Baltimore Jewish Day Schools

Beth Tfiloh Dahan students starred in a video production recently shown at the school’s annual scholarship event, SPOTLIGHT 2011. The four-minute music video featured students from Preschool through Grade 12 singing, dancing and enjoying a “typical school day” to the beat of the popular song, “Don’t Stop Believin‘”, by the rock group, Journey. The Glee version of the song was used as the soundtrack with Beth Tfiloh students singing revised lyrics that reflected the unique philosophy and culture of their Jewish day school.

The student vocals and choreography were directed by Beth Tfiloh’s Creative Arts Staff, including Mrs. Diane Smith, Theatre Director, Mr. Jason Dougherty, Creative Arts Director, and Mr. James Hunnicut, Dance Instructor. A Beth Tfiloh Alumnus, David Hercenberg ‘03, was the videographer and edited the video.

The closing scene of the video was recorded on Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) as part of an all-school celebration of Israel’s birthday. The video is available on YouTube and on the Beth Tfiloh website.

By Leslie Smith Rosen, Dean of General Studies

Every year since its inception, Cardin students have a week between the 2nd and 3rd trimesters known as “Interim Week.” It has become one of the school’s signature programs, when the whole school focuses on a single theme outside of the standard curriculum in a multi-modal, interdisciplinary way. We’ve explored Darwin’s theory of evolution, expressed ourselves in story-telling, toured the south (following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel), learned about Einstein’s ideas of space-time, “re-enacted” the Six Day War, visited the locales of the earliest years of Jewish life in America, put on fabulous Purim schpiels – the list goes on.

This year, Cardin students had a chance to explore Washington, DC, in depth (or in as much depth as possible in five days!) during the week of March 6-11, 2011. They toured the various Washington monuments and memorials, visited the Holocaust Museum, explored the Museum of American History, spent an overnight near the Iwo Jima memorial (all lit up!), toured The White House, visited The Capitol, sat in on a session of Congress, delighted in the Museum of American Art and both sections of the National Gallery, explored the Air & Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History, enjoyed a preview performance of The Chosen at Arena Stage, had fun at the National Spy Museum and the Museum of Crime and Punishment, visited the National Archives, and learned about free speech at the Newseum. As a concluding activity, the students (who had been divided up into teams), created real and virtual “scrapbooks” of their experiences that were judged based on content and aesthetic presentation. This was once again an experience that was both educational and fun.

There is little that brings as much joy to schoolchildren of any age as a field trip. Somehow the idea of boarding the bus with classmates and traveling to new destinations brings great excitement. These trips can serve as the opening chapter to new curriculum, occur as supplemental learning or culminate units. This year found the students of The Day School at Baltimore Hebrew traveling far and wide to visit many different places of interest. Our youngest students visited a farm in the fall where they got to see and touch the animals as well as pick their own pumpkins. After finishing a unit about Dr. Seuss, they attended a performance of Seussical the Musical and also attended The Milk Shake Concert at Oheb Shalom. Trips to the BSO and Baltimore Museum of Art continued to foster our emphasis on the importance of music and art in our curriculum. In keeping with our Judaic program, a trip to the matzoh factory was made. The older grades also took several trips to integrate Judaics and general studies. The second and third graders took a walking tour of Baltimore with stops at the Jewish Museum and the Lloyd Street Synagogue with lunch enjoyed on Lombard Street. The Shot Tower, Flag House and Reginald Lewis Museum were also part of the day. Our oldest students begin the year with a trip to Echo Hill, where they combined science and nature with bonding and teamwork. However, the most anticipated outing for them was the all day trip to Philadelphia where they visited the newly opened National Museum of American Jewish History To include a secular piece to this trip, students visited Ben Franklin’s home and Independence Hall.

Our students also took some trips where they were the stars of the show themselves. Singing for a large lunchtime audience at the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) conference, as well as entertaining holiday shoppers with Chanukah songs at Kenilworth Mall had us out and about.

Field trips are an essential part of learning, not only for their exposure to new places, the arts and drama. They help foster teamwork, good manners, socialization and correct decorum. For Jewish day schools, they allow opportunities for students to explore places of significance and importance to their heritage, as we are fortunate to have many such places within our grasp. Parents should always inquire about the availability of field trips when looking for a school, as they are invaluable curricular tools.

The Krieger Schechter community congratulates the graduating Class of 2011. After years of embracing Derech Eretz, gaining a working knowledge of Torah and Talmud, mastering Hebrew, learning Spanish, studying for tests, writing research papers and essays, solving algebraic equations, experimenting with velocity and acceleration, and celebrating special events and holidays, our 8th grade students graduated on Thursday, June 3 at 7pm in the Chizuk Amuno Sanctuary.

We applaud their growth and acclaim their achievements. Along with their family and friends, the faculty and staff of Krieger Schechter are proud of these students, as individuals and as a class, and look forward to celebrating this milestone with them. The graduates will be attending a variety of highly competitive independent and public schools next year. Many of them will continue their Jewish education in day schools and Chizuk Amuno’s Netivon High School program.