Hadashot
Schechter News Fall/Winter 2018
Table of Contents Stronger Together 2
Shinshinim Come to Schechter 5 Every Student is a Leader Part 1 6 Pedagogy of Partnership: Hevruta and the Triangle of Learning 8 Script for Success An Interview with David Rapaport ’92 10 I Had to Hit a Wall to Make a Wall An Interview with Mia Schon ’05 12 Data Stories An Interview with Mike Dezube ’04 14 Conversations and Context: Understanding the IVF Experience in Israel An Interview with Alisa Feldman ’10 16 Custom-Made, Self-Made An Interview with Ari Gerard ’17 18 Riding High in Krakow An Interview with Jenny Friedland ’09 20 Renaissance Man An Interview with Ben Park ’02 22 Healing the Animal World An Interview with Ariel Fagen ’99 24 Faculty Notes 26 Class Notes 27 A Schechter Education Goes Everywhere You Do / Car Magnets 28 Bring Schechter Pride to Your Simcha or Celebration
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CREDITS Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Fine Maroun Photos Heidi Aaronson ’96, Diana Levine and Stephanie Fine Maroun Graphic Design Tania Helhoski, BirdDesign Printing Litho-craft Printers We have made every effort to ensure accuracy. Please contact hadashot@ssdsboston.org.
Letter from Rebecca Lurie, Head of School
Dear Friends, A
s you read this issue of Hadashot, you will meet the people, read the stories and hear about the work we are doing at Schechter today and every day. You are sure to have a deeper understanding of what we mean when we say, “There is no limit to better.” Schechter’s community is comprised of students, families, faculty and alumni who thrive on creativity and self-examination, change and reinvention. This is a community who is not afraid to stretch intellectually or address challenging issues in the name of tikkun olam (repairing the world). This is a community whose members express their Jewishness in as many ways as there are people. We invite you to lean in and immerse yourself in Hadashot which comes to you with a fresh look, expanded alumni section, opportunity to order Schechter swag and story after story that reinforces why there is, indeed, no limit to better at Schechter.
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Stronger Together: Schechter’s Landmark Grant for Day School Inclusion
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arlier this year, Schechter was honored to be selected as one of two recipients
of the Alfred and Gilda Slifka Family Day School Inclusion Initiative, joining MetroWest Jewish Day School of Framingham. The grant will provide $5,000,000 over a decade to both schools, half of which will be allocated to Schechter, allowing the school to expand substantially on its trajectory of supporting the widest possible array of learners. Partnering with Boston’s regional special education agency, Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, Schechter’s administration and educators are deeply involved in mapping the programming for the start of school in September 2019.
Taking off from Schechter’s already significant capacity to deliver academic excellence while fulfilling the needs of those who learn differently, the grant paves the way for admitting new students with learning needs or challenges that were historically beyond the school’s reach. The inclusion programming will be led by a case manager with strong behavioral experience and a team of seasoned faculty, special educators and coordinating service providers including speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists and psychologists. With the advent of augmented services under the Slifka grant, Schechter will welcome students with academic, social/emotional and/or behavioral needs such as anxiety, ADHD, high functioning autism or similar diagnoses. New students will flourish within Schechter’s regular framework, benefitting from the sound educational infrastructure already in place and soon to be complemented by and developed in new directions because of the funding. “Schechter has a proven track record of commitment to academic excellence and building a strong Jewish education on the foundations of Jewish values and community. Schechter plays a critical role in the landscape of Jewish Boston and this initiative will give more families access to the power of a Jewish day school education. This grant and the powerful collaborations that come with it will also empower our schools and our community to lead the way as models of excellence and innovation,” says Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ (CJP) President and CEO, Rabbi Marc Baker. Gilda Slifka, wife of the late Fred Slifka z”l, notes, “Nothing would have pleased Fred more than to see our foundation work with CJP to jump start such an impactful program. He believed, as I do, that inclusion policies and practices benefit the entire school, not just the children with learning challenges and that it is the responsibility of Jewish day schools to develop and provide programs that will help a broader array of student learners reach their full potential educationally.” Head of School Rebecca Lurie adds, “We are committed at Schechter to knowing each and every child deeply as learners and as people. We have created the internal systems to be able to achieve that vision and we are thrilled that the Slifka family and CJP believe in our abilities and are thus eager to invest in our school. Every child is created b’tzelem elohim (in God’s image), and it is our responsibility as educators to see the unique beauty each child brings to our community and support him or her as best we can. There is no holier work than that.” continued on next page
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Support Services
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eaving inclusion programming and a new tier of student support into Schechter’s existing services takes the school’s educational capacity to a new level. Schechter boasts a robust constellation of in-house support, enrichment and social/emotional programming already in place:
Student Intervention Team (SIT) • Director of Support Services/ School Psychologist • Inclusion Facilitator/Case Manager (as of September 2019) • Reading Specialists • Math Coach • Special Education Teachers • Hebrew Coach • Hebrew Support Specialist • Hebrew Enrichment Specialist • ELL (English Language Learners) Support Specialist
Programmatic Opportunities and Collaborations • Partnership with Gateways: Access to Jewish Education and Newton Public Schools to provide consultation, direct services and professional development • B’Yadenu Grant for behavioral training and consultations from a Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Individualized Learning Plans (ILP) for Students • Faculty, school psychologist, campus principals and support team members create an individualized plan based on a student’s areas of need. Accommodations, modifications and skills to be remediated are specified in each plan. • Each student has a point person responsible for providing updates to parents on the student’s progress towards his or her goals stated in the ILPs. • Individualized Student Support (ISS) block for Middle Division students
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Schechter’s inclusion structure is expected to come to fruition as follows: • Students will spend as much of the school day as possible in classrooms among peers with support as needed from faculty and staff members. • Students will receive services from ancillary staff including speech and language therapy, social pragmatics, behavioral consultation and occupational therapy. • Learning will take place in small groups, 1:1 and 1:2 faculty-to-student ratios to enable complex learners to thrive in Schechter’s regular classrooms.
A Year of Service:
Shinshinim Come to Schechter T
hrough partnership with CJP’s Boston-Haifa Connection and the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Shinshinim Young Ambassadors Program pairs Israeli young adults with a variety of schools, synagogues and organizations in the Boston area. Immediately following high school graduation, applicants to the program can be selected to delay beginning their army service for a year in order to perform volunteer service abroad. Shinshinim is a Hebrew acronym for shnat sherut or “year of service.” Two shinshinim, Adar Gitsis of Nahariya and Nitzan Zacharia of Haifa, are weekly visitors to Schechter, bringing programming and activities to all grade levels. Virtual rock stars to the Schechter students, Adar and Nitzan develop activities that bring to life Israeli society, slang, music and culture. Schechter students are captivated as they discover the common threads in something as global as the celebration of Jewish holidays or as down to earth as hobbies. Adar is eager to create bridges between Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora through his shlichut (service). “I want to bring Israeli society to Jews all over the world. I also want Israelis to learn about the significant achievements and difficulties of Jews in other parts of the world.” Nitzan describes this year as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” She comes to her year of service with a keen readiness to share her love of Israeli society, the country’s varied natural resources and love of tradition. Fourth-graders in Evie Weinstein-Park’s General Studies class recently welcomed Adar and Nitzan as part of a project entitled “The Museum of Us.” Evie shares the background behind this yearly project. “I use this unit to introduce the idea that objects tell stories. This is one of our ‘big ideas’ in social studies. At the same time, I benefit by getting to know my students more deeply and they learn more about one another.” For this activity, the shinshinim each laid out a variety of personal objects as a way to introduce themselves to the students and initiate discussion. Students shared their theories for the meaning behind Adar and Nitzan’s objects. Ultimately, the shinshinim explained the importance and symbolism of each of the items they had displayed. David Schockett ’03, Upper School Music Specialist, describes some of the work his students undertook this past November in order to understand the deeper meaning behind music and music theory. David explains the novel contributions of the shinshinsim. “We worked on a unit about performance in the most general sense, namely the way in which we learn to make choices about how we behave in public settings so as to show the version of ourselves we most want to show. One particular lesson was on similarities and differences in the gesturing of different cultures. Adar and Nitzan presented the most iconic Israeli gestures and what they mean. Next, they had the kids try acting out some interactions using those gestures. It was a lot of fun!” When Adar and Nitzan complete their role as shinshinim and they return home to begin service with the Israel Defense Forces, they will have left a lasting mark in many a class at Schechter. True to their own goals, they will also head home with firsthand knowledge of Jewish life in the United States.
