A Glimpse into Mercaz Academy, March 29, 2024

Volume 2, Issue 14 | March 29, 2024

MIVASERET MERCAZ

מבשרת מרכז

Mercaz Academy learned resilience and resourcefulness, using the power of the pen to make the school and the world a better place. We celebrated Purim by inviting people in and just among ourselves, with Purim Shpiels and parades, carnivals and creativity. Scroll down for a glimpse of the last weeks at Mercaz Academy...

Rockets into Roses Artist Visits Mercaz

Artist Yaron Bob Turns Weapons of Destruction Into Things of Beauty

Students at Mercaz Academy were delighted to welcome artist Yaron Bob to our school last week. As the artist behind Rockets Into Roses, Yaron sculpts metal remnants from exploded rockets launched into Israel by terrorists from Gaza and transforms them into beautiful jewelry, art, and Jewish ritual objects.

Yaron introduced himself to students in grades one through six, telling them that he had been an art teacher and blacksmith in the town of Yated, a small Israeli community near the border of Gaza. Yaron recounted a story about accidentally sitting on a fork, which bent. Aimlessly playing with the bent fork, he shaped it into a cat, and came up with the idea of teaching “students like me, who have trouble in school,” how to work with metal as a therapeutic method to relieve stress. As he told this story and throughout the presentation, he idly shaped a stash of metal forks into cats, bracelets, scorpions, and other fantastic sculptures that he gave to lucky students, much to their delight...CONTINUED WITH PHOTOS

Celebrating Purim at Mercaz

PTA Hosts Family-Friendly Megillah Reading and Breakfast Seudah

Purim this year was on a Sunday, when Mercaz Academy in Plainview is usually empty. But the school’s annual PTA-sponsored Family-Friendly Megillah Reading and Breakfast Seudah drew nearly 300 participants to the school to celebrate at the gala event.

The megillah was skillfully read by Mercaz parent Adam Farber, who threw in some entertaining tunes that caused giggles in the audience and kept everyone engaged. The crowd frequently drowned out the name of Haman, with ra’ashanim (graggers) active to excellent effect. Parents, children, and teachers wore colorful and elaborate costumes, and several families displayed their creativity with joint, themed outfits (in fact, families attending apparently included the Addams Family and the Incredibles!)...CONTINUED WITH PHOTOS

Shushan Purim Carnival: Fun for Everyone!

Kitah Vav students designed, created, and ran an exciting and engaging Purim Carnival for the rest of the school on Monday, Shushan Purim. Enthusiastic students from kindergarten through fifth grade hopped from booth to booth, participating in Purim-themed activities like “Pin the Tail on Vashti,” “Mordechai Racers,” “Hang the Haman” (in which students jumped to see how high they could place Haman’s face on a tree), and “Vashti Pimple Pop” (which involved lollipops, not blemishes). One particularly popular game of skill involved tossing a ball into a student-made Skee-Ball game called “Feed the Achashverosh,” and ping-pong took on extra excitement when Haman’s face was featured on the paddle.

Students won tickets at each booth, which were entered into a raffle for one free item from the School Store, and three winners were chosen (but have not yet been announced). Most Mercaz students agreed that they would love to spend every day of school at the Purim Carnival. The hardworking sixth graders, though clearly proud of their successful endeavor, seemed to feel that one day of carnival fun ought to be sufficient...MORE PHOTOS

Kitah Hay Reviews Purim Via a Hike Down the Question Trail

Kitah Hay students enjoyed a special review of the laws of Purim with a hike down the Question Trail. For this hike, students had to consult the “information map” in their minds consisting of Rabbi Kramer’s information about the rules and customs of the holiday. Stations were set up around the room, each with its own multiple-choice question. Students arriving at each station chose an answer, each of which directed them to proceed to a different station. Kitah Hay hikers choosing the correct answers were able to follow the entire length of the trail, completing the full circuit. Hikers who selected the wrong answers were lost in the woods, returning to the same stations over and over again until they retraced their steps to get the right answers.

