SUMMER 2016
ON THE INSIDE
Specializing in Student Success Success imagery often invokes a mountaintop: a figure poised on a peak, arms raised in triumph, standing in exaltation… alone. But when it comes to student success, educators know that the climb is often supported by a team of specialists just outside of the frame. At Rashi, our learning specialists work closely with classroom teachers to ensure student achievement for all students in all grades through a flexible, integrated, team-based approach. “I introduce myself to the students by saying, ‘Your classroom teachers are like the captain of the ship. They determine what you are going to learn and when. I am like an individual tour guide,’” says Marlene Moyer, who has worked as a learning specialist at Rashi for nine years. Learning specialist Marlene Moyer assists in the Grade 3 classroom. Marlene’s crew metaphor is apt, Rashi’s approach is “allhands-on-deck.” In addition to ‘pulling out’ students to work one-on-one or in small groups, learning specialists also work in the classroom to enable intimate discussion groups that allow for more individualized attention. Specialists also co-teach with classroom teachers. continued on page 5 For instance, they might stand at the whiteboard mapping out a system of visual notes that
Students Seek Out Multigen Connections By Lynda Doctoroff Bussgang
On the Inside, the newsletter of the Rashi community, is so named because the Biblical commentaries of Rashi (our school’s namesake) were always on the inside of the pages of Talmud.
Manager of The Adam and Matan Adelson Multigenerational Program for Hebrew SeniorLife
When clusters and classrooms of students come to NewBridge on the Charles for school-sponsored multigenerational programming with residents, youthful laughter and energy reverberates throughout the hallways. Residents regularly share their delight in our partnership with Rashi, whether engaging in substantive conversations, hallway encounters, or simply enjoying an opportunity to watch “child play” in action. Now more and more, individual Rashi students are exploring opportunities to make a quiet yet sustained impact in their neighboring senior community by initiating visits on their own, outside of school hours.
On the Inside
2016 Annual Dinner Celebration Page 2 Tzedakah Math Page 3 NewBridge on the Charles is a Continuing Care Retirement Community servicing nearly 700 seniors living in Independent and Assisted Living, Memory Support and long-term care housing.
Each week, Rashi students walk across the street to bring their own passions and interests to life. Some examples include student b’nei mitzvah projects,
How Rashi Students Study Israel Page 4 Learning Language with Technology Page 6 Alumni News Page 7
continued on page 6 1
COMMUNITY
Annual Dinner Honors Jessica and David Aronoff In May, over 450 guests attended The Rashi School’s 2016 Annual Dinner at the Seaport Boston Hotel. This year’s Dinner highlighted our innovative community and the many ways in which Rashi, as an institution, is teaching and thinking about how to create critical and creative minds in our students. We honored Alumni Parents Jessica and David Aronoff with the Kehillah Award for their outstanding dedication and commitment to our school. We also heard from Grade 8 students Jason F., Lily K., and Noa P. about how Rashi’s innovation has impacted their education and experience. A moving video revealed personal stories and examples of how Rashi’s unique combination of rigorous academics and strong Jewish values teaches our students to think and learn in a way that prepares them for the future.
The event, co-chaired by Rashi current and alumni parents Lynda and Jeffrey Bussgang (Jackie ’11, Jason ’14 and Jonah ’16), Mimi and Ron Golub (Elana ’10 and Shira ’10), and Cindy and Andrew Janower (Mikki ’12, Samantha ’15 and Ali ’18) included Rashi alumni and alumni grandparents, parents, and friends who joyfully reconnected with each other and with Rashi faculty and staff. Rashi’s vibrant and growing Alumni Association also came together for the event with more than 60 alumni in attendance. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters and guests, this event raised a record breaking $565,000 for the school and its programs. We express our sincere gratitude for all those involved with the planning and execution of this year’s event and for helping make it another successful Annual Dinner.
Pictured Top: Co-chairs Mimi and Rob Golub speak at the Annual Dinner. Pictured Above: The Aronoffs and their children Hannah (’08) and Jacob (’12).
Celebrating Our 2016 Tikkun Alums
Gina Starfield and Adam Lassman with Head of School Mallory Rome.