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When we think about Leadership at Schechter, we think broadly. Creating opportunities, classroom jobs, grade-level roles and programming are all essential components in developing character and responsibility among our students. We think front and center as well as quiet and behind-the-scenes. We also think large and small. Opportunities – and students – come in many sizes from our littlest learners to our soon-to-be-graduates which translates into a vast array of ageappropriate chances to step into and fulfill the job of leader every day. Underpinning the success of these valuable structured opportunities is Schechter’s commitment to giving students the instinctive understanding that they are capable of spontaneously seeing and seizing moments for leadership on their own. At Schechter, we believe the heart of leadership lies in developing students’ sure-footed self-confidence so that they themselves recognize the moments when they have the ability and moral duty to step up. Our students are encouraged to come forward with their own ideas and are likewise charged with being co-creators, not followers, of our cultural norms.
is served. Every fourth- and fifthgrade student cycles through the Intermediate Division Student Council during which time they plan special programs and activities for the two grades and distribute pizza lunch on Fridays. Taking charge of Birkat HaMazon (blessing after a meal) at lunch, reading Torah or serving as a book group discussion facilitator are frequent, consistent positions for these grade levels. When Middle Division students (6th through 8th grades) run for Student Council each year, they campaign hard on personally designed platforms they believe will create a better school such as adding a Mitzvah Morning to the annual Purim carnival, tossing out trivia questions during Town Meeting
or scheduling regular hot chocolate mornings. Student groups range from a birthday crew committed to decorating a public bulletin board and posting monthly wishes to a celebration committee whose task it is to develop new and meaningful enhancements to holiday observance at school and to model participation and enthusiasm. Topping off the numerous peer programs that partner students with each other and crisscross the grades are opportunities to serve as a recess buddy to a fellow classmate or host a visiting prospective student. In the end, though, it is difficult to match one particular Gan Shelanu duty for its warmth and cuteness factor: Ray of Sunshine. The pint-size holder of this weekly preschool job is responsible for doing a mitzvah or saying something kind to a fellow student.
Every Student is a Leader
Kindergarten students skip buoyantly down the hall when they rotate through the assignment of being morning or afternoon messenger. Third-graders’ enthusiasm resounds in the lunchroom during Shabbat B’Yachad (Shabbat Together), Schechter’s camp-style Shabbat lunch on Fridays, as they lead the Lower School student body in the Parashat HaShavuah (Torah portion of the week) and songs before pizza 6
Part I
Citizenship, public speaking, outreach and leadership are inextricably blended as students are taught the importance of being upstanders, not bystanders. During the week, Student Council gathers a long and noteworthy list of students’ spontaneous, everyday good deeds and initiatives which is then announced at the Upper School Friday lunch: “ ...helped clean up a snack that spilled” “ ...showed someone else how to do a math problem” “ ...hung up a poster in the hallway that had fallen down” “ ...volunteered to lead a song at Ruach Minyan (Spirit Minyan)” “ ...asked the security guard if he had a nice weekend” “ ...went to talk to someone who seemed unhappy” “ ...helped troubleshoot Chromebook issues” “ ...set up chairs for a special tefillot (prayers) on Monday without being asked”
weekly e-letter. Topics range from the different paths one might take in life to the personal qualities essential for living with meaning. They are frequent speakers at Ani Ma’Amin, a regular series at school that is modeled after NPR’s “This I Believe” in which an individual shares a cherished, core belief. In so many ways, finding students in these capacities represents a deliberate shift as students are positioned in and offered roles once reserved for adults in the Schechter community. Not only do students thrive and become stakeholders when they are given purpose and responsibility, they use these experiences as the launching pad for independent leadership and enterprise. This year, Head of School Rebecca Lurie is spearheading a leadership elective for 8th-graders, enabled by the Seeds of Innovation grant from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), from which she graduated in 2001. The grant is designed to support innovative initiatives developed by JTS alumni who serve and have an impact on their local communities throughout the Jewish world. To be part of the elective, students responded to a variety of short essay questions about their personal leadership goals as well as their dreams for instituting a cultural change at school that would endure long after they had graduated. Jam-packed with workshops, field trips and guest speakers, the elective guides students towards becoming introspective, confident self-advocates who are able to leverage their natural
skills and strengths more effectively while developing balance in areas of personal challenge. Since the fall, Rebecca has functioned as a facilitator for these students who have worked collaboratively to zero in on what they would like to change about the Upper School. Participants are now in the process of utilizing the principles of design thinking by creating several prototypes for their project, soliciting and absorbing feedback and cycling through improved versions of their original proposal. At the heart of the initiative is the concept that students will be the guardians of their own community and champions for change if they are given encouragement and inspiration by the educators around them.
Leader
Upper School students have begun making morning announcements this year, sharing important messages in addition to their own content. Student voices are not just heard over the loudspeaker, however, but in a myriad of other situations as public speaking and self-expression are foundational values of a Schechter education. Student authors regularly contribute divrei Torah (words of Torah) to the Shavuon, Schechter’s
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With all the ingredients for character development, responsibility and self-awareness mixed into a Schechter education, it is hardly surprising that students not only relish opportunities for stewardship at school, but also develop their own paths towards leadership. Part II will be featured in the June issue of Hadashot.
