January 31st, 2020 ~ 5th Shevat 5780
Events at a Glance
Friday, January 31st - 1:45 pm - Kabbalat Shabbat
Wednesday, February 5th - 100th Day of School
Crazy Hat/Hair Day
Saturday, February 8th - 7:00 pm - Adult Night Out
Sunday, March 22nd - 75th Anniversary Brunch & Reunion
A Message from the Head of School
As many of you know, The Silver Academy is celebrating our 75th year. What an amazing accomplishment to be able to celebrate as a community! As Head of School it warms my heart to see how much The Silver Academy Community is coming together as we plan and prepare for our 75th Anniversary Brunch and Reunion on March 22, 2020, where we will be honoring past School Presidents and PTO Presidents. There have been a flurry of committees and volunteers in the school and in the community working hard and giving of their time and talents to help make our celebration amazing. Invitation design, alumni outreach, decorations, logistics, food service, the list goes on. If I have not seen you personally to thank you, I wish to extend my thank you now - TODAH RABBAH! I am grateful to all who have helped us realize a 75 year (and counting) mission of educating generations of Jewish children, leaders and community members. You are an inspiration to our current students.

Shabbat Shalom,
Samara Sofian 
A Peek Inside Our Classes
Judaic Studies
Rabbi Gewirtz
Bringing Communication to a Higher Level
4th through 8th Judaics

One of the great challenges in Jewish education is to help students apply the beautiful ideas they learn in classic Jewish texts to their daily lives. Silver Academy students in grades 4-8 are learning the practical guidelines of ethical speech with two different programs. 

The Shomrei Halashon (Careful Speech) program is very effective in metamorphosing the theoretical into the actual. Shomrei Halashon is one of the many quality curriculums developed by the Chofeitz Chaim Heritage Foundation. 
 
Currently being used in almost 200 schools worldwide, and geared for 4th and 5th grade students, Shomrei Halashon is designed to help children build the skill of avoiding “ lashon hara” (defamatory speech). The program includes 126 short daily lessons comprised of a topic, a true-to-life illustrated story, and provocative questions to make the learning of ethical speech both engaging and applicable to the students’ lives. In addition, the program includes weekly and monthly reviews that solidify these lessons as well as monthly prizes.

Students in grades 6-8 study the laws and practice of Ethical speech through flipped learning videos. The videos are produced by Torah Live and present in a dramatic (and often humorous) format, everyday situations demonstrated by actors. Teacher designed questions are implanted in the videos using a program called EdPuzzle. The students watch the videos and answer the questions for homework, and their work is reviewed in class.

These programs are enjoyed by the students and really work!  The students become more sensitive to the issues and their communication becomes more honorable!
Art
Morah Tamara
Third grade explored the art of Alexander Calder. They created two dimensional representations of his 3D mobiles while studying line form and primary colors.
Computer
Mr. Fortini



In Mr. Fortini's Computer class Middle School students explored the possibilities of technology and art by using software to modify instruments, and even their own voices, to create a song.

The students in 4th and 5th grade had their first introduction to an amazing robot product called "Ozobots." For their first lesson they used color coded lines to change the behavior of their robots.
Upcoming Events
Kabbalat Shabbat/Rosh Chodesh
Friday, January 31st 1:45 pm -2:30 pm

This afternoon we will be getting ready for Tu B'Shevat by decorating flower pots and planting plants that will be taken to the Jewish Home with the Middle School students on their next Better Together trip.
Sunday, March 22nd
10 AM - Noon
Harrisburg Jewish Community Center
75th Anniversary Brunch & Reunion
Registration Link Below

Todah Rabah - Thank you!
  • Thank you to all who donated hats, gloves, scarves and socks for our Mitzvah Drive.
  • Thank you to Angie Marvin, from A. Casual Cut, for donating her services and time to cut hair on Mitzvah Day.
  • Thank you to Niema Schertz and all of our teachers for making our upper school Open House a success.
  • Thank you to Jill Henig, Kimberlea Konowitch, Tammy Reid, Jackie Rubin and Niema Schertz for preparing, cooking and serving the meal at our Sample Of Silver Open House last Wednesday night.
  • Thank you to our PTO for sponsoring the Open House meal.
  • Thank you to all of our Scholastic Book Fair volunteers who have done an amazing job helping our children and the community to select books last week. Thank you to Jane Dalton, Sharon Flategraff, Marcy Flicker, Cynthia Graeff, Emily Halper, Lindsay Hameroff, Kimberlea Konowitch, Rob Konowitch, Kris Novak, and Shirley Olshansky.
  • Thank you to to all the parents and community members who came and shopped to support The Silver Academy Scholastic Book Fair. We appreciate your support!
Mazel Tov!
Mazel Tov to Avi and Ayala Gewirtz and proud grandparents, Rabbi and Varda Gewirtz on the birth of their son and grandson! Avi is an alumnus of the Silver Academy and graduated in 2004 with our math teacher Sara Romano.
D'var Torah
The weekly readings of Va-Era and Bo tell of the ten plagues with which the Lord smote Egypt. 
Ways to Support The Silver Academy
smile.amazon.com  - The Silver Academy. 

  • The Silver Academy will get .5 percent of each eligible purchase.

  https://shop.shopwithscrip.com/Login/Enroll    Code: 5417A14L62452 

  • Raise money for our school by using gift cards where you are already shopping! Buy egift cards, physical gift cards and reloadable gift cards at face value and use for your everyday shopping. Easily pay online and earn a rebate between 2%-16% that goes right to our school.
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 24 years.
For any questions, please call or text Varda Gewirtz at  717-919-1358  .
Support The Silver Academy!
Contributions to The Silver Academy are always appreciated and every dollar makes a difference for our students!

Looking for a way to celebrate a birthday or special occasion? Do you have someone you would like to honor? Do you want to make a donation in memory of a loved one? Consider making a donation to The Silver Academy. We will send them a lovely card to share with them that a gift has been made in their honor.
You may contact the school's office to make a contribution or do so online here .

Community News
Adult Night out for JCC Sports & Fitness

Join the JCC on Saturday, February 8th from 7:00 pm--11:00 pm at Colonial Golf & Tennis for a night out to support JCC Sports & Fitness. Music, fun, friendship and raffles! All proceeds from the raffle items will support the JCC Sports & Fitness programs and Team Harrisburg Maccabi. Featuring local band, Honeypump! The event is free for Colonial members and $15 for non-Colonial members. To register, call 717-657-3212 or email  mzimmerman@colonialgolftennis.com  and make sure to tell them you are with the JCC. 21 and older please. 
Our community is Powered by You! Support Jewish life in Harrisburg through the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg's Annual campaign. This year's Annual Campaign will take place from February - April 2020. Visit  jewishharrisburg.org/give  or call 717-236-9555 to support our community. 
Silver Snapshots