Merrill's Musings

As Time Goes By

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:09:11 EST

It is hard to realize that we are at the end of February already and that more than half of the school year has passed. As we begin to look at the coming school year and plan for classrooms, faculty, professional development, and other important initiatives, I am astounded at all that we have accomplished to date and all that is still to come. Just in the past month we have had the middle school performance of Alice in Wonderland, the 3^rd grade performance of the In Portland play, had three of us attend the North American Jewish Day School conference on leadership (more on that below), had a fabulous week of middle school Taglit (more on that below), just finished celebrating Purim with an outstanding 5th grade Purim Shpiel, great carnivals, and costumes and hamentashen galore, and are getting ready to send our 8^th graders to Israel for 2 weeks this coming Wednesday morning (we will meet at the airport at 4:15 AM!!). Our faculty, in addition to all of this, has worked diligently on report cards which were sent out last week and which reflect the care and attention our teachers pay to student learning and achievement, in addition to overall social emotional growth. Reading a student progress report written by our faculty is like reading an in depth bio on each of our students. It is remarkable the time and thought that goes into these reports. This week Betsy Bailey will attend the NAIS conference in Philadelphia, and at the start of March Rabbi Chaiton will visit four Jewish Day Schools in the Bay Area. As I write all of this I realize that it is no wonder we feel like time goes by quickly! We are busy with great things every day here at PJA.

The North American Jewish Day School Conference held this year in the Washington, D. C. area, was an opportunity to meet with Jewish Day School educators and leaders from across the continent. There were valuable sessions on board leadership, retention and admission, the mission of Jewish Day Schools in the 21^st century, and of course around the dinner table opportunities to talk about what happens every day in our schools. We talk about our successes and our challenges and we are given the opportunity to create connections which, in this digital age, can continue when we return to our home schools. One of the more inspiring sessions I attended was given by Jonathon Cannon, Head of School at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in the D. C. area. Cannon's topic was Leaders as Shapers of School Culture and the most important take away for me was that Jewish education is excellence in every single area; nothing we do isn't Jewish education. Anything that goes on in the school should be linked to some area of the mission. I felt so grateful to Jonathon Cannon for summing up what we, at our admin and faculty tables, talk about all of the time, and the pervasive feeling we have that what we are first and foremost, is a Jewish Day School. The principles we stand on, the foundations of our learning every day, are built upon the six middot we display in our lobby and in every classroom: limmud (learning), achrayut (responsibility), kavod (respect), kehillah (community), zehut (identity), and hoda'ah (gratitude). Whether we are teaching math or tefillah, humanities or Jewish Studies, these middot and our mission of positive Jewish engagement, are what we base every day in our classrooms, every program we plan, and every activity in which our students are involved.

And so we come to Taglit, our one-week discovery session which is a departure from academics and focuses on passions and opportunities our students and faculty don't normally get to experience in their every day learning at PJA. How is Taglit driven by our mission of Jewish engagement? In each of our Taglit experiences students had an opportunity to do community service, to work both within and outside the Jewish community to do good for others. Whether packing lunches for the weekend for underprivileged students, helping to beautify a Jewish cemetery and learn about rituals of Jewish burial, create toys out of recycled goods for animals in shelters, learn about composting and eating sustainably, or learning how to take care of the earth around us, each of these experiences gave students an opportunity to actively learn, as members of the Jewish community, about the importance of these mitzvot. Every one of our middot was actualized in these experiences. We are so proud of the work that was done, and the fun that they had doing it, and see this week of discovery, Taglit, as a perfect example of how our mission of Jewish Engagements guides us.

So, as time goes by, keep checking for my intermittent posts (I know, I need to get to these more often! Sorry!) to find out more about the daily activities that keep us moving every day at PJA and keep us focused on our important mission as a community Jewish Day School.

We Are All Responsible for One Another

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 09:42:15 EST

Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh La'zeh- in other words, we are all here to take care of each other

As we all watch the events of Superstorm Sandy on the east coast and stay in touch with friends and relatives to hear how they are doing, share photos and stories, and do what we can to support them from a distance, we all realize the strength and power of community and how we can care for each other. It is never more evident than in times of crisis and tragedy. We rise to the occasion and help out those in need whether we know them or not. It is our responsibility as Jews, as members of a community, as citizens of the world. Whether we are up front and center, or far away as we are in this case, the desire to help in some way is always present. We cannot, from this distance, always do what we would like to, but we can, in our own way, work to make the world a better place and help those in need.

This last week our students participated in a Thanksgiving food drive along with the Jewish Family and Child Service (JFCS). We were asked to collect over 1,000 food items and of course, our PJA families, rose to the challenge and did it. Next week, our families, will participate in the Hand to Hand event that is part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland's Super Sunday Community Action Day here at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, and help pack food boxes for the families to use during Thanksgiving. Providing food and comfort during the holidays is but one simple act of kindness in which we can all participate.

There are obligations that we have to take care of each other that often times seem more difficult, even daunting. As a Jewish Day School it is always our goal and desire to welcome any Jewish child into our school. But can we? Is this our current reality? We know that it is not, and I would guess, probably not the reality of most Jewish Day Schools, although I am sure that it is the intent.

From the time my children were young students at PJA (in the olden days - they are 24, 22 and 17!), our school always worked to meet the needs of all students. Through differentiation in the classroom, reading specialists, and other support services, we have always done our best to work with our student population to give them the best education possible. While we have done this, we have also realized more and more that our reality is that we cannot possibly work with every family who wants to have their child at PJA. Not yet, that is.

Currently at PJA we have a wonderful and very dedicated support staff which this year increased in size to 1.5 FTE plus our school counselor who also works as our General Studies Director (and in her spare time reads does mosaics, manages her husband's business, and is a political activist, oh and of course a mom and almost grandma. Yes, Betsy has a very quiet life!). The scope of our support services program has grown over the years. We work with students who have challenges in reading and math, are able to help students with behavior issues, can support students for whom Hebrew language is a challenge or who are new to the language, and of course, work with teachers and parents to help give them the tools that they need in the classroom and at home to support their children. This seems like a lot, and we are certainly very proud of the work that we do here, however we also know that it is just the tip of the iceberg. Our goal is to REALLY, one day, be able to support all students with special needs. Whether we reach this goal in 5 years or 20, is an issue of resources, logistics, space, support, and of course appropriate staffing. While we can certainly support students with a wide range of challenges, we want to be able to support more families and to one day be the place that the community can count on to educate all of our children.

To this end we are beginning a strategic planning process and will work with our families, faculty, community members, and experts in the field, to move this process forward and be the best PJA we can be.

Wishing you all a wonderful week. As we move into the Thankgiving holiday, we count our blessings for all of the gifts we have every day in each and every one of our families and faculty. We are grateful for a supportive and warm community that truly does live by the saying from the Talmud, Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh La'zeh, we are all responsible one for another.

Boot Camp (It's Not What You Think, Or Maybe It Is)

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:17:03 EST

Wiki Spaces, Blog, Websites, social media boot camp, the cloud, 21^st century learning, tech support, crowd sourcing, ning, twitter....I could fill the page with terminology that is so foreign to me, well sort of, and yet so intriguing. Since when does being 'in the cloud' mean collecting information literally up there somewhere, or boot camp mean that we are spending time learning about how social media, that's facebook and edmodo for those of you, like me, who are not as in the loop as our children. Who knew we'd be using social media effectively in the classroom to communicate with students and educators around the world, let alone in our very own classrooms? This is exciting and overwhelming for sure. It is a BIG learning curve, for this luddite for sure!

Today I participated in the first of what I hope will be many webinars led by Darim Online. A group of faculty members at PJA were accepted into Darim's Social Media Boot Camp, funded by the Covenant Foundation, which involves other schools across the country, synagogues, educational organizations, even Jewish universities, all looking at different ways that social media can be used effectively for their organizations. It is an exciting, yet daunting time, knowing that there is so much to learn to get up to snuff on the use of all of these tools, and feeling so lucky to be a part of a faculty here at PJA which is so supportive and so engaged in this work for our students, and of course to be working with all of these professionals across the country on this great opportunity.

Our group, comprised of Sarah Blattner (our chief cook and bottle washer), Michael Hyde (her second in command, for sure), Elana C-R, our fabulous 6^th grade humanities teacher who is fearless and awesome at being a risk taker when using technology, Shahar Eden, our 5^th-8th grade Hebrew teacher who, as the youngest member of our team, uses tech like the rest of us use pen and paper, and Jim Juntunen, our 4^th grade general studies teacher, always willing and very eager to take big leaps into the use of tech integration in his classroom and give his students vast opportunities to learn using any and all available tools. What a team, what a lucky person I am to be a part of this endeavor. Together we decided that the best and most important initiative to tackle for us as a school is how social media can help enhance and effect professional development at PJA. Our 'essential' question for the project: "How can we leverage social media to enhance student learning and engagement across the curriculum?"

Sarah will lead us through the beginning stages of this project using the design thinking model (see http://designthinkingforeducators.com/ to learn more about this model), and we will continue as a team working under Michael Hyde's direction on the best and most exciting and beneficial uses of social media for our faculty and students. We look forward to sharing with the other institutions involved in this project, and with you, as we continue to explore and advance our social media and tech integration focus at PJA. Go Darim Online! Thank you for providing us with this great opportunity. GO PJA! We are truly 21^st century learners and educators.