Pedagogy of Partnership:
Hevruta and the Triangle of Learning T
his past year, Schechter was one of four day schools nationwide chosen to participate in Pedagogy of Partnership (PoP), a groundbreaking two-year professional development fellowship through a grant from the AVI CHAI, Kohelet and Mayberg Foundations. The funding
underwrites a two-year program designed to teach participating faculty the foundations of hevrutastyle learning and how to implement it in their classrooms across all subject areas. Hevruta is defined literally as “friendship” or “companionship” and is a traditional, rabbinical approach to Talmudic study in which a small group of students analyzes, debates and discusses a portion of text. Through PoP, three faculty members received intense, comprehensive training designed to enable learners of all ages to develop the habits of wonder, empathy and responsibility toward others and toward Torah. The goal is for learners to acquire concrete tools to improve their communication and interpretive skills so that they are better able to seek understanding, work collaboratively and engage with Torah as an ongoing source of Jewish wisdom and instruction. The environment of a Jewish day school is uniquely positioned to support such sophisticated practices in the classroom. Although hevruta-style learning has historically been associated with the study of Torah, Schechter faculty members Estelle Gomolka (5th-Grade General Studies), Rabbi Rebecca Weinstein (6th-Grade Tanakh) and Cindy Yanofsky (3rd-Grade General Studies) have incorporated PoP methodology not only in specific hevruta-style lessons, but throughout their overall classroom practices as well. Through the core PoP practices of Listening and Articulating, Wondering and Focusing and Challenging and Supporting, each of these faculty members has been guiding students towards elevating their engagement with text and their classmates. Students master intellectual and emotional attitudes and skills that will help them build and maintain relationships with each other, Torah and all academic disciplines. What does hevruta-style learning actually look like in the classroom? Cindy Yanofsky is animated when she explains the approach. “In the triangle of hevruta learning, one person is the teacher and one person is the learner alongside the text. Each of those three is equally important, but we also recognize that each player has strengths and weaknesses. Students learn to listen to their partners rather than simply waiting to respond.” She adds that active listening includes engaged body language and repeating a partner’s last sentence in a new way to strengthen comprehension and demonstrate engagement. As students develop the habit of responding to partners with phrases such as “I notice that…” or “I am curious how you came to that conclusion…,” they also adopt appropriate language to use when disagreeing respectively or asking someone to explain a belief that might be different. Cindy notes that, “You have to be brave to say, ‘I don’t understand. Can you say that in a different way?’” Cindy’s students have relished creating a personal triangular coat of arms for their hevruta packets in the classroom. Each student’s design reflects two strengths and one weakness. 8
Rabbi Rebecca Weinstein praises the unique power of PoP to foster social-emotional learning and the development of students’ ability to articulate points clearly, focus thoughts in a concise way and physically demonstrate good listening. “[In the] equilateral triangle of hevruta learning, all parts are contributors worthy of attention.” Rabbi Rebecca, as she known to her students, shares the idiosyncratic style and benefits of this model. “Where is the teacher in a hevruta-style classroom discussion? Is the teacher the text? Is the teacher physically walking around the classroom? The teacher is the monitor, but the kids learn to facilitate their own discussions. The PoP methodology trains students for the real world because they learn to share opinions in a thoughtful way, to listen without anger and not close out someone else if they disagree. Sharing perspectives only comes through true dialogue.” In class, Rabbi Rebecca has introduced a purple beach ball that is passed from one person to the next during discussions. She notes that it is a helpful physical reminder that the person holding the ball is speaking and everyone else is listening. Just like her colleagues, Estelle Gomolka, a nineteen-year veteran at Schechter, gushes when she relates the ways in which the PoP fellowship has enhanced her own skills. “It renewed my teaching and revealed to me what I didn’t know I wasn’t doing. I have come 360 in everything. It is so exciting to watch kids actually learning to navigate understanding and listen to each other.” Estelle elaborates on how students make eye contact and feel a genuine connection with each other. “They become naturalists. The kids are storytellers and they have to learn to listen to their fellow storytellers. They get nuances better. The level of comprehension in hevruta is higher. Kids work in groups. They turn and talk. They have to listen and be able to respond with, ‘I hear what you are saying,’ or ‘I think I heard you say this…’ The kids are teaching each other and do not have to rely on me. In hevruta learning, they can look at a text, a poem, a math problem, anything and know how to generate questions, focus and sustain dialogue.” Recently, Estelle’s 5th-graders undertook an exercise in which they built a LEGO structure with only ten pieces. Students took a photo of the structure with their iPads before disassembling it. Next, each student gave directions to another student on how to rebuild the structure in only five minutes. The 5th-graders ultimately rated their own success in giving instructions, finding the challenge of being succinct to be a true eye-opener. Estelle smiles when sharing their enlightened consensus: “Mrs. G., you have a hard job. It’s not easy to explain things to people clearly!” At the end of each lesson, Estelle leads students through an “exit ticket” designed to elicit self-reflection. Students are asked what they found out, how it felt to be heard or if their thinking changed. Estelle emphasizes that positive redirection, patience and kindness underscore the PoP methodology. Ultimately, the age-old tradition of hevruta learning indeed remains a firmly grounded method of Torah study, but by applying its strategies to disciplines of the heart and mind, it instills core competencies and a moral groundwork for being in the larger, modern world.
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Script for An Interview with David Rapaport ’92
If you watch TV, you have seen the artistry of David Rapaport. A 2000 graduate of Emerson College with a B.A. in Mass Communication and a minor in Psychology, David has been living and working in Los Angeles for twenty years. His keen eye for talent, bankability and the elusive “it” factor has made him one of the most prolific casting directors in the field today. Through his firm, Rapaport/Baldasare Casting, David’s credits span an almost impossibly long list of megahits including “Arrow” (CW), “The Tomorrow People” (CW), “The Flash” (CW), “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” (CW), “Deception” (ABC), “Supergirl” (CBS/CW), “Riverdale” (CW), “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” (Netflix) and “Titans” and “You” (Lifetime). In fact, David received a nomination for the prestigious Artios Award by the Casting Society of America for his work on “Gossip Girl.” 10
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avid sees his role as that of a matchmaker between producers and actors. “I get a script and brief description of characters. My job is to match the essence of the character with the essence of the actor.” David adds that it is especially exciting to find a new actor or actress who is just breaking out. “As the person on the ground level of a production, it is exhilarating to discover someone who has charisma, ability and presence. I have to be able to pinpoint an actor’s indescribable star quality and make a case with the studio for casting that person.” This past summer, David was approached by his longtime colleague, Hollywood writer-producer Greg Berlanti, who recently lost his mother to cancer, and Supergirl Executive Producer, Jessica Queller, author of Pretty Is What Changes: Impossible Choices. The Breast Cancer Gene and How I Defied My Destiny. Berlanti and Queller invited David to join them in putting together a one-night benefit production of “Terms of Endearment” with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles to honor cancer survivors and raise money for the cause. David jumped at the opportunity. “I was so proud to be part of this and honored that [Greg and Jessica] sought me
out to do the casting.” The live stage reading boasted a star-studded roster including Calista Flockhart, Alfred Molina, Melissa Benoist, Chris Wood and was led by New York-based director Gordon Greenberg. While David characterizes “Terms of “ Truly, he has been Endearment” as a career highlight, his start in the world of casting goes back interested in theater since much further than most people would expect. David’s mother, Judi Rapaport, he was a very little boy who has been teaching kindergarten at Schechter for thirty six years, beams when she recalls an early progress and always had spot-on report of David’s. “David’s teacher said he loved to ‘cast’ his fellow classmates instincts about people.” in roles. Truly, he has been interested in theater since he was a very little boy and always had spot-on instincts about people.” Fast forwarding to 8th grade, David assumed the role of Tony in West Side Story, Schechter’s first all-Hebrew musical. David’s preternatural ability to recognize people’s quintessential qualities and make instinctive, artistic matches has enabled him to follow his heart... all the way to his own perfect part. Follow David on twitter @RapaportCasting
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“ I Had to Hit a Wall to Make a Wall” An Interview with Mia Schon ’05
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or two years, I walked by a vandalized, forgotten old wall on Rehov Byron in Tel Aviv near my apartment. It was covered with graffiti. I was obsessed with it. Finally, I hit a wall with the wall. The next day, I began – illegally – the first of my public tile installations. I knew art would make it better.” This is how Mia Schon ’05 describes the eureka moment that launched what is now a flourishing – and perfectly legal – career designing and installing public tile murals and teaching mosaics throughout Israel. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2009 with a B.A. in Fine Arts, Mia spent seven years working for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall camps, an outreach program through the oncology and hematology departments of several hospitals. Designed to bring art and the lighthearted fun of camp to critically ill children, it was here that Mia learned to make mosaics. Mia had been to Israel before with Schechter’s 8th-grade Israel Study Tour and Birthright, but after Birthright she extended her trip by two weeks discovering the art and music scene in Tel Aviv, a part of life in Israel she had not seen before. She decided to travel to Tel Aviv for a three-month stint in 2014. As Mia jokes in retrospect, “Three months was the plan. But I loved the community, the way Israel worked. I was going back and forth, but kept being drawn to return every time I left.” Finally after living in Israel for a full year, Mia made aliyah (the act of going up, moving to Israel) in 2015.
