Monthly Dateline Newsletter                                                                                                                 February 2017
Columbus Torah Academy Monthly Dateline
Message from Head of School
by Rabbi Avrohom Drandoff

We are in the midst of my favorite time of year on the CTA calendar.  Last week, our 2nd graders received their very first chumash, this week, we rejoiced with our adorable kindergarteners as they celebrated their completion of sefer Bereishit and next month, our 1st graders will participate in Chag HaSiddur.  Each one of these events, symbolizes another step in the learning experience of our children. 
 
This week's torah portion demonstrates the importance of Jewish education for each and every student and the individual's responsibility to our community (or nation).  The Torah details the conversion to Judaism of Yitro, Moshe's father in law.  The posuk declares "Yitro, the minister of Midian, the father in law of Moshe, heard everything that G-d did to Moshe and to Israel, His people, that Hashem had taken Israel out of Egypt."  The implication of this posuk, which, Rashi records in his commentary, is that it seems to suggest that G-d performed all the miracles in Egypt on behalf of Moshe and the Jewish people.  The posuk equates Moshe to the entire population of the Jewish nation. How could it be that an individual could be equated to an entire nation of people?
 
Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier offers a beautiful and an important answer to this question.  Rabbi Shafier explains that the Torah is teaching us that any individual is capable of becoming so great that their achievements can be equated with the accomplishments of an entire nation of people.  This insight is consistent with the mishna in Sanhedrin that declares that each person must recognize that the entire world was created for them.  The Mishna is teaching us that the creation of the entire world is as important as an individual's responsibility to actualize their potential.
 
As each child is given their very own siddur or chumash we are all remind that each child has their own unique talent, learning style and personality.  A Jewish education or in these celebrations, Torah texts specifically, is the knowledge that will supply them with the skills to pursue life's opportunities and endeavors, our educators are here to encourage and enhance student achievement and our parents are role models and supportive partners for student success.
 
The world is anxiously awaiting as each child grows up to a be lifelong learner and puts their own stamp of greatness on the world.
Award Established in memory of Mrs. Moskowitz   
and Mrs. Zanner

Through the generosity of CTA alumnus, Daniel Friedman (Class of 1998), an award has been established in memory of former CTA teachers, Julie Moskowitz and Susan Zanner.  Both were in the first cohort of teachers in the CTA High School beginning in 1991 and taught, primarily, English.  Daniel was deeply inspired by these two teachers who expressed lessons of openness and acceptance of all people which he has carried with him.  He is honored to memorialize them and establish a legacy for two teachers who had such a profound impact on him.  Their love of literature, appreciation for books and passion for teaching will be remembered through this award.   The award will be presented to an Upper School student at the annual Awards Assembly, this year scheduled for Thursday, May 25 at 7 pm in the CTA Shul.  Award criteria and parameters will be set by the administration.  
 
In addition, a tribute fund has been set up in their memory that fellow teachers, former students and their parents continue to make contributions to.  To make a donation, go to http://www.torahacademy.org/give-to-cta/
Enrollment Agreements Due February 24

Enrollment Agreements have been distributed to all families.  Every family must complete and return the forms with enrollment fees by February 24 to complete enrollment for the 2017-2018 school year.  That is also the deadline to apply for Tuition Assistance.
 
Forms were sent home with the youngest child in each family.  Forms are customized with data from last year's enrollment.  Please update.  If you need another form, contact Shari or download and print a blank form at http://www.torahacademy.org/parent-portal/enrollment-forms-and-financial-assistance  

News from the Lower School Judaic Studies Department

Dror Karavani
Lower School Curriculum Coordinator
Tu B'Shevat Cross-curriculum program
The month of Shevat provides a great opportunity for cross-curriculum activities.  Last week, stations were set up in the old gym to allow the 3rd through 6th grade students to study the main themes of Tu B'shevat from different perspectives.  In the  language arts station, they wrote poems about nature.  In science,  they studied the different benefits we get from trees and nature. In another science station they learned the characteristics of vascular and nonvascular plants through motion.  In the Hebrew station, the children learned parts of the tree in Hebrew.  They learned the order of blessing over food, HaMaGAESH, and enjoyed a video clip and discussion about Honi HameAgel at the Judaic Stations.  The students were challenged to determining the correct bracha for unique situations.  A poster displaying their new knowledge is hanging in their classrooms.











