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PAC CORNER
Next PAC meeting
Thursday, October 6
7:00 KDHS Library
Casino Evening December 8, 2011 |
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Upcoming Events
Monday
September 26
School Photos
Formal Uniform Day
Wednesday
September 28
Noon Dismissal
Erev Rosh Hashanah
September 29 & 30
School Closed
Rosh Hashanah
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Community Events
NCSY
Rosh Hashanah
program
Click here for more info
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| Shanah Tovah - from our family to yours! |
This is a wonderful time of year to be at King David - it is the start of the new school year and fittingly the start of a new Jewish year.
The start of this school year has been sweet (and busy) and there is the excitement of all things new in the air (and in the halls). New classes, new teachers, new friends - all create new opportunities for personal connection. As I reflect on the past year and look to the new one, I am thrilled with how our KDHS school community continues to grow. Jewish living and learning is alive and takes place within and outside the walls of the school every day. May the blowing of the shofar serve as a reminder to us to reconnect with the values we uphold - tzedakah, tikkun olam, gemilut chasadim - so that together we can make a positive impact on our world both locally and globally I am including a fun New Year you tube video for you to enjoy; On behalf of all of us at KDHS - Shana Tovah. Russ Klein Head of School
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Meet The Teacher Evening
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On Tuesday evening KDHS welcomed many parents into the school to be a part of the Meet the Teacher Evening.
The night was a great success, giving parents the opportunity to connect with both teachers and the administrative team. There was a wonderful sense of school community as parents were able to hear first hand the requirements of each subject.
Thank you to everyone for making our Meet the Teacher Evening such a success. As the year progresses we want to remind you that our doors are always open and you are always welcome to come in and experience the activity in the school at anytime.
 
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AIDS Walk For Life
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On Sunday, September 18, KDHS students, faculty and parents joined together, with the Vancouver community, in the AIDS Walk for Life.
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Front Row (Left to Right) Ran Shpanya, Lexi Balshin, Alexandra Neumann, Sophie Barnett, Maya Rosenkrantz. Ben Katz Back Row (Left to Right) Julie Lane, Suzy Flader, Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Mara Berris, Naomi Landsberg, Adina Landsberg, Tamara Shenkier, Russ Klein
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Raising funds to help combat the AIDS epidemic and to provide care and treatment for those suffering from its effects, our KDHS contingent walked for hope and change in eradicating this deadly disease. As we will soon enter our New Year, we pray that our KDHS family and our wider Vancouver and world community, experience a year of goodness and health, joy and happiness.
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Student Rosh Hashanah Message
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Student Council President, David Rosengarten wrote a wonderful message to his fellow students as part of the KDHS Rosh Hashanah program.
As we can see, the many different foods that we enjoy on Rosh Hashanah not only serve as delicious and festive treats, but they also stand as "mindful checkpoints" and spiritual symbols reminding us of what we wish to strive for in the coming year.
While signifying great meaning and depth, of all these festive fruits, the one that truly encompasses everything that we wish for in our new year here at KDHS is the Rimon or Pomegranate. With its strong ties to the Torah, being one of the seven mystical species of the land of Israel, and with its beautiful Kabbalistic imagery, the pomegranate stands out as one of the most powerful metaphorical symbols of the High Holidays.
In our Midrashic tradition, the hundreds of seeds within the pomegranate is said to represent our wish for sustenance and fruitfulness for the upcoming New Year. We wish only the best for ourselves and for the prosperity and comfortable livelihood for all those around us.
In addition, the numerous seeds of the pomegranate are said to represent the 613 mitzvot of Hashem's holy Torah. It is ultimately through our meaningful engagement in mitzvot that we are brought together as a cohesive and united family, like the seeds of a pomegranate.
These three principles, mitzvot, unity, and family, are essentially the key ingredients to our success here at King David and it is when we combine these three pillars that we are truly bound together as one.
As you may have already noticed, some of our fellow classmates have created and posted a large pomegranate tree at the back of the atrium. In addition to the tree, our classmates have also made mini pomegranate fruit to put on the tree.
In thinking of our coming new year, we would like everyone to write upon their rimon what they would like to give and receive from our KDHS family.
We will then collect each of your pomegranates which we will place upon our KDHS family tree which will represent our commitment to each other to build and enjoy our KDHS family
in our new year.
Together we will then enjoy all of the symbolic foods which we have talked about today.
Have a Shana Tova U Metuka!
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The Door is Open
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"This week I had a chance to be a part of one of KDHS's wonderful social action programs, a visit to The Open Door, a soup kitchen on Vancouver's downtown East Side. It was an experience that reinforced for me the importance of helping our kids grow by allowing them to put into practice the lessons and Jewish values they learn in class."
Hodie Kahn, parent of Kira (Grade 10) and Aria (Grade 8) 
I was invited to join 10 intrepid Grade 10 and 11 KDHS students, toting loaves of bread and cold cuts, who pushed themselves out of their comfort zones to prepare sandwiches and share their bounty with those for whom such dietary staples are considered a luxury.
When we got to East Cordova Street, about three hundred would-be diners were already lined up on the sidewalk, having already waited several hours in a queue that wound its way down the street and around the corner. We entered a dining hall that was clean and organized and the students, along with Mr. Klein, Ms. Wiesenthal and I, immediately set to work preparing enough peanut butter, tuna salad and meat sandwiches to meet the gastronomic needs (and wants) of everyone who would shortly walk through the open door, seeking what for some might be their only meal of the day.
Our guests finally arrived, passing the hall in orderly fashion, picking up snacks on their way to the kitchen's counter, where the students were busy ladling hot soup (prepared by another group of adult volunteers) into bowls and handing out sandwiches, "one per customer," which loosely translated meant, "one per customer per visit to the counter." (Repeat customers made several circuits, grabbing their food and heading immediately to the back of the line, often times stowing away their bounty for later in bags.)
It was a little bit daunting at first, this large group of people, whose appearance marked them as "the same but different." Some students found it a lot to take in, preferring to remain within the secure confines of the kitchen, while a few slightly more intrepid souls took their places out front to hand out packaged snacks provided by the soup kitchen. But ALL of the kids did an amazing job overcoming their anxieties to make the most of this experience. To a student, they were respectful, friendly, polite and hardworking, even staying behind to engage in conversation with some of the guests at the end of the meal.
I think the morning was best summed up by one of the students I debriefed on our ride back to school. When I asked her about her thoughts on the day, she responded, "I was a little bit nervous at first, but I'm really glad I went." I'm really glad I went, too.
Hodie Kahn
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Grade 12 Welcomes Ethiopian Visitors
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"This very informative and motivating presentation opened my eyes to the integral social dilemma regarding diversity in Israel and how we, the young generation, have the ability to create change both in Israel and our own communities."
Zeke Blumenkrans 
On Friday September 23, the Grade 12 Israeli Advocacy class met with visiting Ethiopian students - Reut Worka and Orly Pakado. The class had a chance to learn about their experiences growing up in Israel and about their family story making Aliyah from Ethiopia. The students asked questions regarding the challenges an Ethiopian teenager faces in Israeli society and a dynamic and interesting discussion developed.
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