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Then came that first wall. Mia credits her grandmother, Nancy Schön, creator of the famous bronze Make Way for Ducklings statues on Boston Common, with impressing upon her the effect of art in public spaces and community building. In fact, Mia quickly discovered the benefits of public art to be mutual. “As an olah (immigrant to Israel), I met my entire neighborhood while I was working on the wall and I would not have otherwise.” All the while, in an office across the street, the staff at Marmalade magazine watched with intrigue as the colorful tiles went up and the mosaic took shape. Ultimately, this serendipitous geography proved pivotal. Marmalade featured Mia in a story reaching its 16,000 readers and giving her enormous exposure in the process. A commission for an installation in the Mevaseret Zion neighborhood of Jerusalem soon followed. Armed with tiles, tools and talent, Mia is capitalizing on the rising street art movement in Israel to blast powerful, timely messages and promote awareness. Each mosaic transforms a physical space through art while also spurring discussion and reflection in viewers. The gorgeously hued and textured I LOVE YOU SO MUCH mural in Kikar Atarim in Tel Aviv sparked a revitalization of the square as other artists followed Mia’s lead, quickly filling the area with their own art. “People gather when I am working. When I finish, I walk away and look back and see people interacting and identifying with what I just completed moments ago. The art is then no longer mine. It has been released to the public.” WE WERE ALL ONCE REFUGEES, a mosaic adorning the corner of Rothschild 10 in Tel Aviv, serves as a stunning reminder of Israel’s collective history as well as issues facing the country today. Mia collaborated with members of Kuchinate, a collective of African women living in Tel Aviv and seeking asylum in Israel. This mosaic ultimately prompted Mia to apply for Our Generation Speaks at the Brandeis Institute where she spent this past summer. Collaborating with twenty seven Israelis and Palestinians, Mia explains that Our Generation Speaks tasks its fellows with creating a shared prosperity through entrepreneurship and business while learning about each other, acquiring skills and creating community. Mia cites the long term influence of Schechter in the choices she is making now as an adult. “Schechter placed great emphasis on community building and derekh eretz (the way of the land) and on one’s own contribution on doing good in the world. It was a nice way to grow up. I want to make Schechter proud now. I feel as if my community is watching me and I want to honor that.”
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Armed with tiles, tools and talent, Mia is capitalizing on the rising street art movement in Israel to blast powerful, timely messages and promote awareness.
To see more of Mia’s work, go to: https://www.mosaicwithmia.com
Data Stories
An Interview with Mike Dezube ’04
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hen Mike Dezube explains his job as a Senior Software Engineer/ Data Scientist at Google in Cambridge, he provides a lot of real-life situations to clarify the work he does. By mining real life data and leveraging statistics, models, programming and analysis, Mike designs, improves and optimizes everyday systems that are often taken for granted. “Let me give you an example,” Mike says. “When I was an undergraduate at Cornell, I majored in operations research and information engineering. My department was tasked with constructing code to solve scheduling issues during final exams: 14,000 undergraduates have to take finals, yet students should have no more than two tests per day during a finite final exam period. We coded the solution. When Home Depot needed to determine which tools to feature with 3D interactive explorers, we coded the solution for that as well which helped the company better direct their spending around costly interactive features.” After receiving his B.S. in 2012, Mike continued at Cornell for another year to receive his MEng in systems engineering, studying risk analysis and the statistics of large-scale systems. Mike started out at Google’s New York headquarters, focusing on the enhancement of search and google.com functions. With a staggering six billion Google searches a day worldwide, there is plenty of data to analyze what information people are seeking and why they might continue to search after receiving results. Here is where headroom comes into play. “‘Headroom’ is the space we have to improve a feature. Let me give you an example,” Mike says. “On a mobile phone, when people search for weather, they would historically get an eight-day report right at the top, yet would still click below on results. Why? Deeper analysis revealed that people wanted a ten-day weather forecast and we weren’t meeting their query intent.” Mike worked with Google’s Israeli team in Tel Aviv to craft code that would automatically yield ten days worth of upcoming weather instead. “Data tells stories. Google uses those stories to make better data-driven decisions and to design based on what people want.” Mike recalls an occasion when his knowledge of Hebrew from Schechter solved a puzzle. A colleague of his had developed a mobile app 14
for Android, but faced a conundrum. Israelis who rated the app would often write glowing comments, yet leave the lowest number of possible stars. Mike’s gut told him that the left-to-right orientation of the app was skewing the results. Although Israeli users intended to give the highest possible stars to match their reviews, they were reading the star options right to left as they would Hebrew. “By proving the causation, my team enabled the Android team to fix the problem, solving a rating issue that had plagued all developers of apps in right to left languages.” Recently, Mike turned his attention to the benefits of applying data analysis to healthcare by moving to Verily Life Sciences where he is a senior data scientist. Working with endocrinologists, hospitals and insurance companies, Mike is building an innovative nexus between data and medical research to improve the health of Type II Diabetes patients. The disease affects thirty million people nationwide and is one of the highest costs in healthcare. “Let me give you an example. Leveraging technology to offer online diabetes clinics and training to patients, helps them understand their own disease better, manage their self-care more effectively and reduce comorbidities, complications and hospital stays. Patients with Type II Diabetes are partnered with a coach and download an app that allows them to sync their glucose readings with our servers. Coaches are then able to monitor and discuss results with patients by tracking progress over time and intervening as needed to effectuate behavior changes. Ultimately, the goal is to alter patients’ behavior so that they make better health choices both in the short term and permanently. Everybody wins.” Mike is hopeful that progress in comprehensive, systematic data sharing will lead to advances against poorly understood, complicated diseases. As workplaces go, Google gets high marks for its unconventional, quirky approach to promoting creativity, innovative thinking – even fun – in its employees, yet coding for enjoyment continues after work as well for Mike. He has built a text analysis tool to visualize how people’s word choices and language evolve over time. The tool leverages all texts from an individual’s phone to form a word cloud and a streamgraph of that person’s interactions. This, in turn, yields a sense of what words make each of a person’s contacts unique in their mutual relationship. The tool ultimately produces an intriguing window into one’s own social world revealing the divergent patterns in how individuals text with the different people in their lives [1].