Diving Back In

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:21:51 EST

This summer I spent a great deal of time in the MJCC therapy pool trying to heal my newly diagnosed herniated disc. I felt so fortunate that among my many treatments for this new 'issue' of mine, was our very own warm and wonderful pool right here at the MJCC. It was easy, it was summer, and I could take the time every morning to work on getting better. I found pools everywhere I went this summer, and was always so glad to 'come home' to our pool here. Then the pool closed for maintenance and I was faced with a 'what do I do now' decision. I could not imagine going anywhere else and yet I knew that I had to keep up my regimen. By now I had graduated in my physical therapy from using the noodle to keep myself doing dog paddle and moving around the pool, to actually doing laps. So, I took the plunge and went to my neighborhood outdoor pool at 6:00 am every morning for the two weeks that the JCC pool was being cleaned, painted and readied for fall. While my children grew up at the neighborhood pool and I spent many a summer watching them have swim lessons there, taking them for open swim, and going for walks through the park where the pool is, I still felt like a stranger in that pool and so wanted to just come back home to 'my' pool! And yesterday I did and it felt wonderful to be back. I have now graduated to doing laps in the main pool and intend to be there early in the morning so that I can continue to rehab my back and stay healthy for another school year.

As I swam in the slightly frigid waters yesterday (remember, I was spoiled by the therapy pool all summer and the pool had been refilled over the weekend and was not quite up to temperature), all I could think of was how much I felt at home. It felt so good to come home to 'my place' where the faces were familiar and no one looked at me like I was an intruder in their space. One of the great benefits of swimming is the time it gives me to think, and of course, yesterday I thought about this week, and how much of what I was doing and feeling was a metaphor for what our students, teachers, and families are doing this week. We are all, in essence, taking the plunge back into school life, developing our routines again, getting up early to come to school, see our friends, do great learning, and embrace a new school year. For most of us, while it is a 'plunge', it is also coming home. We are back among our community of friends and colleagues, our home away from home.

As we all begin this new school year with new teachers, fresh school supplies, new school outfits, and readiness to take in all that a school year brings, I want to wish you all the sweetest of years. May this school year bring growth, good health, deep learning, fun times on the playground, and the diversity of experience that school can bring. Thank you all for entrusting your children to our care. We don't take this responsibility lightly and are honored to be your children's teachers and mentors.

Shana Tova to you all; wishing you a very sweet and healthy new year.

And What A Year It Was!

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 23:02:37 EST

June 20, 2012- first day of summer, 1 Tammuz 5772

Shalom everyone,

These last few days I have walked around with songs of summer running through my head. I hear myself humming 'See you in September' ,'School's Out for Summer', and other favorites from my youth. Yes, I am dating myself for sure; I am sure this generation has all of their own melodies that, to them, signify that school's out and summer is here! Today it even feels like summer outside. It is warm bright and sunny in the fishbowl, and people are walking around in shorts and t-shirts.

We all wait for the last day of school with excitement, knowing that there is bitter sweetness to this ending as well. We know that it means goodbyes to some as they graduate from PJA or leave for other places. We know that we have successfully moved through another rich and fruitful school year and there is so much reason to celebrate all of our accomplishments.

So what have we done at PJA in 2011-2012?? Oh so much! This list is only the tip of the iceberg of all of the cool experiences our students had this year. This list includes the smallest steps and the biggest projects and so many things in between. What you cannot 'see' or 'feel' by reading this list is the joy and intensity of the learning, the fabulous cooking scents wafting through the middle school hall and beyond, the singing voices from our music room, or the clicking of the keyboards creating blogs, videos, newspapers, and so much more, in our tech lab. What you can't see are our teachers dedicating themselves to the learners in their classroom with every fiber of their being so that every student gets what is best for them, all students feel challenged, and everyone spends their days here entrenched in meaningful work. This is what we see every day and what we already miss as we move into summer. The halls are quiet, the joy of learning echoes in our hearts as we plan for and await the next school year while still looking at all of this year's accomplishments.

This list is in no particular order. It is a compilation of many people's lists and brainstorms. Enjoy it all and have a wonderful summer. Read lots, spend time with family, eat ice cream and get dirty! Stay healthy and enjoy every moment.

2011-2012 at PJA

The Lorax with our 8th grade buddies,

having kabbalat shabbat at the robison home,

riding the PJA bus,

the In Portland play,

kindergarten buddies,

the bridges of....Portland,

architects in the schools,

biographies,

autobiographies,

tall tales,

poetry parties,

points party,

swimming,

science with Joe,

lighting light bulbs,

Junior Great Books,

keyboarding in the lab,

Beverly Cleary awards party with safranit Heidi,

Portland walking tours,

Art with Sam,

CD recording with Josh,

Reading tic tac toe board,

visiting and building synagogues,

multiplication timed tests,

3-d relief maps of Portland,

skip counting,

Mother's Day tea in full day ganon,

record breaking $10,000 raised from the used book sale,

30 students successfully completing the Oregon Reader's Choice award and Beverly Cleary Reader's Choice award programs,

Eric Kimmel visit,

the first year of the Dragon's Den youth afterschol program for PJA and neighborhood PPS 5-7th grade students,

1728 items donated between all 5 PJA afterschool programs in the month of May for our Neighborhood House food drive,

learned how to write upper case letters,

learned how to walk in line,

learned how to kick soccer balls,

learned how to write our names,

learned how to sit nicely in a circle,

learned our carpool numbers,

learned lots and lots of Hebrew,

new computer lab with 26 new work stations,

Hebrew keyboards around the building,

beautiful student led yearbook,

lots of digital projects across the bldg, like comic strips, Hebrew photostories, movies, Pineapple newspaper,

teacher websites, wikis, and blogs

Israel congress

Fiddler on the Roof in the sixties,

graduation,

siddur celebration,

chagigat Torah,

farm projects,

middle school end of year party with the best food buffet EVER!!(All made right here in our very own 'kitchen' by our very own head chef and student chefs!),

Peter Rabbit the Musical,

going to see If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,

Kabbalat Shabbat with Morah Kim,

taglit (our middle school discovery week) which included: Haunted Portland, Upcycling, Winter Wonderland, Off the Beaten Trail, Vaudeville and Hoola Hooping, Home Sweet Home,

Israel,

Islandwood,

field school in 6th grade,

Ashland,

Hebrew proficiency exam,

Grandfriends day,

food collections for Pessach,

food collections for Thanksgiving,

winter clothing collections,

school supply collection,

PJA talent show,

4th grade Potlatch,

class and family Seders,

buddy seders,

PJA auction,

50th Anniversary Spaghetti Dinner

beautiful middot art work in the PJA lobby,

Heirlooms and Artifacts at the Oregon Jewish Museum,

work with Lisa Kagan,

Hershel and the Chanukah Goblins play in kindergarten,

Summer Discovery,

best ever Purim carnival,

matanot l'evyonim for Purim,

sharing mishloach manot on Purim,

baking matzah with the Matzah baker,

preschool spirit days,

middle school spirit days,

jammie read-in days,

Bonneville Dam trip,

Visit to Lelooska,

Books and Bagels,

Passover program at Mount Scott Community Center with PJ library,

Martin Luther King assembly,

2^nd grade signing and singing with Richard,

Bat houses,

Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals trip,

Great Kapok Tree performance in 2^nd grade,

Yom Hashoa commemoration,

Yom Hazikaron commemoration,

Yom Ha'atzmaut shuk,

Skyping with Shahar's friends and family in Israel,

Preschool 'visit' to Israel,

Pumpkin Patch trip,

Humane Society visits PJA preschool and PJA preschool visits the Humane Society,

collaborative Pre-K programs,

moon journals,

creating menus in Hebrew,

mock congress,

bottle rockets,

hot air balloons,

mouse trap vehicles,

portage,

learning to make fire in 4^th grade,

exploratories,

Foundations of everything: cooking, tech, music, drama, art,

cooking,

new art studio,

bake sale in the preschool,

Africa project with Paige,

Tu B'shvat Seders,

Preschool portfolios,

Sukkah building,

Preschool monthly tzedaka project,

Very Busy Spiders

Grandfriends day

Chanukah celebrations,

professional development,

PNAIS workshops,

NAIS conference,

RAVSAK conference,

NCCE conference,

PPS math workshops,

teachers participating in Oregon Writing Project across the curriculum,

Tal AM training,

JS teachers visit JDS in Seattle,

and end of year celebrations of all of the great learning that took place every day at PJA in 2011-12.

Thank you so much for another wonderful year at PJA. Thank you for entrusting your children to our care every day. They are treasures and we hold them all so dear.

Enjoy summer. Come visit! It is quiet and lonely around here.

L'hitraot,

Merrill

Appreciating our Parents

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:35:15 EST

Today is April 1^st and my big April fool's joke was to come to my office and have no access to the internet or my computer, which left me totally dumbfounded, until I realized how much I could actually do without my computer. While cleaning through my files and getting some paper work done I also had time to think - imagine that - without the distraction of my emails and internet. Those thoughts led me to parents at PJA and that is where I want to take us today.

In Jewish day schools parents play a very big role in their child's education. You volunteer in the classroom, on field trips, at Kabbalat Shabbat, the library, at the school auction, the scrip table, the PTO, the board, parent ambassador group, and any number of other opportunities. Parents are in our hallways all of the time and we come to know our community better by having you around so much. We love it as it helps us realize our vision to see the hard work of our parent body.

