Donna Klein Jewish Academy
May 6, 2016 - 28 Nisan 5776 
Weekly Parsha (click here)
Shabbat Candlelighing 7:37 p.m.  
 

This week, we returned from spring and Passover break with a very full schedule of events and commemorations on our calendars. Our Claire and Emanuel G. Rosenblatt High School seniors headed off to their life-changing journey to Poland on the March of the Living. While visiting concentration camps and sharing the emotional experience with classmates and survivors, the students will learn more than they ever would have imagined. They will travel to Israel in time for Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), before returning home for yet another milestone - graduation. (Please be sure to read the blog entries this week, which can be accessed via www.dkja.org). The culmination of their education at DKJA will take place on Sunday, June 5th. This year's commencement will be the largest in the history of our school, and therefore the ceremony will take place at B'nai Torah Congregation to accommodate the audience of proud loved ones. What a wonderful day to look forward to!
 
Our eighth-graders departed for their Israel trip, and they are having a wonderful time learning experientially. They are greatly anticipating their Moving Up Ceremony on June 9th at 4 p.m. 
 
Yesterday, DKJA commemorated Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The names
 
of those who perished were read throughout the day in Dedication Plaza by students, faculty, teachers and administrators. Additionally, Holocaust survivors were honored at several moving programs. Please be sure to watch the brief video included that captures the essence of the intergenerational program for grades six through nine that took place in Zinman Hall. I am sure it will impact you in unimaginable ways. I was honored to be a part of it. Special thanks to Mr. Nachshon Carmi, Mrs. Zoraida Adams, Mrs. Liat Luel Rochberg, Mrs. Karen Mart, Mr. Gustavo Correa and Dr. Yoram Dahav for creating the wonderful program; and to Rabbi Marshall Lesack, Principal of Claire and Emanuel G. Rosenblatt High School and Debbie Lipson, LCSW, Holocaust Case Manager with Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services (and DKJA parent), for coordinating visits with the elderly on our campus. 
 
Experiential learning is such an important aspect of the curriculum at DKJA. Not only does it provide opportunities for engagement, interaction and collaboration, it infuses uniqueness into the learning process. As a Jewish day school, it is important for students to engage, to have exposure to a variety of leadership opportunities that encourage this engagement, and to be immersed in an abundance of Jewish learning.  
 
This week, I was pleased to read an article in the online publication ejewishphilanthropy that not only corroborated this philosophy, but also documented the success of students who attend Jewish day schools.
 
"Day school graduates have been shown to be more Jewishly engaged, disproportionately involved in Jewish leadership roles, more likely to raise their children Jewishly, and less likely to engage in negative social behaviors in college than their Jewish public-school and private-independent school peers. There are also studies that suggest that the families of Jewish day school students benefit Jewishly from the school communities that they initially explored for their children and ultimately chose and continue to choose for their own Jewish involvement," the article states.
 
If you would like to read the article in its entirety, please click here.
 
This is a testament to the amazing work we are doing at DKJA, now, and for generations to come. May we go from strength to strength.
 
Shabbat Shalom,
Helena Levine
Head of School 
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK   
   
DKJA STUDENTS QUALIFY FOR NATIONAL FINALS OF BIBLE COMPETITION 

Congratulations to a very accomplished group of students who will soon represent DKJA in New York City at the International Chidon Hatanach (Bible Quiz) Competition. After meeting weekly since the beginning of the year to study Tanach after school with Mrs. Miriam Engel, we are excited to congratulate Lea Toledano (6th Grade), Abby Goodman (7th Grade), Aaron Bookstein (6th Grade) and Noah Bookstein (8th Grade) for making it to the national finals of the competition, which will be held on Sunday, May 15th. Not pictured: Noah Bookstein. 
   
NEWS FROM THE OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Please join us...

Please reference the listing of events for the remainder of the year. Click here. 
   
PTO HOSTS BEAUTIFUL MOTHER'S DAY LUNCHEON


Thank you to the DKJA PTO for a wonderful and much-appreciated Mother's Day Luncheon and beautiful boutique with amazing vendors. Pictured here are Luncheon Chairs Fran Wigder and Jill Yesner with DKJA Head of School Helena Levine and DKJA Board President Genevieve Menaged.
   
