January 10, 2019 - Shevat 4, 5779
This is a Special Year at
The Silver Academy...
75 Years of Exemplary Jewish Education!
Events at a Glance
  • Jan 11 - Kabbalat Shabbat/Rosh Chodesh
  • Jan 21 - Mitzvah Day
  • Jan 23, 6:45 pm - Silver Academy Science Fair Presentations in the Henry Miller Auditorium
A Message from the Head of School
Mrs. Debra Freeburn, Head of School
One of my favorite parts of the job, as Head of School at The Silver Academy, is the opportunity to spend time in the classroom. So, at the same time I am doing my job, scribing the teachers’ words and the words of the students, giving teachers feedback and making suggestions, I am ‘blown away’ by what I’m watching your children learn. For example, in Language Arts class, fourth and fifth grades are finding relationships between “Hatchet” and the middot they have learned or the middot of the current week. Mrs. Wenzelburger asks, “What middot have we learned that applies to Brian in the novel “Hatchet?” Student one responds, “Trust. Brian has had to trust himself and his own instincts because he’s in an unfamiliar, dangerous environment.” Student two suggests, “Wisdom. Brian has had to think, if I do this...I will most likely get this result.” “Understanding, calm and composure, and courage,” are the additional middot the students suggest. Student three proposes the following thought, “Nature has zero time for self pity.” Come on now...admit it...this is pretty cool stuff!!! In Mrs. Hurley’s class, the second graders (and the two first graders) are sounding out difficult words, in small groups, using The Orton-Gillingham approach which has been found to be very successful, when adapted, for classroom instruction. The students are active participants in their learning, writing the ‘blends’ in the sand and saying them outloud. “Thumbs up if the word that I say begins with that blend,” Mrs. Hurley instructs, before saying the new word to the class. Learning, at Silver, engages the learner as the principal driving force and the instructor is the facilitator of this process. Active learning has replaced traditional textbook activities that we often see in classes where the student to teacher ratio is much larger than we have at Silver. In Morah Alla’s class, students are role playing and speaking activities are in modern Hebrew. The first and second grade students are connecting the vocabulary being taught with the ‘sin of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden’. Instead of telling students that today’s lesson will be important in their lives, Morah Alla (and the other teachers at Silver) help them apply what they’ve learned to confront real issues. “Education without action is like food without exercise,” says veteran educator Terry Godwaldt. Without meaningful opportunities to put problem-solving skills to work, Godwaldt cautions, students may gradually lose hope that they can make a difference. Come visit Silver and experience the wonder of learning in a world where critical thinking, analyzing, making connections and drawing conclusions are seen everyday!!

Shabbat Shalom, Debra
D'var Torah
D’var Torah for Parshat Bo

by Mikel Garner
to read this week's D'var Torah

Good Things Happen Every Day at The Silver Academy
Kindergarten General Studies
Mrs. Kate Carpenter

Kindergartners have learned almost 50 sight words by now, and they put these words to good use on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during our Kid Writing sessions.

Students also use the sounds we are learning in our phonics lessons to “ear spell” any other words they need. Our volunteer Writing Guides come to our class each week to help students write and publish their own individual stories.

We began our writing work by learning how to write both non-fiction and realistic fiction stories. Later this month we will jump into more imaginative fiction writing.

Our most recent writing project is called Winter Fun , and the stories are posted on the bulletin board across from Samara Sofian’s office. Please come in and check them out! 
5th Grade
Mrs. Wenzelburger

The 5th grade students are learning about Colonial America in social studies and created their own model of a colonial town.