A Taste of Tu B'Shevat
On the Friday before Tu Be'Shevat, we were busy welcoming in Tu B'Shevat. Each class had its own "seder" with discussions, activities and games, and most of all, they enjoyed the various fruits from the Shivat Haminim (the Seven Species of Israel) and carob, too.  Yasher Koach for the students who brought money to fulfill the mitzvah of planting a fruit tree in Israel.  As every year, our friends in Kfar Saba, helped by planting the trees for us.  Our bracha to our students is that someday soon they will be able to visit their friends in Israel and see their trees blooming.
 
Chag HaChumash
The major new subject in second grade is chumash studies.  During the first half of the year the students start to develop basic skills using a chumash workbook and a chumashon. This promotes an understanding of the pesukim in Hebrew in a simple, friendly way. The last part of the year, the students start to use their actual chumash and study directly from the text in order to continue to grow with their chumash skills and comprehension.
 
Two weeks ago, the second grade celebrated their Chag HaChumash.  With a big smile on their faces, great enthusiasm, singing and dancing they presented a show titled "Living through the Chumash".  The goal of the production was to show how what they learn in Chumash can make our everyday decisions the right ones. They acted out the story of Creation, The Tree of Life good and bad, Noach and the Ark and, Kayin and Hevel. For each of these stories we created a modern day example of how the torah story helps us to use good Midot. The children even memorized all of the 54 names of the parshiot. Kol haKovod! The students also decorated the covers of the chumuash with their parents and concluded their celebration with delicious, personalized treats.  May the sweetness from those festivities remain with the students throughout their further learning experiences in their lives. Special thanks go to Morah Leah and Morah Eva for their dedication and love of teaching our students on a daily basis.  Mazel Tov!  Enjoy the full presentation here:  https://youtu.be/f5L8RTYbqtc .
 
Kindergarten Chumash Bereishit Siyum
After weeks of learning the parshiot stories and the values of the various characters in the
Chumash, the Kindergarteners finished Bereishit and celebrated with a siyum  last Wednesday. Wearing crowns and performing a play with songs reflecting the main idea of each parasha, the students put on a beautiful presentation. Moreh Dror was so proud and gave each student a medal and a special certificate. At the end of the program, everyone watched a cute power point presentation of the students dressed up and acting out the scenes which they learned. The students decorated a tzedakah box that was sent to them by their friends in Rakefet School in Israel as a gift for this
event.  Each student recived an album as a memento and concluded the party with a yummy treat. Kudos to Morah Jamie for all her hard work and dedication in preparing the students for this occasion. This also could not have happened without our special daily help from Morah Naomi. This is just a small picture of what occurs in and out of their classroom on a regular basis.  Yasher Koach. Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazayk! May we go from strength to strength!  
   Enjoy the full presentation here:  https://youtu.be/Z50z7rzKdVE


News from the Upper School Judaic Studies Department

Rabbi Zecharia Weitz, Coordinator
MENCH SEASON
After much anticipation, this year's Upper School IronMench tournament has been launched! Developed right here at CTA, IronMench is a competition designed to encourage students to master the Judaic content they have learned, both this year and years past, in a fun and challenging fashion. As an added feature this year, we've added some intensity and opportunity to our preseason; every week there's is a new list of general Torah knowledge that, if mastered, earns each team more "Mench Bucks". Mench Bucks are used to purchase the highly coveted IronMench apparel. After 4 preseason rounds, Mench season will culminate on Iron Tuesday; February 28th. Parents, friends and fans are invited to attend: High School will be from 8:30-10 and Junior High from 2:30-4 in the Upper School library.
 
Check out this year's viral trailer here

In our Middot Lab, we are currently studying the midda of Kimitzut, Kimitzut can be translated as frugality, referring specifically to the careful expenditure of an individual's resources, most notably, time. To introduce the middot, Adam Neft spoke to the students about setting realistic personal budgets and establishing healthy finances.  Mr. Neft is an entertaining speaker, known to many as the sportscaster for "Neft at Night", as a radio broadcaster on FM station 97.1.  He is now a successful mortgage broker at First Choice Loan Services, Inc (a subsidiary of First Choice Bank) i n charge of training and development.

