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Friday LetterFriday Letter Archive | Friday Letter AlertsJune 19, 2009
Below are the totals of Tzedakkah monies counted at year’s end. Keep in mind that earlier in the year, during the War in Gaza, some classes had already donated monies to charitable organizations in Israel, which are not included in these totals: Tzedakkah Collected by Grade and Project as of 6/16/2009 24 Sivan 5769
Mazal Tov to our students, for their efforts in collecting and distributing Tzedakkah and in doing Tikkun Olam, making the world a better place. Is the Financial Crisis hitting home? UJA Federation Connect to Care – If you or someone you know is facing difficulties due to the economic downturn, help is available. Discrete and professional career, legal, financial and emotional counseling are available to middle and upper middle class families and individuals who have never before been in need of such services, through Connect to Care, a brand new initiative by UJA Federation of Greater New York. In Nassau, call (516) 484-1545 ext. 212. In Suffolk, (631) 462-9800. Or go to www.ujafedny.org/connect-to-care. Schechter Directory Last chance to reduce your tuition for next year! Schechter families have successfully shaved hundreds off their tuition by selling advertisements in Schechter publicity materials. Every donation is tax-deductible for individuals and businesses to the full extent of the law. For every new donation, you will receive 50% off your tuition obligation. The Parents Association is organizing a new School Directory for next year that will include a list of all Schechter families along with contact information. The Directory will be circulated to our 300 Schechter families in Fall, 2009. Please participate in our Annual Campaign Fundraiser by selling ads in the Directory using the attached Directory Form. To receive a reduction off your tuition for 2009-2010, please return your forms to the Development Office at the Upper School, along with with your payment, no later than August 1, 2009. Please click HERE for more information. ____________________ Dear Parents and Friends of the Solomon Schechter Elementary School, As posters come down from the walls and displayed work sent home in backpacks, the reality of year’s end is sinking in. Today is the last day of school for the 5769 school year, and the end of my first year as principal of this extraordinary elementary school. I am indebted to Rabbi Lev Herrnson, our Head of School, and to the Board of Trustees, for giving me this privilege of leading the elementary school and this fine institution. It has been a remarkable year. Being the home-away-from-home for young children, we did our very best all year to create a bubble of fun, lively, engaging teaching and learning, even as the world was unraveling outside the safety of our cocoon. And so spirits remained high throughout the year, while the children learned and thrived. The economic crisis was left at the door, while math, Torah, science, social studies, English language arts, Hebrew language arts and fun galore were welcome inside. I sometimes wonder how we were so successful at keeping the focus for so long strictly on expanding children’s minds! And expand they did! I am so proud of the accomplishments of each and every child. This week the elementary school celebrated, in grand style, the 5th Grade Moving Up as well as the Kindergarten Moving Up. Both were beyond words-spectacular! Likewise, the 8th Grade Siyyum, on Wednesday evening at the Shelter Rock Jewish Center was an event that dazzled and delighted. Last night, at Temple Beth Shalom, the 12th graders celebrated their High School Graduation, a dignified beautiful and emotional event. All four events marked milestones and brought pride and distinction to the school. The first grade celebrated the publication of their own books at the Frog and Toad Tea, and read their original works to their parents and to their friends’ families. Two 5th graders, Sam Eiber and Jesse Liebman, were honored for their excellent work and citizenship as editors of the student-run newspaper, “SSDS Press.” Right until the very last day of school, we have been busy at the business of developing children’s minds and character. We are completely indebted to our fantastic teaching faculty, which has enriched the lives of your children this year. The level of commitment of each member of the team to the school, its mission, and its students and families, is so appreciated. Each teacher is a gem, and working side-by-side with the teachers, the teaching assistants, and with our incredibly talented assistant principal, Sandi Swerdloff, has been an honor and privilege. In addition to the teachers, we are blessed to have a substantial number of outside service providers who are an integral part of our school community and whose services are coordinated by our very lovely and talented director of Pupil Services, Gila Calev. This is the third Jewish day school that I have worked for, and by far, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County is able to offer the most efficacious and comprehensive services of any school I have ever encountered. I see the results every day. Children are thriving all around me, making strides far beyond what I ever realized was possible in a Jewish day school. What a joy! Three individuals have kept the ship steady, to whom we all owe our gratitude. First is our office manager, Kathleen Niebling, who works harder and more efficiently than anyone I have ever worked with in my life. Kathleen never loses her cool, she knows where everything is, what needs to get done, and shows kindness to everyone. I wish to thank Ed Clementi and Naresh Singh, our security and maintenance men, for all that they do to make the elementary school run safely and smoothly. Schechter is a school where each and every faculty and staff member goes above and beyond the call of duty, to teach and to serve the children. It has been my privilege to work so closely with such a fine group of people, as well as with the scores of parent and grandparent volunteers who enrich Schechter each and every day. A number of members of our community – teachers and families as well – are leaving at the end of today and