Junior National Honor Society at Genoa Middle School on
Wednesday, February 12, 2014. Her service to her community as well as her academic accomplishments helped her
achieve this honor!
CJDS is accepting applications for Kindergarten. Word-of-mouth is the most valuable form of recruiting. Share the love and tell your friends
about CJDS! Our next Admissions Open House is February 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
2
INTEGRATION
FIFTH GRADERS PROFILE LEADERS
Students in fifth grade inspired our community as they showed off their technology,
research, and presentation skills at our annual Biography and Robotics Fair.
Throughout the year they have examined their essential question, “What is the
interaction between cultures and leaders?” Students have critically evaluated leaders
through Humash , literature, and social studies. They have discussed how cultures
and historical circumstances have provided the right climate for leaders to emerge,
and how leaders have a lasting impact on the cultures from which they come.
Edward chose the Dalai
Lama as his leader
Our fifth graders selected leaders representing many different fields, displaying a
variety of gifts and coming from all over the world. Students conducted research for
their writing and presentation that explored their leader’s family, origins, early life,
education, adulthood, achievements, and death.
Students explored the engineering process as they built WeDo Robots that
helped tell the story of their leader’s life and accomplishments. Students focused
on collaboration, problem-solving, and communication with peers in this very
interactive process. In art, students drew portraits of their leaders using the grid
method, where they used measurement to dissect a photograph into equal-sized
boxes, which could be copied onto a larger format without losing proportion.
Finally, students were asked to use a variety of media to share the story of their
leader. Their presentations used Smartboard, Youtube, Prezi, and Powerpoint and
included personal performances and interactive games.
Phoebe’s profile of Shel Silverstein
includes quotes from his books, and
a robotic tree that winds down,
paralleling the author’s life
Dasi uses Facetime to include
her parents, who are in Israel and
couldn’t be at the Biography Fair
Libby profiled Steve Jobs,
including a robotic laptop
computer that opens and closes
Lee’s presentation on John Lennon
included a video clip of him playing
Lennon’s song, “Imagine” on the piano
Ava gathers a crowd for her
presentation on Leonardo DaVinci
3
COMMUNITY
JOIN US FOR THE NEXT SPECIAL SUNDAY!
Join your CJDS friends for a morning
of Bowling at Sequoia Lanes
Sunday, February 9 from
10am-12 noon.
5501 Sandalwood Blvd.,
Columbus, Ohio 43229
614-885-7043
The cost is $8 per person. This includes bowling shoes
and all the games we want to play for 2 hours. We
have reserved 8 lanes.
JUDAICS
M&M WELCOMES RABBIS CRESPY AND MOSES
Rabbi Crespy was welcomed by fifth and sixth graders as their teacher for the
M & M class. Rabbi Crespy, the chaplain at Riverside Hospital taught students
about the mitzvah of Bikkur Holim, visiting the sick. She explained her role as a
chaplain in a hospital and how people who are sick need support, someone to
talk to and someone to listen. Rabbi Crespy shared sources about great rabbis
who visited their students who were sick. According to the Mishnah, “everyone
who visits a sick person takes away one sixtieth of his or her illness.” Rabbi
Crespy wanted to impart that doctors and medicine aren’t the only things that
help people who are sick. A visit, phone call or card can alleviate symptoms and
help a person feel better. There is a midrash that says when G-d came to visit
Abraham after his brit milah, G-d was fulfilling the mitzvah of Bikkur Holim.
Rabbi Crespy finished her lesson with mi sheberakh, a prayer for healing.
Rabbi Crespy leads the class in a discussion of Bikkur Holim
Rabbi Jay Moses of the Wexner Foundation was our next M & M guest. Rabbi
Moses’ theme was “Responsibility.” Every person has a responsibility to their
community and Rabbi Moses shared midrashim where great Rabbis argued
their opinions, only to be overruled by the majority. The Rabbis realized that a
democratic result was more important than one person being right.
Rabbi Moses imparted that we have great responsibility here on earth.
Decision making and creating change is up to us, not “the heavens.” As a
community, we have power to make decisions. Rabbi Moses shared two clips
of the late folk artist, Pete Seeger, who is a perfect example of someone who
stepped up to rally the majority for change. He used his music and fame to
make a difference. Rabbi Moses asked students to think about what they are
responsible for, in their own lives, in their community and in the world.
Rabbi Moses discusses responsibility with students
4
WISDOM OF THE HEART
WISDOM OF THE HEART RESCHEDULED DUE TO WEATHER
We made the difficult decision to postpone Wisdom
of the Heart after consultation with the Police and
Highway Patrol, with the safety of our guests and
volunteers top of mind. We have rescheduled the
event, and we hope everyone can join us on the
new date:
Sunday, March 2 from 5-7 p.m.
We are sending out postcards to everyone who
responded, informing them of the new date. If you
had already RSVP’d, we hope you can join us on
the new date. If you weren’t able to attend, we hope
you can now attend.
If you have any questions, contact Rachel Hillman
at [email protected].
All the fabulous auction items collected by our
tireless volunteers are safely stored away and
will be up for bidding on March 2. Here are a
couple: to pique your interest.
Video games with Mr. Scherer - a
perennial favorite
Two tickets to The Book of Mormon, the
hottest show on Broadway, coming to
Columbus in May
PICTURES OF THE WEEK
Third grade
students work
on copying an ink
drawing of a panda
in Art class
Isabella (l.) and Johnathan (r.) work
on their drawings.
CJDS
150 E. Granville Road, New Albany, Ohio 43054
Phone 614.939.5311 Fax 614.939-5312
www.cjds.org
COLUMBUS JEWISH DAY SCHOOL
Seven Special Years
WE ARE A PARTNER OF
5