Moreh Mordechai's 5th Graders Celebrate Hebrew
 
Last month teacher Mordechai Bar Asher celebrated Eliezer Ben Yehuda's Birthday and  Shavuah
HaLashon HaIvrit (the "Week of Hebrew Language") with an interactive activity in his 5th grade class. Students watched a clip about Eliezer Ben Yehuda and his linguistic innovations. The students, then, had to find and choose Hebrew words that Ben Yehuda invented or innovated and research that word and its uses. Ben Yehuda had to innovate many words which did not
exist in the TaNaCh (such as "ice-cream" or "brush") and this process of expanding the Hebrew language continues today by the Academy for Hebrew Language in Israel. Our students experienced that process on a mini scale in the classroom!  In the pictures: 5th grade students are using their dictionaries to research the renewed words.
Let's Play - Hebrew Monopoly and More

Upper School students came together to play Israeli board games in Hebrew. The students had to interact in Hebrew while playing Hebrew Monopoly, Hebrew/Israeli Go Fish, Falafel King, and more. In addition, 9-10th grade students visited the Lower School and instructed the 6th graders how to play these games, all experiencing the joy of board games while practicing their Hebrew speaking skills! Thank you to Inbal Hazut, and Mordechai and Ester Bar Asher for leading this collaborative activity!


Third Graders Are Published Authors

The third graders spent a couple of months working on their biography or autobiography book reports.  They produced wonderfully creative book reports and presented them to their classmates.  One person demonstrated a magic trick, another used PowerPoint, while one showed a YouTube clip from a movie.  The majority of the students dressed up as their person for the presentation.  What a fabulous job they did! 
 
Click on the link to see some cute pictures: 
 
The children are learning about matter and explored the three different states of matter with one rubber glove frozen, one filled with air, and another filled with water.  They cut out magazine pictures and classified them according to their state of matter.
 
The third graders are now published authors!  While learning about the changes of our environment in social studies, the students wrote cinquains expressing their appreciation for nature.  Their poems and illustrations were sent to Scholastic where it was then bound into a hardback book.  There is a copy in our classroom and one in the school library.  Those who wanted their own copy were able to purchase one as well.    

New CTA Kippot Available for Order
The Upper School Student Council is offering a kippot for sale.  The newly designed items are fromKlipped Kippahs.  Cost is $12 per kippah or 2/$20.  They can be ordered at the front desk or online at http://www.torahacademy.org/order-cta-kippot/ The order will not be put in until a minimum order number is reached.  Question to Ioni Wolfson at iwolfson@torahacademy.org or ymetz@torahacademy.org
CTA Around Town
Bringing the 7 Species of Tu B'shevat to the Table for Math, Science and Eating!
 
Mrs. Lerner's Fantastic 4th Graders created "Magnificent 7" muffins. The project tested the studentsmeasuring skills, knowledge of mixtures, understanding about solutions and physical and chemical changes of matter, knowledge of the 7 species of plants eaten during Tu B' Shevat, and ability to write a detailed recipe. The students were challenged to create original "bakery worthy" muffin recipes that contain at least 4 of the 7 species. They did. They measured, mixed, stirred, poured, and baked. Through some friendly compeitition, faculty judges helped determine their palateability - rating the confections on presentation, taste and texture.  First Place: Team Pomegranate Explosion (Yoni Hazut, Josh Greff, Ayala Hazan, Brooklyn Binsky) with "Pomegranate Explosion"
Second Place - 3 way tie: Team Magnificent Muffin (Rebekkah Cieplinski, Tovah berger, Sarah Kira) with Pomegranate Muffin; Team MS Muffins (Mordechai Zuckerman, Sam Garvin, Miles Hoffman, Max Almasanu) with "Cinnamon Surprise", Team The Messy Hachmachastinians (Isaac Myers, Gabe Katz, Tzvi Ben Moshe, Chayim Deitsch) with "Hachmachchaminions"  Third Place: Team The Muffin Men (Boaz Harow, Aryeh Weinschneider, Yosef Weitz, Sam Bernzweig) with "Vanillamen Muffin" Fourth Place: Team Cinnamon Team (Sarah Clubok, Maya Berger, Michael Shamis, Avraham Import) with "Cinnamon Tree"Everyone enjoyed the treats!



