Volume 3, Issue 18| June 12, 2025

MIVASERET MERCAZ

מבשרת מרכז

Mercaz Academy can hardly believe the school year is coming to a close! We studied metamorphosis--caterpillar to butterfly, blank space to collage, and Canaan to Israel. We mapped our way around Israel and through the siddur (in color). Our message was heard around the world and we recognized the people who made us who we are today. And we had a wonderful time doing all of it! Scroll down for a glimpse of the last weeks at Mercaz Academy...

Mercaz Academy still going viral!

A heartfelt message from Mercaz Academy has captured widespread attention across Instagram and Facebook over the last two weeks. The brief video clip, which has garnered more than 787,000 views as of this writing, shows Rabbi Fogel addressing Mercaz students as they prepare to depart for a school trip.

In the viral footage, Rabbi Fogel reminds the Mercaz Academy students that when they travel into the wider world, they carry the responsibility of representing not only themselves and their families, but also their school, their faith, and the Jewish people as a whole. He reminds them that especially at this time of war in Israel, it is important that they represent Judaism positively, and that their politeness and thoughtful behavior will be remembered as an example of how Jewish children behave by the people they encounter.

This simple message–which Rabbi Fogel has delivered before every trip dating back to before the school went independent–has resonated internationally, with viewers of all religions and across the spectrum of religious observance hitting the “like” button. Thus far, it has garnered more than 44,000 likes (with a few celebrities among their number!) as well as more than a thousand comments praising Rabbi Fogel’s guidance and the values he instills in his students.

"I am amazed that this message of simple courtesy and derech eretz that lies at the heart of our everyday lives has resonated with so many,” said Rabbi Fogel. “The speed at which it has traveled and the number of people who have loved it, saved it, and shared it is nothing short of incredible.”

Stay tuned to find out if we reach one million views!

Click on the icons below to follow us. If you don't have Instagram or Facebook, you can see our viral clip here.

Gratitude and Fun at Our Night School Fundraiser

Mercaz Academy Hosts Night School Fundraising Event

Mercaz Academy continued its tradition of an annual night out with this year’s Night School event. The multi-faceted evening began with a tribute to those who provided pivotal support to the Plainview school through their participation in its ongoing Capital Campaign. Chairman of the Board Gary Katz unveiled the Mercaz Academy Capital Campaign Wall of Gratitude, revealing elegant silver plaques bearing the names of loved ones and inspirational messages from generous donors, interspersed with photos of students learning, playing, and participating in school life. Mr. Katz thanked Dr. Joshua Kirschenbaum and Dr. David Vilkas for their work on the donor wall and remarked that the donors shared “a deep commitment to the future of Jewish education and a belief in Mercaz’s mission that we are here to inspire each student to become committed to Torah, Zionism, and American ideals, with an enduring curiosity and determination to understand our world.”

The evening continued with a wine-tasting featuring a sampler provided by The River Wines, followed by a rollicking auction conducted by Mercaz grandparent Alan Fromm, whose witty quips kept the audience laughing through the bidding. Items for auction included experiences like a three-hour boat tour and perks like the highly coveted yearlong Official Auction Winner Parking Spot, as well as many fun experiences for the students, such as the opportunity to be principal for a day and private lessons from the art teacher and technology director. As the auction progressed, excitement built with interspersed raffle drawings for items including a Weber grill, a three-month health club membership, and other valuable prizes. The famed Manischewitz Food Truck provided hotdogs, knishes, matzo ball soup, and other treats, supplemented with fresh and dried fruits.

Led by Mercaz parent Melissa Fryman, a committee of numerous volunteers and lay leaders made the evening a successful one. These devoted friends of Mercaz contributed their skill, talent, and hard work, raising money for the school and providing attendees with a fun and memorable evening.

...and more!

Sixth Graders Use Erosion Studies to Protect Beachfront Property

In this hands-on culminating project, sixth graders brought together their understanding of erosion, weathering, and deposition by constructing a dynamic coastal model ecosystem and determining how to protect them from harsh exposure to the sea. Using paint trays as their base, each student carefully spread wet sand across the shallow end to create a realistic beach environment, complete with a small crater carved out to simulate a natural harbor. Next, each student constructed a rudimentary cardboard village on the “beach” and added water to the deeper end of his or her tray to represent the ocean, setting the stage for observation of how water interacts with land formations.

After sketching a map of their beach town for reference, students used paint stirrers to generate exactly 30 waves, simulating the action of an ocean storm on their coastlines. The results were both dramatic and educational: students observed significant beach drift as sand moved out to “sea” and witnessed the creation of spits and sandbars through deposition. Harbors were consistently filled with water and the cardboard towns were initially destroyed by wave action. However, students used coastal engineering techniques to construct protective rock walls along the beach. These seawalls were quite effective in protecting their beach towns. The lesson demonstrated how humans can mitigate erosion and protect coastal communities, allowing their towns to survive the wave action much more effectively and, in an important bonus, improving cardboard property values all along their model coastlines.

