HAFTR Happenings 01-2021

HAFTR HAPPENINGS ISSUE 3 • SHEVAT 5781 • JANUARY 2021

HAFTR INNOVATES FUNDRAISING IN THE COVID ERA INCREDIBLY SUCCESSFUL DINNERTHON

TABLE OF CONTENTS EC Early Childhood News • P. 5

In lieu of an annual Winter dinner this year, HAFTR and the incredible HAFTR PTA joined forces to hold The HAFTR Dinnerthon. HAFTR’s Director of Development and Innovation Benny Gross, along with Ari Witkes hosted the live, five-hour

LS Lower School News • P. 7

show, filled with amazing highlights of the school, as well as entertainment for the entire community.

The Dinnerthon streamed live on January 10, but took weeks of

MS Middle School News • P. 9

work behind the scenes by our dedicated committee; Mo Blinder, Ari Freundlich, Sharona Hoffman, Chani Jeter, Inna Kern, Dara Karhu, Malka Perl, and Evan Small, and event coordinators, HAFTR’s Director of Marketing Shani Seewald and Benny Gross.

HS High School News • P. 11

“We wanted

to do this telethon to show our support for all our incredible staff.

I’m proud of the success we have had keeping our school open for in-person learning since August.” said Benny Gross. “We also wanted to help our families, who tuned in for over five hours, forget everything going on in the world and have some fun.”

The HAFTR Dinnerthon honored and paid tribute to HAFTR’s Heroes: its staff, faculty, and administrators; and the incredible effort they have put forth since COVID began.

HAFTR President Neil Wiener remarked “Our extraordinary staff has exemplified the values of grit, ingenuity, caring, unity, and service, as they’ve addressed one hurdle after another, clear evidence that HAFTR continues to lead the field in yeshiva innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception.”

“We wanted

to do this telethon to show our support for all our incredible staff. I’m proud of the success we have had

keeping our school open for in-person learning since August.” said Benny Gross. “We also wanted to help our families, who tuned in for over five hours, forget everything going on in the world and have some fun.”

The HAFTR Dinnerthon honored and paid tribute to HAFTR’s Heroes: its staff, faculty, and administrators; and the incredible effort they have put forth since COVID began.

HAFTR President Neil Wiener remarked “Our extraordinary staff has exemplified the values of grit, ingenuity, caring, unity, and service, as they’ve addressed one hurdle after another, clear evidence that HAFTR continues to lead the field in yeshiva innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception.”

A lot of hard work behind the scenes made reopening the school in August a reality. HAFTR has invested significant amounts of time, funding, and resources to provide in-person learning and growth opportunities while keeping its students and staff safe. Being able to provide in-person learning is a gift the school does not take for granted.

“This year has been an exercise in tireless efforts to ensure the health and safety of every one of our students and staff,” HAFTR Executive Director Ari Solomon shared. “We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to each and every staff member. To every administrator, teacher, maintenance worker, nurse, kitchen staff, and security guard. You have accomplished the unthinkable. To this, I say, yasher koach and thank you for being part of our HAFTR family.”

Continuing to provide the HAFTR standard of academic excellence, with the level of COVID safety it has established in recent months comes at significant cost. The funds raised from the Dinnerthon will help offset the incredible volume of projects required to reopen and maintain HAFTR’s in-person learning during the current climate, and ensure its ability to keep school open and operating at the highest levels.

“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the entire community during this campaign,” Ari Solomon said. “On behalf of the administration and the Board, we thank everyone who generously sponsored and contributed before and during the Dinnerthon, and encourage anyone else to donate now.”

The entire Board and administration of HAFTR extends its heartfelt gratitude to all the staff and faculty on this recognition of their extraordinary contributions to HAFTR and our community at large.

The HAFTR Dinnerthon is available to view.

Anyone interested in donating still has time by visiting HAFTRdinnerthon.org.

Just a little note to say: As we rapidly approach Winter Break, we have an opportunity to reflect on the many accomplishments of the first half of this incredible school year.

We are thankful for a wonderful semester of in-person learning, and wish our students, parents, and colleagues a safe, enjoyable vacation. !‫חופשה נעימה‬ Mr. Neil Wiener, President Mr. Amir Kornblum, Chairman of the Board Mr. Ari Solomon, Executive Director HAFTR Early Childhood Mrs. Cyndy Goldberg, Director HAFTR Lower School Ms. Joy Hammer, Principal Ms. Tova Zucker, Assistant Principal HAFTR Middle School Mr. Joshua Gold, Principal

HAFTR High School Ms. Naomi Lippman, Principal Dr. Josh Wyner, Associate Principal Rabbi Yitzi Riselsheimer, Dean of Limudei Kodesh Rabbi Ira Wallach, Coordinator of Limudei Kodesh

Easy Acc COV ess to A ID F orm ll s!

