THS News: Welcome Back!

PSSM, Rachael Davila

Dear Preschool Parents,

A special welcome back to all my returning families! A welcome to any new families reading this newsletter. I look forward to introducing the Jewish holidays to your preschooler with crafts, music and fun!

Ms. Rachael

K, Lori Bunshaft

Hello and Welcome to kindergarten Torah School. My name is Lori Bunshaft and I am very excited to be your child's Torah School Teacher. Kindergarten is my speciality and I am looking forward to a year of Jewish learning fun. Your child will participate is many activities including learning about Jewish holidays, traditions and customs. We will also learn about the synagogue, and the jobs of the many important people in our synagogue. We will participate in numerous mitzvah and family projects and learn about the importance of giving back to our families and community. I am looking forward to getting to know all the new kindergarten families and I am looking forward to seeing the many returning families as the new year begins.

Lori Bunshaft

1st, Rachael Davila and Ryan Inkel

Hello First Grade Torah School Families,

Some of you might remember me from Preschool Sunday Morning. In addition to teaching that class, I'm working with Ryan to introduce your child to the stories of the Torah. We're going to have fun with games and crafts and a few trips around the temple!

Plan to visit our room (Room 4) after Orientation, on Sept. 11 or make sure you introduce yourself to Ryan and me!

See you soon!
Ms. Rachael and Ryan

2nd, Shelley Sloan

My name is Shelley Sloan and I am the second grade teacher at Temple Emanu-El Torah School. I love seeing the children's faces coming through my door. They are so full of energy, excitement and curiosity. This year we will be studying Israel and the personalities of the Bible. We will also explore the different Jewish holidays as each one approaches. For my parents and students; please make sure to come down to my classroom (number 3) after Orientation on the 11th. I would like to personally meet each one of you and tell you a little about some upcoming events.

See you then,

Shelley

3rd, Lindsay Spector

To My New 3rd Grade Families,
I am so excited to have each of you in my class this year! I think its going to be a great one! This year we will be learning about different Torah stories, G-d, holidays, and the Hebrew calendar.

For those of you who don't know me, I have been teaching Torah School for 4 1/2 years now. I have a huge passion for Jewish education and have different ways of teaching. I am a credentialed teacher and have recently started as a teacher's assistant at Chabad Hebrew Academy. Outside of working, I enjoy cooking/baking, reading, and I am always learning how to continue to be a great teacher.

You are always welcome to contact me with any concerns or questions. Look forward to seeing you at Open House on Sunday, September 11.

I hope you had a great summer.
Shalom,
Lindsay

4th, Lindsay Zimmerman

Hi. My name is Lindsay Zimmerman and I am the new 4th grade teacher. I am thrilled to be working at Temple Emanu-El and look forward to meeting each and every one of you. I will be writing more about our class in the upcoming Newsletter.

Thank you,

Lindsay

5th, Barbara Birenbaum

Hello 5th Grade Parents and Students,

(yes, I'd love to know that the students are reading these messages too:-) As incentive, I always put special questions whose answers are worth stickers in class, which are worth prizes each time you have collected 18 stickers)

I'd like to introduce myself to you in person on September 11th, our opening day for Torah School. Cathy will lead us in assembly from 9:30-10:30 and then, after gathering in the courtyard, we will meet in our classroom for another 30 minutes or so. Please plan on coming to class with your child during this time. I have important information about our year ahead together that is best shared in person.

You will (almost) always find an update from me in these monthly Torah School newsletters, and I really appreciate your feed back whenever you feel inspired to communicate with me by email (barbara@birenbaums.com) or phone (858-382-6312) regarding your child, our class, or anything. Additionally, I will send separate messages just for my classes.

So, the sticker worthy question for this message to be awarded on that first day, in the classroom, is:

What Jewish thing did you do this summer?

B'Shalom,

Barbara

6th, Michael Laddon

Dear 6th grade Torah School Class:

I am looking forward to having an enjoyable and informative school year with all of you. I hope that we can learn about Judaism together in a positive and interesting class. If all of you bring your energy, your knowledge and a positive attitude, I will try my best to facilitate our learning together. Our class time together will be what we make of it so let's have a great school year!