With a staggering six billion Google searches a day worldwide, there is plenty of data to analyze what information people are seeking and why they might continue to search after receiving results.
In contrast to Mike’s high-tech world where infinitesimal microchips and futuristic computer capabilities are the norm, his home boasts a fully equipped woodworking shop with massive, 750-pound equipment bolted to the floor. As a new homeowner, Mike is exulting in the fact that his house hunting led him to find a ready-made, fully-equipped workshop in which he can indulge his long term passion for woodworking and glasswork. Now that’s search optimization. [1]
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https://github.com/mdezube/sms-analysis
Conversations and Context:
Understanding the IVF An Interview with Alisa Feldman ’10
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hen Alisa Feldman accepted her diploma from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2018, she had a number of feathers in her graduation cap: Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude and an Honors
Thesis on in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Israel. While at Penn, Alisa pursued an interdisciplinary major through the Department of History and Sociology of Science with a minor in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. Adding to a long list of academic awards, fellowships and grants, Alisa now counts a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship among her achievements as well. This fall, Alisa relocated to Israel as a Fulbright Scholar at Tel Aviv University School of Law where her research is focused on the fertility decision-making processes of individuals and LGBT couples. Alisa spent the summer of 2017 doing ethnographic fieldwork in IVF clinics in Israel. “I am fascinated by the ways in which aspects of Jewish history, including the Holocaust, as well as biblical and rabbinic law, influence the way the country’s health system operates today.” As a pronatalist country with national, universal health insurance for all citizens, Israel funds unlimited cycles of IVF for all women until they have two children. Alisa notes that she “was struck by the extent to which pronatalism permeates at so many levels whether you are a professional or in politics.”
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Experience in Israel With the next phase of Alisa’s research now underway, she is asking big questions that cross the boundaries between sociology, medical anthropology, law and language. What happens in the delivery of care in IVF clinics? How do doctors talk to patients within a pronatalist context? Do doctors speak encouragingly about IVF? What language do doctors use beyond objective words about medicine?
“ Schechter instilled in me a love of Hebrew. Without that, I would not be able to do this research.”
“Schechter instilled in me a love of Hebrew. Without that, I would not be able to do this research. During 2017, I focused on communication in the clinic. Studying Hebrew involves a lot of breaking down words. My command of Hebrew allows me to conduct a thorough rhetorical analysis of what people say, and the subtexts of what they say, during my interviews. The skills I learned in Tanakh, the parsing of verbs and using the words themselves to understand context and meaning have been critical in my research. I am very thankful that Schechter gave me such a strong foundation in and passion for Hebrew.” Alisa adds, “Looking back at my time at Schechter, I can see that there are things that shaped me in ways I can only understand now. Very seamlessly, Schechter really promoted and supported women. I read Torah every time there was an opportunity to do so. My years at Schechter showed me how important egalitarianism is in being a Jewish leader. Schechter showed me that women are important and that I am important. This confidence has been crucial to my ability to succeed academically, socially and professionally.”
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Custom-Made, Self-Made “ People want the finest leather, so I choose, order and work with quality pieces only.�
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An Interview with Ari Gerard ’17
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rtist. Entrepreneur. Businessman. And student, of course, because Ari Gerard is just a sophomore at Newton South High School, after all. In a small, sunlit workspace at home, Ari runs his own start-up business, AG Leathercraft, for which he cuts, sews and fashions high-end leather watch straps, wallets and bracelets based on classic styles as well as his own original designs. Through the Etsy page that showcases his handcrafted products, Ari manages sales and marketing all while keeping an eye on the bottom line. Shortly after beginning to work with leather as a hobby, Ari quickly realized there was profit to be made and launched his business. Turning back the clock a few years, Ari describes a pivotal moment in art at the Upper School. “We were working on a unit for which we had to create a wax mold of a yad (a Jewish ritual pointer usually used for the Torah) that would then be sent to a foundry and bronzed. I had always loved watches, so with a little bit of wax that I had left over that day in art, I sculpted a small watch casing.” Ari began researching watches and discovered artisans who designed straps and bands, but could not track down someone to teach him the trade. Taking matters into his own hands, he found a product video highlighting master craftspeople creating watches. “I played the video hundreds and hundreds of times, zooming in, pausing, writing down what the artisans were doing and what tools they seemed to be using.”
Ari’s drive to perfect his skill led to many days during which he would practice stitching and knotting while forgetting to eat. Working with an awl, pricking irons and striving knife, Ari progressed through the process of making a watch strap from scratch – looping and tying threads with two special needles – over and over until he was satisfied with his own results. By studying books as well as taking measurements and pictures of top-ofthe-line watches and straps, Ari was soon able to add personal twists and unique patterning to his leather work. “I like to browse Instagram and Pinterest to find cool color combinations. Then I get a bunch of leather scraps together and use my eye to see what works.” As Ari’s success has grown, so has his repertoire as he has added wallets and bracelets to his online collection. “People want the finest leather, so I choose, order and work with quality pieces only.” More boutique styles, edgy color combinations and intricate detailing are in the works as Ari is sketching new designs and making his mark in a small niche field. He is proud of his ability to envision a piece and ultimately see it come to life with his own hands, all the while becoming more sophisticated and accomplished with experience. While managing homework and extracurricular activities, Ari dreams of where his artistry and business success might lead. Only time will tell.
To visit Ari’s Etsy page, go to: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AGleathercraft
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Riding High in Krakow An Interview with Jenny Friedland ’09
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hen Jenny Friedland describes her year in Poland as the Director of External Relations at the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, her smile is radiant, revealing heartfelt affection and appreciation for the city and people she came to know so well. As an undergraduate at Yale, Jenny majored in philosophy with a concentration in psychology and ethics, but her ambitions lay in the field of journalism and communications. After graduating, Jenny was hired as an Associate Investigative Producer at Channel 7 in Boston. That summer, Jenny heard of an intriguing opportunity through the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) Entwine Global Jewish Service Corps in which young adults are placed in an international fieldwork position in order to help an emerging Jewish community. Jenny was ultimately
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matched with the position in Krakow and after a formal interview in New York with the JDC staff and a Skype interview with the Director of the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, she was offered the fellowship. Once in Poland, Jenny presided over a busy slate managing the Krakow JCC’s English-language social media, press releases and newsletters for donors and visitors, while also giving tours and launching the JCC’s tenth-anniversary website. Poland’s Jewish population has been undergoing a remarkable reawakening from the devastation of the Holocaust and pre-Communism eras to the freedom and openness of today. The JCC boasts 700 Jewish members and a staff of forty, sixty percent of whom are not Jewish, and another fifty non-Jewish volunteers who help with Shabbat dinner, answering phones and other duties. Jenny notes that “the focus of the JCC is generally secular and cultural, not religious. The vibe is welcoming and low barrier.” From tabling at universities to general outreach to Poles, the JCC’s efforts emphasize self-discovery, community and fun in order to pique people’s curiosity and make learning about being Jewish attractive.
