Exercising the Right to Vote!


On November 6th, while adults around North America went out to vote, the children of our Early Childhood Center also exercised their right to vote. Although they didn't vote on matters of national importance, voting on the preference of apple juice to grape juice was a very relevant decision. Grape juice won in a 57 to 30 victory over apple juice! This week, the entire faculty of Akiva Hebrew Day School had the opportunity to "professionally develop" in ways that were relevant to their age group. Sponsored by Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education, Early Childhood Educators from Jewish institutions throughout the state joined together at Temple Beth El for a full day of engaging and thought provoking activities. Beginning with a keynote, Marty Applebaum whose theme was "Say Yes and get more co-operation" all about the benefits of positive reinforcement.

Workshops throughout the day included our very own 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Anita Batt, who presented a toolbox of instructional strategies to support phonemic awareness and literacy schools for preschoolers. Lizzie Rothstein engaged the participants with instructional strategies to support structure and routine for all types of students with learning challenges. Another popular presenter was Lori Lasday who presented "my body is Israel" an interactive and entertaining way of teaching preschoolers the geography of Israel using all their body parts. The endnote, Rabbi Muller, of partners in Torah closed with the inspiring message conveying the values and practices of love and kindness in an enjoyable, inspiring and relevant manner.

Teacher spotlight:

Mrs. Rivkah Nachlas

We are spotlighting Mrs. Nachlas this week as a way of showing our Hakarat Hatov & Yasher Koach on all the wonderful ways she makes the  Judaic component of the Kindergarten curriculum "come to life". This week, for Parashat Chaye Sarah, the students participated in a mock wedding celebrating the parasha including dancing and gift making (just like Yitzchak presented to Rivkah). Mrs. Nachlas has been teaching at Akiva for over 18 years. In addition to receiving the Grinspoon Steinhardt award for teacher excellence in 2009, Mrs. Nachlas brings her own style and enthusiasm to teaching. She knows that all students can learn and she supports them with love and affection. Wonderful job on the wedding! Pictures to come next week!