We talk a lot at PJA about making mensches. We talk about our students as mensches who work hard, do good things for their PJA community and the community beyond. They are good to each other, to their teachers, to their school. We know, of course, that all of these mensches have parents who stand behind them and you are who I would like to acknowledge today. Just this week I can count a few particularly salient examples of our parents as mensches. I watched our 8^th grade parents rally to support one of their fellow 8^th grade families during a time of sadness. I watched parents organize to support this family with their children and was once again impressed with the amount of love and support they show to each other. I also know that in other grades parents are working hard to get drivers and snacks for a special Pessach program off campus and helping teachers prepare for model seders. Without all of your efforts and support, we would not be able to do so many of the things that we do here.

PJA parents are always so good at showing teachers and administration appreciation for the work we do here and as Pessach approaches and we get ready to go off and spend some time with our families enjoying seder meals together, I want to express our appreciation to you, our parents, for all that you do every day at PJA; for supporting your children in big and small ways here, we thank you. your hard work here never goes unnoticed. You are valued and greatly appreciated and you are truly living v'shinantem l'vanecha (Sh'ma) and you shall teach it to your children.

Thank you so very much. Have a wonderful Passover, enjoy each other and your time with friends and family.

TODAH RABAH!

Merrill

What a week!

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:40:18 EST

Shalom everyone,

It has been such a busy time with so much to talk about that I am not sure where to begin so I think I will work backwards. I am sitting in my very sunny fishbowl this Sunday afternoon watching families pour into the MJCC for the annual Purim celebration. It is hard to imagine that Purim is upon and as I see the sun shining, crocus' and daffodils popping up in our gardens, and think about the hamentashen I will be baking this week, I realize how much time has gone by since the start of the school year and how quickly time seems to be flying by!

This morning at 4:45 I was privileged to help send our 8^th graders off to Israel. They will be in Israel for 2 weeks, returning on March 19 with two glorious weeks of enriching, educational, fun, and emotional experiences added to their life experiences. It was so exciting to see how exuberant everyone was, how eager everyone seemed to be to finally have reached this day. So much work has gone into planning this trip for everyone. This fantastic group of students and parents spent countless hours raising funds for the trip by creating amazing videos, babysitting both in and out of school, doing yard work, selling candy, Chinook books, fresh berries, and so much more that I am sure I am missing. It has been amazing to be a part of all of this true commitment to the trip. I know that this class will be an example to classes in the future when it comes to really working hard to make the trip happen. In addition, the students designed a fabulous new t-shirt and they couldn't be missed at the airport in their bright red PJA to Israel shirts! The class agreed on a tzedakah project for the trip and brought with them games and toys to give children at Neve Michael, a community in Israel developed for children who can no longer live in their homes. All of that and so much more went into the planning and now they are on their way. Thanks to the tremendous work of their two chaperones, Tracy and Noah, who are with them to be their 'parents' on this journey, and to all of the work of Ramah Institute, who facilitate this wonderful trip with a fantastic itinerary and great leadership and educators on the ground in Israel. It was all summed up for me by one mom who through her tears told me that her son had told her that this was the trip he had been waiting for for 8 years and it was finally here! Amen! Have a great time 8^th graders. We are excited to follow you on your journey. Watch for info and photos about the trip on our website throughout the coming weeks.

Last week I was privileged to attend the National Association of Independent Schools conference in Seattle. How lucky Betsy and I were to have had this opportunity in our neighboring state. We sat amongst more than 4000 educators in the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle listening to Bill Gates, the key note speaker, talk about innovation in education and ways to ensure that ALL children get the education they deserve. He spoke at length about how we can be innovators in our own schools, not only with fancy tools, and devices, but with proper education as to how to use these tools, and assurance that we are giving appropriate instruction to all. In addition to the privilege of hearing Bill Gates, there were literally hundreds of sessions going on throughout the two and a half days on everything from board education to advancement and all things in between. We were engaged in conversations about all things education and were inspired to be the best educators we can be. As a principal I walked away knowing that I must commit myself even more to being with our students, in their classrooms, learning with them, being accessible to them, and supporting them in their everyday lives here at PJA.

I returned from Seattle late Thursday night so that I could be a part of a lovely and warm celebration of our beautiful new art pieces proudly hanging in our lobby. These pieces were a gift given by our students to our school in honor of our 50^th anniversary. With the guidance and mentoring of our superb artist in residence, Lisa Kagan, grades 2-8 were each asked to depict one of the middot (values) on which our school stands. These depictions were then placed together in a mosaic of sorts, to represent the 6 middot: learning-Limmud, respect-Kavod, responsibility-Achrayut, gratitude-Hoda'ah, identity-Zehut, community-Kehillah. It was a beautiful celebration which gave us all an opportunity to see the joy in every single day at PJA. As we listened to students speak about the project and what it meant to them to work on a certain middah(value) with their class, we were again reminded of the tremendous value of a day school education, where students come together to learn, live, and work for the world in which they live, and where parents and community members are regularly a part of these learning opportunities. It was a wonderful way to usher in Shabbat and gave us all a reason to be so very grateful for our PJA community.

Shavua Tov to all and Chag Purim Sameach. Happy Purim!,

Merrill

Facing Technology

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:28:00 EST

Every day brings new and interesting revelations and relevancies to the work we do in education, as in life. Sometimes experiences coincidentally converge in the same period of time, and seem 'beshert' (Yiddish for meant to be.)

Earlier this week I had the privilege of attending a workshop put on by PNAIS (Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools) on the Puzzle of Dynamics. We explored issues of interpersonal relationships both in and out of our school, and spoke about how inclusion, control, and openness can be interpreted in different situations and can determine the outcomes of certain situations. The importance of relationships and how we see ourselves in those relationships can influence how we make proposals at a meeting, conversations we have with our peers and parents, and the way students respond in our classrooms. It is essential for us to be open to ideas of others in order to allow for inclusion, even when the decision may not come out completely as one wishes.

Yesterday I heard a lovely d'var Torah (Hebrew for word of Torah) at shul (synagogue) that gave me pause and complemented the work I had done earlier in the week at the PNAIS workshop. It really made me think about what it is to be an open communicator and to develop strong relationships. The drash focused on the word yedid, a Hebrew word for 'dear one, friend'. One of the interpretations of the word that was given was one that I had not heard before. It looks at the root of the word, in this case YAD (hand) and interprets the root as YAD B'YAD –hand in hand. As we all know, going forth in relationships takes a yedid, dear one, who asks us to go hand in hand with them, whether it is personally or professionally.

As I listened to the drash I was struck by the timely convergence of the day long workshop earlier in the week on the 'Puzzle of Dynamics', the very current topic at PJA of what technology and communication look like in our school, and the idea of relationships. What does it mean to have relationships in 2012? It certainly looks different than it did 5, 10, certainly 20 years ago. It is more complicated, has less real face time, and very different communication style than it did years ago. We are often asked how we preserve the depth of relationships in a time when it is much easier to send an email, a text, or simply blog, than to come face to face with a person or situation and have that meaningful conversation. Our children are blogging for school, texting with friends, emailing their teachers. Are they also having those important conversations that offer more depth, time, and emotion? Do they know how to have a 'face' in a conversation or is it easier for them (us) to hide behind that device and send an email or text? One of the examples given in the drash I heard yesterday was of how we have come to listen to music of late. We all have our own playlists, listen on our headphones, and thus, do not share with others the music we are listening to. How different this is from sitting together in a room to share the music, sing or dance together, and be able to simply be together. How can we preserve this while also embracing the joys and benefits of technology? This is a question we face every day at PJA, and I would guess, at most schools. The essence of Jewish learning is to talk, to argue, to debate, to be face to face with issues that are important and relevant. As we continue to unfold the direction of technology integration at our school we are constantly examining the issue of appropriate use of technology tools to enhance learning, to help the teacher, and to give the students more opportunities to explore. We are not looking at technology as a replacement for the human interaction and relationships that are so very important to the essence of our lives. in fact, in order to gain a stronger and deeper understanding of what technology can give us and how significant a tool it can be in our classrooms and beyond, we must continue to engage in the face to face dialogue, build our relationships, and see ourselves as yedidim (friends, partners) in the pursuit of appropriate communication with our partners, friends, students, and colleagues. We must remain open to the possibilities and inclusive of the many ideas and presented to us.

May we continue to forge ahead together as we respectfully enter into these conversations as yedidim.

Enjoy the coming week! Shavua Tov!

Merrill

The Practice of Kavod

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:33:23 EST

January 29, 2012
5 Shvat 5772

Hello from the very rainy fishbowl!

It has been ages since my last post and so much has transpired that I am not sure where to begin. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the North American Jewish Day School Conference held this year in Atlanta, Georgia. The topic for the conference was 21^st century learning and we covered things ranging from the day school value proposition to working with children with learning challenges. Keynotes addressed important topics such as the importance of Jewish education, specifically Jewish day school education, and presenters came from all branches of Jewish education. The conference included schools from RAVSAK, the Jewish community day school consortium of which we are proud members, Solomon Schechter schools, the Conservative movement day school, Pardes, the reform Jewish Day school consortium, and Yeshiva University, the Orthodox day school group. It is a wonderful way to meet people, hear about the different things happening at day schools across the country, schmooze over dinner, find quiet places to talk after and in between sessions, daven (pray) together and learn new and exciting approaches to the many aspects of day school education.

I had the great fortune to be invited to participate in an ELI talk, modeled on the TED talks with which we are all so familiar. These talks will be made available to the public very soon and will hopefully be a springboard for many more such talks in the future. Among the people I was privileged to hear at my ELI talk was Rabbi Marc Baker of the Gann Academy in Massachusetts. Earlier in the conference I participated in a critical friends group with Marc as well, dealing with the difficult topic of working with families of students with learning challenges. His talk at the ELI talks focused on self reflection and how one bring the values they believe to be important to the work that they do every day with families, faculty, and of course students. It was a thoughtfuland insightful talk which gave me pause to think about how we at PJA view the middot (foundational values) important to us, and internalize them as individuals.