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“Most young Polish Jews are finding out that they are Jewish or have Jewish roots,” Jenny explains. “People discover papers in their attics or learn about their lineage during deathbed confessions by elderly relatives. They know tales about their family history that make them wonder or they research the origins of their last names. It’s not straightforward at all. When young people find out they have Jewish ancestors, they are usually excited, not scared. What is really incredible is that it’s cool to be Jewish here.” Jenny adds that the Jewish community is “one stage away” from losing the last of the survivors and first-hand storytellers. Providing the opportunity to rekindle one’s identity or connect with it anew is a race against time making the continuing metamorphosis of the community all the more precious. “My own sense of Jewishness was formed at Schechter. I got a very clear message about the importance of service work,” says Jenny. The year in Poland broadened her appreciation of her own Jewish identity as well as the range of Jewish self-expression in others. Giving tours to the over 700,000 visitors who come through the JCC every year, Jenny found her Hebrew fluency from Schechter to be a meaningful connection with Israelis and a critical lingua franca with Jews from all over the world.
Ironically, Jenny has no Polish ancestry herself, yet relished being anchored in this passionate community working towards a unique reimagining of a once rich, yet ultimately tragic past. Despite relatively few Jewish citizens, Krakow is the scene for a number of lively and large-scale organizations and events including the Hillel GIMEL Jewish Student Club and the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, one of the largest events of its type in the world. The culmination of Jenny’s work at the JCC was helping to plan Ride for the Living, a triumphant bike ride from the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau to the light and hope of the JCC. The high-profile sixty-mile journey is integrated with the Jewish Culture Festival, music and arts exhibitions, Shabbat dinner and a remarkable Havdallah gathering of 20,000 people all geared towards the goal of educating participants about Jewish life in Poland from the past and the present to the future. Now back in the States with the whirlwind year behind her, Jenny will always be a champion of the Polish Jewish experience and this historic community on the rise to a new future.
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“ My own sense of Jewishness was formed at Schechter. I got a very clear message about the importance of service work,” says Jenny.
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Renaissance Man An Interview with Ben Park ’02
he dictionary defines a Renaissance man as “a presentday man who has acquired profound knowledge or expertise in more than one field, especially in the
arts and sciences.” In other words, Ben Park. The list of Ben’s interests, degrees and awards is as considerable as it is varied. The piano and French horn, physics and baking, improv and teaching all band together harmoniously. Ben currently teaches classes in Music Theory and Composition at Boston College, MIT and the New England Conservatory where he is finishing his D.M.A. (Doctor of Musical Arts) in Composition. It was during high school at Boston Latin School that Ben truly began to explore and expand upon his long held interest in music by trying his hand at amateur composition. He rhapsodizes when recalling the feeling of having his first piece performed, an orchestral overture accompanying “The Moonlight Room,” a play in which he was also acting. “The thrill of
having my music played for the first time stuck with me. Even though I had played it out before, when my music came to life, nothing could compare to that moment.”
Ben enrolled as a physics major at MIT, yet steadily added music classes to his schedule, ultimately graduating in 2006 with a S.B. in Physics and an S.B. in Music. Ben played the French horn in the MIT Wind Ensemble and in the orchestra pit for MIT’s Musical Theatre Guild as well as taking part in MIT’s improv group, Roadkill Buffet. While an undergraduate, Ben taught an Advanced Placement Music Theory class for high school students. During his junior year, Ben was awarded the Gregory Tucker Memorial Prize in recognition of his involvement with the MIT Music and Theater Arts Department. Despite his double major, Ben explains “[that] what has made me the happiest is composition. If I can’t make a career in music, I will always have physics as a fallback.” So, with physics playing second fiddle to music for the time being, Ben received his M.A. from the Hartt School of Music in 2012, then enrolled in the D.M.A. program at the Conservatory. “I have always loved going to school and I still do. My love of learning is rooted in my parents’ influence and my Schechter experience.” 22
While teaching at three schools and finishing his D.M.A., Ben is nonetheless composing prolifically. He has served as Composer-in-Residence for two years in the Boulder, Colorado Music Festival for which he wrote original chamber pieces. “I love the rehearsals with these musical minds from all over the world.” Ben penned another original work that was featured on the Colorado Public Radio Station’s Centennial Sounds podcast. Troubled by the political atmosphere, Ben was inspired to compose a political piece, “For Purple Mountains,” for the Flatirons Chamber Music Festival in Boulder. It is a sonorous reflection intended to be unifying and healing. The festival’s theme, “Crossing the Divide,” resonated deeply with Ben. “When I was writing the tune during the election, I was struck by how divided the country was. I take the melody of ‘America the Beautiful’ and use it in lots of different ways. The title itself is a play on words that brings together the Colorado mountains and the state of the country.” Ben reveals his personal connection by recalling an occasion right before the 2016 elections during Rosh HaShanah at Temple Aliyah in Needham when the congregation sang “America the Beautiful” just as they had after September 11. He describes the overall festival as a capstone experience. “We incorporated a Young Artist Program that paired local high school students with various composers and we also performed for Second
Chance, a center for people just getting out of prison and getting back on their feet.” With “Purple Mountains,” Ben creates an uplifting ode to the majesty of the American landscape with a symbolic reference to the red and blue of our political parties. “Blended together, red and blue create purple,” Ben explains. Stringing together ludes and intermovements from the original composition with fragments of protest songs in American history and marches in the style of John Phillips Sousa, Ben is expanding on “Purple Mountains” for his final D.M.A. composition. “I want the song to be a product of its time, but also have relevance for years.” Ben is currently writing the music for the Boulder Ballet’s upcoming production of “Pinocchio” alongside his full-time teaching schedule. “Composing can be solitary. I sit at the piano, sketch and play around with musical ideas, tuck away some strands to use in the future, [but] music doesn’t happen without people and has to be interactive. I love working with and hearing from students.” Ben often presents class material and assignments with an undertone of humor. “It’s not a stand-up routine or improv, of course, but I throw in musical puns and double entendres to make the lessons fun and memorable.”
Ben notes that his love of learning and teaching have long been inspired by his parents and his completely positive memories of Schechter. “To this day, I can name all of my teachers and my mother, Evie Weinstein-Park, still teaches 4th-grade General Studies there.” Ben starred as the Beast on the small stage of his Schechter class’ 8th-grade play that year, “Beauty and the Beast,” but he dreams of one day having his music performed at a large concert hall. With Ben’s talent and passion working in concert, it will not be long.
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For more information on Ben’s work, go to: https://www.classical-scene.com/2017/02/21/glass-birthday-bmop/ 23
An Interview with Ariel Fagen ’99
Healing the
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r. Ariel Fagen is a newly minted board-certified veterinary behaviorist by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, one of just eighty five in the world. As if that were not a distinctive enough, so are some of her patients. There are, of course, the expected dogs, cats and birds, but then come the pigs, ferrets, rats, goat, horses and, that’s right, elephants. Ariel cites Schechter’s focus on tikkun olam and the school’s enduring influence on her unpredicted career choice. “This is my way of healing the world. I am in a unique position to help in a way that others cannot.” As an undergraduate at Wesleyan from which she graduated in 2007, Ariel pursued a special program in which students were able to design their own majors. She developed a major in comparative cognition, a rigorous mix of psychology, biology, philosophy and anthropology, focused on the cognitive capacities of animals compared to humans. “At the time,” Ariel recalls, “I thought I would do cognition research, but my personality is more clinical, so I decided to become a veterinarian.” Three weeks into Tufts University Cummings School of Medicine, Ariel learned about the veterinary behaviorist track. “I did not know much about it, but the minute I heard about it, it was one hundred percent clear that I was going to be a behaviorist.” She went on to found the student chapter of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior at Tufts.
