Lion's Share - November 2016

College Skills for the Future

Curriculum Elections November 2016 | Tishrei-Cheshvan 5777

Community Lawyer and Civic Leader

Juda and Maria Diener Lower School | Samuel and Henrietta Scheck Middle School | Ben Lipson Upper School

LION’S SHARE

Welcome to Lion’s Share: Scheck Hillel Community School’s Grade 6-12 bulletin covering news about curriculum, college counseling and our community.

Connect with the names, faces and initiatives that make Scheck Hillel a college preparatory school that develops global citizens with enduring Jewish identity and values. For more school information, please visit eHillel.org.

Curriculum Elections Provide Window to Real-World Events

No lesson was more “real world” for AP U.S. Government students than the 2016 presidential political campaign. Scheck Hillel social studies teachers like Betsy Hoff dedicated classroom time to helping students break down the ever-evolving—and often confusing—voting landscape. In recent discussions, students addressed the impact of language on the political process. Charlie Israel (Grade 12) values time devoted to these discussions: “They help us get more engaged with the world.

We get a window of time to touch base with what is going on.”

Mrs. Hoff agrees; elections are the ideal case study for practicing critical thinking and analytical skills and staying current on major world events.

debates on campus. Responding to student questions gathered by moderator Yehudis Benhamou, Capstone Senior Seminar and Social Studies Chair, Avi and Abigail made the case for their policies, deflecting attacks on character and experience.

Visit eHillel.org’s media gallery to enjoy a short video clip of the debate!

Grade 6-12 audiences were treated to another educational experience led by seniors Avi Bryan and Abigail Winograd, who took on the roles of the presidential candidates in mock

In these and other school-based actvities, Scheck Hillel students were insightful and passionate: traits that underpin a healthy, participatory democracy.

The election season was capped by a mock election, with Grade 6-12 students and teachers casting votes electronically in Scheck Hillel voting booths. Ava Marmor (Grade 9) was glad to have the chance to express her own opinion through the vote; Judaic Studies teacher Rabbi Yaakov Boyd enjoyed voting in school as much as he did in his precinct.

College Counseling Preparing Students for Jobs that Don’t Yet Exist Scheck Hillel’s millenial generation will be graduating from high school through the year 2022, but a 2013 Oxford University study is conveying a message for today: about half of American jobs are at risk of being swallowed up by advances in automation and other technological advancements.

In anticipation of these changes, Scheck Hillel’s Head of Upper School & Director of College Counseling Vanessa Donaher and Head of Lower School Monica Wagenberg sound out on the skills students should cultivate now to prepare for the 21st century workplace.

Vanessa Donaher: Students should cultivate skills that will allow for the highest degree of versatility and flexibility including effective communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.

Monica Wagenberg: At a young age, we start to focus on the skills required to work with others and create with purpose. It is important to allow children to make mistakes and to discover the lessons that emanate from effort and perseverance.

To prepare students for success in college and career, Scheck Hillel is laserfocused on providing not just a rich array of content area knowledge, but also opportunities to acquire these transferrable, “forever” skills. In Lower School, for example, students practice computational thinking via KindergartenGrade 5 lessons in coding, which require problem-solving and trial and error. In the center-based instructional model, students work in small groups in a safe space, where mistakes lead to iteration and growth mindsets.

Community

In Upper School, Design/STEM and Visual & Performing Arts courses also prepare for the workplace of the future.

In Grade 10 students design their own learning through a yearlong project. And in Grade 12, students learn business and entrepreneurial skills in their economics course and address “Big Questions” through the Senior Capstone Seminar.

Opportunities in STEM innovation, robotics, political advocacy and student government develop the skills needed not only to be prepared for jobs that don’t yet exist, but to CREATE them as well.

The future today: an automated Uber vehicle

Q&A With Adam Schwartzbaum ‘03, Lawyer and Civic Leader Theater Arts. I also graduated Phi Beta Kappa. After performing a year of national service with City Year in Washington, D.C., I attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School as a Levy Scholar, where I earned my J.D. What community activities are you involved in?

Since moving back to Miami in 2011, I have taken on a variety of leadership roles, such as becoming a member of the Board of Directors of Temple Menorah, a member of the Board of Directors of Nu Deco Ensemble, a member of the Israel Bonds Young Investor Society Board, a Shepard Broad Fellow with the American Jewish Committee, a district coordinator for J-Street with the Office of Congresswoman Federica Wilson, and the CoChair of the South Florida Chapter of the American Constitution Society.

Where do you live?

Downtown Miami

Courtesy of Adam Schwartzbaum

What is your current profession, and where do you work? How did you come to work in this field?

I am a litigation associate at Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L. in Coral Gables, Florida.

In a typical week in this position, what do you do?

I represent a variety of clients – mostly Florida municipalities and other government entities – in disputes at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal court. In a typical week I am handling one of the many aspects of litigation, from research and drafting pleadings, motions, and briefs, to taking depositions and arguing in court.

What educational path did you follow?

After Scheck Hillel, I attended Brandeis University as Justice Brandeis Scholar where I earned a B.A., summa cum laude, in Politics and English & American History, as well as a minor in

One of the things I am most passionate about, however, is my work as the Team Captain of Team Blue Card Miami. The Blue Card is a national organization that raises money to support Holocaust survivors living in poverty. In Miami-Dade County, The Blue Card partners with Jewish Community Services to provide direct financial assistance to hundreds of needy survivors on a monthly basis. For the last five years, I have helped lead a team that runs the Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon every year as a fundraiser for this organization. Last year, we raised over $30,000 for our survivors. It is incredibly gratifying to see the team continue to grow year after year, and I would encourage anyone reading this with an interest in running to contact me to learn more about becoming part of our team!

What is one essential academic or life skill you honed at Scheck Hillel?

Scheck Hillel is the place where I first learned to hone my critical reading and writing skills – skills that I use every day in my practice of law.

Read Adam Schwartzbaum’s full Q&A at eHillel.org/alumni.

Alumni are encourged to submit updates to Joana (Wagenberg) Kirsch ‘95, Associate Director of Development/Alumni Relations at kirsch@eHillel.org.