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A Social Justice Year, Lifetime Learning: The Abroms Youth Philanthropy Initiative
This year our students have been immersed in an intensive social justice curriculum. Students take a weekly Youth Philanthropy Class where they learn about and visit non-profits. In this class, students looked at the root causes of inequality and dissected complex social issues. Our students also engaged in extensive study of America's Civil Rights history. From analyzing court cases to discussing root causes of inequality, our students have learned to critically engage in their community. In February, students visited the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Civil Rights Memorial Center, and the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery. At the EJI, our students heard from Mr. Anthony Ray Hinton, an innocent man wrongfully convicted who spent years in prison, who spoke to our students about forgiveness. Students participated in Birmingham Reads, a city-wide reading day, and visited Kelly Ingram Park to honor the six-year anniversary of the dedication of The Anne Frank Memorial Tree. Students also participated in the EJI's Soil Collection Remembrance Project, a campaign to recognize the victims of lynching by collecting soil from lynching sites to create a memorial that acknowledges the horrors of racial injustices.
At the Abroms Youth Philanthropy Intiative Grant Presentation, our students shared their reflections on social justice and philanthropy as they presented checks to selected non-profits. Students raised $2,000 and completed 400 service hours, and during the Grant Presentation, all of our students articulately shared what being a social justice activist meant to them before they all participated in the check presentations.
Read the full story
here.
Thank you to Al.Com for covering this great event. Read their article
here.
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Only at the NEMJDS: An Arcade Centered Around Community and Learning
A few weeks ago, our Innovative Learning Center became a "video game arcade," but more importantly it was a place for our students, families, and community members to celebrate learning (which is certainly nothing new at the NEMJDS)! Our students started learning the basics of coding at the beginning of the year, and during the Arcade Night, the entire community had the opportunity to see their learning on display! Our students created video games using Scratch, a coding program developed by MIT, and if you had a chance to play their games during the arcade, you could see how different and creative each game was! Read the full story here.
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A Family School with Family Traditions: Matan Siddur
 The NEMJDS is a family school, and like any family, we have our own special traditions. One of those is the first grade matan siddur party. Every year, our first graders receive their very own school prayer book with a special message from their family.
First grade parents write a note to their student on the first page of their prayer book. These personal notes are full of love, joy, and wisdom for the future. These notes are also a surprise for the kids. Read more
here.
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Architects, Engineers, and Teachers: Fourth and Fifth Graders
Who knew that if you constructed a toothpick house in a certain way it could withstand high wind from a fan and hold grams upon grams of weights, all with no adhesive?The fourth and fifth graders learned and taught this lesson during National Engineering Week. The kids constructed, designed, and measured their own toothpick houses. They then calculated how much weight their houses could hold by figuring out the weight of a penny and multiplying accordingly. Then students took their engineering to the next level and built toothpick houses (still with no adhesive), and they saw how much wind from a fan they could endure.
Read more
here.
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A Cross-Continental Lesson: Africa, Israel, and Birmingham
Thank you to Ms. Jahan Berns for visiting our seventh and eighth grade Israeli History Class. Jahan, a Uganda native and now a Birmingham resident, talked to our students about her journey as a supporter of Israel, friend of the Jews, and attorney at Sirote and Permutt. Jahan began the class explaining the realities of growing up in a war-torn nation, from her struggle to get her education at points to her family's abrupt change in status. She explained the complexities of the Ugandan dictator in the seventies' feelings towards Israel. She also explained to us how her own father, a regional military and community leader, stayed devoted to Israel throughout his life. Read the full story
here.
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Mitzvahs, Hamentashen, Tzedekah, and Collaboration!
At the NEMJDS, we celebrated Purim in many ways. One of those ways is by raising money as a school for Operation IDF Purim to send Mishloach Manot (Purim treats) to an army troop in Israel. Each class collected tzedekah for this project, and
we could have never anticipated how great this would turn out! The Upper School and Kindergarten had the opportunity to make hamentashen together. Read more
here.
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A Generous Award for Marlie Thompson and the NEMJDS
At the NEMJDS, our students have the opportunity to become a meaningful part of our greater
com
mun
ity at a young age. This year our Upper School students participated in the Better Together™ program which
is an intergenera
tional visitation program with Collat Jewish Family Services' CARES program. CARES is a program which provides cognitive, social, and physical stimulation to people with memory and movement disorders. Our students' monthly visits to the program were a highlight of the year, and, for many of our students, a meaningful way to step outside of their comfort zones and connect with and learn from seniors in our community. Not only did our students strengthen their leadership skills as they planned and facilitated activities for the CARES participants, but also they internalized the stories they heard as they developed relationships with the participants.
As part of the Better Together™ program, our students entered their reflections about senior citizens, the elderly, growing old, and intergenerational experiences in a national writing contest. Throughout the year, our students reflected through their writing, and these thoughtful reflections allowed our students to acknowledge the significance of this experience
. After submitting their reflections to the contest, our students excitedly awaited the results.
S
even
th grader Marlie Thompson's essay was selected as the national middle school winner, and our school was awarded $25,000 for scholarships. Between the joyful tears and excited screams in the hallway when we shared the news, the students had the opportunity to cheer for Marlie's hard work.
Marlie also won a scholarship for 50% off of her tuition to URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp. We are so proud of Marlie and grateful our students had this opportunity!
This project is supported through a Better Together™ Grant from a well-renowned national foundation. We are grateful for their generous support.
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NEMJDS Events:
For upcoming events, access our school calendar here.
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Interested in learning more about our program, and seeing our completely renovated, state-of-the art learning environment? It would be our pleasure to give you a personalized tour! Contact us.
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 BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
Did you know that every box top collected brings in ten cents to the NEMJDS?
Click here for the list of products with Box Tops and start clipping!
YOU SHOP. AMAZON GIVES!
Click here and choose N.E. Miles Jewish Day School as the organization you'd like to support and a portion of your purchase will go straight to the school!
PUBLIX PARTNERS
When you shop at Publix and use a Publix Partners NEMJDS swipe card, our school earns a donation.
Please your swipe cards when you check out at Publix. If you need a swipe card, please stop by the school office.
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For the last 43 years, the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School has been committed to a warm, safe, and positive atmosphere in which children from diverse levels of religious observance are inspired to grow and celebrate Jewishly and embrace life-long learning. With a strong basis in academics, Jewish education, sense of community, development of leadership and menschlichkeit, our school is an integral part of our community and works to make it even better.
Learn more about what it means to be a part of our school family.
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