MIVASERET MERCAZ
מבשרת מרכז
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In light of Yaakov's bracha (blessing) for his grandchildren, we've been thinking about what a blessing our grandparents are, in so many ways. We've also been coding, exploring, connecting, tying, kneading, creating...and eating ice cream. Scroll down for a glimpse into a week in the life of Mercaz Academy.
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A Message From Our Principal, Rabbi Kalman Fogel |
Are you ready to join the "village" it takes to raise a child?
As you read this issue of Mivaseret Mercaz, you will see the impact of volunteers on our students' education. This past week, Mercaz Academy grandfather Rabbi Dr. Elliot Grossman volunteered his time to make tzitzit with our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade boys, while Rebbetzin Chaya Teldon volunteered to bake challah with the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade girls. Maya Kirsh, older sister to some of our students, has volunteered to read to our kindergarteners. Our older students help serve lunch to our preschoolers, read to our younger students, and have volunteered to run the sound and lights at the upcoming Chag Hachumash and Chag Hasiddur.
If you are ready to share your passion (or read a book) with our students, please email me at rabbifogel@mercazacademy.org, and we'll find the perfect place in our village for you.
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Community and Grandparent Volunteers Share Their Knowledge With Fifth and Sixth Graders |
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Tzitzit Workshop with Rabbi Dr. Elliot Grossman |
Mercaz Academy was delighted to welcome back Rabbi Dr. Elliot Grossman as he taught another hands-on mitzvah experience, teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade boys how to tie their own tzitzit, the ritual strings required on four-cornered garments.
The boys learned all about the mitzvah of tzitzit. Rabbi Dr. Grossman taught them the text from the Torah requiring tzitzit and explained all the ins and outs of the halachot (laws) of tzitzit, both on a talit (the large wrap adult men wear for prayer) and on a talit katan (the small undergarment worn by men and boys). Then each student received a new talit katan that did not yet have tzitzit attached, and Rabbi Dr. Grossman helped the boys complete the garment by tying on the tzitzit... Read more
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Challah Baking with Mrs. Chaya Teldon |
Mercaz Academy fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls were enriched with practical tips and spiritual insights while baking challah with Mrs. Chaya Teldon, co-director of Chabad of Long Island. Mrs. Teldon, a well-known speaker, joined Mercaz students to explain the mitzvah of taking challah and the lessons to be learned from what might appear to be just a loaf of bread.
Mrs. Teldon spoke of the connection between challah and mahn (manna), the nourishment provided by Hashem to the Jewish people in the desert for forty years. The mahn fell on a layer of dew and was covered by another layer to keep it fresh; Mrs. Teldon pointed out that, when we set the table on Shabbat with challah, it is placed on a board and covered by a cloth, corresponding to the two layers of dew. The significance of each component of challah was examined as well...Read more
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Nursery Bet Connects Torah Reading To Brachot In Their Lives |
Morah Jo taught her Nursery Bet students about Parshat Vayechi, and the children had no trouble making connections between the Torah reading and their own lives. They learned that an elderly Yaakov gave a bracha (blessing) to his grandchildren, born of his love for them. Nursery Bet could easily relate to this, as they are all comfortably familiar with the love between grandparents and their grandchildren. A number of students also revealed that they receive brachot like Yaakov’s from their parents every Friday night. The Nursery Bet students learned the lullaby with words from Yaakov’s bracha, “HaMalach Hagoel,” and made a card with the lyrics and photos of themselves sleeping. Nursery Bet knows that they sleep surrounded by the blessings and love of their parents and grandparents, all the way back to Yaakov himself.
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Fifth Grade Coders Direct C-3PO in New Game |
Fifth graders have been working on their coding skills with Director of Technology Mrs. Last, and have learned about loops, debugging, and if/then statements. Now that these ideas have been mastered, students have been unleashed to create their very own Star Wars computer games.
Using blocks of code on the code.org platform, students are designing their games down to the last detail, including backgrounds, characters, and movement. Fifth graders direct game play by arranging blocks of code into the instructions to deal with possible player moves. The first student to finish has generously shared her game here if anyone would like to play. Good luck!
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Second Grade Students Model Planet Earth in STEM |
Second graders created three-dimensional models of our planet in Mrs. Liz Gonzalez-Spagnuolo’s STEM class, and the Earth has never looked more beautiful. After studying satellite pictures of Earth, students covered a large styrofoam ball with brown clay to serve as the earth’s crust. Blue clay was layered in the appropriate place to indicate water, and the polar caps were created with a disc of white clay at each end. Clouds were added by gluing deconstructed cotton balls in streaks on the globe.
For the final touch, the globe was cut in half and painted in concentric circles of red, orange, and yellow to indicate inner core, outer core, and mantle–with the crust clearly visible on the outside. The project demonstrated second grade students’ thorough understanding of the Earth, inside and out.