How do we view Kavod (respect, honor) in our own lives and in the lives of our Jewish Day School? Kavod is one of the central middot on which our school stands. It is a central value for all of us to aspire to 'get right'. What does it mean to 'get Kavod Right?' I have given this a great deal of thought and as an administration we have spent time over the past few weeks talking about Kavod in general, and specific to our school. This will be a topic of our coming inservice and will be something we work harder to enforce in our student and parent body.

As a brainstorming activity I asked myself this question and here is what I came up with.

At PJA Kavod looks like:

RESEPCTING EACH OTHER- our friends, our teachers, our parents, our Rabbis, everyone who walks through these doors.
WHITE SHIRTS on FRIDAYS in honor of SHABBAT
Eating Kosher food
Wearing a Kippah during times of tefillah, meals and Jewish Study (or all the time if you are so inclined)
Abiding by our school's dress code (to be found in our parent handbook on the website for those who didn't know we had one)
Speaking respectfully to our teachers and other adults in our building, whether they are the people who teach us every day or make sure our building and classrooms are clean, we honor them and respect them all the same
Communicating appropriately with our friends, colleagues, and community members. Yes, this is a big one and in this day and age can be misused all too easily. Remember that texting and emails are easy to abuse and should be used carefully and with utmost respect. It is easy to say things via email or text that are not as easy to say in person. If you cannot say it face to face, you should probably not say it via text or email either. I try and remind myself of this every day.
Keeping our school clean and neat by picking up after ourselves, not leaving papers, books, back packs, garbage, lying around in the halls or in our classrooms. Everything has a place. If you see garbage lying around, pick it up and either recycle or throw it away. If you see property lying around and you know who it belongs to, give it back to that person or bring it into the office.
In class when speaking with your classmates and teachers remember that we have a certain way we speak appropriately with each other. Not everything is ok to say and there are proper ways to communicate concerns or needs.

This list can and will grow. I have only begun to scratch the surface. I welcome you to add to this list by doing your own brainstorming at home, in your classrooms, on your own at a quiet time or place.

Let us always remember how important KAVOD is to our everyday life. It is essential to our relationships and to maintaining our strong moral compass.

Thank you for participating in this conversation with me.

With utmost KAVOD to you all,

Merrill

Happy New (Calendar) Year!

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:45:36 EST

Happy 2012!

I hope that the first days of this year have been healthy and happy for you and that it is the start of a year filled with all that we value as individuals and as a community. As we look ahead we know that this month is busy and filled with opportunities for growth. We begin school today and I look forward to welcoming everyone back and hearing about vacation adventures. I know that many of our families traveled near and far this break and hope that your travels brought you closer to family, gave you opportunities for adventure, challenges, fun, and maybe even relaxation! I spent part of the winter break in New Jersey with my children visiting our family there. We celebrated birthdays, Chanukah, and even got to see our nephew play in a varsity hockey game! GO NOAH! We walked the High Line in Manhattan which was very exciting and VERY windy, and braved the unbelievable crowds at both Rockefeller Center and Times Square (not recommended at this time of year!). Most of all we enjoyed good food, friends, and family celebration.

January is a busy month at PJA as we plan for and anticipate a great OPEN HOUSE this coming Sunday, January 8 from 1-3 pm. Please tell your friends to join us at this event which will give them an opportunity to see the school, hear from teachers and parents, and ask questions of our administration. We look forward to meeting many potential families this coming Sunday. If you know of a family who CANNOT make it this Sunday, please have them call and make an appointment with Inge Hoogerhuis, our stellar admissions director, who will set up a time to meet with them and give them a tour of the school.

Also in January we will be having both our kindergarten and middle school step up days. This is a time when our ganon, both full and half day, spend some time in the kindergarten classroom with Morah Celinda, and have a chance to BE PJA KINDERGARTNERS! All of our ganon students will have this opportunity and parents are, of course, welcome. We will let you know when this will take place for your child's class.

During the second week of January (yes that's next week!) our 5th graders will have an opportunity to be buddied up with a 6th or 7th grader and will enjoy a morning in the middle school. They will be a part of regular classes and will move through the halls like middle school students do. They will experience the different teachers and subjects in the middle school. We hope this gives our 5th graders a good sense of what Middle School at PJA is like and gets them excited for the coming year at PJA.

January is also the time of the North American Jewish Day School conference, happening this year in Atlanta, Georgia. This year at least 3 of us will be attending this conference - Rabbi Chaiton, Sarah Blattner, and me - and we look forward to meeting with and learning from Jewish educators from all across North America. This conference includes day schools from RAVSAK (community day schools), Solomon Schechter (Conservative day schools), Pardes (Reform Day schools), and orthodox schools. It offers sessions in everything from Hebrew language learning to day school recruitment and everything in between. We are excited to be there amongst our colleagues, including old friends Julie Smith, Patricia Schwartz, and Sharon Pollin, who many of you may remember fondly. I look forward to sharing this experience with my colleagues and returning to share some of what we learn with all of you.

January also brings much fun, as always, both in the classroom and in the field. Our 5th graders head to Islandwood on Bainbridge Island in Washington, at the end of the month with three PJA teachers, Harriet Wingard, Nicole Hampton, (lower school instructional assistant) and Shahar Eden (middle school Hebrew Teacher). While at Islandwood they not only bask in the beauty of their surroundings, they also meet students from 2 other Jewish Day Schools in the Seattle area.

If you have not had an opportunity to stop by and see the beautiful gifts your children presented to their school on its 50th birthday, please be sure to come in and see the gorgeous pieces of art created by our students under the guidance of Lisa Kagan, artist in residence. These pieces are representations of the six foundational middot (values) upon which an education at PJA is built : Kavod (respect), Limmud (learning), Zehut (identity), Achrayut (responsiblity), Kehillah (community), and Hoda'ah (appreciation). These are a truly magnificent addition to our school. Watch for a celebration date coming soon as we officially 'unveil' these beautiful pieces of art with our community.

I am sure I have left something out as I know that there is much more to tell. Watch for more over the next month as we look forward to February when we will have our middle school Taglit, the National Association of Independent Schools conference in Seattle, and of course, more great learning that happens every day in our classrooms.

Happy 2012! Wishing you all a year of limmud (learning), kehillah (community), and achrayut (responsibility) for our community, our school, and the world in which we live, as we continue to think for ourselves and work for the world at PJA.

L'hitraot and I'll see you in the crosswalk!

Merrill

Small Miracles

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:19:01 EST

Hello everyone from my very bright and sunny fish bowl,

Once again I apologize for not getting to this sooner. I have written and rewritten blog posts in my head for about a month now and have not had a moment to really sit down and say hello to you all. Today I just could not resist so here, with a few minutes to go before leaving to go home and get ready for Shabbat, I am sending this off as it was a moment that truly warmed my heart.

I was having a conversation today with one of our wonderful teachers who taught our daughter Maya for 2 years in both 2^nd and 3^rd grades. When Maya was in 2^nd grade (she is now an 11^thgrader at Riverdale High School), the teacher was talking about miracles in the classroom as she was introducing the story of Chanukah. She had the students think about and write and/or illustrate miracles in their own lives. Our daughter wrote: We have been very lucky. We have experienced at least three miracles. My mom and dad have had me, my brother, and my other brother. Their names are Yonah and Lavi.-Maya.

After my conversation with the teacher this morning I left the office for a little while and came back in to find a piece of paper in my box with a note from the teacher which said, "Look what I just found in my files!" It was the very wonderful piece of paper with our daughter's words on it. It just so happens that we have kept this wonderful piece on our fridge all these years and it touched my heart so to realize how known and loved and remembered our children are at PJA. Having spent as many years here as we have as a family, there is not a day that goes by that someone here doesn't ask me how one of our children is, recall a sweet story about them, or pass on regards and a hug.

And this in itself is the beautiful miracle of PJA. We are a community that watches out for our families, knows our students, cares about them as people both in and out of school. We are thrilled when we can welcome an alum back into our offices and are eager to hear all about the great things that they are doing, both large and small. Just today I was in a marketing meeting with fabulous alum who has volunteered to be on his elementary school's committee to give back and share his creative ideas with us. Almost every day I have the joy of waving hello and visiting with another alum and his baby as they bring him to childcare right here at PJA. Every one of these experiences is unique, and special, every one of them cherished.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and a reminder to embrace all of the small miracles of our lives every day.

See you at the PJA auction!

Merrill

Yom Huledet Sameach PJA!

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:26:26 EST

What's all of the buzz about? I am sure by now you have heard that PJA is turning 50 this year! We all know how 50 year olds behave - they love to celebrate and love lots of attention! Well, we are ready to celebrate and pay attention!

One of the first things we are doing to celebrate our 50th birthday is to make PJA a beautiful gift of six paper mosaics which will be created by our students. To help us create these beautiful pieces we have asked artist-in-residence Lisa Kagan to help design six panels based on our six foundational middot (values): Limmud (learning), Kavod (respect), Acharayut (responsibility), Hoda'ah (gratitude), Kehillah (community), and Zehut (identity). Grades 2-6 and grade 8 are meeting with Lisa to talk about the class middah (value) and draft different ways of depicting this middah. Students will then paint a small piece of their own depicting how they see the middah, which Lisa will then assemble in a mosaic. These pieces will be framed and on display at the auction and with any luck, we will have reproductions of each piece to sell at the auction! After the auction these pieces will be hung prominently in our PJA lobby.