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EARLY CHILDHOOD PRE-K LITERACY The Handwriting Without Tears curriculum in Pre-K continues each week. The students have recently been learning the letters C and O. They created

C olorful C ollage C reations and snacked O lives, a food that many of the yeladim

on

had never tasted. The next letters are J and D.

SIDDURIM RISHONIM Recently, the Pre-K yeladim received their own siddur, which they decorated beautifully. In honor of the sweet occasion, they were treated to ice cream, but that was just the “icing on the cake”! There are now chazzan/chazzanit charts in all the classrooms and the yeladim can predict who will be next to lead the class in tefillah. The chazzan or chazzanit hands out the siddurim, announces “b’vakasha lakoom” when appropriate and “b’vakasha lashevet” when appropriate. S/he also instructs their classmates “yad yamin al ha-aynayim” for Shema, and collects the siddurim when they are done. Everyone is already learning to follow each tefillah in his/her own siddur. We are so proud of them!

ART In art with Morah Farrah, the children learned about Georges Seurat’s pointillism. They practiced their patience by making a dotted picture using paints and markers.

WINTER IS HERE! The change in season and change of

CHANUKAH BROUGHT TO LIFE

weather is certainly a hot topic in the Early Childhood classrooms and on all the bulletin boards in our school!

The anticipation for Chanukah’s arrival began as soon as Thanksgiving was over. Yeladim had a “miraculous” time telling and retelling the story of Chanukah. They become familiar with many new words (enhancing their vocabulary and language arts) including Beit Hamikdash, Maccabim, Yevonim, Kad Shemen Zayit, as well as Sivevon, Neirot, and Levivot. Understanding why we celebrate Chanukah led into discussions of how we celebrate Chanukah.

These discussions sprung us into action to create beautiful and meaningful projects to enhance our celebration of the chag. As a special treat, the children got to experience a fabulous interactive retelling of the Chanukah story by the very talented percussionist of Drum Tales! They were delighted to provide the sound effects for the dramatization!

Scientifically, we very enthusiastically discuss the many changes that Winter brings - no more leaves on the trees, cold and windy days, snowy days, ice on the ground, nighttime coming faster, the different clothing we are now wearing, and the different activities in which we engage. It was also noted that some animals migrate to a warmer climate and others hibernate. Our classes are filled with excellent observers and they love to share their experiences. The first snowstorm of the year certainly added excitement and wonder to our study of Winter! Classes graphed their favorite things to do in the snow. The categories were making snowballs, playing in the snow, making snowmen, and sledding. Sledding had the most votes!

LOWER SCHOOL MATH MOMENTS Division, denominators, decimals, digits… and dreidels! The month of December gave us the perfect opportunity to apply our mathematical thinking to Chanukah. Students and their families stepped up to the challenge by creating Math Moments. Students created budgets for making latkes, used mathematical tools for measuring ingredients, doubled recipes, and divided their latkes evenly among their family. Others played dreidel, assigning different amounts to each of the letters and adding their total winnings at the end of the game. A popular activity was figuring out the total number of hours the candles or oil burned each night and then over eight nights in total. All participants proudly shared their Math Moment with their classmates and picked up some math themed prizes for their efforts. Stay tuned for making more family moments.

LEARNING ABOUT THE WORLD

UPCOMING...

HEALTH WEEK

Third grade students have been engaged in a unit on Geography. After learning about the continents and oceans they are ready to zoom into our part of the world and learn about the United States. Singing their song about the continents is a favorite lunchtime activity. We look forward to them singing their way across the states as they learn about their capitals, flags and landmarks.

We have purchased some amazing new games to help them with this unit of study. If you are traveling over this vacation, please discuss the direction you are traveling, the distance from New York, and which time zone it is located. Take pictures of any landmarks and feel free to share with the class.

We look forward to celebrating Health Week next month. This year’s theme is Germs.

Each year, a highlight

of the week is having parents come to school to do something with their children’s classes. Due to the pandemic we welcome parents and grandparents to do their creative activities over Zoom.

We are looking for parents to read to us, conduct experiments, and get our bodies moving. No celebration at HAFTR is complete without food. If you would like to guide us in making healthy shakes, fruit kabobs, salads or anything else “healthy,” we would love to cook along with you.

