Upcoming Events

• Wednesday, September 18 - Thursday, September 19, 2024 - All School Retreat @Camp Chi

• Wednesday, October 2 - Friday, October 4, 2024 - Rosh Hashana break; no school (Click HERE to donate to our annual Rosh Hashana campaign.)

• Friday, October 11, 2024 - Erev Yom Kippur; no school

• Wednesday, October 16 - Friday, October 25 - Sukkot Break; no school

• Monday, October 28 - Classes Resume

Students explored the approximately three dozen clubs ICJA students run each year.

ICJA's cafeteria was even busier than usual on Thursday during 5th and 6th periods as leaders and representatives of over 30 clubs explained their activities to potential new members at ICJA's annual Club Hub.

Students learned about clubs, asked questions, and even got to try out new games and equipment in some cases, and then signed up to join new clubs.

(Pictured above: Zachary Fogel, Jonah Strahlberg, Aiden Rich, Aaron Katz, and Noah Lehrfield, and sophomore Megill Hameiri discussing the Chess Club)

Pictured above: seniors Sarah Lipson and Nava Dreytser representing Parsha and Pancakes

Pictured above: senior Avner Frazin and freshman Avi Friedman talking about the Robotics and STEM Club

Pictured above: sophomore Caleb Novick, senior Menachem Friedman, and junior Yedidya Bechhofer representing Dungeons and Dragons Club

Members of one of ICJA's Newest Clubs review together each week.

ICJA's new Daf Yomi Club began this year with a group of enthusiastic learners who learn daily on their own then meet weekly at school to review the past week's learning.

Last Friday, the club's founder and leader, sophomore Jacob Thomas, gave a Daf Yomi shiur to the club on Bava Batra 73. Yasher koach to Jacob and to the entire club!

(Pictured above left to right: freshman Binyamin Friedman, sophomore Jacob Thomas, freshman Bennett Kroll, and sophomores Yair Elbaz and Dov Kaiserman)

Freshmen are analyzing sentence structure in Sefer Shemot.

Freshmen in Rabbi Michael Myers's honors Chumash class are learning Sefer Shemot, and are engaging in in-depth analysis of grammar and word usage to comprehend each pasuk's nuances as they examine the text.

Pictured above: Ari Shyovitz and Shmuel Scharman

Pictured above: Bennett Kroll and Akiva Joseph

Pictured above: students answering questions

Parents went to classes this week, following their students' schedules.

On Wednesday evening, students got of school early and parents went back to class. Simulated School Night brought parents into our school to follow a mini version of their children's schedule.

Each class period was just a few minutes long; parents got to meet their kids' teachers and classmates' parents as they ran through a typical ICJA day. Teachers explained their class goals and expectations, and in some cases even conducted a mini lesson so that parents got a taste of how their kids are spending their days.

(Pictured above, Mr. Jonathan Keller speaking to parents of his STEM Engineering students)

Pictured above: ICJA dad Jon Friedman '95 and Mr. Joshua Cooper

Pictured above: Mrs. Chavee Gottlieb speaking to parents of her 10th grade Chemistry students

Pictured above: Mr. Allen Sears explaining to parents the goals of his 12th grade Physics class

Students discussed narratives in Tanach concerning difficulty to conceive.

Sophomores in Mrs. Lizi Martin's honors Tanach class have been learning about cases in Tanach where women encountered difficulty conceiving, and have discussed similarities and differences between their experiences.

This week, students took turns presenting about different women in Tanach, discussing the particulars of each situation, how they differed, and what similarities they share.

Pictured above: Livia Baronofsky and Eliana Neiger discussing the experiences of Sarah Imenu

Pictured above: Chaviva Campbell discussing the tefillot of Chana

Pictured above: Sarah Leonard and Yakira Wittlin discussing Ish Shunamit

Students discussed Sefer Bereshit in "Chat Stations".

Senior girls in Mrs. Lynn Kraft's Chumash class enjoyed participating in "Chat Stations" this week: students divided into groups to walk around the classroom, discussing various questions about the uniqueness of Sefer Bereishit.

After exploring different issues in small groups, the class came together again to share their insights.

Students harvested vegetables.

Over the summer, Moshava Bair staff and campers built a beautiful vegetable garden on the south side of ICJA's campus. This week, students harvested the first vegetables, sharing fresh tomatoes in the Commons afterwards.

Pictured above: freshmen Shmuel Scharman, Yaakov Lehrfield, and Yair Dreytser

Pictured above: sophomores Ryan Angus and Jacob Thomas

Pictured above: a view of the garden

Freshman girls get to know one another.

Freshman girls met Thursday morning to get to know each other better. Breaking into small groups, they discussed items they have in common, then joined together to prepare for an Ida Crown trivia Kahoot. Each group searched the school to prepare for the trivia game; winners received Dunkin Donuts gift cards.

Freshmen discussed Ibsen's A Doll's House.

Seniors in Mr. Benjamin Kramer's honors Literature class are reading Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House. This week students read parts of the play aloud and discussed the character Nora's realization that her life and marriage are empty and she is a woman trapped inside a "doll's house" instead of leaning a meaningful life.

Pictured above: Tali Weiss

Pictured above: Lauren Fensterheim

Pictured above: Nava Dreytser

Students are analyzing Nazi propaganda.

Seniors in Mrs. Beth Pogonitz's Modern Jewish History class are analyzing the role that propaganda played in the ascent of Nazism. This week they took turns presenting different examples of propaganda, discussing the person or group who made it, its target audience, and why messages seemed so compelling to Germans in the 1930s.