What about the Ganon-1st grade you ask? Well have no fear, they are the students who painted all of the paper being used for the project and are also working together to create mosaics for the playground based on the Kavod Loop-respect for Learning, Ourselves, Others, and Property. Watch for more details and information about this project from classroom teachers later in the year.

Last but certainly not least our 7th graders' contribution for PJA's 50th will be an oral history project which Lisa Kagan and our 7th grade humanities teacher, Russ Romas, and Jewish studies teacher, Nathan Somers, are beginning to plan. This project will be integrated into curriculum and will include interviews with long time PJA supporters and alumni. The hope is for these to be ready for our spaghetti dinner, the culmination of our 50th anniversary celebration.

We look forward to this wonderful and celebratory year for our school. We know that you are all aware of the big party being planned for December 11 right here in the PJA/MJCC ballroom, our most spectacular auction ever honoring the Zidell Family. Please be sure to join us for our most important fundraiser of the year where we can sing the praises of our wonderful school and celebrate together.

Wishing you a Chag Sameach and Shabbat shalom.

Stay tuned for all of the fun of the 50th year!

Yom Huledet Sameach PJA! Happy Birthday PJA!

Merrill

What a Month It has Been!

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:01:12 EST

Hello to everyone from the fish bowl!

It has been a very long time since my last post and I do apologize for that. We have had a fabulous start to the school year and are now celebrating the holy days of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. This is time of year brings with it much reflection on the past year and hopes and wishes for the year to come. The sweetness of the apples and honey we eat throughout this season will, we hope, bring us sweetness throughout the coming year.

What has been happening in the halls of PJA ?

This week most of your children went for Tashlich walks with their teachers and Rabbi Chaiton to local streams where they were able to 'throw away' all of the things that they wanted to rid themselves of from last year and start with a fresh slate in this new year. While it may have been muddy, the sun shone on our students for their walks to the parks and streams in the neighborhood!
Our preschoolers went to the pumpkin patch this week and returned with big smiles and muddy boots having tasted fresh cider at the farm.
If you have not had an opportunity to come to Kabbalat Shabbat this year, please do treat yourself one Friday morning. Kim leads us in beautiful singing which helps us to bring in Shabbat with warmth and much joy. The challah is yummy too!
We have art and technology galore at PJA these days!! I am the lucky recipient of my own personal tech tutors (thanks Sarah and Noah), and have beautiful art from our students displayed in my office (thank you Sam and Yolanda!). Our tech lab is buzzing with activity with all new computer towers and much more software for our teachers and students to use throughout the year. Stayed tuned for our tech evenings in October and November. We can all learn together.
Come on in and practice your Hebrew in Mr. Eden's Middle school Hebrew classes! Be prepared-he will not let you utter a word of English! Pretty soon your children will be talking to you in Hebrew at home, too. If you stop by at the right time you might even get to have a skype conversation with one of Shahar's family members or friends. The students have been talking Hebrew with people in Israel via skype these past couple of weeks (including our beloved Morah Nil).
Lisa Kagan, our artist-in-residence came in today for her first session working on the 50th anniversary art project which will be representations of our middot in 6 different collages. These will be ready to be displayed at our auction! Over the next few weeks all students will have an opportunity to take part in this project.
Students have also had Rosh Hashana seders at which they learned about and tasted many of the foods that symbolize different ideas about the holiday. Ask your children about the fish! For some fun, get a pomegranate and have your child cut it open and count the seeds together. These seed represent all of the many good deeds of the coming year. One class counted over 450!
Next week students will begin to decorate the sukkah in the courtyard and we will have opportunities for learning, lunch and blessing the lulav and etrog in the sukkah during Sukkot.

These, of course, are only a handful of highlights as there is more to list than I can possibly remember, and this is just the first month of school! The joy of walking into classrooms and hearing thoughtful conversations, listening to children read, share their writing, and learn new dances in Israeli dance class, among other things, is really at the core of every day here. It is a joy to be a part of this beautiful and mensch-filled community. Thank you so much for sharing your children with us.

G'mar Chatimah Tova. May it be a very sweet and healthy year for us all.

See you at the cross walk!

Merrill

Welcome to our 50th Anniversary Year!

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:22:56 EST

September 6, 2011
Elul 7 5771

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the 2011-12, 5772 school year! Our 50th Anniversary year! B'ruchim Ha'baim! ברוכים הבאים

It is wonderful to have everyone back today. We have had such fun visiting classrooms and seeing smiling, sunny faces. A PJA colleague shared this with me this morning and I wanted to share it with all of you. We look forward to a year of growth, inquiry, and much health and happiness.

Have a great school year,

Merrill

A Blessing for a New School Year by Rabbi Phyllis Sommer

May it be a year of learning and growth, a year of new experiences and understanding.

May they outgrow their shoes and may they not lose their jackets.

May each day bring something new and may routine guide their steps.

May their pencils be sharp and their minds even sharper.

May they revel in the joy of each new fact learned, each right answer, each small accomplishment.

May the erasers on their pencils get as much use as the tips.

May they learn that wrong answers can be just as important as right ones.

May they ask questions, lot and lots of questions, and may their teachers be patient, Very patient.

May they make friends and build relationships, and may they make life long connections.

May they be kind and polite and each one a mensch of the highest order.

And may this year be filled with blessings...

Impressive to say the least!

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:30:47 EST

Shalom everyone,

It is actually sunny, sometimes, in the fishbowl! Summer is just about here and today is the very last day of school. It is hard to believe that an entire school year has gone by. Our students are much taller, so much smarter, and of course, continue to be adorable!

I am so sorry it has been such a long while since my last post. I think that you will see from the list below, why it has been hard to get to my blog! Thought you might enjoy this list of milestones, and some plain old regular events, at PJA this school year. It is in no particular order, just a brainstormed list of things we did this year. It has been a rich and productive time and we feel so blessed to have enjoyed it all with your children.

Have a wonderful, sunny, healthy, and safe summer.

See you in September! Check back over the summer. You never know when I might have a whim to write.

L'hitraot,

Merrill

Here's a SAMPLE of the things we did this school year:

Tashlich walks with Devorah and Susanna

Building and decorating the PJA/ MJCC sukkah

Visit to the Raider farm

First day of school

Welcome back picnic

8th grade Hebrew proficiency exam

Preschoolers adventure on I-5 on the way home from the Humane Society

4th grade soiree and end of year celebration

First grade farms

Lag ba'omer in classrooms

Bonfire and smores for MS in honor of Lag Ba'omer

Spring showcase and Middle school choir reunion

Preschool parent teacher conferences

Midsummer night's dream (twice)

New family/buddy picnic

Middle School Poetry Slam

3^rd grade Bridges

Final Kabbalat Shabbat for preschool and day school

Capstone and Israel event

6^th grade science fair

Peter Rabbit the Musical

8th grade Israel Trip planning

Parent/board gathering

Spring fling middle school dance

Poetry slam for ms

inservice for preschool faculty

Teacher appreciation week

Ganon Mother's Day tea

Cinco De Mayo trip for Middle School Spanish class

Pessach seders in kindergarten, all of the ganon classes, 3 year old classes, 2year old classes

Individual pessach seders and celebrations in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades

5^th grade heirlooms and artifacts opening at the Oregon Jewish Museum

Purim shpiel and megillah reading

Purim parades and carnivals

Trip to Billy Elliot and Jacob Zalonky's visit to PJA

Preschoool food collection for sunshine pantry

Trips to Lee's Farm, humane Society, the Fire house

Food and pet supplies collection for the humane society

Preschool collaboration with day school capstone projects

3rd, 4th and 5th grade winter and spring music matinees

6th grade model seder

ms choir ice cream social and singing
8th grade trip to Israel
Second grade performance of The Great Kapok Tree
Visits from the Audubon Society and "The Tree Lady"

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

Read across America

Middle School science Rocket launches

Herschel and the Chanukah goblins

4^th grade masks

Visits to the Robison Home and the Rose Schnitzer manor

Jewish Theatre Collaborative Chanukah celebration and performance

Fire Drills

Service learning projects:

Collecting for Japan tsunami relief and preschool bake sale

Thanksgiving food drive

Passover food drive

Matanot L'evyonim for Purim

Pots and Pans for Purim

Tzedakah dolls for the Ronald MacDonald house

Used Book Sale

DRAGONS basketball and cross country teams!

Grandparents and special friends day

Tu b'shvat seders throughout the school

Martin Luther King Day

In Portland play

3^rd grade Synagogues

Yom ha'atzmaut celebration

Yom hazikaron commemoratoin

Yom hashoa 8^th grade commemoration

Author visit

Kindergarten step ups

Middle school step ups

Open houses

Outreach events

PJ library

Preschool and kindergarten fairs

Winter break

1^st grade important person poetry reading

Chanukah candle lighting during carpool

Chanukah assembly and celebration- sufganiyot included

The smell of latkes from the preschool

The smell of challah from the preschool

AUCTION AND AUCTION PROJECTS

Scholastic book fair and Clifford visits

Chess club

Living as a Writer

MUSE band

Math counts

Makhela and MS choir performances

6^th grade Shabbaton in Seattle

Taglit

Islandwood

Outdoor school

Ashland

4^th grade Potlatch

Celebrations of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, sukkot, and simchat torah

Building and decorating the sukkah

Buddy classes

2^nd grade visits with the Bee keeper and the Bat Man

4th grade soiree and end of year celebration

first grade farms

lag ba'omer in classrooms

bonfire and smores for MS in honor of Lag Ba'omer

Spring showcase and Middle school choir reunion

Final Kabbalat Shabbat for preschool and day school

Capstone and Israel event

6^th grade science fair

Peter Rabbit the Musical

8th grade Israel Trip planning meeting

Parent/board gathering

Spring fling middle school dance

poetry slam for ms

inservice for preschool faculty

Teacher appreciation week

Ganon Mother's Day tea

Cinco De Mayo trip

Pessach break. (We needed it for all that was coming!)