“I did not know much about it, but the minute I heard about it, it was one hundred percent clear that I was going to be a behaviorist.”
Now running her own practice, The Veterinary Behavior Center, based in Boulder, Colorado, Ariel sees a variety of furry, feathered and hooved patients experiencing some level of distress, anxiety, aggression or self-destructive behavior. Pet owners bring their winged and four-legged friends to Ariel for problems that mirror human issues: separation anxiety, fear-based behaviors, obsessive-compulsive disorders. Dogs plagued by self-biting and chronic tail chasing, parrots prone to aggression and excessive screaming, horses who reject their foals or refuse to walk into their trailers are all in a day’s work. Ariel’s mission is to “[treat] animal suffering that could otherwise be unrecognized and silent. Clients often know there is a problem, but do not understand how compromised their pet’s quality of life is or what to do.” Ariel performs diagnostic work-ups to evaluate any medical conditions that might be contributing to behavior. She then creates individualized treatment plans that are equal parts therapeutic and psychiatric consisting of a regimen of behavioral therapies, realistic lifestyle changes, diet modifications and medication. She notes that the goal is “to alter the underlying condition and address the psychiatric disorders at play, not just the outward behavior.” Ariel shares that the expectations that we have of our pets these days greatly affects their behaviors, coping strategies and treatment outcomes. For example, the demands of a dog living in the middle of the city are different from a dog living in the country. A therapy dog who needs to be around people experiences particular pressures that a family pet does not. She recalls one canine patient who was afraid of children and lived in a house with an in-home daycare. Ultimately, the success of the treatment depends on an owner’s commitment and determining what factors are influencing the pet’s suffering. Ariel teaches pets new coping skills through positive reinforcement-based behavioral therapies, working at the pace for which the animal is ready, never demanding an animal to make changes too quickly or to do what is too hard. 24
Animal World Ariel traveled to Nepal in 2011 to undertake a novel research project using only humane methods to teach elephants to complete specific tasks. Ariel explains that elephants can pass tuberculosis onto people making it important to be able to determine whether or not an elephant is carrying the disease. Using bananas as part of a reward system, Ariel conditioned the elephants to give her a sputum sample by accepting an injection of saline solution in the tips of their trunks which are very sensitive. The elephants learned not to drink the saline and, instead, lift their trunks up for ten seconds before putting their trunks in a bucket to blow out the sample so that it could be collected and analyzed at a lab. Ariel earned the elephants’ trust and was able to coach four out of five elephants in just one month’s time. She documented her work and contributed to the scientific literature on training animals kindly and taught local mahouts, elephant trainers, how to use the cruelty-free approach. With a long, specialized career ahead, Ariel will continue to deliver care that dovetails clinical diagnoses with psychological evaluation. “Part of my job is to rule out potential medical conditions such as osteoarthritis, hormonal conditions or Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome which is like Alzheimer’s. There can be structural or neurochemical changes in the brain that present like behavioral problems, but need medical treatment. I have to make sure when we look at something that presents as a behavior problem that we are not missing something medical.” Many an animal will benefit from Ariel’s practice and compassion in treating the “whole patient” from their paws to their personalities.
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To learn more about Ariel’s practice, please visit her website at www.vetbehaviorcenter.com
Kimberly Brice O’Donnell, Upper School Librarian and 7th-Grade Social Studies Kim has recently published Doing Their Bit: The British Employment of Military and Civil Defence Dogs in the Second World War. A military historian, Kim earned her doctorate from King’s College in London in 2017. She has written for the National Archives and 10 Downing Street History of Government online publication and has appeared on BBC Radio.
Faculty and Staff Notes Ellen Agulnick, Lower Division Principal Ivonne Krasnick, Upper School Principal Ellen and Ivonne attended the Principal’s Institute at Harvard University this summer on a grant from the AVI CHAI foundation where they learned with school leaders from all around the world including Australia, Singapore, Turkey, England, Israel and many other countries. Ellen also took a class on Leading Change through the Harvard School of Education and the Harvard Business School. In addition, she completed a course in Investigations 3, Schechter’s new math program, in which she learned more about the implementation of this new program. Jennifer Chalmers, 6th-Grade Social Studies Jennifer is working toward an Education Doctorate in History and Social Studies Curriculum and Teaching at Boston University. In November, she also attended a conference for the National Council for Social Studies in Chicago. Joy Chertow Joy took two classes in small metals work, soldering, forging and design in silver, copper, brass and aluminum at METALWERX Studios in Waltham. Yonit Cohen, 6th-Grade Judaic Studies Yonit is working towards her M.A. in teaching Hebrew as a second language at Middlebury College. Christen Hazel, Associate Director of Development Christen attended the Association of Fundraising Professionals Massachusetts Chapter's one-day conference on philanthropy in Boston. She expanded her knowledge of creating effective cultivation techniques and developing a disciplined approach to financial forecasting.
Shoshi Jalfin, 5th-Grade Judaic Studies Shoshi has been involved in the Teacher Leadership Fellowship Program at Brandeis University sponsored by the Heritage Learning Foundation. The main goal of this program is to help experienced teachers develop effective leadership and facilitation skills to become a teacher leader among faculty at school. As part of her work through the initiative, Shoshi has been leading a group of Hebrew and Judaic studies teachers in Schechter’s Intermediate Division for the purpose of deepening their knowledge and strengthening Jewish holiday instruction. Rachel Katz, 8th-Grade Social Studies Lauren Hollop, 8th-Grade Social Studies Kimberly Brice O’Donnell, Upper School Librarian and 7th-Grade Social Studies Several Middle Division social studies faculty members attended the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies’ annual one-day conference in October. Asia Meirovich, Upper School Choral/ Vocal Music Director Asia released her fourth full album, Songs Without Words, a collection of instrumentals adapted from previously recorded songs from past releases. The music is contemplative, introspective and emotive, falling somewhere between alternative rock and classical. The album can be heard on Spotify at bit.ly/ songsnowords or downloaded on bandcamp at asiamei.bandcamp.com. Amy Newman, 7th- and 8th-Grade Tanakh This past fall, Amy enrolled as a part-time student in the executive ordination track at Yeshivat Maharat, a rabbinical program in the Bronx that trains Orthodox women.
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Ruhama Shitrit, Gan Shelanu Hebrew Specialist In October, Ruhama represented Schechter as part of the Hebrew College Shoolman Graduate School of Education 2018 conference, “Israel’s Multiple Dimensions.” The conference focused on Israel’s diverse people, culture, literature, nature and innovation in an effort to help educators grow their knowledge of Israel and develop skills to share their learning with students and families. Ruhama spoke on a panel dedicated to the cognitive and cultural benefit of teaching a second language starting at a young age. Randy Singer, Upper School Learning Specialist This summer, Randy took a two-day course at the Landmark School on the North Shore through their outreach program. Participants acquired skills in ACTIVE learning strategies to strengthen students’ reading comprehension. Asking questions, making connections, using “Tools to Repair,” understanding, inferring and “Visualizing and Explaining” were some of the subject matters presented to educators during the course. David Srebnick, 8th-Grade Math and 8th-Grade Head Advisor Susanne Heidt, 7th-Grade Math and 7th-Grade Head Advisor Millie Kateman, 6th-Grade Math and 6th-Grade Head Advisor All Middle Division math faculty members attended a three-day professional development class entitled "Becoming The Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had,” taught by Tracy Johnston Zager, author of a book with the same title. They worked on problems together with other educators and learned ways to facilitate deep discussions about math and enhance student engagement and learning. They have incorporated these lessons into their teaching.
