This Week at Yavneh Academy

December 4, 2025 | 15 Kislev 5786 | וישלח

PARSHAT HASHAVUA

EARLY CHILDHOOD

As we prepare for Chanukah, the Early Childhood classes have been learning about the way kindness spreads like a light or flame. This week Dr. Feit and Mr. David came into the classes to teach this lesson with a fun singing puppet show and exciting STEM activity. Check out the special candles of kindness lighting our hallway!

After learning the story of Chanukah and listening to the song “Oh My Yerushalayim” by Country Yossi, the children created chanukiyot inspired by both the story and the music. Their designs resemble the Kotel in Yerushalayim. The children carefully built the scene on one part and then attached it to a base, bringing their ideas to life with wonderful creativity.

LOWER SCHOOL

3B and 3C have been hard at work on their beautiful Chanukah Hadlakat Neirot projects! The students loved decorating their candle lighting cards on Canva. They used their creativity to add color, details, and pictures. They can’t wait to bring them home and use them each night of Chanukah as they light with their families.

Fourth graders were excited to have a visit this week from Ms. Debbie Cibelli, President of the Rotary Club. Connecting to fourth grade themes of citizenship and community, she described the Rotary Club’s many service-focused initiatives that support the greater community. She also announced the 4th grade spelling bee to be held in March and gave a dictionary to each student. Over the next few months, the fourth graders will build their spelling skills using the Scripps National Spelling Bee lists so that we can send our top spellers to the Paramus Rotary Spelling Bee. We’re excited to have this opportunity to enhance our learning!

The fourth grade Yavneh Scholars Group has been engaged in a study of the importance of water for our survival and the plight of water insecurity in many parts of the world. Students designed their own water filtration systems. Our young civil engineers will analyze their designs, decide what worked, what didn’t, and how their systems can improve. They will create second, improved iterations on Friday.

SEL UPDATE: Our 3rd-grade SEL class has been exploring the concept of self-esteem and why it’s so important. Students learned about their “inner critic” and “inner coach” and how each one can influence their thoughts. To bring the lesson to life, they played an exciting, fast-paced game where they raced to match everyday situations with the voice of the inner critic or inner coach. Each group then presented their own scenario for the class, using their inner critic and inner coach thoughts. We wrapped up by discussing how powering up our inner coach can boost our self-esteem and help us feel confident, brave, and ready to take on challenges!

MIDDLE SCHOOL

This week, Yavneh’s debate team joined BPY, Noam and Moriah for the first debate of the year. The debaters spent weeks researching and preparing to discuss the resolution for mandatory national service. The girls did an amazing job respectfully presenting their arguments and cross examining their opponents. We are looking forward to the next meet in February!

In honor of Thanksgiving, 8th grade students studied the Thanksgiving Addresses and Proclamations of Different Presidents. The students researched biographical information about the presidents and major events of their presidencies. Students used their primary source analysis skills to understand the themes of the presidents' Thanksgiving addresses. They learned about how some presidents wrote their own speeches, while others collaborated with speechwriters or members of their cabinet. Students created posters about their presidents and presented their information to their peers. Some students dressed up in time period attire or donned ties for a presidential appearance. Each group brought a snack that connected to their president or time period. Students enjoyed peppermint candies from the 1920s, fruit roll ups from the 90s, Grover Cleveland's favorite cookie - gingersnaps, and jellybeans, in honor of the jellybeans President Lincoln sent to troops during the Civil War. The class enjoyed this opportunity to explore other time periods and see how presidential speeches evolved over time.

Our 7th grade students were challenged to create a 3D model of a cell. They could choose to model a real cell or design an analogy that compares the cell to something familiar. Some of their featured projects included comparisons to a basketball game, Yavneh Academy, a Starbucks coffee shop, a restaurant, and many other creative ideas. We were so impressed by their imagination and understanding!