Pessach seders in kindergarten, all of the ganon classes, 3 year old classes, 2year old classes

individual pessach seders and celebrations in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades

5^th grade heirlooms and artifacts opening at the Oregon Jewish Museum

Purim shpiel and megillah reading

Purim parades and carnivals

Trip to Billy Elliot and Jacob Zalonky's visit to PJA

Preschoool food collection for sunshine pantry

Trips to Lee's Farm, humane Society, the Fire house

Food and pet supplies collection for the humane society

Preschool collaboration with day school capstone projects

3rd, 4th and 5th grade winter and spring music matinees

6th grade model seder

ms choir ice cream social and singing

8th grade trip to Israel

Second grade performance of The Great Kapok Tree

visits from the Audobon Society and "The Tree Lady"

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

Read across America

Rocket launches

Herschel and the chanukah goblins

4^th grade Masks

swim party for Middle school Staff appreciation dinner

5th grade soiree and end of year celebration

1st grade siddur and end of year celebration

Shavuot fruit collection for donation to the Sunshine pantry

School supply collection for donation

kindergarten torah celebration

inservice day for day school faculty

junior rose festival parade

SPAGHETTI DINNER honoring Erica, Holly and our 8^th graders

report cards

year book distribution

graduation

portfolio celebration for Kindergarten

Key assembly

Maccabiah and Dodge ball tourney

SUMMER and SUMMER DISCOVERY

Spring. Balance. Pessach.

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:36:04 EST

Shalom everyone,

I am so sorry it has been so long since my last entry. It has been so busy here that I have not had time to attend to the fun stuff, like blogging with all of you.

What have we been busy with? STUDENTS, STUDENTS, STUDENTS! We are very excited that so many of our classes are filling up and hope that if you or someone you know are waiting to sign your child up at PJA you get on it right now! Some of our classes are nearly full and we will be starting wait pools for them. Call us or get on line and fill out those forms, or dig out your re-enrollment forms and bring them into the office as soon as possible. Next year is looking great and we would not want anyone to miss out!

What else have we been busy with, you ask? Pessach (Passover) is in the air as we watch the trees blossom and the tulips and daffodils begin to bloom in our yards. It is exciting, VERY, to see some sunshine and feel some warmth on our bodies. Most of us are feeling a little bit soggy after a very long winter of rain, rain, and more rain! Our students are making afikoman covers (and more), learning the foods and the rituals of Pessach, and in many cases, learning how to lead a seder at your homes. I know that as a parent these were some of the most thrilling times for me as I was able to watch my children bring home to our seder table what they had learned at school. I can still remember as a child sitting next to my own grandfather and waiting with baited breath for him to let me lead my songs and tell about what I had learned at my Jewish day school growing up in Brooklyn, NY. These are such very sweet moments for us to cherish. Nothing sounds better than Mah Nishtanah (the four questions) sung by our own children with great pride, or a deeper discussion with our older students about the meaning of slavery, freedom, and how it all relates to our world now.

Mah od? What else? I had an opportunity to see the documentary Race to Nowhere with a group of my colleagues. I think that we were all struck by the first hand accounts of the pressure children feel these days from a very young age, to do it all. They are active in sports, community service, the arts, school, and various other things. Not enough time for family, play, and just plain old hanging out. I know that at my house when I see my daughter 'just hanging' I am thrilled as I know what effort she and her friends are putting into everything that they do in high school. Between school work, tennis, youth group, and all of the rest, her life is VERY full. Movies like these raise our awareness of the need for balance and really setting boundaries and priorities for ourselves and our children. As spring moves in and Pessach is upon us, let's take this opportunity to breathe in the fresh air, do some spring cleaning of our souls and our busy lives, and find some good balance. Have fun, enjoy each other, and cherish the down time.

Wishing you all a good week and happy cleaning leading up to Pessach.

Merrill

Go PJA Dragons!

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:32:43 EST

GO DRAGONS!!!

Our PJA Dragons 8^th grade boys basketball team just won the second of their two playoff games tonight (Thursday) at the MJCC. The game was incredibly exciting as they really worked to keep the lead and won by 8 points. What a great group of boys we have representing our school in this league. Now on to the championship! When will that be? Stay tuned for details.

In the meantime, Mazal tov and Kol HaKavod to coach Matt, Noah, Andy, Ben, Darius, Josh, and Kennan and also to their loyal team supporters on the 6^th and 7^th grade team who came out and sat on the bench to support them.

We love you all! You make us PJA PROUD! Well done.

A Parent Meeting

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:34:56 EST

Dear Parents

At PJA, our faculty and staff, along with the PJA committee of the Board of Directors, are always engaged in reviewing our program to best meet the needs of our students. Over the past year, one focus of that review has been a reflection on the IB program at PJA and how it fits with our school's mission.

Several weeks ago, we sent out a survey with questions about parent perceptions of various aspects of IB and the PJA program in general. Thank you to those who responded. We would now like to engage in a more in depth dialogue with parents about IB.

Please take the time to join us on Tuesday, February 15 at 6:30 PM in the PJA Beit Knesset for this discussion.

If you are not able to make it that evening, we welcome your input via email, phone or in person.

Thank you very much. We look forward to meeting with you on the 15th.

L'hitraot,

Merrill

PJA LIVE!

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:48:48 EST

Hello everyone!

We are very excited to tell you about a great opportunity to see PJA in ACTION!! We will be hosting a PJA LIVE event on the following days and times and would love to have you come join us in our classrooms to see what everyone is talking about! Being in the classroom is really the best way to see what you and your child will experience here at PJA.

If you are a current PJA parent and are curious about what next year brings, come on down and see us on either February 1st or 2nd.

If you are a new or prospective parent we would love to have you come on February 3rd to get a good look at our fabulous school. Be prepared to be blown away by the wonder of it all. We are, every day!!

February 1 – 9:00 – 11:00 am

February 2 – 12:00 – 2:30 pm

February 3 – 9:00 - 11:00 – General Public welcome

Parents should come to the front office and ask for Inge Hoogerhuis, our Admission Director, who will point you in the right direction!

See you LIVE at PJA L IVE!

Merrill Hendin
PJA Principal

Just Like That - It's Chanukah!

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:20:28 EST

Happy Chanukah from the fish bowl!

Latkes (levivot), dreidels (sevivonim), gelt (chocolate coins), and sufganiyot (jelly donuts)! What do all of these things tell us? Chanukah is here! We will light chanukah candles and sing chanukah songs every afternoon at carpool. On Thursday we will host the Jewish Theatre Collaborative performance of two Chanukah stories and our third graders will go to the Rose Schnitzer Manor to celebrate Chanukah with the residents. Our preschoolers will give us all a great deal of nachas (joy) on Friday morning as they perform Chanukah songs for their parents, grandparents and teachers. Make sure to bring your cameras! These are precious moments worth capturing. Later on Friday we will have our day school Chanukah celebration which will include choir performances and a performance of the Chanukah story by the 7th grade Hebrew class. Come join us at 1:30 pm in the auditorium for this great celebration.

We hope that our PJA families find time to celebrate Chanukah together. There is so much light in all of our lives. Chanukah is a perfect time to celebrate and enjoy the lights of our lives; our precious children.

Have a very happy Chanukah. Chag Urim Sameach!!

Merrill

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:20:12 EST

Tuesday, November 23, 2010
16 Kislev 5771

Dear Parents,

It has been a while since I have had a chance to write, although I do hope that you are checking my blog on the PJA website. It is hard to believe that we are one third of the way through the school year, getting ready for Thanksgiving, and finishing our first set of Parent-Teacher conferences. To me it seems like the school year just started a blink ago, but as we know, time does pass in a blink as we watch our children grow up so quickly.

It has certainly been a productive and wonderful 3 months. We had a chance to celebrate all of the chagim in September and are now getting ready for Chanukah. We have seen beautiful chanukiyot (menorahs) made by your children, heard Chanukah songs and stories, and are awaiting the Kindergarten play of Hershel and the Chanukah Goblins. Our 3^rd graders will be going to the Rose Schnitzer Manor to participate in a Chanukah celebration with the residents and to see a production of Chanukah stories put on by the Jewish Theatre Collaborative. I am sure there will be much time spent playing the sevivon (dreidel) game and learning about the Maccabees and their strength throughout the school over the next few weeks. We will be lighting Chanukah candles every day at carpool and welcome you as we celebrate Chanukah with the K-8 classes next Friday, December 3 at 1:30 pm in the Ballroom.

We have written, drawn, and spoken a great deal about what it means to be thankful and all of the different ways that we give thanks for all that we have. I know that our youngest students have prepared elaborate recipes for preparing turkey which I hope you are all enjoying at home! Don't forget to check out the fabulous full day Ganon turkey recipes on the website! These recipes will give you great tips for preparing a delicious turkey dinner!