The fifth annual Tikkun Alum Awards were presented to Gina Starfield (’08) and Adam Lassman (’10) in recognition of their commitment to social justice in their post-Rashi careers.
University of Michigan, raises breast cancer awareness and funds to defray the cost of diagnostic screenings through a nonprofit he founded called The Pink Seat Project.
Gina has worked on humans rights abuse and refugee concerns in the United States, Rwanda, and South Africa. She is a 2016 graduate of Yale University and is headed to study at the University of Oxford in England next fall. Adam, a rising junior at the
The Tikkun Alum Award recognizes Rashi alumni who embody the value of social justice instilled in them at Rashi. If you would like to nominate a Rashi alum for this award, please contact Kim Stone, Manager of Alumni Relations, at kstone@rashi.org.
SAVE THE DATE 2
Generations Day Friday, Oct. 21, 2016
Limud Celebration Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016
For Grandparents & Special Friends
Our annual celebration of learning at Rashi.
11:30 AM - 3:00 PM | The Rashi School
6:00 PM | Temple Beth Elohim
JUSTICE
At Rashi, we strive to make the concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world) tangible and visible for students.
Making Math Meaningful in Grade 2 Lost change does not stay lost for long near the second grade hallway. Found coins are quickly scooped up by eager second graders. But their destiny is not to be fed to vending machines or stashed in a child’s piggy bank; instead, they will be added to the class tzedakah collection and used as part of the students’ weekly Tzedakah Math lesson.
Tzedakah Math has been a feature of Rashi’s second grade classrooms for more than five years. On a weekly basis, the teachers use the program to explore foundational concepts of money and mathematical thinking. Each student brings in a small box of coins at the beginning of the year. “There’s no set number. Families can bring all pennies or whatever they can do,” says Grade 2 teacher Heidi Sisenwine. After using the coins as part of the math lesson, the money is added to the class tzedakah collection which is then given to a charitable organization selected by the students at the end of each semester. Students are taught to identify the coins and their values, add them up mentally and also on paper, lining up the decimal points and paying attention to place value. The math gets sophisticated very quickly, the teachers explain, but the learning is differentiated, so each student can participate at his or her own level. The students ponder open-ended questions such as: how much they could donate as a group if each student has one penny and four other coins? What if no one in the group donated pennies; what amounts could they donate and what amounts would be impossible? They also work on estimation by tracking the totals gathered each week and predicting what amounts the collection could reach two weeks or a month later. Tzedekah Math is fun. Students love sharing their estimates and mental calculations. But as much as the lesson may sometimes feel like a game, it’s the social justice element that motivates the students, according to the teachers. The students’ efforts aren’t to simply fill in the correct answer in a workbook. “To them, it’s real math for a real reason,” explains Mrs. Sisenwine. And that’s what makes it special. Real math for a real reason. Change for change. Grade 2 student Liat S. proudly shows off her class’s tzedakah jar.
Seeing Social Justice in Action from Rashi’s 2015 Tikkun Alums 2015 Tikkun Alum Award recipients Leah Kaplow (’04) and Adam Beckman (’08) returned to Rashi for Tikkun Alum Day to share their experiences of their work in global health in Africa and Ecuador, respectively. Kim Stone, Manager of Alumni Relations, summed up the event saying,“Their vision of hope, dedication, and commitment to their work is an inspiration to our students and all who hear their stories. We were thrilled to welcome them back to Rashi for the day.”
Pictured Top: Leah and Adam speak to lower school students in the Beit Midrash. Pictured Above: Leah and Adam visit with MS students.
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EXPLORING ISRAEL How Does it Feel to Herd Sheep like an Ancient Israeli Farmer? Rashi students found out during their visit to a Biblical farm - one of the exciting additions to this year’s Grade 8 Israel trip.
At Home & Abroad At Rashi, students connect with Israel in ways that are both personal and progressive. New Perspectives: A Visit to the Yitzhak Rabin Center By Rabbi Sharon Clevenger Middle School Rabbi
Building Small-Scale Replicas Help Students Learn About Israeli Cities Shukie Sapir’s Middle School students studied cities from all over Israel and created unique models of them, using artistic expression to illustrate the historical and cultural details they uncovered.
