MIVASERET MERCAZ
מבשרת מרכז
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Tu B'Shevat took us on a virtual trip to Israel, where we enjoyed the seven species and other Israeli treats. We learned Torah, hunted monuments, studied snowflakes, revisited Vesuvius, read and danced and coded and drew and dreamed of snow. Scroll down for a glimpse of a week in the life of Mercaz Academy... |
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A Message From Our Principal, Rabbi Kalman Fogel |
“And Yitro heard all that Hashem had done for Moshe and for Yisrael His people…”
Why does the parsha introduce the Aseret Hadibrot, the Ten Commandments, with "וישמע יתרו, and Yitro heard"? Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, would not even be required to follow the Ten Commandments, as he was not Jewish!
The Torah is teaching an essential lesson in these two words. The entire world heard about how Hashem had saved our slave nation from the great Egyptian empire and miraculously split the Red Sea. For most people, this was just interesting news to discuss over dinner. There was one exception: Yitro. Only Yitro heard and acted. Only Yitro traveled to Mount Sinai to learn more and see how this earth-shattering news might impact his life. And that’s the way we need to see the Aseret Hadibrot.
It is easy enough to read the parsha like we read the news–as objective bystanders... Read more
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Tu B'Shevat at Mercaz Academy...in Israel! |
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Mercaz Academy Flies to Israel, Visits Shuk for Tu B’Shevat |
Mercaz Academy is usually located in Plainview, New York, but on Tu B’Shevat the elementary school managed to fly itself to Israel to celebrate the holiday. Students were astonished to find that, when they entered the main hallway, it was lined with double rows of seats and a center aisle, just like an airplane–and at the front the El Al Airlines boarding safety video was being screened. Rabbi Fogel announced the quick trip to Israel, assuring everyone that they would return by lunchtime. He further explained that no English would be spoken when students disembarked the plane....
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Youngest Mercaz Students Fly to Israel and Visit Machane Yehuda Shuk for Tu B’Shevat–In Smaller Planes |
Mercaz Academy Early Childhood students enjoyed their own quick Tu B’Shevat flight to Israel but, unlike the elementary school students, they didn’t need an El Al safety video–they just spread out their arms and flew down the hall to get to Israel and the Machane Yehuda shuk. Once there, Ulpan teacher Morah Levana Gil and Rabbi Moshe Rubel showed them around the busy market and identified items in Hebrew to broaden their shopping vocabularies. Students bought Israeli snacks and juices, handing over shekalim to the vendors and filling their shopping bags with these special Tu B’Shevat treats. Nursery Aleph and Bet students flew back to their classrooms with their shopping bags, completely duty-free and delicious. Thanks to Morah Jo, Morah Esther, Morah Alyssa, Morah Barbra, and Morah Sam for making the ECC Tu B’Shevat so memorable!
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Kitah Bet Learns Parshat Yitro: We Were All at Har Sinai |
Students in Kitah Bet learned about the importance of levels of responsibility in their studies of Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law. They discovered that Moshe was inundated with questions all day and night, because B’nei Yisrael was newly chosen by Hashem and needed so much instruction, even regarding relatively simple matters. But Yitro noticed that Moshe was overwhelmed and overworked, which made his leadership more difficult than it had to be.
Morah Tikva explained that Yitro gave Moshe excellent advice: Delegate! Kitah Bet students understand that Rabbi Fogel is always available, but know that asking a teacher first is the best place to start. Moshe placed leaders under him to answer less-complicated questions and those leaders could consult Moshe when it was necessary.
Kitah Bet also learned that every neshama, soul, was present when the Torah was given at Har Sinai, and each of us said, “Na’aseh v’nishma! We will do and we will hear!” Students created beautiful pictures of themselves and their families at Har Sinai to bring home the lesson.
