TY Hadashot/News
|
News About The Frederic G. and Lawrence G. Cohen Religious School / Yeladon / Torat Tots
Donna Tarutz, Education Director E-mail: tarutz@toratyisrael.org Click here to read more about Donna Tarutz. Click here to visit the Cohen School website. June 2012I would like to congratulate our Cohen School students for all their hard work this year. We are really blessed with kids that know the meaning of menschlekeit and their kind caring spirit pervades throughout the school community.
We have a lot to be proud of this year in our Cohen School Community! David Wasser, Yeladon – Grade 2 teacher, was awarded the Jennie Klein Memorial Award as the outstanding teacher in a supplementary afternoon Hebrew school in the State of Rhode Island. The Jennie Klein Memorial Award is presented every other year to recognize excellence in teaching a Sunday school or Synagogue Supplementary School (Pre-K – 12) in Rhode Island. At the Annual Board Meeting of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, on June 4, David will be honored with the Jennie Klein Memorial Award that includes a grant to participate in a professional development opportunity in Jewish Education. We extend a hearty mazel tov to David for this prestigious award! Stacey Weisman’s class certainly knows the meaning of doing acts of loving kindness. Students and their families in the third/fourth grade class collected over $140 for the East Greenwich Animal Shelter. Families will be visiting and learning about the very important work that is done at the shelter in East Greenwich in early June. Students in the other classes at the Cohen School decided to donate their class tzedakah to the new building. This tzedakah will help purchase new books for our library in our new Torat Yisrael education wing. Mazel tov to our award recipients at graduation: Harry Wasser, 7th grade graduate from the Cohen School, was awarded the Michele Pam Ross Memorial Prize. Harry exemplifies the true meaning of Judaism in his daily life in home, at our school and synagogue. There were two recipients of the Anna R. Sholes Book Award: Fifth Grade students Ariel Finkle and Brenda Wasser. Congratulations to Ariel and Brenda on their hard work and genuine interest in Jewish literature! Our excellent faculty deserves a todah rabah (and a very big thank you) for their commitment to teaching our students this year! A very special thank you to our volunteer school tutors, Lynn Field and Ruth Ross for teaching our students with such care and dedication! Ari Vilker volunteered every single Sunday to help out in David Wasser’s K-2 class. Thank you, Ari!! I am pleased to inform you that the April student art show at Atria Harborhill was so well-received by its residents and staff. I have already received a request by Judith Hambleton, the Engage Life Director, Atria Harborhill, to plan another art show and children’s reception showcasing our kids’ drawings and multimedia artwork. This summer we will be inaugurating our Hebrew Enrichment Summer Program. Children who may have started later in the school year or children that want to practice their Hebrew reading over the summer are invited to participate in this program. There will be more information on this program at a later date. I am thrilled to share with you that Rabbi Levin will once again be teaching a class for the 6th and 7th grade students. Registration for the next academic year is available online at the Cohen School website: http://cohenschool.weebly.com/registration-form.html If you have any questions about our Jewish Learning Programs: Torat Tots, Yeladon, Cohen School or about your child’s Jewish learning, please contact me: tarutz@toratyisrael.org or at 885-6600. On a personal note, thank you so much for welcoming me and making me feel so much a part of the Torat Yisrael family this past year. I am honored to be working with such a wonderful, caring and indeed extraordinarily special community! L’shalom, Donna Tarutz May 2012This past month was indeed a busy one! Torat Tots, Yeladon and students at the Frederic G. and Lawrence G. Cohen School created artwork based upon their Torah Studies this year. These drawings will be on display at the Atria Harborhill Senior Living Gallery from Tuesday, April 24 – May 8. Gallery Hours at 159 Division Street are 9am – 8 pm daily. The artists’ reception to meet the children artists was held on April 24 at Atria Harborhill.