Pictured above: Yitzchak Bock, Dana Kalutsky, and Lauren Fensterheim discussing an anti-Jewish boardgame designed for children

Pictured above: Gabe Aberman, Leah Rina Brochin, and Sarah Lippson discussing a mid-World War II political poster

Pictured above: Lilac Marcus, Avi Meyer and Eliana Levine discussing why a poster criticizing the Versailles treaty was effective as a Nazi party recruitment tool

Yasher Koach to senior Levi Polsky.

Senior Levi Polsky has been named a national Merit Semifinalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

This honor is awarded to the top approximately 16,000 students nationwide, out of a total of 1.3 million high school students who took the PSAT/NMSQT test.

Yasher koach on this incredible accomplishment!

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at the Chicago Center.

Many Sunday mornings, ICJA's freshmen boys' rebbe, Rabbi Louis Fliegelman, arranges for students and their fathers (or grandfathers or other relatives) to meet at a different Chicago-area shul to daven Shacharit together and enjoy breakfast and learning.

Last Sunday, students davened at the Chicago Center. Afterwards, they spoke with Rabbi Zalman Leib Eichenstein.



For more information about the Veshinantam Levanecha program, email Rabbi Louis Fliegelman at lfliegelman@icja.org.

This week's learning dedications include:

Friday, the 10th of Elul, 5784, September 13, 2024, by the Gold and Campbell Families, in memory of Rose A. Gold Krupnick, z"l, on her Yahrzeit on the 11th of Elul

If you would like to sponsor a Day of Learning, please contact our Director of Development, Deva Zwelling, at (773) 973-1450 ext. 115, or dzwelling@icja.org.

This week we caught up with ICJA's new Art teacher.

Mrs. Julie Thomas is an Ida Crown mom, graphic designer, and past president of the ICJA Board. This year, she became our new Art teacher. We caught up with Mrs. Thomas and asked her a few questions about herself.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

I grew up in Chicago. Today, I live with my family in Skokie. Our sons Hershel and Jonathan both graduated from Ida Crown in 2022. Our son Jacob is a sophomore at the Academy, and daughter Layla is in 6th grade at Hillel Torah.

How did you decide to become a graphic designer?

When I was in high school, I took summer courses at the Art Institute of Chicago. I had a great graphic design teacher, and I realized that this was a good career path. Graphic design gave me an outlet for my creativity in a way that had a lot of vocational uses. I also really enjoyed computers, which made graphic design a logical choice for me.

What do you love about ICJA?

We moved here from California so that our kids could go to Ida Crown! We love the great environment here. I like the philosophy of high level Judaic and secular studies.

You used to be president of the ICJA Board - why did you transition to teaching?

Being part of the lay leadership, I learned about the need for teachers, so when this opportunity came up, I really couldn't say no.

What advice do you have for ICJA students?

We all can help others, and we each have something unique to give. I love the quote by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: "By being what only we are, we contribute to humanity what only we can give."

Watch "Connect with ICJA," our newest video

for prospective students - and share it with people you know who'd like to learn more about ICJA!

Watch this moving video documenting some of the volunteer activities our seniors participated in during their month-long Mission to Israel!

In addition to many thousands of physical books and journals, ICJA's Learning Commons contains tens of thousands of online books, journal articles and other resources, including subscriptions to newspapers such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and more. Students are able to access these resources through our portal.

Please stop by our librarian Mrs. Steinberg's desk in the Learning Commons or email her at  librarian@icja.org her to pick up your updated passwords to access our online material. ICJA's subscriptions are available at icja.libguides.com/home.

Review ICJA on Niche.com and enter a sweepstakes.

Help let people know how fabulous ICJA is! Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or alumnus/alumna, the popular school ranking website Niche.com wants to hear from you. Plus, every person who reviews ICJA (or any other school) is automatically entered into a monthly $1,000 sweepstakes by Niche.com. For more information and to leave a review, click here.

Do you have school-related news you'd like to see in this newsletter? Let us know!

If you have exciting ICJA-related news to share about classes, sports, clubs, or other projects, please tell us! Send news items and/or photos to Dr. Yvette Miller, Director of Communications at ymiller@icja.org. Your items can enhance our newsletter and ICJA's social media presence.

Please click HERE to sign up and HERE to pay for the retreat. Financial assistance is available; please contact Mr. Yona Bildner to discuss aid.

Join our New Alumni Facebook Group

We are excited to announce that we have a new private Facebook group called “ICJA Official Alumni Page.” It is a space for alumni from all graduating years to join. We will periodically post alumni reunions, events, fundraising opportunities, information about ICJA today, and news.

We are proud to have some families with us for four generations. If you are an alum, please join the group HERE and be sure to share the link with your family, friends, and fellow graduates. You can also share this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/UeTsqg16DDx4JHGK/?mibextid=hubsqH. Thanks for staying connected to ICJA!

Please reach out to Ilana Levy at ilevy@icja.org if you have any questions about this new effort.

Fewer than 6 days left to submit your nomination for the Hartman Family Foundation Educator of the Year Awards! Help Our Community Recognize an Exceptional Educator! Visit www.att.org → For Teachers → Hartman Family Foundation Educator of the Year Award to complete a User Friendly, Online Nomination Form, download a paper nomination form, and see rules, or call 773-973-2828 for more information. Nomination submission deadline: Tuesday, September 17, 2024, by 5:00 p.m.

Last summer, ICJA gave its Class of '24 alumni the third edition of our directory listing ICJA alumni who live in Israel and have graciously offered to open their homes to recent ICJA grads who are currently spending a gap year in Israel.

Thank you to the many alumni who have reached out to us, offering to host.

If you have any questions or would like to update our contact information to help recent ICJA grads obtain a copy, please contact Dr. Yvette Miller, ICJA Director of Communications, at ymiller@icja.org.

We are still taking submissions from alumni who are willing to host, to include in future copies of this directory. Please contact Dr. Miller to be included.