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| The Agnon Agenda |
February 2010
Issue #3 |
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 AGNON STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS FOR HAITI AND MEDWISH INTERNATIONAL
 Students at The Agnon School recently organized two fundraisers, raising more than $1000, to support Haiti earthquake relief efforts. First, Agnon's student council kicked off a community fundraising campaign during the school's January "Celebration of Learning" program. In addition, Agnon's three Kindergarten classes donated funds from their classroom tzedakah (social justice) collection boxes and brought in their allowance money.
The school then hosted a special educational assembly to focus on the Haiti earthquake disaster. The assembly included a presentation by Agnon parent Dr. Lee Ponsky, founder and president of MedWish International, a local non-profit organization committed to recovering and recycling donated medical supplies that area healthcare providers cannot use. These life-saving supplies are then made available to groups who provide medical care in developing countries throughout the world.
At the conclusion of the assembly, Dr. Ponsky was presented with a $1000 check for MedWish to help the people of Haiti. In addition, each Agnon student at the assembly donated a box of bandages to MedWish. The assembly ended on a musical note, with students singing "We Are The World." | |
AGNON HOSTS SUCCESSFUL BLOOD DRIVE
The Agnon School recently hosted a "Pint Size Heroes" blood drive to educate students about the importance of blood donation and, at the same time, collect lifesaving blood for those in need. Fifty donors gave 44 pints of blood to the American Red Cross.
"We reached 147% of our goal and helped the Red Cross save 132 lives," said Agnon parent and project coordinator, Allen Gold.
Agnon students played a key role in this endeavor.They learned about the significance of donating blood for emergencies as well as for people with cancer, blood disorders, sickle cell anemia and other illnesses.
Students recruited parents and other adults to donate blood, and top recruiters were entered into a drawing for tickets to "Pint Size Heroes" night at the Cavs. Contest winners included:
- Isaac Altman (Kindergarten)
- Abigail Cohen (grade 3) & Benjamin Cohen (grade 1)
- Jacqueline Gold (grade 3)
- Hadas Marcus (grade 5)
- Jordan Poreh (grade 3) & Tamar Poreh (grade 1)
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AGNON PRESENTS DR. SYLVIA RIMM
Parenting in the 21st Century: How to Raise Successful Kids with Solid Values
Many parents feel that  their kids are growing up too fast. Renowned child psychologist, Dr. Sylvia Rimm will discuss the challenge of raising resilient children in today's society. She will address several social and academic issues including peer pressure, bullying, body image and internet safety, as well as adolescent attitudes toward sex, alcohol and drugs.
Dr. Rimm will also talk about how to nurture happy, achieving children with strong values, as described in her award-winning book, How to Parent So Children Will Learn.
This special lecture is free and open to the community. Please invite your friends and family to attend this event with you.
Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Agnon Auditorium
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ORPHANAGE TZEDAKAH PROJECT HOLDS SPECIAL MEANING FOR AGNON STUDENT
Although Agnon sixth grader Vonya Shiffman of Beachwood will become a Bar Mitzvah next year, he has already started working on a social justice or mitzvah project to honor this milestone event in his life.
"I am raising money for the children's home that I lived in for my first two years. I am selling pillowcases that I tie dyed with my family. On the stamp of the pillowcases, it says Cases for Kids because the money raised will be used to buy shoes and clothing for the kids in the children's home," said Vonya.
That children's home is located in Siberia. And, this summer, Vonya and his family will travel to Russia, where he will use all of the money raised to buy children's shoes and clothes and then personally deliver everything to the orphanage where he lived. Agnon parent Naomi Shiffman adopted Vonya from this Russian children's home ten years ago. This will be his first trip back, and according to his mom, Vonya is approaching the journey with excitement as well as anticipation, since he does not remember much about his first two years of life.
Meanwhile, Vonya's tie dying project has truly become a family affair. His grandparents and mother donated the money for supplies, while Vonya's cousin Sam Shiffman - an Agnon graduate and a junior at Beachwood High School - taught him how to tie dye. Hard at work, Vonya has tie dyed more than 100 pillowcases and is now selling them.
Each pillowcase sells for $10.00. Anyone interested in placing an order can call
(216) 408-4196 or send an e-mail to omi522@sbcglobal.net. |
AGNON IN THE NEWS: LOCAL HEADLINES
Agnon Parents Counter Boycott of Israeli Goods
Students at The Agnon School got a firsthand lesson last week in boycott politics. Parents of the Jewish day school students purchased Israeli-grown clementines at Costco to counter an effort to stop the warehouse store from selling Israeli products.
In response to the urged boycott, several Agnon parents went to Costco, purchased nearly 100 5-pound sacks of clementines at $7 a bag and resold the fruit at cost when families arrived to pick up their children after school.
Read the whole story in The Cleveland Jewish News -->>Young Performer Acts Tough in 'Annie'-- Cleveland Jewish News, 2/5/2010
Kayla Giterman of Twinsburg played the title role of "Annie" at Twinsburg Youth and Community Theatre. Read the story in the Cleveland Jewish News-->> | |
RECYCLING CLUB EXPANDS PROGRAM
Agnon's Recycling Club, now in its fifth year, is adding a new dimension - and donation dollars - to its program. The club's
middle school students learned about Terracycle - a company that turns hard-to-recycle food
wrappers and containers into bags, pots and containers. The club is gathering items like chip bags and juice pouches to ship to Terracycle, which will not only cover the cost of postage, but also donate $.02 to Agnon for each item collected.
"Agnon's Recycling Club allows students to develop an environmental consciousness, with activities that include collecting the school's paper, plastic and glass recyclables," said Nanci Miklowski, club supervisor and Agnon science teacher. "Students realize that our small community can make a big difference in the world, and they are inspired to generate even more great ideas - like the Terracycle program - to help environment."
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COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS OR FEEDBACK?
Please e-mail Kathy Peskin,
Director of Marketing, at The Agnon School.
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