MIVASERET MERCAZ
מבשרת מרכז
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Mercaz Academy has been thinking about thankfulness in so many different ways. We have also been demonstrating teamwork and good sportsmanship, creativity and curiosity, kindness and cooperation. Scroll down to catch a glimpse of a week in the life of Mercaz Academy... |
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A Message From Our Principal, Rabbi Kalman Fogel |
Does it ever seem like children are given so much, yet appreciate so little? Study after study has proven that gratitude doesn’t just enhance, but actually builds happiness, resilience, and emotional well-being. So how can we help our children establish this important trait? How can we develop it in ourselves?
As adults, we can open our siddurim. But perhaps it’s more significant to open our hearts to our siddurim. When we open our eyes and say Modeh Ani–the declaration of gratitude for a new day, a new life–we naturally and inevitably embrace a thankful day. Unfortunately, both we and our children have gotten so accustomed to reciting these words that it’s easy to lose track of their meaning...Read more and see photos!
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Mercaz Academy Was Thankful For... |
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Second grade Native Americans |
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On the day before Thanksgiving, first, second, and third graders collaborated on a joint Thanksgiving Feast at which third graders dressed as Pilgrims, second graders dressed as Native Americans, and first graders dressed as turkeys. Wisely, Mrs. Wald’s first graders prepared for Thanksgiving by brainstorming ideas for things to eat at a feast that are not turkey, suggesting ideas like pizza, sushi, macaroni and cheese, and ice cream. They also made and brought sweet potatoes with marshmallows to the Feast, successfully preventing turkey from appearing on the menu. The first graders performed a song recommending that turkeys eat at pizzerias on Thanksgiving.
The second graders have been studying Native American culture, so they were totally prepared to play their part. They made and brought cranberry sauce to the Thanksgiving Feast, as the Native Americans first introduced the Pilgrims to cranberries. The second graders also performed a song, “People of the Drums,” accompanying themselves on that instrument. Third grade students brought clementines as the Pilgrim contribution to the Thanksgiving Feast. They have been learning about the original colonists in America, and performed their song, “They Were the Pilgrims.” Afterwards, second grade teacher Mrs. Kirschenbaum led all the students in singing Thanksgiving songs, accompanied by her guitar. Of course, all the students discussed things for which they were thankful, with Hashem, families, and friends topping most lists.
Although there were no PTA members or class parents present at the first Thanksgiving, Mercaz Academy students were blessed to have them caring for us at this Thanksgiving Feast. The PTA provided beautiful table settings, as well as rounding out our menu with delicious cornbread from ZuckerBakers. Students all agreed that there was a great deal to be thankful for at this “really fun” Thanksgiving Feast.
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Nursery Aleph poses at their Thanksgiving feast. |
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Kindergarten makes cornbread for their Thanksgiving feast. |
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A Nursery Bet student offers an apple juice toast at their
Thanksgiving feast.
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Fifth Graders Explore Natural Disasters in STEM |
Mrs. Gonzalez-Spagnuolo asked fifth grade students to look into some natural disasters and the results were anything but. Fifth graders selected from hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, and droughts. Some students chose to discuss specific events, such as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Others addressed the phenomena more generally, like the student who researched and created a 3-D origami model of a tornado. Of course, the students who chose to explore Hurricane Sandy had the advantage of interviewing subjects with firsthand knowledge of the event right in their own homes.
The presentations were a triumph of research and engineering (the model volcano erupted according to plan), with all students scoring high on the project rubric.
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Kitah Bet Students Are Promoted to Teachers |
Kitah Bet students know their sofiot (suffixes) so well that they were able to take over as teachers. Kitah Bet “student teachers” know that every Hebrew word has three components: techiliyot (prefixes), shorashim (roots), and sofiot. Techiliyot and sofiot can tell students whether the subject of the word is male or female, singular or plural, and also if the word is in past, present, or future tense. These Kitah Bet students took turns taking over the class for review of the sofiot, and Morah Tikva was very impressed by their mastery of the subject.
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Number 25 guards his opponent. |
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Mercaz Academy Basketball Team Pep Rally, First Game |
The morning before Thanksgiving provided Mercaz Academy students the opportunity to show their gratitude to the Mercaz Academy basketball team, in advance of their first ever competitive game against the Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ). Morning line-up was held in the gymnasium to enable students to cheer for the players.
The assembled were treated to a thrilling scrimmage, featuring our basketball team demonstrating their ball-handling moves. The Mercaz team was confronted with a visiting team we will call the Authority Figures, consisting of Principal Rabbi Kalman Fogel, Chairman of the Board Gary Katz, Trustee Robbie Eisman, Executive Director Rabbi Josh Kupchik, and sixth grade rebbe and Director of Student Programming Rabbi Moshe Rubel. Supported by Coach Ari Gross and Coach Mordy Yankovich and encouraged by cheering fans, the Mercaz Academy basketball team fought gallantly and played well–but alas, Authority always wins.