CTA Students Attend YUNMUM XXVII



Earlier this week six CTA students traveled as delegates to the 27th annual Yeshiva University National Model United Nations (YUNMUN). The two day program, run by the YU Admission office, is the ultimate experiential education in the functioning of the UN. Roughly 450 high school students from Jewish schools all over the world participated, with each school assigned a country to represent, and each student assigned a UN committee. The six CTA students, Shylee Delman, Shayna Herszage, Avior Hazan, Addison Horwitz, Sivan Import, and Drew Samuelson represented Iraq and served on the committees of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC), Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), International Criminal Court (ICC), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and World Health Organization (WHO). The student-run simulation gives students an opportunity to experience and learn about the copmplex landscape of international diplomacy, playing the role of actual delegates to the UN and representing a variety of positions, often ones with which they may not agree.   The CTA students who participated have been working for months conducting research of Iraq's interests and policies on a wide range of issues and concerns and sharpening their public speaking, note taking and diplomacy skills.  Faculty advisor, Tim Pray and Eliza Delman chaperoned.
6th Visits 7th
The 6th grade made its annual visit to "check out" Junior High late in January.  As the transition toUpper School begins in 7th grade, the students are invited upstairs to find out more about what Junior High has to offer.  This year, 6th grade parents were invited to attend.  Mrs. Delman, Upper School Principal, went over some of the differences and some of the similiarities and let the students know that she is looking forward to getting to know them as they continue their Jewish education at CTA next year.  The 6th graders were super excited that Mrs. Willis let them head back to 6th grade without walking in line!
CBI Biggest Field Ever

The 2017  Columbus Baseball Inviational is set for May 14-16.  This year's tournament is set to bethe biggest field ever for CBI with 12 teams.  Games will be played at the JCC College Avenue Baseball Fields and a second field in a neighboring community (Columbus and Bexley) to accommodate the 3 packed days of play.  Sunday night, May 14 is expected to have large community draw as the day kicks off the tournament, is Mother's Day and is also Lag BaOmer.  An evening bonfire at the JCC is planned.  More information about food trucks and activities to follow.  We look forward to welcoming the following teams:1.  CTA-OH, 2. Kushner - NJ, 3. Ida Crown-IL, 4. Fuchs Mizrachi-OH,  5.Atlanta Jewish Academy-GA, 6. Flatbush Yeshiva-NY,  7.TABC-NJ, 8. Kohelet Yeshiva-PA, 9. Frisch School-NJ, 10. YUHSB/MTA-NY, 11. Valley Torah-CA (Santa Barbara), 12. HAFTR (Hebrew Academy Five Towns and Rockaway)-NY  To offer to help, contact alisadk@hotmail.com   There are many opportunities to volunteer.  Go Lions!

What are the Stats?

The CTA High School Statistics class taught a lesson to 5th and 6th graders about the usefulness of surveys and how best to report data. The presentation touched on some of what they have been studying this year including sampling, response data, graphing and biases and their impact on the data.

Poetry Out Loud

CTA's High School participated in the National Endowment for the Arts' Poetry Out Loud competition.  POL was established to encourage the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. The national program raises the awareness and appreciation for recited program and helps students master public speaking skills, build self-
confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. At CTA, all
High School students participated in classroom competitions with poems chosen from a list of acceptable POL selections with nine competing in the school wide competition.  All judgingwas aligned with the NEA's POL standards.
 
Junior, Avior Hazan, received the highest score from the judges and  advanced to the re gional competition to be held on February 19, at  the Ohio History Center.
Basketball Senior Night

The Varsity Lions Basketball programs recognized their Senior
players at a recent game towards the end of their season.  Lady Lions:  Julie Chase, Molly Cohen, Shayna Herszage, Sivan Import, Gabriela Schottenstein and Boy's Team:  Yaakov Metz, Ioni Wolfson, Noah Ziv were honored for the leadership, sportsmanship, team spirit, and athletic ability by coaches while a cheering bleacher full of adoring fans looked on. 
 
Best of luck to the girls team who will be competing next week in the RASG Basketball Tournament in Miami, FL.  The team is excited for the opportunity to play against athletes from a dozen Jewish day schools across the country. Go Lions!  Shayna Herszage, Molly Cohen, Sivan Import, Sigal Import, Gali Makias, Ariel Eskin, Avigayil Rosenberg, Hanna Wolfson, Gabriela Schottenstein, Hadar Karavani, Julie Chase and coaches, Eddie Karmia and Joey Nutis.