“We took small sheets of construction paper, folded and cut them into three dimensional buildings, colored them, and placed them on our model.” Yaakov

“We placed the buildings in places that made the most sense for how they would be used back in colonial times.” Ariella

“When looking at our model you can see that we used different colored construction paper because they used different building materials in colonial times. Some of the buildings are also super big and some are super small because in colonial times, the smaller buildings were less important.” Nadav

“In colonial times the tavern was a place that common people would go to, but high nobles would go to the coffee house in the town. We included both these building in our model.” Abie

“Back in colonial times, jail was spelled "gaol". We have put a gaol in our model next to our courthouse.” Meital

Silver Academy Reunion Highlights
Our First Annual Reunion on January 5 was an amazing event! Alumni, parents of alumni, former faculty, current parents and current teachers all joined together for a fantastic evening. With over 80 people there, we enjoyed the music of alum Josh Krevsky, learned about Israel through wine tasting with Steve Kerbel, and had a great time reconnecting with friends and teachers! Thanks to the generosity of so many people, we received over $4,000 in donations for our scholarship fund.  

Thank you to the reunion committee: Dina Burcat, Debbie Hervitz, Kasey Krevsky, Marla Gras Friedman, Talia Rosen Mann, Lara Kravitz Novak, Bryan Reid, Aaron Rosen and Scott Rubin. Thank you to Tammy Reid, Jackie Rubin and Niema Schertz for helping with all the publicity, shopping and food prep. Thank you to Marian Frankston and Patty Schwab for lending us decorations. Thank you to the Cheskis family for hosting Steve Kerbel, our Israeli wine expert. Thank you to Mrs. Jane Dalton and Rabbi Moshe Yosef Gewirtz for teaching during the event. Thank you to Josh Krevsky for the amazing performance. Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a special event!

Please visit our  Facebook page  to see all the pictures from the event.

Take a Peek at the Past...You must watch this very special video!
Yeshiva Academy Anniversary & Overview Video - 1944-2004
We are thankful!
Thank you to our own Sonia Brown for making our faculty lunch room beautiful by painting the walls and table and reupholstering the chairs. Your talents and efforts are appreciated!


A BIG thank you to everyone who helped to make our First Annual Silver Academy Reunion a wonderful, memorable evening! Be sure to check out the complete article and pictures above.

Condolences

We send our sincere condolences to the family of alumnus Doris Hervitz Sutz , and to the family of Franklin Able , a Silver Academy parent and grandparent.

May the memory of each be a blessing.
Important Dates and Reminders!

PLEASE HELP US GET TO ISRAEL!!
Our 7th and 8th grade students are excited to be planning their trip to Israel in the spring! As a way to help fund the trip, they currently have two fundraising opportunities:
  • First, the students will deliver personal notes (Chai Notes) from you to the Holy Land. Click on the link below for the note, which you can print and return to the school office with your donation. Thank you!


  • You can also support us by planting trees in Israel through JNF. Part of the money you donate will go to our Israel trip. How do you do this? Just click on the link below to go to the "Plant Your Way to Israel-JNF" website and donate away!!

Open House
for all prospective Ganeinu (pre-K), Kindergarten
and 1st Grade students and their families

Middle School Basketball Schedule
Mark your calendar and come out to support
our middle school basketball players!


Support The Silver Academy!
Don't Miss This
EASY, Ongoing Fundraising Opportunity!
Giant Gift Cards

  • Purchase these dollar for dollar in the school office, and then spend them the same as cash.
  • The Silver Academy earns 5% - that's $50 earned for every $1,000 sold!
  • You may also purchase by calling Susan at 717-608-0190
Order your Challah!
Challah With a Twist 

Offers Weekly Challah Order and Delivery To Students and Teachers

  • Order your challah by 8:30 pm Thursday evening at challahwithatwist.com. The fresh baked challah will be given to your child to take home on Friday.
  • To pay, please send an envelope with your name on it to the school office, including cash, or a check payable to Challah with a Twist, or use Paypal or Venmo.

Challah With a Twist, (a.k.a. Varda Challah), has been providing home baked challah to the Harrisburg community for over 2 4 years.
For any questions, please call or text Varda Gewirtz at   717-919-1358   .
Silver Snapshots
Students enjoy speaking and singing in Hebrew with the
iTaLAM online Hebrew Language program.
Seventh and Eighth Graders are finalizing graphs and charts
for the upcoming Silver Academy Science Fair...January 23rd!
Learning About Graffiti in Art Class
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