TU B’SHVAT

While Tu B’Shvat falls out over the break, we used the days leading up to the vacation learning about the chag. In music, On Sunday, January 10, first grade

students learned numerous songs, both traditional

students received their siddurim at the

and new. Students enjoyed singing, dancing and

Chagigat Siddur sponsored in memory of

playing musical instruments as they announced,

Gilad Kalter. This celebration was unique, as

‫בשבט הגיע חג לאילנות״‬

families, including grandparents,

‫ טו‬. ‫״‬

participated

‫ מי שם בשקיק‬, ‫ דפיק דפוק דפיק‬,”

in a drive-in. Projected on the screen were

“

students singing with great energy and

Kindergarten children chimed in as the shivat

enthusiasm. While watching the show, families

haminim tried to fit into a “small baggie” in their

enjoyed their drive-in snacks. Students then

performance of

proceeded to line up outside their cars to

Hebrew classic. One by one, each of the shivat

receive their siddurim, boxes of treats and take

haminim jumped into a bag and were ultimately

home projects. While we missed celebrating

eaten by Dovid. Throughout the week, Morah

with our entire grade, students who were in

Debbie, introduced the story and students created

quarantine had their siddurim delivered to their

their own books and removable shivat haminim

homes.

cards. Having heard the story several times,

Thank you to all our sponsors.

‫בשקיק שבעה‬

was the refrain the

an adaptation of a

students were able to retell it on their own.

This week, students in first, second and third grades, took a tour

of Israel. Noone worried

about passports or quarantining and students traveled light as there was no need for any luggage. In fact, they did not even leave the building at all as students toured on our giant map of Israel. Students traveled with Maya, a raindrop that made her way from Har Chermon all the way down to the Negev. As they traveled, students learned about the geography of the land as well as the importance of water and planting trees.

Students then created terrariums using a plastic container. They planted in layers and look forward to watching their herb garden grow. Please be sure to document as your garden grows by taking pictures and sharing them with us.

Fourth and fifth grade students prepared for Tu B’Shvat at a seder facilitated by Rabbi Feigenbaum. Students learned about each of the minim and their significance and then tasted each of them. This year Tu B’Shvat

VISIT VIMEO.COM/HAFTRVIDEOS TO SEE ALL THE PERFORMANCES

falls on Thursday, January 28. To plant trees in Israel go to http://my.jnf.org/HAFTR.

MIDDLE SCHOOL JSAT

Best Selves Well-Being Initiative with Dr. Yali Werzberger

This year, Judaic Studies Assessment Tests (JSAT) will be administered in the Middle School in Chumash, Gemara and Navi classes. The purpose of these tests is to assess the students' progress in each subject and will serve as feedback to the individual teacher regarding the overall comprehension of the material that was taught during the first half of the school year. We look forward to celebrating their academic

EIGHTH GRADE POWER OF STORY CAPSTONE PROJECT

growth and accomplishments of each

Earlier this month, eighth grade students were introduced to the Power of

student.

Story Capstone Project by Mr. Gold, Dr. Werzberger, Ms. Zweibon, Mrs. Krakauer, and Mrs. Balsam. As part of this year-long project, students explore how their unique family story, coupled with the values that have been instilled in them both at home and at HAFTR, will position them to write the next chapters of their lives as individuals committed to the betterment of themselves and the world.

Eighth graders have embarked on the first step of this project, creating a family tree. Students found this a meaningful experience, as they had the opportunity to speak with parents and grandparents about values their family members displayed, and about the defining moments in their ancestor’s lives. Indeed, research highlights how simply knowing one’s

Rosh Chodesh Davening

family story provides a person with grit and resilience when facing challenges. Students spoke excitedly about what they have learned, and

Rosh Chodesh has become a special

are looking forward to the next steps of the project!

day in our division. Evey Rosh Chodesh,

MINDFULNESS MATTERS

students are privileged to learn about Tefillah during their Navi class. Aside from delving into the meaning of the Tefillah, students learn about the spiritual significance and relevance of the Tefillah. So far classes have covered Modeh Ani, Ma Tovu, Elokai Neshama, Bracha, and Baruch She’amar. In addition, on Rosh Chodesh, each davening group

Students in all grades learned more about the value and benefit of mindfulness throughout the school day and during advisory. Students learned that mindfulness is all about awareness and focusing on the present without judgement or attachment to the moment. Mindfulness is the opposite of automatic, habitual behavior, and also the opposite of rigidly clinging to the moment. Mindfulness is so powerful, because it allows us to direct our attention to whatever we choose. Attention is such a powerful tool, as focusing attention on any particular thing is a key step towards mastery.

acknowledges the “daveners of the month.” These are the students that excel in Tefillah. Students receive special certificates and treats to mark this accomplishment.