Shinshiniot Share Their Unique Perspective on Israeli Life In January, Rashi hosted Yael Mark and Sapir Reznik, two 18-year-old Israeli Shinshiniot (students participating in a gapyear program). The girls acted as emissaries from Israel as they used games from their childhood to share their country’s history and cultural traditions with Rashi students. 4
In a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, the Yitzhak Rabin Center offers visitors a compelling, honest, and sometimes upsetting presentation of the development of Israel as a democratic state. The museum presents in parallel with the biography of Yitzhak Rabin. This year marked the first year that Rashi students visited the Rabin Center, and it was a marvelous success. Students visited the Center with their friends from the Leo Baeck School. The students had been learning and touring together for several days, so they were well-prepared to engage with this powerful museum. Tour guides took students through the museum in small groups. Everyone started in a room surrounded by videos from the day of and the days following Yitzhak Rabin’s murder. The presentation was emotionally riveting, and left students eager to enter into the exhibit to learn more and answer the question, “How could that happen?” Rabin’s life story and the circumstances surrounding his death were already familiar to Rashi students thanks to the Dror Yisrael presentation about Rabin’s life and legacy that we enjoyed
The Yitzhak Rabin Center Photo Credit: The Yitzhak Rabin Center
in November. The Leo Baeck students spoke of Rabin as a modern-day Israeli hero who died tragically pursuing his dream. Neither group was alive when Rabin was murdered, yet they all knew in their minds that they should care about his legacy and feel angered by his murder. By the end of their tour, during which they were exposed to the many samples of hate speech that were used against Rabin, they also felt the pain in their hearts. For Rashi students, the Rabin Center gave further depth to the man, as well as to the development of Israel, with all of her challenges. Students left feeling inspired to share in Rabin’s legacy by becoming what he was at the end of his life, a “soldier for peace.”
At Rashi, children learn to explore the world around them through observation, exploration, and inquiry.
LEARNING
Learning Specialists, cont. students can follow as the classroom teacher delivers a lesson. “Our learning specialists can look at any curriculum content area and recommend the best instructional strategies to maximize student learning,” says Beth Brown, Rashi’s Interim Director of Curriculum and Instruction. In this way, the learning specialists support classroom teachers in developing approaches to teaching that help all students. “Research bears out that the strategies originally developed for students with learning differences are actually good for all students,” says Marlene. These practices include multi-modal teaching that caters to visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile learners, as well as teaching a variety of organizational and study strategies so that students can experiment and learn what works best for them. Discovering what strategies work best for them, which many adults only learn late in life through trial and error, empowers students to take responsibility for their own learning.
Rashi’s learning specialists regularly monitor the progress of each student in the grade and provide coaching at all points along the learning continuum, including offering extra challenge for advanced learners. Marlene explains that one way this is accomplished in Grade 5 is through the use of application suites such as Wordly Wise, IXL, BrainPop, and Scholastic News. “Using a suite of applications allows for more individualized and self-paced instruction and practice. When students are working on their iPads, they are generally not aware of what level or rate at which their neighbors are working. We can monitor their activity on a teacher dashboard so we know how they are doing over time and we can intervene and introduce challenge or support according to their individual needs.” App suites are just one example of the instructional design that learning specialists and teachers put together behind the scenes. Meeting with the classroom teachers on a weekly basis allows our learning specialists to know what assignments students
are working on and where elements of extra challenge can be introduced for advanced learners. “It’s about increasing expectations,” MS Learning Specialist Becky Holloway explains, describing how advanced learners might get the option to write longer, more involved essays, or supply their own writing prompts. In science classes, Becky guides advanced students to develop complex research topics and expand their lab reports to encourage higher-order thinking skills such as synthesizing and evaluating their ideas. The combination of this bird’s eye view of what is going on across multiple grades and classrooms and their focus on the progress of each individual student allows learning specialists to better prepare students to advance at Rashi and beyond. “We prepare our students so that before the end of their eighth grade year they already have tools they need to succeed,” say Beth Brown. Tools to help them reach the top, to conquer the climb, empowered for academic success.
