Volume 4, Issue 7 | December 18, 2025

So much to celebrate! From making our own miracles and joyful schoolwide events to remarkable achievements inside and outside the classroom, Mercaz has been abuzz with celebration, community, and learning. Check out some highlights, and scroll down for upcoming events!

Around Mercaz Academy

🕎 Mercaz Celebrates Chanukah ✨

With lessons, special activities, and parties centered around the Festival of Lights every day this week, Mercaz is bursting with the spirit of Chanukah. Here’s just a glimpse of how our students (and staff) have been celebrating…

Spin the Giant Dreidel

We kicked off Chanukah with a chance for every class to spin the Giant Sevivon (Dreidel). But this was no ordinary dreidel game. Mevaseret and Einat led the activity entirely in Hebrew, explaining how each letter prompted a silly or thoughtful Hebrew instruction. Landing on a נ (nun) might “win” the opportunity for the spinner to hop on one foot, while a ג (gimel) might challenge the entire class to line up by height. Every student got a turn, and the laughter, movement, and Hebrew language immersion made it a joyful and educational way to begin our holiday week.

Menorah Contest

Students of every age have been showing off their creativity and engineering talents through beautiful, original, and thoughtful entries in our inaugural Mercaz Menorah Contest. The challenge: design a unique kosher menorah using materials found at home, centered around a theme. Our students delivered, filling our stage display with colorful, highly imaginative chanukiyot. Using materials from Legos to Oreos, clay to cardboard, bolts to brushes and everything in between, and showcasing themes like chaggim, Barbie, transportation, and more, our students proved the A in STEAM isn’t just for show.

Playing Dreidel for Real Gelt

On Wednesday, our second- through sixth-graders got serious about dreidel during lunchtime. Each student received a pot of ten pennies and joined mixed-grade teams to test their spinning skills. Beyond the excitement, the classic game teaches probability and good sportsmanship – all wrapped in a tradition that has connected Jewish communities for centuries. Students cheered on their opponents and learned that sometimes a נ (nun) simply means “try again!”

Staff Thank-You Luncheon

Our teachers and staff were treated to a delicious and abundant Chanukah luncheon, generously sponsored by Jason and Chavi Kersch and the PTA. This thoughtful gesture – and the holiday gifts organized by our PTA – brought genuine smiles and gratitude from the whole team. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Your appreciation means so much to our staff!

PTA Chanukah Chagiga

The annual PTA Chanukah Chagiga brought Mercaz families together on Wednesday night for an evening filled with music, games, raffles, and, of course, plenty of latkes and sufganiyot. The event was wonderfully well attended, with families from across the school and ECC showing up to celebrate, connect, and enjoy the holiday spirit together. Rabbi Fogel led a communal candle lighting, inviting everyone – children, parents, and staff – to join in singing the blessings and familiar Chanukah melodies. Throughout the night, parents and students mingled, relaxed, and strengthened the sense of community that makes Mercaz so special.

Chanukah Hedbandz

First through sixth graders played a special Chanukah-themed version of Hedbanz, the fast-paced guessing game where each player must figure out the phrase on their headband using only clues from classmates (clues included: oil, applesauce, miracle, menorah). The game sparked collaboration, laughter, and quick thinking – especially in ulpan class, where the game had to be conducted in Hebrew.

...And More

With classroom lessons, hands-on projects, sufganiyot decorating, candle-lighting, and the general buzz of excitement in the building, we’re grateful for the opportunity to celebrate together as a community and to bring the light of Chanukah into every corner of Mercaz!

🥇 Robotics Teams Win Big at CIJE

We’re still kvelling over how our 4th and 5th graders delivered an outstanding performance at last week’s Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) Robotics Competition last week, earning top honors in a field of 45 teams from nine schools. Over months of lunchtime Robotics Club sessions, students designed, built, and refined robots capable of tackling complex physical challenges -- and their hard work showed.

Hosted at HAFTR, the competition featured fast-paced matches that tested precision, creativity, and problem-solving. Throughout the day, Mercaz rose to the top of the leaderboard, capturing first and third place in the team rankings and third overall as a school. One parent chaperone shared, “I was completely blown away. Seeing the robots in action, and how well the kids controlled them, was nothing short of amazing. And seeing the students’ smiles and feelings of accomplishment was so special.”

Students returned home thrilled with their achievements, and were greeted with cheers and congratulations from the school community. And the excitement continued the next day as Mercaz’s sixth graders took the field in the middle school division. The only sixth-grade team competing against seventh and eighth graders, they held their own impressively -- gaining invaluable experience and even earning invitations to future competitions in Florida and Texas.

We are incredibly proud of all our participating students, whose talent and determination continue to elevate Mercaz’s growing reputation for STEM excellence!

In the Classroom

🌿 Third Grade and Kindergarten: From Olive to Oil

Our third graders partnered with kindergarteners to make their very own Chanukah “miracle”: turning simple olives into real olive oil using only their own strength and teamwork. First, students learned how pure oil was made in ancient times and why it played such a central role in the story of Chanukah. Then came the magic: Older students helped the younger ones prepare the olives for pressing, removing the pits and then smashing the fruit with wooden mallets. Then each student used their might to turn the lever on a wooden olive oil press. Their amazement grew as oil slowly trickled out, showing them how something that seemed impossible could happen right before their eyes. Each child brought home a small bottle of the oil they helped create -- a meaningful souvenir of the light and wonder of Chanukah.

❄️ Nursery Bet: The Science of Snowplay

Nursery Bet brought the outdoors indoors this week, turning winter weather into a hands-on science exploration. Using freshly gathered snow, students discovered that the excitement of a snowstorm can also be a rich learning opportunity. They measured the snow’s temperature – watching with fascination as the numbers on the thermometer dropped quickly the longer it stayed buried – and discussed why that happens. They wondered: What happens when snow sits in the sunlight? Does it melt faster or slower? Students also built small snowmen to explore the physical properties of snow, noticing how it sticks, packs, and changes as it warms. It was the perfect blend of science, sensory play, and seasonal joy.

GrowTorah

🥔 Hidden Miracles in the Mercaz Garden 🧄

This week in Farm-to-Table with GrowTorah, our 5th graders kicked off Chanukah with a delicious treat! After harvesting potatoes from our garden, everyone helped turn them into latkes — a fun and festive way to taste the crops we planted earlier this year.

It was also the last week of the fall session in the Mercaz GrowTorah garden! We explored how nature connects to the themes of Chanukah, learning that, while the miracle of the oil was an open or obvious miracle, today we can still notice hidden miracles all around us. Donning our “hidden miracle glasses,” we discovered fennel, parsley, cilantro, and sage still thriving despite the cold — thanks to the Cold Sweetening process, which turns their water into sugar that freezes at cooler temperatures, helping them survive and even taste better! Students then harvested the herbs for tzedakah.

To continue our exploration of hidden miracles, we planted garlic, learning how something small can grow into something extraordinary beneath the surface. GrowTorah will be back around Purim, when we’ll be ready to transform our garden for the spring.