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| The Agnon Agenda | Back-to-School Issue
September 2012 | |
A NEW SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS 
We'd like to welcome everyone back to Agnon for the 2012 - 2013 school year and give a warm reception to all of our new friends. We enrolled 35 new students in Kindergarten - 8th grade and 37 new students in Early Childhood.
The school year began with a flurry of fun activities. First, new Agnon families connected with existing ones at a festive Ice Cream Social on August 14.
On August 17, students visited their classrooms, met with teachers and then headed outside for a new PTA-sponsored event called "Popsicles on the Playground."
On August 20, students started school, while their parents enjoyed breakfast complements of the PTA. The week ended with an all-school Kabbalat Shabbat.  |
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 AGNON STUDENTS CREATE SHOFARS FOR UPCOMING HIGH HOLIDAYS
In preparation for the upcoming Jewish High Holidays, Agnon hosted a special hands-on "Shofar Factory" program for 5th graders on September 10. During the program, each student created their own shofar from a real ram's horn. They went through the entire process: from cleaning to carving, from sawing to drilling, from sanding to varnishing. Students then learned how to properly blow the shofar and sound the traditional notes. Hosted by Chabad, the "Shofar Factory" program is always popular among Agnon students.  |
| NEW DISPLAY SCREEN IN LOBBY
 A television monitor located in the school lobby was donated anonymously so that the Agnon community could enjoy news, information and photos of Agnon activities on a daily basis. Stop by and see what's happening!
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EARLY CHILDHOOD OFFERS YOGA
Agnon recently introduced YogaKids® to Early Childhood students in Gan Alonim and Gan Shoresh. Taught by Agnon parent and Board member Robin McCann, this new program focuses on educating the whole child using an integrated approach that addresses the brain, mind, body and spirit.
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| AGNON RECEIVES PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES GRANT
The Jewish Education Center of Cleveland recently awarded Agnon a $9500 Day School Professional Learning Communities Grant to develop collaborative learning opportunities that focus on building and integrating class websites for the 2012 - 2013 school year. Agnon Kindergarten - 8th Grade teachers are using these funds to cover the cost of professional development activities, training and materials in order to build grade-specific websites.
"We are now building grade-specific websites, after our 2nd grade teaching team developed the prototype for such a site last year," said Jerry Isaak-Shapiro, Head of School. "More and more, we find that our students and parents want grade-specific information available online."
Class websites will include homework assignments, teacher-approved educational websites to supplement lessons, information about upcoming activities, teacher contact information as well as highlights and photos from past educational programs. |
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 "GIFT OF ISRAEL" OFFERS MATCHING FUNDS FOR ISRAEL TRIP
The "A Gift of Israel" savings program, offered through the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, provides matching funds from community partners to be used for an approved Israel experience (like Agnon's 8th grade class trip to Israel). A minimum of $10 will open an "A Gift of Israel" account.
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AGNON ACCOLADES
Mazal tov to alumni Maxwell Barnett and Koby Picker (Agnon Class of 2009) who were named as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Chosen on the basis of high scores on the Preliminary SAT, semifinalists represent less than one percent of high school seniors nationwide.
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SAVE THE DATE
WHO: The Agnon Class of 2002
WHAT: 10th reunion
WHEN: Fri., Nov. 23, 2:30- 4:30 p.m. HOW: To help plan this event (or for more info) contact Laura Leventhal
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NEW TECHNOLOGY ENRICHES AGNON EDUCATION 
After raising a record $100,000 for technology upgrades in April at Agnon's 2012 Benefit Auction and Raffle, the school elected to implement a range of technology advancements to enrich the Agnon educational experience. These advancements are in addition to Agnon's existing state-of-the art computer lab, Smart Boards and laptops.
First, the school assembled a team of educators and technology experts headed by Agnon parent and Board member Dave Gordon. Meeting throughout the summer, the team devised and implemented a plan to best meet Agnon's academic objectives and reinforce the curriculum.
There is an increased use of technology at every grade level. Smart Boards are now available in all Kindergarten - 8th grade classrooms. While Early Childhood has an iPad pilot program, Grades 1 - 3 share iPads and use the computer lab for keyboard-intensive activities. Grades 4 - 8 have new shared MacBook Pros, video cameras and access to the computer lab. Plus, Agnon installed a new fiber optic network and Wi-Fi coverage upgrades.
What's more, an anonymous family is supporting the addition of a second full-time technology specialist. Robin Shorr will work with technology coordinator Moshe Glauber and interact directly with Agnon's faculty to ensure that all technology devices are used to their maximum benefit. |
| FACULTY FOCUS: ROBIN SHORR
We are pleased to welcome Agnon's new  Technology Specialist, Robin Shorr, who will be working alongside Technology Coordinator Moshe Glauber, helping faculty members integrate technology into their lesson plans by utilizing the school's SmartBoards, MacBooks and iPads. In addition, Robin will research computer-based learning tools and build a library for those tools for the entire faculty to use.
For Robin, the learning process is a series of steps: "First observe and comprehend the big picture. Then, in consecutively smaller views, learn the underlying concepts until a complete, detailed understanding is achieved -- macro to micro."
Robin has more than 35 years in the IT field and a wealth of technology experience. He has been an Adjunct Professor in the College of Business Administration at his alma mater, Kent State University.
A native Clevelander, Robin resides in Lyndhurst with his wife. They have three daughters, a son-in-law and a Labradoodle named Lucy.
Robin enjoys reading and golf. In the winter he volunteers at the Zelma George Shelter, assisting with holiday meals.