A highlight of the mindfulness curriculum is when students actually practiced mindfulness skills by learning how to focus on their breathing.

Students also excitedly played the "Snap, Crackle, and Pop" Game (ask your children all about it!), teaching us how meaningful it is to participate fully in events and how mindfulness becomes so critical to participation when there are distractions all around. A great time was had by all and we are proud of how our students are incorporating mindfulness in their everyday lives.

BEIT HAMIKDASH MODELS The 8th grade girls at HAFTR Middle School built their own Beit

MIDDAH OF THE MONTH PROGRAM

Hamikdash models. They researched their assigned Kli and built replicas based on their research. They then presented their work in

Our “Middah of the Month''

our annual Beit Hamikdash fair. It was so exciting to see the

program has proven to be a growth

culmination of all their work! Iy”h we should be zoche to see the third

experience for all. Students learned

Beit Hamikdash bimheira beyameinu.

about the middah of empathy through sources in Tanach and then applied it to a school-wide game on the applicability of the middah.

We look forward to launching the new middah: “The Power of Speech'' after winter break.

ROBOTICS RETURNS TO MIDDLE SCHOOL The second annual CIJE VEX Robotics competition was held outside of HAFTR Middle School

PRINCIPAL’S COFFEE WITH MR. GOLD

on Friday January 15. Over 40 students from 8 different

On Wednesday, December 23, HAFTR

cohorts competed, successfully

Middle School hosted its Principal's

navigating COVID guidelines to

Coffee on Zoom for all parents.

complete a game-ready robot.

Focusing on growth mindset, the

This year's challenge required

workshop explored the research around,

students to maneuver risers into

and applications of, the concept of

predetermined patterns, and

growth mindset.

students did a marvelous job.

Middle School Principal, the workshop

HAFTR Middle School is so

was well attended, and identified

proud of its robotics team and

effective ways for school and home to

their hard work and success.

partner in reinforcing process-based

Special thanks to the robotics

praise and how students can foster a

faculty advisors Mrs. Gittel

healthy relationship with mistakes and

Grant and Rabbi Baruch Noy.

failure.

Led by Mr. Gold,

HIGH SCHOOL CLUBS >

HAFTR EXCELS IN MODEL CONGRESS BY: MEIR FARKAS

JUDAICS >

MEANINGFUL LEARNING ON YOM IYUN BY: JORDANA MASTOUR HAFTR High School held its annual Yom Iyun, a day of scholarship and

HAFTR High School’s Virtual Model

learning, virtually, on the fast day of Asara B’Tevet, Friday, December 25.

Congress continues in full swing, hosting

This day of remote learning gave students ample ability to observe the

another successful tournament on

fast in the comfort of their homes, while simultaneously engaging in

December 22, 2020. Congratulations to

meaningful and stimulating learning. Teachers offered lessons on a wide

HAFTR students who walked away with

range of topics including the future of humanity, introduction to Yiddish,

both 1st and 2nd place honors. HAFTR

stress-management, cooking, gratitude, and even lessons on SCUBA

senior Jordana Mastour and junior Lulu

diving. Students attended sessions on topics that already interested

Morse took 1st Place with a perfect

them as well as subjects that were unfamiliar. These unique sessions

score of 4, meaning that all judges

provided students with the ability to learn for the sake of learning and

ranked them 1st in their sessions.

gain new insights and perspectives, without the pressure of tests or

Second Place was awarded to juniors

assignments.

Devorah Gottesman and freshman Kaitlin Pollack, who earned a combined score of 5. HAFTR Senior Daniel Singer nabbed a 3rd Place honor as well.

The tournament was attended by students from HAFTR, SAR, Maayanot, Flatbush, Central, Lynbrook, TABC, DRS, Ezra Academy, and SKA, with a total of 60 students participating.

Under the leadership of Coach Alex Libkind, HAFTR students undertook serious preparation, which greatly paid off with the students’ impressive performances. The topics in this tournament included some of our nation’s toughest issues, like making Election Day a Federal Holiday, Banning

RUACH >

CHANUKAH FESTIVITIES AT HAFTR HIGH SCHOOL BY: JORDANA MASTOUR

Photo IDs for Voting, Mandating the

HAFTR celebrated Chanukah joyously and safely with many festivities,

Pledge of Allegiance, Rehabilitative

including school-wide roller skating (socially distanced, of course).