they will be sorely missed. This is the reality that we so successfully kept at bay, as best we could, throughout the year. In the fall, the programming for the children will be just as full, just as robust, just as challenging and just as exciting as ever! In fact, there are many exciting new ideas in the works for the coming school year. We have a wonderful year planned for the 5770 – 2009-2010 school year, and I personally look forward to welcoming back each of you and your children in September. Since the start of the year Mrs. Katz, our librarian, has been facilitating the daily poetry break. I will conclude the final Friday Letter of the 2008-2009 school year with a poem that I wrote and read to the students on Thursday morning, as guest poet: Last Poetry BreakBy Cindy Dolgin 26 Sivan 5769 – June 18, 2009 When I think of two thousand and nine, What sort of things come to mind? I think of the children, the beautiful children, And how each is a one-of-a-kind. I think if the children who learned how to read, And those who seemed born knowing how, I think of the effort that it takes to succeed, And that look of concentration in your brow. Remember beating willows on Hoshana Rabbah? That was a long time ago! How about eating lunch in the Sukkah. How would we fit? We just didn’t know! Do you remember asking if there’d be a talent show, A Purim tradition, a must. Instead I recommended “Schechter is a Class Act, But I was afraid that I might be a bust. Instead you embraced it, you allowed for this change, And wrote your own scenes for the play. Instead of clubs and exclusion, the very best solution Was for all to be in it, and have a great day. We blessed the sun on Birkat HaChamah, Buried a capsule to be dug up some day. 5th off to Teva, 4th to Ramah, Tadpoles, Ducks and Butterflies that flew away. Read-a-thon, circus, authors galore, Learning-to-Look at the Met. Egypt, Greece and Rome came alive. The parent volunteers are the best! 3rd grade Torah, 4th grade Jerusalem, 2nd grade Tu B’Shvat in Yisrael. Siddur Celebration for sweet Kitah Aleph K and 5th moving up, Hail Hail!! 100th day of school, that was really cool, With second grade measuring the hall. 100 of everything. Weigh! Measure! Count! The teachers helped you all have a ball. The teachers! Yes, the teachers. Who work hard all day, so you’ll know to write and to think. With Hebrew and English and Torah and Math The days fly by in a blink. In two thousand nine there are days that I thought, “Will these children ever learn to be kind?” But then I remember the Hesed and care And the acts of thoughtfulness that really remind… Me of why I wanted to come here, To this wonderful Jewish school. It’s the people and values that are so dear, That make this school so cool. Today is the last Poetry Break Until we return in the fall. With the 5th graders moved up, it won’t be the same. We will miss them, one and all. Over the summer a bit of advice, Run, jump, swim and have fun. Read books for pleasure, write in your journal In the fall I’ll be waiting for you, each and every one. Shabbat Shalom and have a safe and restful summer, Dr. Cindy Dolgin Elementary School Principal Dvar Torah A Special Graduation Dvar Torah by Rabbi Moshe Schwartz Many of you may have likely heard a word or two about this week’s Torah reading at one of the graduation ceremonies this week. In Parashat Shlakh Lecha we read the famous incident of the spies in which they return from scouting the land of Cannan and 10 of them give the false report that it is “eretz ochelet yoshveha he (a land that devours its inhabitants).” In other words, it is that the land swallows up the people who try to live on it. Yet, we know all to well that Cannan (Israel), while a mostly dry and difficult environment to live in, is still a great land. Perhaps it is simply a matter of perspective. When reading this verse, we often get hung up on the word “ochelet” –noting that the land “eats” those who dwell on it. This is certainly noteworthy, but there seems to be another word that begs interpretations. What if the message here is in the word yoshveha, inhabitants, dwellers. It comes from the root Yud, Shin, Bet = to sit. Therefore, one might conclude that it is a land that eats people who just sit there. In other words, if it is just a land of yoshveha, those who sit there, then it’ll eat you up. I believe this is an important message to each of our graduates. Of course it is appropriate to pause and reflect on the accomplishments that have been achieved (and boy, there are too many to list here!). Yet, the subtle message from the spies report seems to imply that we must see this transitional moment (after all, the Israelites could have been on the cusp of entering the Promised Land before being sentenced to 38 more years of wandering) as a message to all of us that we must seize the opportunity to continue our learning and growth. This happens naturally for those attending Jewish summer camp or a similar educational program. Others will take a short break and continue their learning when we return in September. Some will be leaving us and heading off to continue their studies in fine colleges and universities around the nation (or on excellent programs in Israel). No matter where you will be in September, we can all learn the message of the verse “eretz ochelet yoshveha he” and the explanation of the word yoshveha that we must never sit too long. Each of us must continue to sharpen our skills, study new texts and seek to perform new mitzvot each and every day. Failure to do so means we will get consumed by the world around us and thus lose the true purpose and meaning in our Jewish tradition. This causes us to see the world as a problem rather than an opportunity. It is my hope and prayer that each of us will use the summer and our future endeavors as an opportunity for growth and development. But don’t get me wrong, I hope all of us also have the opportunity to sit and relax a bit too. May all of you enjoy a restful summer. Mazal tov to our graduates and their families and b’hatzlacha to all those moving on from our Schechter community. Please stay in touch. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Moshe Schwartz cell: 917-587-2269
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