Fortunately, though the hike wasn’t easy, no Kitah Hay students were permanently lost and all managed to "hike the Question Trail" to a satisfying end.

A Purim Shpiel in Kitah Aleph

Students in Kitah Aleph had a wonderful time re-enacting the story of Megillat Esther with all dialogue entirely in Hebrew, under the able direction of Morah Shani. Kitah Aleph students selected their own roles, playing Esther, Mordechai, Haman, or Achashverosh as they wished. Some roles changed midstream due to the necessities of the plot–there were many, many Mordechais, and Morah Shani herself briefly understudied the role of King Achashverosh–but every performer recited his or her lines flawlessly.

This reviewer found the story compelling and sharp, with the dialogue sticking closely to the original. The acting chops on display were impressive; the expressive faces of the actors portrayed the despair and joy of the narrative to great effect. Costuming was also clever and creative as students brought or made their own, or dipped into Morah Shani’s supply of fabrics and finery. There were tears (though only scripted ones), smiles, and dancing energetic enough to bring down the house.

Alas, this was a one-time performance, but we hope this show will be back in town next year.

Hamans show off the king's special signet ring.

Mordechai prepares to ride the horse of King Achashverosh.

The Jews celebrate their deliverance from the evil Haman.

ECC Shushan Purim Parade

Nursery Aleph parades down the hall on Shushan Purim.

Nursery Bet made their first celebratory stop in Rabbi Fogel's office.

Kindergarteners brought Purim joy to the upstairs classrooms.

...and more!

Kindergarten Writers' Opinion Pieces Spur Leadership Into Action

Kindergarten students at Mercaz have been continuing their unit on opinion writing, and have learned that while no opinions are wrong, a persuasive opinion piece must include support in the form of an evidence-based reason. Recently, Mrs. Reinhardt suggested to her opinion writers that perhaps some ideas on how Mercaz Academy could be improved would be helpful to the administration.

These kindergarten writers came up with many creative ideas, such as ending school earlier and inviting dogs to school. Rabbi Fogel read through all their submissions and presented his own reasons why he was unable to implement some of these suggestions. However, one opinion piece–requesting more sand toys for the playground sandbox–caught his attention. Rabbi Fogel suggested that the class develop this idea further.

These intrepid writers developed and shared their well-supported new opinions about which sand toys would be most beneficial in the sand box, compiling a chart to summarize the information. Rabbi Fogel found their opinions so persuasive that he agreed that Mercaz should purchase all the sand toys listed on the chart! Mercaz Academy sandbox aficionados are grateful to these writers for using the power of the pen to benefit the entire school community.

GrowTorah: Chametz and Matzah in Our Garden

In preparation for Pesach, students learned about the symbolism behind chametz and matzah. Farmer Menuchah explained that chametz, which rises, represents haughtiness, whereas matzah, which does not, symbolizes humility. The prohibition against eating or benefiting from chametz on Pesach each year, Farmer Menuchah suggested, reminds us to be humble and to remove haughtiness from our homes and hearts…and gardens. How can we embrace humility in our gardens? We decided that it’s fine to be proud if our produce grows well, but that we shouldn’t brag about it. Instead, we should recognize and thank Hashem for the water, soil, and sunshine that He supplies, without which growing plants would be impossible.

It was an action-packed day in the garden as students prepared the GrowTorah beds for planting, just as they will prepare their homes for Pesach. The young Mercaz gardeners filled in soil beds where the soil had compacted to ready it for planting. Then, they transplanted herbs from the garden beds into pots to make space for future vegetable seedlings. Some of the classes got started on planting, gently pressing radish, carrot, and beet seeds into the dirt. Finally, after making the appropriate brachot, students tasted lemon balm, sage, lavender, oregano, thyme, chives, collard greens, and cabbage leaves–a delicious sampler of spring.