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This past week, HAFTR eighth grade students started on their annual Names, Not Numbers® project, an initiative that connects students with Holocaust survivors to ensure their stories are preserved for future generations. This meaningful project provides students with a rare opportunity to engage with survivors, documenting their life stories before, during, and after the war. By participating, students not only develop their historical research and interviewing skills but also gain firsthand insight into the realities of the Holocaust.

On Thursday, September 26, YCQ students kicked off the school year with a series of exciting educational trips. Second grade had a fantastic day exploring Marine Life at the New York Aquarium. Sixth graders visited Skyscape, an interactive Spy Museum for thrilling insights into espionage, while the Seventh grade visited the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum. The Eighth grade ventured to Ellis Island and the 9/11 Memorial to reflect on these important monuments of American history.

This week, we marked one year since the tragic events of October 7, and the pain, suffering, and loss that have continued since then. To commemorate the day, HALB had various programs throughout the school day geared toward the different ages of students. HALB classes started the day United in Tefilah with other yeshivas over Zoom. Among other things, students participated in a balloon release, sang beautiful songs, watched a video of all the chesed and positivity they did for Israel over the year, and ended the day with a school-wide kumzitz. It was truly a beautiful and meaningful day. When the world is filled with darkness, we will stand proud as Jews and be the light.

The Lashon Tov Club at the Rambam Mesivta held its kickoff event this past Wednesday. The whole school heard from Queens Assemblyman Sam Berger, who discussed the importance of watching one’s words in both the political and personal arenas. Following the assembly, the boys then enjoyed a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese.

Ezra Academy recently hosted its annual Back to School Night, welcoming parents into the heart of their children’s educational experience. This event allowed the school’s dedicated teachers, rabbis, and morahs to introduce the curriculum for the upcoming year, but more importantly, it set the tone for the school’s core belief: Education is a partnership between school and home.

Mercaz Academy students have been busily preparing for Rosh HaShanah in many different ways. Students in sixth and fourth grade have adapted the Hochman Technique (Writing Revolution) to create short essays in Hebrew about Rosh HaShanah topics; fifth graders have been analyzing the structure of the Rosh HaShanah t’filah and studying the original Torah sources for the sounding of the shofar; third graders have created creative and fact-filled “lap books” for Rosh HaShanah that they can consult along with their machzorim. Second graders have identified the simanim traditionally eaten on Rosh HaShanah and their symbolic meaning. In the younger grades, students have incorporated Rosh HaShanah into their project-based learning and have made their own cards, shofaros, honey dishes, and apple-themed crafts as vehicles to learn the laws and customs of Rosh HaShanah.