We have a great deal to look forward to over the next month. Our PJA auction, Winter Wonderland, will be on December 12. By now you have all received invitations in the mail and hopefully are making plans to spend a lovely evening with your PJA friends and family. Please come into the PJA office to see some of the incredible art work that our youngest children have created with their teachers and parents. You will have an opportunity to bid on these beautiful pieces at the auction. Bid fast as I think these items will be highly sought after!! On the morning of the auction, we have an opportunity to volunteer at Jewish Federation's Super Sunday, which helps raise money for the Jewish community both locally and globally, and is of course a tremendous source of support to both PJA and the MJCC. Please come and show your support to both the Jewish Federation and PJA by participating in Super Sunday

Every day is a day for giving thanks at PJA. We are blessed with incredible teachers who work with our students every day, from infancy to early teenage-hood! We are blessed with you, our fabulous families, who entrust your children to us every day and support us in more ways than we can count. We have an incredibly supportive board of directors who make sure that our school's needs are met financially, programmatically, and physically. And of course, we have your fabulous, sweet, curious, beautiful children who we get to enjoy, take care of, and learn from all year long.

Wishing you all a restful, warm, and delicious Thanksgiving.

L'hitraot,

Merrill

Bright Inside PJA Even Though Days Are Darkening

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:26:30 EST

November 14, 2010
7 Kislev 5771

Hello everyone from my less sunny fishbowl!

Yes, it is definitely getting wintry outside and as it gets darker earlier and the skies are grayer and wetter, we look to the inside for sunshine and light! We certainly do have lots of that to go around here at PJA these days and always.

Today we had a wonderful open house for Lower School and Preschool with many very enthusiastic teachers and parent ambassadors here to show off our great work, and many prospective families here to soak it all in and share the enthusiasm! We had a great response from the families who were here who were wowed by our preschool and the magic that Erika and the teachers bring to every day for our very young children. In the lower school parents had an opportunity to be knocked off their feet by our kindergarten teachers and the very colorful and rich curricula displayed in both rooms; our third grade teachers and students who shared some of the knowledge our students accumulate about Portland, from synagogues and Jewish community, to bridges and Portland landmarks, and SO MUCH MORE! While most of the parents who were here have younger children and taking them into the 5^th grade classroom seemed so far away for them, they were all ready to sign on when they heard Harriet glow about the Heirlooms and Artifacts projects which culminates in the museum opening with our children's work on exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum. How great it is for us to be able to share the excitement that new families have upon coming to visit, seeing and hearing about our program, and signing on as they look towards their children's future with warmth and confidence that what they will experience here at PJA is trusted and fabulous!!

We are moving into our last week of school before the Thanksgiving break. We look forward to having parent teacher conferences on November 22 and 23 and sharing with parents all of the growth and learning that their child is experiencing here. Coming right on the tail of Thanksgiving is of course, Chanukah, a time of great light and song, yummy food, and rich family time together.

We look forward to sharing all of this with our PJA families. For now, I sign off from my fading fishbowl to go home to the light of my very own PJA alum!

Have a great week.

Merrill

Good Morning Baltimore!

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:26:08 EST

Hello from Baltimore (not the fish bowl this time, sorry)!

Until tomorrow, I am in Baltimore at the PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education) Assembly with about 1,000 of my colleagues in Jewish Education. It is exciting to be with people who think about the importance of Jewish education as teachers, heads of school, principals, executive directors, financial officers, board members, marketing directors, admissions experts, and parents. I have attended sessions on reflective practice, policies and protocols of schools and case studies that give us opportunities to look at particular issues that occur every day in all of our schools.

At this conference, I have learned many new things about myself, our school, best practices in day schools and in education in general. I am especially proud of PJA and the work that we do when I hear some of the questions teachers here are asking and realize how many of the policies and practices they are discussing are things that we already have in place at PJA. We stand side by side with excellent schools of 80 and 800. We all share a similar mission of educating with excellence and raising mensches. It is so exciting to be here to learn, mingle with other educators, and affirm the greatness of PJA! I am PJA PROUD!

L'hitraot,

On to Baltimore

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:08:14 EST

Shalom everyone from the fishbowl!

It is Friday afternoon and the school has quieted down as nearly everyone has left for Shabbat and the weekend. It is always a sweet time to be here and review the week that has just past and look forward to Shabbat and the week to come. This past week has been full, interesting, sunny and warm. The learning is palpable, the halls are buzzing with children moving from class to the tech lab for keyboarding classes(third grade), to the gym or 'bubble' for PE, to the Beit Knesset for Music with Morah Kim and Morah Erica. We hear recorders and percussion instruments flowing from the music classes; see students engaged in library lessons and research, and feel a general sense of great productivity in our building. As we walk into the 4^th grade we see children making Native American masks as part of their study of Oregon and Native American people. These wonderful masks will be displayed at the Potlatch that the students host, at which they dance, sing, and share stories of Native Americans. These are treasured times.

At other times of the day I walk into classrooms to see and hear students learning tefillot (prayers) and talking about the middot (values) which are the foundation of PJA and by which we hope our students live their lives. All around us are signs of growth and change as we watch children grow taller, inquire more deeply, and smile more broadly at all that they are experiencing here at PJA.

And the week to come? Well, I know there will be more layers added onto all of the above and great new learning added everyone's days. I will be attending the PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education) conference in Baltimore, Maryland, with two of my PJA colleagues. There, I will be nourished and challenged by workshops which run the gamut from curriculum development to financial development, Hebrew language learning to recruitment and retention. It is a fascinating and exciting time as hundreds of Jewish educators gather together from all over North America to celebrate Jewish education and talk about what is new, great, and exciting, what challenges and enriches us every day. I always come away from these kinds of meetings feeling so very lucky for our wonderful school and knowing that we are amongst the best of the best out there!

Looking forward to a peaceful Shabbat and an exciting week to come and wishing you all the same.

What a Great Day

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:33:35 EST

What a wonderful day this has been.

I woke up this morning somewhat worried that the weather might change the entire scope of today and much to our surprise, the weather has been great and the day so far sensational.

Today, the day after Yom Kippur and conveniently this year a Sunday, is a day that people begin to build their sukkah for the upcoming holiday of Sukkot which begins this Wednesday evening. Sukkot is a festive and family oriented holiday during which we celebrate the harvest and the Jewish people’s journey through the dessert living in temporary dwellings. (see the PJA website for more info about Sukkot www.pjaproud.org). Here at the PJA and the MJCC we had a sukkah building event planned and of course, as it is an outdoor event it was hard to know if it was going to be very well attended or enjoyable in the rain!! Well, we were blessed as the sun shone and the builders and decorators came out. We had many people with their tools putting up the structure; we had schach galore (the corn stalks used and generously donated by our wonderful Raider family for the roof of the sukkah), and we had children making paper chains and decorating honey bees and apples for the inside of the sukkah. We now have a fabulous sukkah for our community to use all through the week. Our PJA students will have meals in the sukkah, will enjoy lessons in the sukkah and will be able to come in and say the brachot over the lulav and etrog as well. Hands on learning at its finest. Please stop by and visit the sukkah during the week of sukkot and participate in the mitzvah of sitting in a sukkah.

The start of the day was glorious as well as so many of us participated in the Race for the Cure with our dear Becky as our champion survivor! It is always so uplifting to see the numbers of people who show up to walk, run, cheer on the crowds, and just simply be there in support of a cure for breast cancer. Having done the race for about 20 years now and participated on different teams, I can say that this experience was among the most warm and wonderful. Watching Becky cross the finish line was fabulous! Seeing the support she got from her friends, families, her PJA rosh hodesh girls, and so many others, makes us all realize what a wonderful community we have. It was doubly thrilling for me to cross the finish line and have my daughter who was there as a volunteer cheering on the crowds, cheer us all on in her pink fluorescent wig!! Way to go Maya and all of the teens who do such a great job cheering on the masses of people at the race.

On to the rest of Sunday, preparing for Sukkot and the week to come.

Have a great week, a shana tova, and a chag sukkot sameach.

Merrill

Musings on a New School Year

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:52:02 EST

Hello everyone!

I am happy to be back to my official musings again, after a lovely and productive summer getting ready for the school year. Today, Friday, is the end of our first week of in-service. It is great to get back to the reality of school! Teachers, students, classrooms; as opposed to the office, lists, scheduling, meetings. I know that we have our share of that too during the school year, but it is the life of the school that is really missing during the summer, and it is great to have everyone back and ready to roll.

Of course summer gives us all an opportunity to breathe different air, have adventures, do some deep thinking and planning, and have fun in the sun. It has been especially wonderful hearing about the adventures, travels, learning opportunities, family vacations, books read, and art classes taken, over the summer. We have such a deep and varied faculty who do such interesting and incredible things with their lives both personally and professionally. What a privilege it is for me to get to know these wonderful people more as I work with them.

We shared a beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat at the end of our morning of meetings today. Many of us were old timers who have done this together for many years, while others were having their very first experience bringing in Shabbat, saying blessings, learning new songs, and eating very yummy challah! As we sang in our circle and had the beautiful accompaniment of Erica and Kim, I felt deep love and appreciation for our community and the people I work with. I know that this Kabbalat Shabbat touched us all in different ways and hope that it gave everyone the warm feeling of our PJA community.

As I reflect on the adventures in my own family and the growth of my own children this summer and realize that for them too summer is coming to a close, I know that this will be a weekend we as a family will take to breathe, rest, enjoy being outside together, share a meal or two, and hopefully hold on to the memories of this summer: the great Israel trip; wakeboarding on the lake; meeting and filming Matisyahu at camp; and our last little meander to the Oregon coast which always brings us peace and quiet and an appreciation for our blessings as a family.

Wishing you all the blessings of a wonderful new school year as we all, together, watch our children grow, change, and learn over the coming year.

