Congratulations to Kitah Aleph on Successful Chag HaSiddur

Kitah Aleph students received their first siddurim today, marking their ability to read tefillot from the text on their own. Under the guidance of Morah Shani Kaufman, the first graders polished their ability to read in Hebrew and learned the history and components of Jewish prayer. To demonstrate their knowledge, they presented a sparkling performance of spoken word and song. The cast of characters included the Avot (Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov), rabbis, the Kohen Gadol, and even a double of Morah Shani herself, as portrayed by the students of Kitah Aleph. 

Rabbi Fogel addressed Kitah Aleph after the moving performance, pointing out that in this week’s parsha, Vayechi, Yaakov blesses his grandchildren as he focuses on the future. “There can be no greater bracha for parents and grandparents,” he said, “than the knowledge that your children and grandchildren are so excited to receive this treasure, their new siddur.”

After the performance, parents and friends admired a gallery of Kitah Aleph’s illustrations and writing on the comparison of prayer to a ladder and the three components of prayer—shevach (praise), bakasha (requests), and hoda’ah (gratitude)—while enjoying delicious cake and snacks provided by the PTA. The appreciative audience, as well as all members of the Mercaz family, wish a mazel tov to Morah Shani and Kitah Aleph on this milestone in their Torah journey!

Fourth and Fifth Graders Excel in CIJE VEX Robotics Tournament

“I’m not sure if I’m more nervous or more excited–and I couldn’t sleep at all last night!”

This Mercaz Academy fourth grader embodied the pre-competition mood of his classmates heading to the CIJE VEX Robotics League Tournament. Even the fifth grade members of the Robotics Team were a little nervous, although their memory of last year’s third-place finish bolstered their confidence quite a bit. 

Any signs of nervousness disappeared upon their arrival at SAR, as these competitors in the Elementary School category snapped into action, focused and ready to put their robots through their paces. The teams practiced at least once a week all semester on the school’s practice field, with this year’s theme of “City Technology.” The Mercaz students began the year by building robots to meet the challenges of a natural disaster in a city: raising downed trees and power lines, raising the roof of an emergency shelter to drop in supplies, delivering medication to the hospital, and clearing roads after a landslide. In match after match, they controlled their robots as they performed their assigned tasks, and were even ranked in first place after Round One.

The hardworking and well-prepared Mercaz teams just missed the podium, finishing in an impressive fourth place in a field of 64 teams. Second-grade teacher Mrs. Kirschenbaum, who accompanied the group as a grandparent chaperone, was impressed by their excellent performance. However, she was even prouder of the way they worked with the other teams.

“The tournament was designed to encourage cooperation, with teams from different schools assigned to work together to complete projects,” she explained. “Our students stepped right into collaboration with complete strangers, introducing themselves, making suggestions, and offering help. As an observer, I felt so proud of our students.”

These fourth and fifth graders had a wonderful time at the competition and are already making adjustments to their robots in hopes of reaching the podium at the next tournament in May. 

Recess Research: Third Grade Studies Patterns of Motion

The third-grade science class has been exploring the fascinating world of friction and patterns of motion. Working with basketballs, hula hoops, and jump ropes, the students discovered that the ways in which these simple playground toys move–circular, revolving, back-and-forth, and up-and-down–aren't just random occurrences. These are patterns of motion that can be carefully observed and measured using simple tools and techniques. Students learned that when an object moves in a predictable, repeating pattern, scientists (and third graders) can use that information to make accurate predictions about how it will move in the future.

Mrs. Maliner, our science teacher, plans to introduce friction as the next variable for consideration. How will changing the surface alter the speed and distance of rolling objects? The third grade looks forward to finding out.

How to Sell a Book: Pretend It's Cereal

Fourth graders have learned that while you can’t judge a book by its cover, the more interesting the cover looks, the more people will be willing to give it a try. So when they were presented with the opportunity to “sell” their classmates on a favorite book, they brought all their creativity and skill to the project.

In addition to being a book report, the assignment was an exercise in marketing: Select a book to read, summarize, and present to your classmates–as if it was a box of cereal. Students dreamed up a book-inspired cereal and designed packaging. These cereal boxes incorporated all the classic elements of a book report, with book title, author, genre, and plot summary actually printed on the box. The cast of characters appeared as an ingredients list, and each box included a game on the back relating to the story. Some fourth graders went so far as to film commercials to promote their “cerealized” novels! One project, based on Roald Dahl’s Matilda, was inspired in its turn by actual breakfast cereals, resulting in an eyecatching box of “Miss Crunchbulls vs. Miss Honeycombs.” The book, this fourth grader assures her audience, is well worth the read…and the appealing packaging has her classmates eager to try reading something that is both delicious and nutritious.

Kindergarten Torah: Parshat Vayechi

Kindergarten students learned about the brachot (blessings) bestowed by Yaakov Avinu on his children and grandchildren before his death in this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Vayechi. The students discovered that Yaakov blessed Menashe and Ephraim, the sons of Yosef, with his arms crossed, placing his right hand on the younger Ephraim and his left hand on the elder, Menashe. Yosef was expecting Yaakov’s right hand to be on his eldest child’s head. This sparked questions from the students, who wondered why Yaakov crossed his arms. They discovered that Yaakov had foreseen that Ephraim’s descendents would be more numerous than Menashe’s. The kindergarten students also learned that the words of the bracha that Yaakov gave his grandchildren formed the famous lullaby, “Hamalach HaGoel.” 

To reinforce their knowledge, students traced their own hands to represent Yaakov’s hands as he blessed Menashe and Ephraim. They cut out the hands and attached them with prong fasteners, enabling them to re-enact Yaakov's crossing of his arms to bless his grandchildren.

As our kindergarten students receive a bracha at the beginning of the Shabbat meal on Friday night, they will recall Yaakov, Menashe and Ephraim and realize that they are part of an eternal chain extending from our ancestors for countless generations to come.

Click here to register for the spring semester of PTA's After-School Enrichment clubs. The deadline for registration is Friday, January 24th!