Programs for Ex-Convicts with Small

HAFTR also surprised students on Wednesday, December 16, by

Business Incentives, Incentivizing Real

announcing the commencement of the first-ever Grade Wars. Students

Estate Owners to Install Green Roofs,

competed in numerous activities, games, challenges, and tasks

Sanctions on Myanmar, and Legalizing

throughout the day, while strictly following Covid-19 protocols. They

Marijuana.

engaged in trivia competitions, crazy races, doughnut decorating, dreidel competitions, tests of Torah knowledge, chess, Jenga, bingo, and

“I am very proud of the HAFTR Model

puzzles. Students also collaborated to create presentations including a

Congress Program and how we are

creative video showcasing their HAFTR spirit, lessons of Torah, and

leading the league in hosting so many

Instagram accounts to document moments from each event. Students

schools from the tri-state area in these

displayed outstanding achdut, creativity, school spirit, engagement, and

monthly tournaments via Zoom,” said

sportsmanship throughout the day. Congratulations to the Freshman

Coach Alex Libkind.

class for winning HAFTR’s first Grade Wars.

CHESED AT THE DINNERTHON Demonstrating their commitment to chesed, as part of The HAFTR Dinnerthon on Sunday, January 10, HAFTR High School students from all grades took time out to give back and help others. In a joint project between HAFTR High School’s Chesed Club, Kosher Response, and the Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula (JCCRP) Food Pantry, students led by Rabbi Gary Slochowsky, HAFTR High School Chesed Coordinator took part in the project. HAFTR students Michelle Kirschner, Hannah Goldenberg, Hannah Nierenberg, Sammy Tisser, Zach Gellman, Leor Oved, Justin Herskowitz,

MR. GELMAN SELECTED FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN TEACHERS FELLOWSHIP Mr. Jason Gelman, chairman of Humanities at HAFTR High School, has been selected to participate in an exciting new initiative, the

and Annaruth Boxer spent two hours packing over 250 boxes of non-perishable food items for Holocaust survivors and families living in our community facing food insecurity. With the help of Kosher Response and "The Kosher Guru," HAFTR parent Mr. Gabe Boxer, these students stepped up and made the Dinnerthon not only fun, but a meaningful experience for the HAFTR family and the entire community. It was rewarding for HAFTR students to help others in such a direct way.

Abraham Lincoln Teachers Fellowship, an advanced seminar on American history and civilization created by the Tikvah Fund. The Abraham Lincoln Teachers Fellowship is aimed at creating a community of exceptional Jewish day school and yeshiva educators interested in strengthening how we teach American civilization.

A selected group of teachers of American history and related disciplines will spend time in intensive study together with their peers and with worldrenowned guest speakers—reading about and discussing the great themes of American history, with a special emphasis on Jewish themes, taught with imagination and spirit.

The program began this month and runs through

ROBOTICS COMPETITION

May 2021, with advanced seminars every other week on Zoom and guided independent study on subjects of special interest to each individual teacher. The process was a competitive one, with 200 applicants competing for 36 spots. The fellowship culminates with a research paper where

The HAFTR community was treated to an early glimpse of the robots our High School students had created for the CIJE Robotics competition during the Dinnerthon, where senior Tanchum Yonk explained the rules of the competition, and exhibited his team’s robot in action.

participants work closely with a faculty advisor.

On Monday, January 11, HAFTR High School students Mr. Gelman, a highly respected department chair and revered social studies teacher, is excited to participate in the Fellowship. “I spend my days teaching history and loving every minute of it,” said Mr. Gelman. “It is not a job but a way of life, one that brings me a great amount of happiness and fulfillment. I’m truly grateful to work with smart and insightful students who help me create an

contended. Students designed their robots from scratch, positioning motors and components so the robots could lift the Vex balls and put them in the goals. Students also programmed the robots using original code. The collaboration among team members was in overdrive as the competition approached, and their dedication impressed their faculty advisors, Mrs. Bohensky and Rabbi Noy. CLICK HERE FOR A GLIMPSE!

environment where ideas and intellectual curiosity are celebrated.” He looks forward to sharing what he learns with teachers and students at HAFTR High School.

As we await the final results of the competition, what we already know is that the HAFTR students enjoyed themselves and displayed school spirit with pride.