At the game against YCQ on Wednesday evening, our team represented Mercaz Academy with good sportsmanship and graceful play. Because their purchased uniforms were destroyed while in transit, Mercaz Academy parent Esther Linder stayed up into the wee hours on Tuesday night to make the team temporary uniforms, and it was easy to see that they “felt the love” as they wore them. All played well and the team’s top scorer for the night was sixth grader Micah Farber. Although YCQ won with a score of 40 to 24, Mercaz Academy’s teamwork was flawless and their play showed talent and coordination.
"It was so exciting when we made that first shot, and everyone was cheering for Mercaz Academy," said one player. Share the Mercaz excitement by attending their next game, taking place in our own Mercaz Academy gym on motzai Shabbat, December 3 at 7:00 pm.
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Pep Rally: Driving down the court |
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Pep Rally: Into the basket |
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Pep rally: Dribbling the ball |
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Unboxing With Educational Technology |
Director of Technology Mrs. Lynda Last had a great time “unboxing” an exciting new project with some second graders. Students enjoyed their first encounter with Intelino smart trains, model railroad sets that teach coding. The smart trains were named one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2021 and can be programmed in several different ways, with patterns of colored tiles for the youngest students all the way through command apps and Scratch programming for the oldest ones. These students know only that this is the coolest train set they’ve ever seen. |
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Kitah Gimel Creates Scrapbooks for Shemonah Esrei |
Morah Chaya Hecht's Kitah Gimel class has been studying the shemoneh esrei, the 19 blessings of the silent tefillah that is the centerpiece of shacharit, the morning prayers. As they learn each of these 19 brachot, they are creating scrapbooks to commemorate their knowledge. The second brachah, Kitah Gimel knows, explains that Hashem holds the keys of life: he provides the water that we need to live, the livelihood that sustains us, and can bring the dead back to life. Kitah Gimel understands what Hashem does for all of us, all the time, and their scrapbooks will help them to remember that always.
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Counselor Corner: Friendship Groups |
Our school counselor, Mrs. Stephanie Bobroff, has brought together first and second graders in a friendship group. Communication and cooperation are vital to a friendship, so students practiced these skills with the help of some fifty-piece puzzles. After the puzzles were completed, the first and second graders got together to discuss the techniques they used to successfully complete the puzzle and why some groups were more successful than others. By the end of the exercise, these friends had a deeper understanding of why communication and trying to understand a partner’s ideas and positions is such an important aspect of friendship. |
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Nursery Aleph Looks Inside a Tree |
STEM teacher Mrs. Gonzalez-Spagnuolo helped the Nursery Aleph students to examine a large hollowed-out section inside a thick tree branch that had once housed a woodpecker’s eggs and its young. The woodpecker neatly bored a circular hole into the tree and then hollowed out a space to lay eggs. When hatched, the woodpecker would feed the young through the hole–protecting the fledglings from the elements and predators. The branch had been donated by Mercaz Academy’s Board President Jeff Lichtman, who brought in a piece of his tree that had broken off in a recent storm. He noticed a significant circular hole in the thick branch. Because it had split, it presented a cross-section of the damaged tree section. Mr. Lichtman thought Mercaz students might find it interesting, and they really enjoyed their peephole into the secret life of woodpeckers. |
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Parshat Vayeitzei In the Mercaz Academy GrowTorah Garden |
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In this week’s Torah portion, Vayeitzei, Yaakov encounters a well that proves very significant in his life because it is where he meets his future wife, Rachel. This led us to examine the significance of wells and water in the Torah. We all understand how necessary water is for our bodies and, like us, that plants also need water to live and grow. We watered our GrowTorah garden and learned how certain plants store water (and sugar) in their roots during the winter to protect them from the cold.
The recent freeze provided us with more plants to collect that didn’t survive the cold, but are ready for those plants to play a new role in the growing cycle as compost or mulch. We added these plants to our composter and learned about water as an important but often unnoticed ingredient in compost.
Our GrowTorah garden is still providing us with herbs to sample like rosemary, sage, and chives. We welcomed the opportunity to make brachot before we enjoyed their delicious tastes and beautiful scents. We are grateful for these end-of-season gifts from our garden as we prepare it for its winter rest.
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Fifth and sixth graders talk about water with Farmer Menuchah. |
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Nursery Aleph student finds vegetable matter to compost. |
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Nursery Bet student feeds the composter. |
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Saturday Night, December 3
- Basketball game at Mercaz Academy, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, December 6
Thursday, December 8
- Basketball game at Mercaz Academy, 6:30 pm
Friday, December 9
Sunday, December 11
- Basketball game at Mercaz Academy, 1:15 pm
Tuesday, December 13
Sunday, December 18
Monday, December 26
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No school: Last day of Chanukah
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