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First Grade Art: Perspective, Symmetry, and Wishing for Snow |
First grade students just completed an art project with Mrs. Danziger that introduced them to oil pastels and how to use them, as well as the concepts of perspective and symmetry. These students, who drew four snowmen, learned how a composition is changed by shifting the perspective, this time considering how a snowman would look from the vantage point of an ant (definitely not the usual three stacked balls as seen head on). Students placed each of the snowmen in a corner of the square and drew their bodies identically, introducing symmetry into the work. The first graders also enjoyed the smoother feel and richer colors of the oil pastels, and did a wonderful job capturing their longing for a snow day…perhaps soon. |
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What is your favorite thing at Mercaz Academy? |
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Click on the image below to see what our Early Childhood Center students had to say... |
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Fifth Graders Choreograph and Program Cartoon Dance Party |
The fifth grade has nearly completed a project in which they assemble programming blocks to choreograph a dance party video, using Code.org. Students selected a song and a background from the Code.org library, and chose avatars to appear in their videos. By building up blocks of code, the fifth graders choreographed dances for the avatars, making them move in various patterns in rhythm with the beat of the music. Click the icon to dance along with this sample student dance party, choreographed by Lytal Kersch, and be sure to press all the orange buttons to change the action! |
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Info Night for Kindergarten, Early Childhood Center |
Registration for next school year at Mercaz Academy is still underway, and interested parents were treated to an Info Night organized by Admissions Director Francie Goldberg to gain a better understanding of the program. After a well-received pizza and salad supper, children were divided into two groups. One group was guided through ABC Kids, an iPad app that offers a fun alphabet review incorporating sensory and auditory participation. Meanwhile, the second group was busy with whole-body music and movement. The groups traded places halfway through the program so everyone had a chance to participate in both activities. Thanks go to Debbie Gold, Lynda Last, Sarah Last, and Ellen Zimmerman for energetically leading the groups.
This allowed parents, both current and prospective, to give their undivided attention to a presentation and question-and-answer period with Rabbi Fogel, Ms. Leeper, Morah Batsheva and Morah Dalia, Morah Jo, and Mrs. Simpser. They took questions on subjects as diverse as district busing deadlines, our Learning Center, after-school activities, and curriculum, and it was helpful to have so many experts there to address them all.
Afterwards, parents and children reunited in the cafeteria for a delicious dessert of cookies and chocolate milk, now with a better understanding of all that our Kindergarten and ECC have to offer.
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A Good Case of Collaboration |
Kindergarteners loved participating in a project that brought together literature and technology, . Students gathered in the library to hear A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon. When the story was over, the students demonstrated how well they paid attention and practiced story sequencing. Pictures from the story were placed into a mat with pockets to form a grid. Students coded the Beebot, a programmable bee robot, by pressing arrows on its head in the correct number and sequence. This allowed the Beebot to travel through the series of pictures in the order they occurred in the story. Our thanks to school librarian Morah Francie Goldberg and Ed Tech Director Lynda Last for putting together this fusion of reading comprehension and coding.
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Fifth Grader Demonstrates Volcanic Activity For Second Grade STEM Students |
Second graders have been researching the earth and how it changes, and have recently focused onf the effects of volcanic activity. In STEM class, these students discovered that volcanoes change the earth's surface by allowing molten rock to escape the earth and create rock formations or mountains. When Mrs. Gonzalez-Spagnuolo mentioned that the second grade students were curious about volcanoes, a fifth grader kindly performed a demonstration for them by causing his model of Mount Vesuvius to erupt. The eruption was an illustration of the pyroclastic flow that occurred in Italy almost 2,000 years ago, though fortunately, in this case, vinegar and baking soda played the part of molten lava. Many thanks for this helpful hands-on lesson! |
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Second Graders Go on a Monumental Hunt |
The second grade has been learning about national monuments and memorials by rotating through small groups, studying the ways the United States remembers its triumphs and its heroes. To culminate this unit, Mrs. Kirschenbaum’s students engaged their observation and exploration skills, as well as their knowledge base, by embarking on a scavenger hunt to find these monuments represented in their classroom. After breaking into four groups, the second grade searched for models of the Washington Monument, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, and Mount Rushmore. The eagle-eyed second graders managed to spot all four monuments, even the one hidden inside a snowglobe. |
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What Happens in ECC Afternoon Enrichment on Wednesdays? |
Our series on ECC Afternoon Enrichment continues with Wednesday’s special lesson led by Mrs. Liz Gonzalez-Spagnuolo, Mercaz Academy’s STEM teacher. Nursery Aleph and Nursery Bet students enjoy their forays into elementary school STEM, learning about the world around them and feeding their innate curiosity through lots of different science projects. This early start boosts their confidence and knowledge, preparing them for a seamless start in elementary school STEM.
Most recently, Mrs. Gonzalez-Spagnuolo’s group has been learning about snow. Mrs. S. read The Story of Snow, by Jon Nelson and Mark Cassino, to the students, who were then fascinated to learn about the crystallization and different shapes of snowflakes. The Afternoon Enrichment students completed a worksheet identifying different shapes found in a snowflake. Like all the other Mercaz Academy students, Afternoon Enrichment STEM classes eagerly await a chance to get a closer look at some real snowflakes. Stay tuned for next week's installment!
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Thursday, February 9
- Mercaz Mustangs basketball at HALB, 7:30 pm
Monday, February 20
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No school: President's Day
Monday, March 6
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Early dismissal: Ta'anit Esther
Tuesday, March 7
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No school: Purim
- Family Megillah Reading and Breakfast Seudah
Wednesday, March 8
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