Faculty at the school were delighted with the hand-crafted birch cubbies created by the carpentry students at Amos House, under the leadership of Mr. Bill Scott, Director of the Amos House Carpentry Program. The teachers all have a place to store their books, supplies and resources. We are grateful to our friends at Amos House for their labor of love in making these beautiful cubbies! Although the calendar says that we are inching toward the end of the academic year, we are still going strong in our activities, classroom learning and programs. The sixth and seventh grade students will be visiting Shalom Memorial Chapel, Providence, as part of their studies in Life Cycle. Rabbi Levin will be on hand at the Chapel to teach about Jewish rituals around death and to respond to students’ questions and concerns on this topic. The 3rd and 4th grade students chose to raise funds for an East Greenwich animal shelter as part of their tzedakah project. Stacey Weisman, the Sunday teacher for the 3rd and 4th grade students spearheaded this project. The students and their families will be visiting the East Greenwich Animal Protection League on May 6. Our Open House takes place on May 6, at 9 am at the Cohen School. Parents are invited to visit classes, speak with Rabbi Levin, Susan Smoller, and the co-chairs of the membership committee, Michael Field and Beth Salk. I will be on hand to answer questions about the curriculum and the school. Parents may hold a place for their child in the school programs by pre-registering that morning. There will be refreshments, time to shmooz and to meet other members of our school community. Your friends and neighbors are most welcome to join us that morning!! Our closing exercises in the school and the graduation ceremony for our 7th grade students will take place on Sunday morning, May 20 at 10 am at the Synagogue House, 1251 Middle Rd., East Greenwich. We culminate our school year together on May 19 at Learn, Pray, Love Shabbat! Rabbi Levin leads us in learning about the different prayers and the week’s Torah parashah (portion). Our school children in all classes lead us in their special Hebrew prayers. We then enjoy a delicious homemade brunch together. Celebrating our family Shabbat together each month at Learn, Pray, Love Shabbat! is filled with warmth and a wonderful spirit of Shabbat throughout our school community! April 2012We had the opportunity to celebrate Purim together at the EG House. Rabbi Levin read the Megillah for the community. On Purim, Barney said that he was reading the Megillah. However, we knew that the Rabbi's melliferous voice was underneath her Barney costume.
It was a delight to celebrate Purim with over 50 members of the Torat Yisrael, Yeladon, and Cohen School community. There were lots of children and they all participated in the chocolate walk costume parade where everyone was awarded a prize! Kudos to Elijah Coke, Ariel Finkle, and Harry Wasser who assisted the Rabbi in reading the Megillah. Rachel Wasser was in charge of the traffic light- no small feat at our Purim celebration. She did an amazing job in keeping the community in check! The school children prepared a special original rap, sang traditional Purim songs, created a Purim Puppet Show and collected money for the poor (matanot l'evyonim). Samantha Goldman, Torat Tots teacher and Cohen School Fifth grade teacher led an impressive evening of face painting. A very special thank you to Rachel Silverman and Sue Abbotson who cooked a very yummy Purim Seudah (meal). Jonathan Finkle provided photography for the evening celebration. His and other contributors Purim photographs can be found on the Cohen School website March events at the Cohen School included the 6th/7th grades Wimpel Family Workshop on Sunday, March 25 led by Cohen School Teacher and Artist, Jenn Futterman. A wimpel is a Torah binder that has a unique history. It was the custom in Europe to take the baby's linen wrap worn at the baby's brit, cut it into long strips, sew it together and write, paint or embroider the child's name, special designs, and special wishes. The wimpel is used at the Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony and Aufruf. A very special artists reception of Torat Yisrael's Torat Tots, Yeladon and Cohen School students will be held on Tueday, April 24th from 5 pm - 6pm at Atria Harborhill. The school children will have their artwork on display to the public beginning on Tuesday, April 24th at Atria Harborhill. The artwork will be drawings based upon their Bible studies this year. Please join us for this very creative community event. Upcoming school fieldtrips include: April 15- 7th grade trip to NYC with Rabbi Levin. Spring field trips to Jewish RI and Jewish Boston for 6th and 5th grade students respectively. There will be an open house for the Cohen School on Sunday, May 6. March 2012The Hebrew month of Adar is known for the holiday of Purim and for the dictum of striving toward extra happiness. We are so grateful and happy that our people survived despite Haman’s efforts to annihilate the Jews in the Land of Persia.
At the Cohen School, we will celebrate Purim as a community at 5:30 pm at the Synagogue House. Each class will participate in the Purim Holiday Celebration by presenting an important aspect of the holiday in their own creative way: Yeladon and Grade 2 – Students will sing a Purim Song. Grades 3 and 4 –Students will collect tzedakah for the poor (matanot l’evyonim). Grade 5 - Students will present an original puppet show on Purim. Grade 6 and 7 – Students will read the Megillah. The customary Purim Seudah, Purim Feast will follow the reading of Megillat Esther. Judy Finkle will purchase menu items. Sue Abbotson and Rachel Silverman will cook the Purim dinner. Dessert will include hamantaschen baked by the students in 6th and 7th grades and with guidance by the master bakers of the TY Sisterhood and Men’s Club. There is still time to volunteer to participate in the preparation of the Purim Feast! There will also be a costume parade for children. Prizes will be awarded in all categories including: most original costume, funniest costume, and the best Esther costume. There will be special recognition of adults who dress in costumes. Everyone is encouraged to don his or her best Purim costume! Next month, there will be a special art show of the Cohen Students drawings of the Torah Stories that they are studying this year. These drawings will be displayed at Atria Harborhill for visitors, residents, and all members of the community to view. There will be an opening reception honoring student artists. The students artwork will be displayed from April 24-May 9. This exhibit will be open to the public. Soon you will be receiving an invitation to attend the opening of the children’s art show. I hope that you will join us at this very special event. If you have any questions about Torat Tots, Yeladon or the Cohen School, or would like to arrange a visit, please contact me. February 2012: A Sunday in the Life of the Cohen Religious SchoolThis year, we celebrate Tu B’shvat in the beginning of February. Tu B’shvat is the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat and the New Year of Trees. As we embrace Tu B’shvat, we sing a beautiful but classic holiday song: Ha-shkeidiah Porachat, Hag Ha-Ilanot- The almond tree is blooming, the Tu B’shvat holiday is upon us, the holiday for trees.