Please email alumni@ssdsboston.org to share your celebrations and news!
Irit Stein, Hebrew Literacy Coach Limor Salomon, 1st-Grade Judaic Studies Orly Bejerano, 2nd-Grade Judaic Studies Dana Fogel, 3rd-Grade Judaic Studies Yonit Cohen, 6th-Grade Judaic Studies Judaic Studies faculty members attended a three-day conference, 2018 Hebrew Pedagogy Seminar presented by Middlebury College's School of Hebrew. They participated in “Israeli Culture in the Hebrew Classroom: Challenges, Resources and Pedagogical Tools,” which featured presentations by twenty international scholars and educators from Middlebury College, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and several other universities. Evie Weinstein-Park, 4th-Grade General Studies Evie has been participating in the Brandeis Teacher Leadership Fellowship Program at Brandeis University, sponsored by the Legacy Heritage Learning Foundation. She spent three weeks at Brandeis last summer taking two courses, one on improving teaching and learning and one on understanding her school as an institution and organization. She is continuing with online course work throughout this school year. Evie is also leading a project with other General Studies teachers to examine the way we teach about diversity in our Jewish day school so that our students can best learn and understand more about people who are different from ourselves. Cindy Yanofsky, 3rd-Grade General Studies Cindy began a two-year fellowship with the Pedagogy of Partnerships Program (PoP) to bring hevruta methodology to General Studies in order to increase student communication and interpretative skills. This past August, she also became a Masters in Education mentor for a Brandeis student teacher.
Class Notes
Mazal Tov to:
2000: Joshua Goldstein on his engagement to Traci Brill 2001: Daniel Toledano on his marriage to Jasmine Dyba 2002: Laurel Marcus who started business school at MIT Sloan this fall
1987: Avi and Michelle Okon on the birth of their baby boy, Eitan Paul
2002: Naomi Ratner Oshry on her marriage to Mark Oshry in October 2017 in Boston. The bride and groom were celebrated by bridesmaids Arielle Amir, Setareh Fararooy and Shana Simkin, all Class of 2002 Schechter graduates.
1988: Lana Khromova on her new job at Alexion
2002: Kyle Sharaf on his marriage to Emily Seyburn
1988: Denise Yellen Ganot, her husband and their three daughters who made aliyah and are living in Ra’anana
2003: Max Kinchen on his move to Austin, Texas
1986: Sharon Bohnen Goldstein and her husband David on Abigail’s becoming a Bat Mitzvah
1992: Dalia Hochman who has been appointed as the next Head of School of Gann Academy 1993: Mara Aronson and Jeremy Lechan on the birth of their daughter, Mila 1993: Vered Metson Strapp and her husband Michael on Sabrina’s becoming a Bat Mitzvah
2003: Jeremy Perkins on his engagement to Shani Fox 2005: Emily Heeren, who moved out to Colorado in January to work for Bamidbar Wilderness Therapy in their inaugural season. Bamidbar is the first Jewish wilderness therapy program in the country. 2007: Alyssa Bickoff on her marriage to Daniel Elfman
1993: Scott and Kelly Freishtat on the birth of their son, Samuel
2009: Miriam Kramer on her marriage to Ben Kean
1993: Shai and Shana Jalfin and to Shoshi (5th-Grade General Studies) and Zvi Jalfin on the birth of their daughter and granddaughter, Noa Rose
2010: Jacob Kampler on his engagement to Danielle Lebowitz
1994: Daniel and Jessica Jacob on the birth of their daughter, Esther Marjorie 1996: Heidi Aaronson who was named one of Boston’s Top Dentists for 2018 by Boston Magazine 1996: Lara Freishtat on receiving CJP’s Young Leadership Award 1998: Adam Dalezman and his wife Ariana on the birth of their son, Abraham Max 1999: Erica (Birnbaum) Melmed and husband Jason on the birth of their first child, Landon 1999: Arielle Weisman Depaz, her husband Ronen and their son Adam on the arrival of their baby girl, Doreen Noa 1999: Jackie Schon and Drew Pierce on the birth of their son, Charlie 2000: Brina Waldoks Ives and her husband Ian on the birth of their son, Eli Leizer, and their recent move to Framingham 27
2011: Debbie-Lee Baskir being profiled in the Jewish Advocate on her campus work for Challah for Hunger at Brandeis 2014: Isaac Gorelik and Levi Shlyankevich on being named to The Boston Globe All-Scholastic Tennis Team 2015: Daniel Rabinovitz and Ben Schwartz on their New York Times article, “It’s Time for a National Museum of Disability” 2015: Eric Kruglak and Gabriel Nissenbaum on being named to The Boston Globe All-Scholastic Tennis Team 2016: Ilan Magnani for winning first place for high school poetry in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards at Carnegie Mellon University for the poem, “Searching the Lines of My Palm.” The contest seeks personal narratives dealing with individual experience of racial or cultural difference or personal reflections on Dr. King’s legacy that rely on concrete detail. It will be published in the anthology MLK Day 2019 Writing Awards, published by Carnegie Mellon University.
A Schechter Education Goes Everywhere You Do Spirit Wear Line Debuts
There is no doubt that the learning and values students take away from their Schechter experience follow them long after they have graduated and wherever they go in life. These days, community members can go one step further! Through the energy and creativity of Schechter parent and alumna Heidi Aaronson ’96, the Parent Association is offering a customizable line of Schechter spirit wear. Show your Schechter pride and your street style by placing your order at www.ssdsboston.org/spiritwear. OM
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Complimentary Car Magnet The Office of Admission will gladly send you a complimentary oval SSDS or Proud Schechter Grandparent magnet for your car. Please contact Admission Officer Stephanie Maroun at stephanie.maroun@ssdsboston.org or 617-630-4625 to request your magnets. OM
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Bring Schechter Pri e to Your Simcha or Celebration
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The Office of Alumni Relations is thrilled to share a fun and trendy opportunity with the community. If you are planning a wedding, Bar or Bat Mitzvah or
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other simcha and would like a 4’x4’ Schechter banner to use in a group photo, please contact Associate Director of Development Shira Lewin at shira.lewin@ssdsboston.org or 617-630-4523. The banner is paper and does not need to be returned. Most importantly, please share your photos by emailing alumni@ssdsboston.org!
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Schechter News
תדשות שכטר GAN SHELANU
Early Childhood Program 15 months – 4+ years 125 Wells Avenue Newton, MA 02459 617-796-5500
LOWER SCHOOL Pre-K to Grade 3 Shaller Campus, Gosman Building 60 Stein Circle Newton, MA 02459 617-964-7765
UPPER SCHOOL Grades 4-8 Shoolman Campus, Marcus Building 125 Wells Avenue Newton, MA 02459 617-928-9100