Art Update: Creativity  Abounds
Submitted by CTA Art Teacher Amy Neiwirth

We haven't let the winter blues get us down - in the art room, we've been using our amazing art skills to challenge ourselves to experiment, to think creatively, and to apply our knowledge in new ways.
 
Students in grades K-6 have been working on their artworks for our upcoming Art to Remember fundraiser. Keep an eye out for order forms in March to purchase a variety of keepsakes featuring your child's artwork! From pocket mirrors to pillows to plates - there's something for everyone to enjoy. Art to Remember makes great gifts for family and friends, plus 1/3 of each sale goes to CTA's art program!   
 
In addition to the Art to Remember artworks, here's what our students and I have been working on this winter:
 
Kindergarteners  completed colorful castle collages using simple shapes, inspired by artists like Mary
Blair and Paul Klee. Students will soon embark on a Pop Art adventure - exploring popular foods and yummy treats that will be so fun to feature in artwork.
 
The First Grade created cityscape collages using 
cut paper and all kinds of embellishments, and lots of overlapping too. Students are now working on underwater scenes with many types of fish and sea creatures. Each fish is filled up with patterns, inspired by the picture book Pattern Fish.
 
Second Graders  completed snowy day collages - perfect for winter and inspired by a children's book favorite, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. We learned about urban, suburban, and rural landscape scenes, as well as the foreground, middle-ground, and background of a composition. Each student selected a setting and created a collage that represented the type of scene they chose. Students drew, cut, glued, layered and made all kinds of creative art-making choices while working on their collages. The students are now beginning a unit about still-life art and drawing & painting from observation.  
 
Third Grade  students are studying about Impressionism and focusing on the art of Claude Monet.
Impressionists were very interested in capturing the light in a scene at a certain moment in time, and student noticed that the artists accomplished this by having lights and darks (tints and shades) in their paintings. Third graders practiced mixing tints and shades of acrylic paint and are now moving on to create their own garden scenes with lots of color mixing and layering of paint. Students are so excited to create their paintings on canvas board instead of paper!
 
Fourth Graders  are learning about Roy Lichtenstein, famous for his large paintings of comic book panels in primary colors. Lichtenstein spent some time living in Columbus, Ohio - he attended Ohio State and returned to teach there. Fourth graders learned some of Lichtenstein's techniques for enlarging a comic panel - including gridding, which students are applying in their own work to make enlarged comic drawings.
 
Fifth Graders  are learning all about Kente Cloth - a special woven cloth of the Ashanti people of Ghana. Each color and pattern has a meaning and tells a story. Students are creating several paper weavings to assemble in to a strip to display, and are adding patterns that reflect some of the ones we would see on real Kente.  A few weeks ago, the class was treated to an artist visit from weaver Sarah Harste. Ms. Harste showed the class some weaving techniques she uses in her own work
 - she also brought along some looms (that she made herself, of course!) for the students to try  weaving with different thicknesses of yarn. The students enjoyed the guest artist experience and are hoping to create some yarn weavings as an extension project.
 
The Sixth Grade is tackling a large collaborative art challenge: using polymer clay to create apixelated portrait of a CTA teacher! Inspired by the work of artist Chuck Close, who was famous for using grids to transfer photographs on to enormous canvases, students are working in small groups to create clay pieces that each correspond to one pixel in the photo they're using as a source. When the artworks are complete, they'll resemble the subject from far away, as your eye interprets the pixels as fields of color! 
Coming May: Middot Fest 2017: A Celebration of Achievement

Get excited! This year, our annual Lower School Achievement Fair is getting a middot-themed makeover. We've spent all year at CTA connecting our four middot (Jewish values) of kavod (respect), chaverut (friendship), savlanut (patience), and emet (truth) to our everyday learning, and our students can't wait to showcase what they've accomplished and created.
 
We'll start off our evening with performances from each grade, as well as a few songs from our fabulous CTA choir! Then, everyone will join together for an interactive festival showcasing the imaginative and innovative projects our students have worked so hard on throughout the year. Whether it's math, science, chumash, or Hebrew language - parents, siblings, relatives, and friends will have a blast experiencing hands-on collaborative projects and viewing the achievements our students are so proud of.
 
Dinner will be available for purchase the night of MiddotFest - stay tuned for more details soon!