ROSENBLATT HIGH SCHOOL SHINES AT CIJE ENGINEERS CONFERENCE


By Mrs. Marie Restler

Students from Rosenblatt High School participated in the Annual CIJE Young Engineers Conference hosted by David Posnack Jewish Day School on April 13, 2016. Two teams from the Biomedical Engineering Elective and one team from the Introduction to Engineering elective presented their projects. All teams showcased their working prototypes with a poster presentation outlining their project.

Jordan Hannon and Noah Siegel researched, sourced materials, built and demonstrated a filament extruder. With the new lower costs of 3D printers, the technology is rapidly gaining popularity in schools. The cost of filament, however, can become costly. By making the filament in-house using a filament extruder, the cost of printing can be more reasonable. The team also researched the feasibility of materials that could be recycled, such as plastic water bottles, in making safe and usable printing filament.

Zakary Moran and Omri Bronfman researched, designed, built and demonstrated a pressure pad array made of conductive fabric and thread. The pressure pads can produce a digital map that shows the distribution of pressure either in the shoe of the patient or along a bedridden patient's back. The technology can be used to develop customized therapies based on the real use feedback from the sensor pads. The pad is machine washable and is easily plugged into any electronic components.

Elliot Morgenstern and Benjamin Zedeck researched, designed, built and demonstrated a wearable heart rate monitor with a warning alert. The heart rate monitor tracked the resting heart rate of the individual wearing the monitor. If the rate changed by +/-10% of the resting heart rate, a signal was given to the wearer. Since a rapid heart rate is one of the early indicators of insulin shock, the heart rate monitor could serve as a good source for the wearer of the need for immediate medical attention.
   
COMMEMORATION OF IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES...


DKJA will commemorate and celebrate important days in May as follows:
 
Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day) Wednesday, May 11th at 8:50 a.m. in Zinman Hall. Seventh-grade students and members of the Rosenblatt High School Hebrew Honor Society will lead this ceremony.
 
Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) Thursday, May 12th. Students we will celebrate Israel's 68th Independence and Innovation Day from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in
Zinman Hall and the MAC.
 
Sixth and seventh-grade students will share Israel's innovations and culture with the Lower School students and guests.
 
Please be advised that we will be selling T-shirts to celebrate Israel's 68th birthday (designed by a student) for $10. You can order them online or you can purchase them from the Jewish Life Club students. We invite you all to join us for any or all of these events. Click here for the link for T-shirts (you must log into the Eagles' Net). 
   
TREE OF HONOR CREATED TO RECOGNIZE HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
 
By Mrs. Carol Routman
 
Over the course of more than two decades, eighth-grade students have had the honor of studying the Holocaust in a very intensive, personal and meaningful way. Their intense curriculum study included having the privilege of interviewing survivors from the Palm Beach County Child Survivors and Hidden Children's Group, and hearing their stories first hand.  
 
The speakers inspired and educated our students. So, when Mrs. Heni Galel, DKJA grandparent and Board Member of the Palm Beach County group, suggested a permanent display to be housed in the DKJA building, we were thrilled to create one!
 
Mrs. Loren Stein, artist, calligrapher and devoted DKJA parent, joined the Middle School art room volunteers Lisa Simberg, Hayya Nathanson and Angela Okoskin in making this tapestry come alive.
 
We hope you all will treasure this newest addition to our integrated Holocaust display, and will take pride in knowing that your students' lives were touched by the amazing strong people whose faces, names and country of origin are on this beautiful piece of art.
  
STUDENTS CREATE UNIQUE WAY TO RECOGNIZE
THOSE WHO PERISHED

By DKJA Middle School Students, Rachel Salama and Amanda Bagon

We have always felt the 5 million non-Jewish victims of the Nazis were not remembered as well as the 6 million Jewish victims. So this year, we decided to do something about it, and that was to create a unique sticker to wear on Yom HaShoah in addition to our traditional yellow Never Forget stickers. We want everyone to Never Forget ALL 11 million who perished.
   
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE; DVDs CAN BE PRE-ORDERED

Professional photos of the drama production
High School Musical are available. Downloads are $10.  Both performances are included. Click here for the link. The password is dkjamusical (all lower case).
Click here to order your DVD of the performance. Performances are this Saturday night (8 p.m.) and Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) 

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Donna Klein Jewish Academy
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