In Israel, the shkeidiah, the almond tree is one of the first trees to blossom. At the Cohen Religious School we strive as a community to help our students grow Jewishly in knowledge and identity and to blossom in their love for learning and community. I want to share with you a Sunday in the Life of the Cohen Religious School. There is no typical Sunday—every Sunday brings different challenges, new learning, collaborations, and new programs. Last month on a Sunday, I was making my usual classroom visits and walking the hallways of the Cohen Religious School at The Village Lower School. I would like to share with you The Life and Learning that was going on that Sunday morning. Laura Steele, our TY Librarian for the Lower School, Yeladon and grades 2-4 was engaging children in story-telling and discussion of their curriculum-based Jewish Values. With the K-2 group, Laura Steele read the book: In God’s Name by Sandy Sasso Eisenberg that discusses how God can be different for different people. The books presents that individuals can perceive God in their own personal way. The children asked questions and had a discussion on where God is and what to call God. The Jewish value of derech eretz, being kind and gemilut hasadim, acts of loving kindness were also integrated into the morning teaching. The children offered their own conceptions of God such as: God is not just in outer space but also is in rocks. A half hour later, in the 3rd and 4th Grade group, the children were discussing the book; Snow in Jerusalem by Deborah Da Costa. This book is about an Arab boy in Jerusalem and a Jewish boy in Jerusalem who both adopt a stray cat. The story focuses on the boys’ relationship with one another and their caring for the cat and learning how to share. The students discussed the feelings of anger that each boy started out with and how they worked on compromise with one another. The children in the grade three’s Jewish value is: taking care of one’s speech, not gossiping lying or tale bearing. Grade Four’s Jewish value is understanding of peoplehood and loving one’s friend as oneself- v’ahavta l’rei'acha k’mocha. The children then got into a spirited discussion and had questions about modern Israel. To further deepen their knowledge and engage the students’ interest, Mrs. Steele gave the children an assignment for this month’s library time- to find out one thing about Israel and to look in the newspaper, the news, or other sources. While all of this learning was going on and children were discussing books and taking out books from the Cohen Religious School library, about 10 members of the TY Sisterhood were sitting in the kitchen discussing the book Sarah’s Key. At this Sisterhood Book Group there was another and different spirited discussion. A few minutes later, Ruth Ross, Sisterhood co-president and Sisterhood member, Lynn Field donned their other caps. They are both aides in the school and moved to another space in the Cohen school to actively support our children in their Hebrew reading skills. Torat Tots learned about tzedakah. Our 3.5 – 4.5 year old pre-school students learned what tzedakah is and why people give money to help others. They made their own tzedakah boxes to take home while listening and dancing to Jewish music. This they did while counting in Hebrew. The Torat Tots learned how to count in Hebrew that morning and gleefully shared their knowledge with me. Yeladon, our K-1 program, students were busy learning the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in Discover the Aleph-Bet. Other K-2 students that had prior exposure and learning of the Hebrew alphabet, were learning how to read with vowels and others were learning how to write the Hebrew letters. In Grades 6-7, students were deep in reading and learning the prayer ki mitzion. The students were learning how this prayer, which we say when we take out the Torah from the Ark, connects us to our ancient past and to our future. The discussion in this class was the hope and belief that both the Torah and Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) will continue to be a source of spiritual strength from dor to dor (from generation to generation). A few minutes later, as I walking past the muli-purpose room at the Cohen School’s Religious School, I heard the students in grades 5-7 students singing at Group Tefilah with energy, vigor and pride the prayers from the siddur that they have learned this year. Students and teachers and members of our Torat Yisrael Cohen School Family were deeply engaged in learning and teaching. This was one day in the life of the Cohen Religious School. If you have any questions about Torat Yisrael’s Cohen Religious School, please do contact me at 785-1800 or tarutz@toratyisrael.org. |