Pictured below: Learning specialist Becky Holloway works with a small discussion group in Language Arts class.
Our learning specialists can look at any curriculum content area and recommend the best instructional strategies to maximize student learning.
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LEARNING
Creative Use of Technology Enhances Foreign Language Learning An important aspect of learning a foreign language is learning to think in that language. And the most challenging part of that is thinking in that language while speaking. At Rashi, teachers are harnessing technology in many creative ways to help students gain confidence with their oral proficiency in Hebrew and Spanish. “It is important not to translate,” says Lorena Kavande-Flores, who teaches Spanish in the Middle School. “I have my students create a visual dictionary using the Creative Bookbuilder application to reinforce the direct association between the word and the meaning, rather than with the English translation. This helps them think in Spanish.” “Using technology extends the opportunity to practice oral proficiency beyond the classroom,” says Yuval Moscovitz. His mechina students (who transfer into Rashi without any Hebrew) create animated Hebrew-speaking Telegami avatars to demonstrate proficiency with new vocabulary words. “This really helps students who are new to the language,” Yuval says. “They feel more confident speaking in class when they have practiced and improved their speaking at home.” Shukie Sapir adds that she has seen a significant increase in student confidence since she started having students record themselves as
Pictured above: Spanish Teacher Lorena Kavande-Flores demonstrates how she uses iPad applications in her classroom.
Pictured above: The Telegami avatar used by one of Yuval Moscovitz’s Hebrew students.
part of their homework. “The whole process provides students with the ability to listen, repeat, record, listen, and self-correct.” Lorena asks her students to create a lesson explaining how to conjugate Spanish verbs using the “Explain Everything” application, which allows students to visually explain a concept on a virtual whiteboard while narrating the lesson. “Teaching a virtual lesson deepens the students’ understanding of the language,” Lorena says.
In preparation for the Grade 8 trip to Israel, Hebrew teacher Maya Dalzell has students create their own iMovie productions with virtual tours of the different sites that they will soon visit in Israel. The movies include conversations with the students ordering falafel at an Israeli restaurant, bargaining for clothing at the shuk in Tel Aviv, and asking directions for how to get to Carmel Beach. Maya says the students have embraced filming as they learn and that she has seen a definite improvement in the students’ conversational Hebrew in the short time since she began the project. The fact that the work is permanently recorded and will serve as a reference for the students in the future is an added bonus. Sometimes technology is used to inject fun into a lesson, explains Hebrew teacher Galit Konstantine. Starting in Grade 3, Hebrew transitions from an emphasis on songs, games, and art to being more focused on the grammar and the structure of language. Galit uses game applications such as Quizlet and Dah Bear to keep the learning fun. “We used to have issues with students not getting their Hebrew homework done,” remembers Maya. “Now kids tell us ‘I had so much fun doing my homework. We did it during our sleepover.’ ” Technology opens the door for creativity and that’s where kids thrive.
Multigen, cont.
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like Adam R. (Grade 6) who has been sharing his exquisite piano skills through a series of concerts performed for the Assisted Living Memory Support community, and Abby K. (Grade 6) who brings vibrancy to the Assisted Living dining room as she engages residents in conversation during an otherwise routine lunch. Also preparing for a bar mitzvah, Josh R. (Grade 6)
meets weekly with an Independent Living resident who is working tirelessly to keep pace with the changing technological world. And for two years, Hannah F. (Grade 7) has provided an outlet for a 27-year career English teacher to enjoy reading with a child. Even Rashi alumni return to NewBridge to work with residents and fulfill high school community service requirements,
like Josh Kornbleuth (‘15), who assists in the Health Center. With arguably one of the most innovative, in-depth multigenerational partnerships in the country, Rashi has yet another reason to sing the praises of its incredible students and the gifts they are able to provide – right across Great Meadow Way.
ALUMNI NEWS
Rashi is proud of the accomplishments of its alumni and is delighted to share their news.
2001
2009 cont.
Matthew McGrath married Sarah Corsaro in March and is currently studying at the University of Oxford in England.