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Our Early Childhood Center enjoyed its second Pajama Night of the school year, with ECC Director Morah Jo Mlotok and Admissions Director Morah Francie Goldberg welcoming families old and new so they could check out Mercaz Academy after dark. This Pajama Night focused on introducing younger current and potential students to the learning taking place in the Mercaz Academy kindergarten.
ECC students wore their pajamas to the evening event–but no one was ready for bed yet at Mercaz! Nursery Aleph, Nursery Bet, and Kindergarten students and their guests ate a delicious meal and socialized with their friends. The children enjoyed the late-night feel as they played together, exploring rooms that felt a little unfamiliar at night (and with parents in them)...Read more
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ECC Afternoon Enrichment: Not Just Babysitting |
To the rest of the school, what takes place in the Early Childhood Center can be something of a mystery. For the most part, the preschoolers come and go when the rest of the school isn’t looking; they have their own coordinator (Morah Jo Mlotok) and their own programs; they even have their own entrance to the building (only to be used during very specific arrival and departure times). During the regular hours of 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, ECC provides the youngest students with a hands-on learning program, nurturing students’ natural sense of wonder and curiosity by exploring the world with them.
One benefit of the ECC’s location within Mercaz Academy is access to the facilities and programs of the older students. Although the standard school day ends at 2:00 pm for students in Nursery Aleph and Nursery Bet, the Afternoon Enrichment Program with Morah Sam Brand (Nursery Aleph) and Morah Alyssa Silberman (Nursery Bet) extends the school day until 4:00 pm, and is available until 5:00 pm for parents who need additional care. Students enrolled until 4:00 pm not only have a second snack time, a second recess, and a second time for free play, they also enjoy a different special activity every day, and these seem very much like the special activities available for students in kindergarten and above.
In coming issues, we will offer a little insight into the doings of ECC’s Afternoon Enrichment classes. Watch this space in weeks to come to learn more about these special after-school activities for our youngest students.
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Marbles Add Up for First Grade Party |
Mrs. Wald’s first grade class doesn’t only learn academic subjects–they also learn the habits and behaviors that will make them successful students and members of their communities for the rest of their lives. Each time a first grade student models these excellent behaviors, Mrs. Wald drops a single marble into a large jar on her desk. Students earn marbles for following class rules, good behavior, kindness, and every time a first grader receives a compliment from other teachers.
Ever since the first day of school, the first graders have been working to fill the jar. This week, they collectively earned the last marble they needed to reach the line for their first marble party! Students chose to celebrate this impressive achievement with “make it yourself” sundaes, adding rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chips, and syrup to their bowls of delicious vanilla ice cream. They also danced to Go Noodle videos teaching patterning. First graders agree that it was the best day ever, and are now working towards earning a mystery party.
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Hebrew Storytime With Kitah Vav and Kitah Gimel |
Rabbi Moshe Rubel’s Kitah Vav students got together with Morah Chaya Hecht’s Kitah Gimel students for a fun storytime done completely in Hebrew. The Kitah Vav students chose a Hebrew language picture book from Ulpan teacher Morah Carmit Akhavan’s collection, and then set out to read it to groups of Kitah Gimel children–but were not allowed to use any English to explain the text. Supplementing the text with Hebrew words that Kitah Gimel already knew, gestures, and sound effects, the Kitah Vav students successfully transmitted the stories. The Kitah Gimel students loved the experience, with most saying they had learned new Hebrew vocabulary and all agreeing that it was both interesting and a great deal of fun. |
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Fifth Graders Explore Social Studies and Technology to Create (Private) Websites on Google |
Mrs. Papaccioli’s fifth grade class needed an innovative way to share what they have learned about the Age of Exploration in preparation for their examination of the colonization of the United States. Mrs. Papaccioli found that answer by collaborating with Mercaz Director of Technology Mrs. Last, who taught these students how to use Google Sites to create their very own (private and unpublished) websites.
Each fifth grader created a home page for their assigned explorer, with menus leading to information about that explorer’s home country (with flag), route map, early life, families, travels, and later life. Students even created and/or embedded video into their websites, allowing their classmates to navigate through the information with more guidance than was available to those explorers of the New World.
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Thursday, January 12
- Chag HaChumash
- Mercaz Mustangs at YHT, 7:00 pm
Monday, January 16
- Chag HaSiddur
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No busing: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Davening & Danish
Thursday, January 19-Sunday, January 27
Wednesday, February 1
- Mercaz Mustangs at NSHA, 7:00 pm
Sunday, February 5
- Mercaz Mustangs at Mercaz, 11:00 am
Monday, February 6
Thursday, February 9
- Mercaz Mustangs at HALB, 7:30 pm
Monday, February 20
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No school: President's Day
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