PTO Directory

Still wondering where to get a list of CTA families?  Planning a birthday party or b'nai mitzvah?  Searching for the name a high school student to babysit?  Look no further than the CTA PTO Directory.  You don't have one?  Make sure to sign up for PTO if you haven't already done so as it is a perk of membership.

PTO Dues are $25 yearly
$210 Lifetime Member (that's forever!)
(Stay connected. You will still get a directory even after the kids graduate!)
 
For more info, go to:    http://www.torahacademy.org/pto/
Scrip Available in the Front Office
 Remaining Scrip at CTA

Please see Lesa at the Front Desk as we liquidate a limited supply of gift cards for the following stores (and their denominations):  Gap/Old Navy ($25), GFS ($25), JC Penney ($25), Land's End ($25 and $100), Lowe's ($25), 1-800-Flowers.com ($25).  Purchasing these cards at face value earns money for CTA and will make shopping easier for you.
Tzedakah Box Turn In
 
tzedakah box
If you have a CTA Tzedakah Box, don't forget to fill it and empty it often.  THE NEXT SCHEDULED DROP OFF DATE IS MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017.  You can choose to send in a check with the amount of the contents or put the change and cash into an envelope or baggie and send in with your child.  Amounts are counted towards your Give and Get and are a great addition to the donations the school receives.  If you need a new or more Tzedakah boxes, contact Shari.
Sponsor a Day of Learning

Opportunities to sponsor A Day of Learning are now available at CTA.  For a $180 donation, you can make a donation, in honor, in memory, in appreciation, for a speedy recovery or in celebration of a person, a birthday or an event.  To schedule a day, contact sherszage@torahacademy.org or adrandoff@torahacademy.org. 
 
The sponsorship will be listed in the CTA Weekly Communicator, the monthly CTA Dateline, posted on the monitor in the school lobby, and announced to the students.
Condolences To:
Sarita Moss, Esther (Shapira) Calamaro (8th Grade Class of 1968) and Steven Moss (Class of 1995) on the loss of mother, and grandmother Shirley Shapira
 
Emma Bisman and Alex Bisman (Class of 1999) on the loss of husband and father Mikhail Bisman.  Mr. Bisman was a former member of our foster grandparent program at CTA.
Mazel Tov To:
Aviva Shapiro (Class of 2008) on her engagement to Benjamin Maas of West Orange, New Jersey and to parents Dr. Stewart Shapiro and Beverly Roseman Shapiro
 
Rabbi Zecharia and Leah Weitz on the birth of a daughter
 
Sasha (Class of 2005) and Gelena Libin on the birth of a daughter
 
Avi Rosen (Class of 2004) on his engagement to Mindi Greenberg of Cincinnati and to parents Susan and Alex Rosen
 
Gavriel (Gabe) Kay (Class of  2005) on his engagement to Zahava Tova Frist of Ma'ale Adumim, Israel and to parents Dr. Bruce and Nancy Kay
 
Rabbi Areyah and Esther Kaltmann on the engagement of their son Yitzy to  Sara Canowitz of Montreal , Canada
 
Dr. Rochel and Rabbi Henoch Millen on the recent marriage of their grandson, Yakov, to Chava Miriam Lensky and on the birth of a great-granddaughter. Proud parents are Elisheva and Hillel Kermeier

School Events

School Links for Parents ( http://www.torahacademy.org/parent-page/)


February 20:  No School, President's Day
February 22-26:  Varsity Girls Basketball represent CTA at RASG Miami Tourn., Miami, FL
March 7:  Girls on the Run begins
March 13-24:  2nd and 5th Grade Writing Workshop features Artist in Residence, Amy Greenberg
March 23:  1st Grade Chag Ha Siddur
March 28-29:  Upper School Drama Production: Little Women, CTA, 7:00 pm
March 31:  Writing Workshop Sharing Breakfast, 2nd and 5th grade students and parents, 8:30 am

CTA Lions Basketball Season Underway:  Check out the sports schedule at http://ctaathletics.blogspot.com/

For questions about any of these programs,  contact info@torahacademy.org to be directed to the correct coordinator.
Community Events

School Links for Parents ( http://www.torahacademy.org/parent-page/)

