Schools

Partnership helps educators better understand and help struggling learners in mainstream classrooms

The Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB) and Hidden Sparks are celebrating the fifth year of a collaborative effort to help struggling learners in mainstream classes. As part of the partnership, HALB utilizes an embedded Hidden Sparks Coach, Tamar Bauman, PhD, who works with educators on-site each week while also mentoring the school’s other education coaches.

We are taught that more than the good student desires to learn, the good teacher desires to teach. The capable mechanech does more than simply give over information. Every lesson taught properly becomes an act of impression. When done correctly, the mind, body, and heart are all engaged. Imagination flows, and abstract concepts are concretized and put into action. As a parent, I often hear about an exceptional teacher or extraordinary rebbi. But it is rare to hear about a school filled with spectacular teachers and rabbanim who utilize every method at their disposal towards a single and sacred goal. Indeed, I have found that The Cheder has a reputation for being more than an educational institution; it is a devoted learning center sparing no expense and ensuring no child is ever left behind. It is therefore a great pleasure to interview the man behind the method, Rabbi Meir Chaim Gutfreund, Founder and Menahel of The Cheder.

Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ) Grades 1-5 enjoyed a special “Peulat Tevet” organized by Morah Osnat Fried, Elementary School Judaic Studies Teacher, and Rabbi Michael Ribalt, Elementary School Assistant Principal. The students learned about the miracle of the Hebrew language being spoken again, after 2,000 years of no spoken Hebrew. They watched a short video about the life and accomplishments of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, and ended the activity with a fun game of Bingo in the Hebrew language.

Many in the Jewish world have been following the historic rise of Yeshiva University’s basketball team, The Maccabees, since well before the pandemic, when their dramatic series of consecutive wins sent waves throughout the world of basketball and within the Jewish Orthodox community. Back then, they had a 45-game winning streak, the second longest in Division III history, which began with the second game of the 2019-2020 season that saw YU win 27 consecutive regular season games, a conference championship, and two NCAA tournament games as the team reached the Sweet 16 before the remainder of the post-season was canceled due to the pandemic. They were one of the favorites to win the Division III national championship each of the last two years, but last year’s tournament was canceled by COVID-19 before the season concluded.

MTA Freshmen had an incredible time on their Freshman Shabbaton at the Hudson Valley Resort. The exciting trip began with laser tag on Thursday night and continued on through Friday and Shabbos with lively davening, meaningful learning programs, beautiful s’udos, fun games, team-building activities, sports, swimming, and so much more.

Shevach High School enjoyed its annual Shabbaton on Parshas VaY’chi, at the Lake House Hotel and Resort in Upstate New York. Under the leadership of Shevach Menaheles Mrs. Shulamith Insel, the Shabbaton planning left no detail unattended to. Mrs. Debbie Meltzer, Shabbaton coordinator, and Mrs. Devorah Kovitz, Shevach Educational Administrator, worked tirelessly to ensure that students and staff alike would enjoy inspirational lectures, fun activities, delicious meals, and comfortable accommodations.