Sincerely,

Mr. Laddon

7th, Danny Bailund

Shalom to my new 7th grade Torah School parents and students,

I look forward to seeing many of you at our Torah School orientation Sunday Sept.11th, and meeting all of you (students at least) on our first session the following week! A little about myself, this will be my 13th year here at Temple Emanu-El. I started with 6th graders and about six years ago, they "moved" me to 7th grade. My regular job is working with 1st-6th graders in a Special Education classroom at Lindbergh Schweitzer elementary school.

Some dates to please remember: Wed. Oct. 12, Sukkot under the stars, some 7th graders will be asked to participate; the following Friday, October 14, is our Sukkot family Shabbat service, which your 7th graders will lead.

I look forward to getting to know, teach, and learn with your children this year. This class can be a "tough" journey at times. We will be reading, viewing, discussing the Holocaust. This is not our only topic, but, that subject is our main theme.

The book your children will be receiving: Hitler Youth; Growing up in Hitler's Shadow, is an excellent read, and I hope that you too, will give it a glance. We'll also have the usual fun of music, Israeli dancing, and other fun events that I know our wonderful Torah School Committee and Cathy have conjured up!

I wish to thank all of you for allowing me to teach your children this year and I look forward to meeting all of you as well.

If you ever have any questions or need to get in touch with me I am available at 619-265-1507 (home) 619-417-6864 (cell) or email dbailund@gmail.com

~Danny Bailund

Alef, Betty Erez

Shalom Hebrew Aleph class,

My name is Betty Erez and I'll be your first year Hebrew teacher. I welcome you all to my class where we are going to learn the Hebrew alphabet. Next you will learn how to combine letters together to make words. Pretty soon, you will be reading like a pro. It is so exciting to learn a new language. I know you will do great!

I wish you a fun and fruitful year!

Morah Betty

Bet, Judy Goren

Dear Parents,

I want to welcome you to the new school year with open arms. We are going to have a very exciting year with many projects ahead of us. In our program, we are going to incorporate arts & crafts, reading, writing, discussions and games. Can't wait to see you in my class!

Love,

Morah Judy

Gimel, Freida Grossman

Shalom Hebrew Gimmel class,

My name is Frieda Grossman and I'll be your Hebrew teacher. I welcome you all to my Hebrew class. We are going to master our reading and writing skills. We'll learn conversational Hebrew too.

I wish you a fun and fruitful year!

Morah Frieda

Dalet, Shelley Sloan

I can't wait to teach you Hebrew in my class this year. It is going to be the best year ever. I will make sure that you are going to be ready to begin your B/nai Mitzvah studies with the knowledge that you need to have to be successful.

Fondly,

Morah Shelley

Prayers & Blessings, Elana Hamovitch

Welcome to Prayers and Blessings! I am looking forward to having your son/daughter in class and beginning the journey with them as they prepare to become Bar/Bat Mitzvah. In class the students will be learning all the prayers and blessings necessary to lead the Friday evening and Saturday morning services. As a reminder the Prayers and Blessings class is 1 hour, from 5:00-6:00pm Mondays and Wednesdays. I have been teaching this class for about 10 years and really enjoy the experience. I'd like to extend an invitation to all parents to attend the first class on Monday, September 12th. We will get started promptly at 5:00pm. I'd like to go over the expectations with both parents and students present with some time to answer any questions. After about 15-20 minutes, the parents may be excused and we will continue with the rest of class until 6:00pm. Here's to a great semester!

B'Shalom,

Elana Hamovitch :)

Family Education, Barbara Birenbaum

Hello Temple Emanu-El Families,

I am Barbara Birenbaum, and I am very excited to be teaching our Family Education Programs. I am confident you will find them engaging, enriching, educational and fun. It is my hope that there will be multi-generational bonding (yes, the student's grandparents may be invited to join you), and we can learn together Jewishly while strengthening the connections between us.

For your calendars, here is the schedule:

Grade K-1 (with Cathy) Oct. 9; Grade 2, Oct 23; Grade 3, Nov 13; Grade 4, Jan 29; Grade 5, Feb 26; Grade 6, Mar 18; Grade 7, May 20.

I will be putting Family Education information in each of these Torah School newsletters regarding the upcoming programs, and even some feedback from previous ones, so stay tuned. Sometimes I will ask you to bring in a book or item from home, which will be worth some reward on the day of your program. Also, look for flyers coming home with your students regarding the programs.

As this is only my 3rd year with Temple Emanu-El, I look forward to getting to know all of you much better and especially meeting you on opening day, Sept. 11th.

B'Shalom,

Barbara