Shabbat shalom to you all.

Merrill

L'hitraot For Now...

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:21:29 EST

The sun was shining out my window yesterday, on a lovely Sunday morning, as I was thinking about what I will say to the 2010 PJA grads tonight, and how bittersweet and, at the same time, long awaited, the last day of school is for all of us!

On Friday morning when we invited our 8^th graders in to the office to do their last morning opening and I watched them and my own daughter, who was that person last year, looking on and recalling what it was like to be in their shoes, I felt a real sense of moving forward and yet wanting to just stop time for a moment. As she finishes her freshmen year in high school and these students move on to high school we think about what it is that they leave PJA with and the hope that they will bring menschlichkeit into their new schools and environments, agents for good in the world, as they take with them the values and traditions we hope to have imparted on them here at PJA on into the ‘big worlds’ out there.

We know the end of the year has come when we see our beloved 5^th graders in their paper bag hats (thanks 5^th graders for making me one to wear too, I love it!), beautifully and crazily decorated to suit each student’s personality! The end of the year has come when we see new beginnings at our preschool Kabbalat Shabbat and celebrate the two year olds graduating up to threes! We know the end of the year has come when our lockers are emptied into the hallway, picnics and maccabiah are being planned for the last day of school, and teachers are busily working on report cards. When we see year books being signed all around the building, we know that it is time to bid farewell to another school year and ready ourselves for a restful and rejuvenating summer.

Every day during carpool I marvel at how BIG everyone has gotten over the last year. Our youngest students have really crawled out of their shells and look ready to leap into the next grade, and our middle school students get taller and taller all of the time! It is remarkable that an entire school year has gone by. It really does seem like it was such a short time ago that the school year began with excitement and newness. We got to know each other, we spent an entire year growing and sharing, and now it is time to jump into a sunny summer of fun and family time.

I wish you all sunny days, warm family time, and lots of smiles as we end this wonderful school year of 2009-2010.

L’hitraot to you all and see you in September,

Merrill

p.s. Don’t forget to check back over the summer for updates as we plan for the coming school year!

No Rest, Not Yet!

Sun, 23 May 2010 14:19:35 EST

Hello again from my window to the world, and the MJCC parking lot!

It is Sunday morning and as I look at the calendar for this week I am amazed at how much we have happening. There is an event of celebration or planning every evening, including tonight’s celebration of the MJCC and all of the great things we have to be thankful for in this fabulous home of ours.

My daughter and I have been counting the days left in both of our school years. She is a freshman in high school, a 2009 grad of PJA. We are finding it hard to believe that she was preparing for her graduation from PJA a year ago, and that she is now just a couple of weeks away from being a sophomore in high school (sort of!). I am astonished that the time has passed so quickly for all of us, and that we are really in the home stretch.

This week we will all enjoy the "In Portland" play, a fabulous 3^rd grade tradition started when my now 19 year old son was in 3^rd grade! I think I sing the songs of the "In Portland" play in my sleep and love hearing them every time! Don’t forget to come and see this great event Monday evening, May 24 at 7:00 pm. It is a treat.

We are also beginning to plan next year’s trip to Israel for our 8^th graders and this week we will meet with parents and students to reveal the chaperones (!) for the trip, dates, and other details. Planning this trip is always a great highlight for me and a way for me to live vicariously through these students. Let’s see...how many trips have I vicariously enjoyed through these kids? I think this will be my 5^th! I have seen a lot of sights, for sure.

Wednesday evening we appreciate our teachers with an annual dinner hosted by the PJA board. We are all so grateful for the vey hard work and tremendous passion of our teachers and this is a small way of thanking them for all that they do for our children all year long. Thank you teachers, you are amazing and we love you all.

Lest you think that we have a night open, think again, as Thursday evening of this week we will come together for our 4^th grade recorder soiree and end of year celebration. This is the time we all get to kvell over the music our children have learned, sing along with them, and enjoy special moments from our year in 4^th grade.

Thank goodness Shabbat comes at the end of every week! A reason to celebrate and then rest. Please join us at our second to last Kabbalat Shabbat this week for kindergarten-5^th grade. We will have musical and dance performances and an opportunity to bring in Shabbat together before going home to enjoy a peaceful Shabbat and long weekend with our families.

Have a great long weekend and get ready, as there will be more coming in my next entry! The school year is not over yet!

L’hitraot,

Closing in to Summer

Mon, 10 May 2010 10:41:32 EST

Shalom everyone!

I hope that you have all enjoyed the sunshine that I have seen from my fishbowl! It was wonderful to see the sun and the roads dry. As I walked through neighborhoods this weekend and saw gardens being tended to and kids on the street I knew that we are actually starting to see summer approach!

While it was sunny this weekend, we all know that earlier last week we had every weather possible here in Oregon. Our 6^th grade students who were in Sandy for outdoor school this week, got to play in the snow, hail and rain and even saw a little bit of sun! A bit odd for May, yes, but after a no-snow winter it was very welcome and fun for all. They had a great week of nature, have been well cared for by our three stellar teacher chaperones, Joe Minato, Barbara Steinberg, and Rabbi Chaiton, and return to us, dirtier, a bit tired, happy and no worse for the wear!

Earlier last week I attended the PNAIS (Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools) Heads conference in the beautiful town of Cle Elum Washington, where it was snowing much of the time I was there and I really did feel like I was living in the middle of December! The conference was so worthwhile as I got to touch base with many of the heads of school from all over the pacific northwest and spent time learning with and from some of the most thoughtful and experienced people in the field. It is often the conversations over coffee that are most valuable, and in this case there certainly was no shortage of those learning opportunities as well. It was a wonderful and very valuable time for me and certainly reinforced my appreciation for our very special school.

Time is flying around here! We reached the end of the first week of May and know that the buzz towards the end of the year is felt in every classroom. As the 6^th graders return from ODS, the 7^th graders prepare to go to Ashland at the beginning of June. The 5^th grade is putting their finishing touches on their museum exhibit which opens at the Oregon Jewish museum tomorrow, May 11. We will celebrate Shavuot in the coming weeks and this Friday at Kabbalat Shabbat we will share songs and fruits of the season which we will donate to the Neighborhood House at the end of the day. Kindergarten is just about ready to perform Peter Rabbit for friends and family, and of course, we watch bittersweetly as our oldest students in the 8^th grade, prepare for graduation in June and spreading their wings to move on to new high school horizons.

The wonder and beauty of growing up here at PJA was brought home to us last Friday morning at the culminating event in a week full of teacher appreciation events put on by the loyal and grateful preschool parents. The parents shared lovely words of gratitude, gave teachers gifts throughout the week and showed a fabulous photo montage documenting the entire school year! Thanks Debbie L. for taking all of those great photos of our beautiful children and teachers. The montage certainly told the story of all of the joy and love that our children experience in the preschool and the wonderful teachers they have.

Shavuah Tov! Have a great week.

L'hitraot,

Merrill

A Very Busy Spring at PJA

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:15:26 EST

Shalom everyone,

Welcome to my very first blog.

We have had a very full and enriching time this past month. We left school at the end of March following great Passover learning and celebrations throughout the school and returned to hear stories of our students impressively and capably leading seders in their homes, from the very youngest preschool students to our oldest 8th graders. These stories, of course, bring us great joy and naches, knowing that what we teach at PJA lives in your homes!

Upon our return to school we had our Yom Hashoa commemoration (remembering the Holocaust) led by our 8th grade students who had just completed a class on the Shoa and had visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on their 8th grade trip to Israel. The students reflected deeply on their experiences at Yad Vashem and on their learning during their Shoa class with Mr. Somers. It was truly a worthy tribute to those who lost their lives during this terrible time in history. We were blessed to have the Aigners come to speak with our 7th and 8th graders and to take part in our ceremony. The Aigners are a wonderful couple who survived the ghettos and concentration camps of Eastern Europe and came to PJA to tell their story and educate the youth of today. It was an honor to have them with us.

The very next week we moved on to another moving commemoration for Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Remembrance Day, led by the 7th graders and our Middle School Hebrew teacher, Nil Rozenberger. We were led in song, moving words, and recitation of the Kaddish and El Maleh Rachamim.

Fortunately, the very next morning we were able to come into school to much celebration for Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. We had flags flying, music playing, and much joy as we entered school that morning. Throughout the school there were festivities and programs in honor of Israel's birthday. The preschool had stations set up as did the Kindergarten-2 graders where students visited and experienced different regions in Israel. We ate hummus and pita, sang Israeli songs, danced up a storm with our friend Ruti who made a special appearance in the afternoon for our all school celebration, and had some reflections from our 8th graders on their trip to Israel. It was a full and festive day!

By Wednesday morning we all were ready to get back to business as usual for a little while! We marvel at all that is going on in our classrooms every day. Our 3rd graders are getting ready for their Portland Play, building bridges and learning about our city; our 5th graders are learning about their family history and creating wonderful family heirlooom projects to be displayed at the Oregon Jewish Museum in May. We know that our 4th graders will be going to OMSI for a visit, our 7th graders are heading off to Ashland, our musicians are preparing for their recorder soirees, kindergarteners for their Peter Rabbit play, and of course, we are all awaiting a visit from our friendly, yet-to-be-named Dragon, who will cheer us on at the Jog-a-thon coming up on Lag B'omer!!

There is more, I know, but I am honestly out of breath listing all that we know is happening in the next two months as we approach the end of the school year!

Stay tuned for more as we continue to experience the joys of our wonderful students.

Enjoy a beautiful spring week.

L'hitraot,

Merrill