Favorite Food: Chinese
Favorite Book: Philip Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy
Favorite Film: Forrest Gump
Favorite TV Show: Fringe
Favorite Music: Simon & Garfunkel
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In a few days millions of Jews around the world will be discussing - with others and more importantly, with themselves - some pretty serious life-topics. Sin - repentance - collective responsibility. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are like a personal, intensive graduate seminar that we keep taking year after year after year. The syllabus stays pretty constant, but what we get out of the course is nearly one hundred percent dependent on what effort we put into it (like most classes).
In at least one significant way, prayer is similar to really good, multi-layered literature: there's something there for everyone. A younger reader (a younger pray-er) will understand and appreciate a certain level of meaning; someone with more life experiences, a bit more; someone older still will potentially benefit even more. Even the High Holiday liturgy - filled with head-spinning concepts and profoundly personal questions - presents thoughts and probing questions that some of our youngest students can grasp in their own way.
 Teshuva (תש ובה - literally "return") is a central motif of the season. While it's often translated (mis-translated) as "repentance" - a decidedly difficult concept to embrace - the image of returning is something we discuss with some of our youngest children. "Sin" may not be a phenomenon that easily translates for a five year old, but doing something you know was wrong resonates pretty clearly. Teshuva offers a path - easily understood if not always easily followed - toward turning that behavior around, of returning. Acknowledging the act or unkind word and sincerely regretting it; trying (hard!) to pursue a different path; genuinely asking for forgiveness. Steps a Kindergartener can embrace. An essential part of the equation is that asking forgiveness thing - possibly the toughest component. Going up to someone, face-to-face (I'm not sure what classical Jewish Law - halacha - has to say about emailing or texting one's apology, but I'd say there's no substitute for an old-fashioned personal conversation) and sincerely saying that you were wrong and asking for forgiveness. Whew! - powerful stuff. Something about saying it out loud, not just so the aggrieved party can hear it, but so that you yourself can hear it - major teshuvah. We don't even grant a Divine escape clause: asking forgiveness from G-d doesn't cut it; for person-to-person wrongs, we have to march up to the person him/herself. Very heady concept - but again, something that young children really can appreciate. If sister A hurts brother B, she can't go to Mom and Dad, no matter how sincerely she asks for their forgiveness, and wipe her slate clean - she has to painfully go back to her brother and ask him to forgive her. Six year-olds may not know the word "intermediary" - but they get the idea of a cop-out. Another HHHC (heavy High Holiday concept): collective confession. Take a look at the "vidui" - one of the two forms of confession during which time we literally beat our chests. Ashamnu - bagadnu - gazalnu... We have trespassed - we have dealt treacherously - we have robbed... Really? We - which includes me? I didn't trespass and I didn't rob - and I certainly didn't counsel evil or blaspheme or commit an abomination. Ah - but I did do other things on the list, while my friends did not. When we pluralize our confession, we're inasmuch saying that we're there for our friends, just as they're there for us. More subtly, we're also saying that a wrong committed in the community affects us all, and that sometimes in the most indirect ways, we've all played a role in that wrong. Call it a moral butterfly effect - what's done (or not done - said or not said) in one corner of the community inevitably impacts other actions and other behaviors. Once again, our youngest students and children get this (they're pretty cool that way). It's not about "blaspheming" or acting treacherously or any of the other ways in which we define our negative actions - it's about knowing that we're all in this together. Debbie and I wish all of you a good, sweet and healthy year - שנה טובה ומתוקה Jerry Isaak-Shapiro Head of School ות |
| IN MEMORIAM: SIMON KADIS
On the first day of our school year we lost a dear friend. We mourn but also remember, cherish and celebrate the memory of Simon Kadis, one of the extremely devoted and committed founders and lifetime trustees of our school. His memory lives on in everyone who has and will come through our doors.
Agnon Head of School Jerry Isaak-Shapiro offered this tribute in the Cleveland Jewish News.
Si KADIS: VISIONARY, PLURALIST
I probably met Si Kadis about a month after arriving in Cleveland from Jerusalem, and in those nine years I saw only smiles and heard only kind words from him. Si was one of the handful of courageous visionaries who sat around a living room table in 1969 to come up with the concept of a pluralist Jewish day school for the community, and over the decades he provided all of us with gracious wisdom and genuine, heartfelt optimism - about Agnon to be sure, but even more importantly, about our students and their families and the entirety of the Jewish community. It was a privilege to see him at board meetings, attending to everyone and each perspective with an open mind and with equal respect. In that way he was a true Jewish pluralist long before the term was invented. We are all the better for having known him. May his name forever be a blessing. |
| DONOR APPRECIATION DESSERT
Hosted by Meg and Jon Ratner and Michael Haas and Raquel Flatow Haas, more than 75 "Donors of Distinction" came together for dessert at the home of Meg and Jon Ratner.
The event thanked donors who gave more than $1,000 to Agnon last year and celebrated raising more than $1,000,000 in donations for our operating budget during the 2011-2012 school year. Board President Orry Jacobs and Jerry Isaak-Shapiro addressed the audience of parents, grand
parents and alumni parents.
Parent campaign chairs for this year, Meg Cooper and Board member Josh Mayers, were on hand to kick off this year's campaign. We look forward to having additional donor appreciation events at different giving levels during the year.
 
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| AGNON FUND CONTRIBUTIONS
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BACK-TO-SCHOOL PHOTO GALLERY
  
  
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COMMENTS, CORRECTIONS OR FEEDBACK?
Please e-mail Kathy Peskin, Director of Marketing at The Agnon School.
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