MIVASERET MERCAZ
מבשרת מרכז
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Lag B'Omer brought us Color Shalom and a barbecue and bonfire, and we've also been sculpting and printing, designing fish and states, counting and listening and showing our love to our teachers and our mothers. Scroll down to catch a glimpse of life at Mercaz Academy...
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Lag B'Omer: Outdoor Fun for All! |
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Color Shalom Highlights A Rainbow of Accomplishment |
Mercaz Academy’s annual Lag B’Omer Color Shalom broke out last Friday, and students enjoyed a colorful few days of fun at school. This field day in celebration of Lag B’Omer is unlike any ordinary “color war,” although it allows our students to have fun competing as teams to win points. However, at Mercaz Academy, the competing teams are not viewed as enemies, but as potential collaborators and boosters–in fact, one of the categories in which teams competed was how well they cheered on and assisted one another. The event was run by sixth graders, who displayed leadership, initiative, and a real flair for creative planning.
After a surprise breakout featuring a sixth grader who had “missed the bus,” the sixth grade burst into the outdoor lineup with colorful signs and confetti...MORE PHOTOS
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Mercaz Academy’s Lag B’Omer Bonfire and Barbecue |
Mercaz Academy students, teachers, administrators, lay leaders, and their families topped off an exciting Lag B’Omer at the PTA’s Lag B’Omer Bonfire and Barbecue. Older students and teens, many of them alumni of the school, played sports on our spacious green as younger children jumped in bounce houses, played on the playground equipment, and ran joyously through the crowd. Members of the PTA and friends manned the barbecue, keeping enormous quantities of hamburgers and hotdogs coming to go with coleslaw, chips, and all the fixings. Meanwhile, under the careful supervision of the Plainview Fire Department, the bonfire roared and sparkled, reminding students of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the light of Torah....MORE PHOTOS
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Nursery Bet painted bonfires with handled, pom-pom-headed sponges...and learned all about Rabbi Akiva! |
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Spoiler Alert: Mercaz Academy Appreciates Mothers |
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Some grades preferred to keep their gifts secret, while others were more ready to publicize their projects. But it's no secret that Mother's Day, Yom Ha'Em, is the perfect time to let their mothers know that they are loved!
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Nursery Aleph made cards to go along with a lovely hand-painted jewelry box. |
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Kindergarten wrote many nice things about their mothers to accompany their beautifully decorated framed photos. |
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Second graders made כרטיסי ברכה ליום האם בעברית, greeting cards for Mother's Day in Hebrew. They wrote why they love their אמא, mother. |
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Nursery Bet created these decoupage lanterns with Mason jars, Mod-Podge, and tissue paper. A heart-shaped cut-out reveals the candle inside. |
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Fifth Graders Use 3-D Printer for State Reports |
In another co-curricular activity for the fifth grade’s upcoming state reports, students have used the 3-D printer to create accurate models of their assigned states. Mrs. Last introduced students to Tinkercad, online software that helps students design shapes in three dimensions. Students searched Tinkercad for a basic template similar in shape to their states and modified it for accuracy and detail. When all the many factors had been coordinated, students added the names of their states and submitted their files to Mrs. Last to check. The fifth graders took full responsibility for every step of this project from start to finish, personally uploading their files to the 3-D printer and monitoring their projects throughout the two- to six-hour printing time. As you see in this photo, the results speak for themselves. |
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Fourth Grade Sculpture Is a Balancing Act |
These wood assemblage sculptures were created by fourth graders, which are based on the work of Louise Nevelson, a Jewish American female sculptor. The fourth grade learned that female sculptors are quite rare in the art world. Mrs. Danziger also told students that Louise Nevelson has a street named after her in Manhattan because she was always seen searching construction yards for scrap wood there.
The fourth grade artists were inspired by Nevelson’s use of balance and the unity visible in each piece. Like hers, their wood pieces needed balance, both literal and visual. They painted their sculptures with solid monochrome colors—in metallic hues similar to those Nevelson often used—creating a sense of unity within each piece.
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Third Grade Learns Cursive |
The third grade has begun studying the art of cursive writing. Mrs. Paul always emphasizes the importance of reading cursive. Cursive is not as ubiquitous as it once was, and students will adopt their own writing styles as adults. However, third graders know that, in their future lives, they must be able to read things like notes from a boss, the more elaborate typefaces, and, most important, their mothers’ instructions in notes taped to the refrigerator. Therefore, the class begins by learning letters in look-alike pairs, such as lowercase e and lowercase i. This helps students recognize the similarities and differences between letters when it is time to read whole words and sentences. As an added incentive, third graders always feel sophisticated when they learn this style of “grown-up” writing!
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Killdeer Update: Our Bird Has Flown |
Mercaz Academy’s resident killdeer had laid two eggs in the shelter of the GrowTorah garden. To safeguard the space, our students had carefully cordoned off the area and posted a cautionary sign. However, students were disappointed to arrive at school after a very rainy weekend to discover that the mother bird had apparently been rained out of her nest, and predators had gotten to the eggs. All that was left were eggshells, which were patterned in a beige and brown speckled pattern that had camouflaged them well in the garden (though clearly not well enough). Students are now looking forward to the next time a bird decides to take advantage of the protected nesting sites available at Mercaz Academy.
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Third Grade STEM Designs Fish For a Distant Planet |
Third grade STEM students have become ichthyologists! In their studies of life cycles, they have turned their focus to fish. In the course of their studies, Mrs. Gonzalez-Spagnuolo introduced a science fiction element by challenging students to invent a distant planet with its own aquatic ecosystem. After that, students were to design fish with adaptations that would suit life in that particular ecosystem. Some students are taking the assignment a step further by designing virtual fish to download and add to their planets, and the class is planning to design a virtual fish for the class as well. The third graders will present their projects with a one- to three-paragraph summary of the planet, habitat, and fish. We look forward to seeing what this particular blend of science and imagination will yield! When the designs are complete, Mrs. Gonzalez-Spagnuolo will take students downstairs to our office aquarium to search for terrestrial fish that are similar to their extraterrestrial versions. |
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Like Grains of Sand…Are the Students of Kitah Bet |
Kitah Bet has been studying Parshat Lech Lecha in their new Chumashim. They have learned that Hashem told Avram (he wasn’t Avraham yet) that he would have so many descendants that they would be like the dust of the earth, impossible to count. Morah Tikva challenged her students to count something similar, grains of sand.
Kitah Bet gave it a good try, but after attempting it for a while, they all agreed that there were too many individual grains of sand to count. Morah Tikva’s students were also excited to learn that they, themselves, are descendants of Avram…and so are all Jewish people.
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It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and Mercaz parents, led by our amazing PTA, have been working overtime to let our staff know how special they are. Click on the photo above to see the Instagram story. Thank you, parents! |
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Monday, May 15
- Girls' Basketball game, 6:30 pm at Mercaz Academy
Thursday, May 18
- Yom Yerushalayim hike and program at Sands Point Preserve, grades 1-6
Friday, May 19
Thursday, May 25
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1:45 dismissal, all grades (Erev Shavuot)
Friday, May 25 through Monday, May 29
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NO SCHOOL (Shavuot, Memorial Day)
Tuesday, May 30
- Author visit, Gordon Korman, grades 4-6
Sunday, June 4
- Celebrate Israel@75 Parade in NYC
Thursday, June 22
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12:30 dismissal, all grades (Last day of school)
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Graduation: Nursery Aleph, Nursery Bet, Kindergarten, and Sixth Grade
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