Nursery Bet Morphs Into Lepidopterists

Nursery Bet spent spring devoting themselves to the subject of metamorphosis, and they want you to know that Eric Carle made a very big mistake in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. No self-respecting butterfly would ever spend time in a cocoon; only moths do that. A butterfly, they explain, emerges from a chrysalis. And that’s not all they learned.

Caterpillars appeared everywhere in their classroom, as part of a rich and multi-sensory learning journey. Nursery Bet practiced their counting skills with caterpillar math activities, and they made edible caterpillars out of cucumbers, blueberries, and celery. They read fiction and nonfiction about the process of metamorphosis. Butterflies fluttered through their art projects. Best of all, Morah Jo brought caterpillars to live in the Nursery Bet classroom, where fascinated students watched them crawl around their sealed cup, eat the caterpillar food contained therein, and finally, crawl up to the top to spin silk in preparation for what seemed like endless time in chrysalises..

Once the pupae were snugly wrapped in silk and immobile, Morah Jo moved them into their butterfly habitat, and students checked in on them frequently as they crafted colorful butterflies and learned about the latter stage of butterfly development. At last, two butterflies emerged from the chrysalises; the children named them Molly and Sebastian.

After allowing the butterflies time to strengthen their wings, Nursery Bet celebrated the completion of their study with a joyful release ceremony in the ECC playground. The students watched, captivated, as Sebastian and Molly took flight into their new world—the perfect ending to an unforgettable learning experience.

Kitah Daled Manipulates Maps to Explore Yehoshua's Conquest and Division of Israel

As their studies in Sefer Yehoshua wind down for the year, Kitah Daled’s focus has shifted to the division of the land among the tribes of Israel. To help visualize this complex section of Yehoshua’s conquest, students have been working on creating their own hands-on, interactive Velcro maps of Eretz Yisrael. Each carefully crafted map displays the distinct territories allocated to each of the shvatim (tribes), along with essential landmarks including the Mishkan, the arei miklat (cities of refuge), and significant geographical features that shaped Israel's landscape.

Through these tactile and invaluable learning tools, students visualize and comprehend the tribal divisions while simultaneously strengthening their spatial awareness of Israel's diverse terrain and historically significant cities. Furthermore, these maps can serve as an ongoing reference tool that will support and enhance their studies in Navi–and other advanced studies– in the years ahead.

Tefillah Board Testifies to Beauty in Jewish Prayer

Once a month throughout the academic year, the entire student body--from toddlers through sixth grade--examined and reflected on a specific tefillah on Tefillah Day. Guided by their classroom teachers, students began with Modeh Ani, and proceeded through Birkat haTorah (modified for younger grades as a reflection on the Torah's uniqueness), Mah Rabu/Baruch She'amar, Ashrei, Yishtabach, Shema, Aleinu, Birkat haNehenin, and Acheinu. Teachers developed and directed their own Tefillah Day lessons, shaped to the needs of their students.

In addition to these classroom activities, on every Tefillah Day, each student received a piece of colored paper–a different color each month–on which to write or draw an idea from that month's tefillah. These individual contributions were then woven together into an ever-growing bulletin board mural that accumulated layers of color and meaning throughout the year. The artwork, now complete, serves as a powerful visual metaphor for both the richness of Jewish prayer and the beauty that emerges when many voices unite toward a common purpose. Each colored section represents not just a prayer studied; it also stands as a testament to the creativity and spiritual growth of an entire school community working together in our daily effort to connect with Hashem.

After Modeh Ani.

After Baruch She'amar.

The finished collage.

A Year of Growth in the GrowTorah Garden

In the final session of the year, Mercaz students harvested both vegetables and values as they reflected on all they learned in the GrowTorah garden this year. They explored the garden as they created their own hand salads, gathering ingredients like fennel, pea shoots, edible borage flowers, garden lettuce, chives, and cilantro—each nibble serving as a reminder of the care and effort they poured into the garden.

As students harvested and tasted produce with Farmer Menuchah, they revisited the middot (values) that have guided our learning this year:

Achrayut (Responsibility): Farmer Menuchah talked about the Torah's call to care for the earth—L’ovdah ul’shomrah—and how Mercaz students fulfilled that tenet by planting, watering, weeding, and helping the garden to flourish.

Tzedakah (charity): The flourishing wheat reminded students of the mitzvot teluyot ba’aretz they've learned–including the mitzvot of peah, leket, and shichichah–and they reflected on the many times they harvested produce to give to people in need in the spirit of those mitzvot.

Emunah (Faith): As students assembled their salads, Farmer Menuchah pointed out that interacting with nature means interacting with Hashem’s creation. Students realized that, although everything in the garden began with their planting, only Hashem made those plants grow.

After washing the produce they gathered in the outdoor sink, Mercaz students recited the bracha to thank Hashem for their salads, grateful for the many kinds of growth—of plants, of middot tovot (good traits), and of their connection to Hashem–that took place in the GrowTorah garden this year.