Sam Moller was accepted into the Reglious Action Cener of Reform Judaism Machon Kaplan Internship and recently returned to Rashi to speak to the Middle School student government on how his time at Rashi impacted his life.
2002 Noah Hodgetts (Tikkun Alum 2012) recently became engaged to Sannie Woods.
2010 Lev Mamuya was featured in the documentary Talent Has Hunger for his dedicated work on the cello.
2004 Leah Kaplow (Tikkun Alum 2015) was accepted to an internship within the Ministry of Rwanda Government as part of the Rwandan Development Board.
2005 Rachel Rubinstein has completed two years of law school and is starting an internship at the Department of Education in Washington, DC in the fall. Jacob Kraus will be returning to Camp Eisner as one of the head song leaders this summer.
2008 Adam Beckman (Tikkun Alum 2015) was featured in the Business Insider article: “13 of the Most Impressive Students at Yale Right Now” published in May 2016.
2009 Sydney Rubinstein recently returned from a six month study abroad program in Argentina. She is currently pursuing a degree in Public Health with a Spanish minor and plans do a medical internship in Israel over the summer.
Let us know what you have been up to! Contact Kim Stone at kstone@rashi.org.
The Class of 2014 enjoyed an informal reunion at the 2016 Rashi Annual Dinner.
2011 Jackie Bussgang just completed her freshman year at Hamilton College where she is on the diving team, serving on the board of Hillel, and participating in a community service leadership program. Carly Eiduson is on the pre-med track at Tufts University where she also serves as the secretary for the Friends of Israel student organization. In addition, she assists with Challah for Hunger, helped plan the Tufts Hillel Freshman retreat, and participates in the Special Friends program. This summer Carly will return to Camp Modin to work as a counselor.
2012 Phil Batler was the 2016 recipient of the FLAG Flag Football scholarship, an award established to recognize and honor graduating high school seniors from Massachusetts who have made sports programs safer for and more inclusive of LGBT student athletes as either a role model or ally.
Like the Rashi School Alumni Association page on Facebook.
Sam Moller ( ’09) with the Rashi Middle School student government.
2014 J.J. Bussgang is a rising junior at Milton Academy where he is serving on the board of the Jewish Student Union and part of the football, wrestling, and track and field teams.
2015 Josh Sussman was cast as Enoch Snow Jr. in the Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston’s summer production of Carousel.
Visit www.rashi.org to find more Alumni News on our newly redesigned website. 7
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8000 Great Meadow Road Dedham, MA 02026 617-969-4444 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED www.rashi.org rashi@rashi.org Kathy Cohen, President, Board of Trustees Mallory Rome, Head of School Ashley Ney-Vollmer, Editor
Check out Rashi’s newly redesigned website at www.rashi.org Accredited by AISNE, the Association of Independent Schools in New England Beneficiary agency of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Member of PARDeS, the Progressive Association of Reform Jewish Day Schools
Congratulations to the Class of 2016
Next year they will attend:
Mazel Tov to our newest alumni: Noah Abraham Evan Black Lehaveet Braha Lilli Burd Jonah Bussgang Samson Cantor Jacob Daitzman Joshua Fleckner Jason Frey Rebecca Frey Benjamin Gold Andrew Goldberg Isabel Gordon
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Sydney Handel Ethan Hershfield Seth Kleiman Isabelle Klein Lily Krivopal Elias Laden Gabriel Levy Marisa Mikels Julia Patkin Noa Pesner Sonya Poznansky Lily Rashes Eli Richmond
Josiah Riskin Ari Sapers-Sydney Jonah Schwartz Samantha Shapiro Lila Sherman Micah Shire-Plumb Jenna Simes Halle Sisenwine Jordyn Sisenwine Levi Trestan Zachary Weinstock
Beaver Country Day School
Milton Academy
Boston University Academy
Natick High School
Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Needham High School
Chapel Hill — Chauncy Hall
Newton North High School
Dana Hall School
Newton South High School
Dover High School
Noble and Greenough School
Gann Acadamy
Sidwell Friends School
John O’Bryant School of Math and Science