February 7-April 10:  Curtis Goldstein Memory Project, JCC
February 19-21:  College Caravan, JCC
February 25-March 9:  Gallery Players presents Ragtime, JCC
March 5:  Kolumbus KosherFest, 11-2 pm, Ahavas Sholom
March 5:  Kollel presents Purim Family Fun Day, 10:30-11:30 am, JCC
March 12:  Purim
April 21:  Cole Essay Due
July 31-August 4 or August 6-11: JCC Maccabi Team Columbus


For questions about any of these programs,  contact info@torahacademy.org to be directed to the correct coordinator.
Shabbat Candlelighting Times for February and March

February 17, 5:51 pm
February 24, 5:59 pm
March 3, 6:06 pm
March 10, 6:14 pm
March 17, 6:23 pm
March 24, 6:28 pm
March 31, 6:36 pm

Donations
It has been a time-honored Jewish tradition to give tzedakah in recognition of important events. Todah Rabah to the following for their donation:

It has been a time-honored Jewish tradition to give tzedakah in recognition of important events. Todah Rabah to the following for their donation :
 
To the Annual Giving Fund:
Jon and Jenny Grischkan in honor of Daryl Binsky
Paul and Karan Tanenbaum for Ho'daah to Hashem
Amnon and Arlene Sapir in honor of Jacob Schuman
Gary Liebesman and Stacy Leeman in memory of Rabbi Dovid Kimche's grandmother
Blanche Young in memory of Thea and Pearson Press
Daniel Friedman to establish an award in memory of Julie Moskowitz and Susan Zanner
Drs. Rafe Wenger and Shifra Tyberg in support of the 2017 Upper School Drama Production
Nancy and Ken Supowit in support of the 2017 Upper School Drama Production

To the Library and Literacy Fund in memory of Julie Moskowitz and Susan Zanner:
Bob and Marcia Hershfield
Michael and Sheila Cutler
Warren and Marlene Sobol
Saul and Sara Libby Epstein
Joseph and Monica Calabrese
Barry and Linda Starr
Henry and Candis Schwarz
Rachel Weinerman and Benjamin Spinner
Greg Adams and Leah Weintraub
Raphael and Nancy Warren
Rabbi Henoch and Dr. Rochelle Millen
Jeffrey and Lori Serbin Lasday

Give & Get Info
More info can be found at here
 
Tribute Donation:   Contact Lesa, Shari or submit donation on line at www.torahacademy.org for all in honor, in memory or milestone tributes to family and friends.

Kroger Rewards Card:   Go to www.kroger.com/communityrewards and register your rewards card.  Kroger will donate up to 1% of your purchases from Kroger or Turkey Hill stores.
OFFICE MAX:  Max Perks card number is:  207285005

Target RED Card:   Go to https://rcam.target.com/ to manage your red card and enroll your card in the Take Charge of Education program to choose CTA.  Target will donate up to 1% of your REDcard purchases at Target stores in the U.S and at Target.com.

Amazon Smile:
  Go to www.smile.amazon.com and register to benefit CTA.  When you make a purchase, CTA will receive 1% of that purchase as a donation to our school. 

iGive:   Register with iGive at www.igive.com and your Amazon purchases and online purchases at close to 1500 retailers will give a kickback to CTA.  To date we have raised over $1000. 

Apples for Students at Giant Eagle:  Go to www.GiantEagle.com/AFTS to register for their donation program.  You will need your Giant Eagle Advantage Card number and the CTA School Code which is #4389.

Magazine Sales Help the 8th graders year round when you purchase magazines at www.gaschoolstore.com using their code # 2522449.

Shoparoo Download the app to your smartphone and start earning points by snapping pictures of your receipts.


Do you use a smartphone?  Do you ever go to the store and buy anything?  These are the two things you need in order to help CTA earn money through Shoparoo.  There is no cost to you.  Snap a photo of a receipt from a store you made a purchase at and CTA earns points that are converted to $$$.  Best fun is that your points are posted and you can see who the leaders helping CTA earn money are.  To date, there are 33 supporters and some are very active.  Imagine how much money we could earn if you participated?  For more information or to help out, contact Shari and she can walk you though it. We just hit over the $100 mark.  Thanks to all participants!
.
Columbus Torah Academy | 181 Noe Bixby Road | Columbus, OH 43213 
614-864-0299 | info@torahacademy.org
STAY CONNECTED: