Photo Credit: Stephanie Heymann Photography

Mazal Tov to our Class of 2015 who will be attending the following high  schools:

• The Cate School (a college-preparatory boarding school in Carpinteria, California)
• Center for Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST) Program at Paradise Valley High School
• Chaparral High School
• Horizon High School
• Notre Dame Preparatory High School
• Phoenix Country Day School
• Shadow Mountain High School

Twenty-six Pardes middle school students in grades six through eight were among the approximately 120,000 students in more than 25 countries worldwide to participate this year in the Math Olympiad Program. They participated in a series of five monthly contests from November to March. The students solved five challenging problems on each test within a specified amount of time.

All the students responded well and were recognized with certificates for their participation. Quite a few Pardes Mathletes won National Awards for excellence within Division M (Middle School). Additionally, the embroidered patch was awarded to those students who were in the top 50% of all participants - Noah Silver, Ethan Weisman, Ethan Cohen, Jagat Khalsa, Bradley Greenberg, Marcy Sterling, Bradley Gordon, Benjamin Brodsky, Matthew Finks, Ava Hammer, and Ethan Rosenfeld.

The silver pin was awarded to Noah Silver for scoring in the top 10% of all students worldwide. Noah also received a gold trophy for top scorer at Pardes. What an amazing feat! We are so proud of Noah, as well as all 26 students who persevered through some extremely challenging exams.

Pardes will also host an elementary division team next year comprised of students in grades four and five. The elementary school Olympiad has five competitions, each consisting of five problems. An example from a previous contest is the following:

A digital clock shows 2:35. This is the first time after midnight when all three digits are different prime numbers. What is the last time before noon when all three digits on the clock are different prime numbers?

Learning how to solve problems and to understand the underlying mathematical concepts are the most important goals of mathematics education. We are confident that we have many fourth and fifth graders who are up for the challenge. And don't worry... we will also continue to stump our adult population next year in the Academics in Action. Are you as smart as a Pardes Mathlete?  

Mazal Tov to our first grade students, who received their own siddurim in a beautiful ceremony on May 8. The students shared their knowledge of Hebrew with their families and friends through songs and presentations. Each student was then presented with a Siddur, which they used that morning to lead selected prayers from the Shacharit service. The ceremony ended with Rabbi Meir Goldstein as well as Rabbi Erica Burech, Rabbi Rony Keller and Rabbi Jeremy Schneider, who are all parents of current first graders, blessing the children under our large school tallit. 

Second grade science covers the human body and provides students an opportunity to learn about the skeleton as well as body systems including the respiratory, digestive, nervous and circulatory systems. Students have performed many hands-on experiments, which promote inquiry-based learning and have provided them with the opportunity to apply the scientific method.

Students recently learned that the heart pumps blood around the body and that blood carries oxygen and food to all parts of the body. Specifically, they learned the different functions of the blood cells: red cells carry oxygen, white cells kill germs, platelets stop bleeding and plasma carries food. In order to see what blood would look like under a microscope, students did an experiment that showed them these different functions of blood represented by water, yellow and red food coloring, salt, Cheerios, mini marshmallows, short tubes (veins/arteries), a funnel and an empty syringe. Students were divided into groups and went through a step-by-step activity together covering the process of what blood does in the body.

Technology provides many amazing benefits for students. It affords students opportunities they would otherwise be unable to experience.

On May 4th, Ms. Eckstein's third graders skyped with Erin Soderberg, who is the author of a series called The Quirks. The class had read all three books in the series. Ms. Eckstein's students had the opportunity to ask questions, learn about her approach to writing and hear about how she made decisions regarding her books. Students learned that her first book took three and a half years to write because she spent time developing the characters. Her second and third books took four and five months respectively, as she knew the characters. The students found this discussion very interesting. Additionally, they learned she reads the chapters to her kids to get their opinions. If they don't find a particular chapter enjoyable, she goes back to revise it. Ms. Eckstein's students took away the message that revising and editing play an important role in the writing process.

Throughout the year, Mrs. Nadler's first graders have been writing to a first grade class in Wisconsin. (The teacher of the class happens to be Mrs. Nadler's sister!) As a culminating activity, each child skyped with his/her pen pal last week and had the opportunity to ask each other questions "in person." The Pen Pal Program enhances many skills including authentic writing, friendly letter format as well as knowledge of topics such as geography, weather, and time change. During the skyping session, one student commented, "This was so much fun. Can we continue to write to each other over the summer?"

Students in Ms. Rosky's third grade recently researched their favorite  Jewish hero. After completing the research, students wrote a five chapter informative/research paper about these special people. Next, the children took that information and prepared an oral presentation, which they shared with their parents and Pardes students. The heroes the children brought to life were Moses, Sarah, Anne Frank, Sandy Kofax, Golda Meir, Barbra Streisand, Emma Lazarus, Hannah G. Solomon, Albert Einstein, Adam Sandler, Mark Spitz, and Hank Greenberg. Children in Ms. Rosky's class benefited from this special cross-curricular project by both honing their research skills and also gaining knowledge about the many Jewish heroes that have made an impact in the world around us. 

The sixth grade students in Miss Abrams' language arts and social studies classes have been hard at work reading, writing, and studying history. Currently they are making connections across history, reading, and writing as they explore Greek mythology while reading The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, an adapted version of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. They have used D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths as a reference guide for the famous myths mentioned in Ulysses. With these two texts as their guide, the students have learned how they can mash-up the gods and goddess to create new and original ones.

As they write, they are following the same story structure they learned through the fiction writing unit from The Reading and Writing Project out of Columbia University, the program being used in all grade levels at school.

The students have demonstrated incredible growth as writers through this program. Students are writing between one- and two-page stories in a single sitting that include characters, problems, and resolutions. This type of on-demand writing is a skill they will carry with them throughout their schooling.

During the last week of school, Pardes Middle School students will be participating in a special program - Experiential Learning Days. Fourth grade classes will be joining middle schoolers for this wonderful end of year programming. Students will choose classes of interest to them. These courses provide unique opportunities for students to expand their learning in diverse areas.

Course listings include:

• Memoir Making with Mrs. Lock
• Livin' Life on a Kibbutz with Morah Yehudit and Morah Dina
• Rube Goldberg Machines with Mrs. Burckhardt
• Body, Mind, and Spirit with Mrs. Fern and Miss Abrams
• Weasley's Joke Shoppe with Ms. Desiato and Mrs. Finks
• Reel Theology with Rabbi Schneider and Mrs. Schneider
• Coding 101 with Mr. Eric Anderson and Morah Anat
• Odds and Ends with Mr. C. and Mrs. Saper
• Old School Gaming with Mr. C and Mrs. Saper
• Chihuly Art with Mrs. Berko and Mrs. Silber
• Animal Art with Mrs. Kenton
• A Little Bit of French with Mr. Flatow
• Word Games, Trivia Tasks, Puzzles, & Creative Adventures with Mrs. Scharf-Anderson

After taking two classes each morning, students will participate in special afternoon programming. On Tuesday afternoon, Andrea Cohen from B'nai Tzedek will be leading a program related to Tikkun Olam. Wednesday afternoon will be Movie Fun and Thursday afternoon will be Trivia Madness. What a wonderful way to wrap up the school year!