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Rescheduled due to the weather

GO RAMS!!!

 Last year, our current Grade 8 students visited the exhibit "The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-51" as part of our school partnership with the Jewish Museum.   In keeping with that group's penchant for photographing the "nitty-gritty" of city life, the students were divided into groups and took shots of street scenes in Chinatown, the court area on Centre Street, Harlem, and our local area. Some of these photos are now on display in the school lobby as a prelude to this year's Book Day, whose theme is photography. Click here to view lobby display. Please enlarge on your screen. 

Kudos to Joseph B. (6) who recently performed at Carnegie Hall as part of the Young People's Chorus of the City of New York. Joseph attends weekly rehearsals has been a chorister for 4 years. The chorus's theme song is "Give us Hope." We hope that Joseph will continue to entertain people for a long time to come.

Kudos to MS. BETH REISMAN whose work is on view in Silhouette, an exhibition curated by Bill Carroll, at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, 323 West 39 Street-2F, from 3/1-3/31. Featured are various artists who employ silhouettes in their work.  For example, Ms. Reisman's 2006 acrylic on panel "Tanguey," seen above, references the influential work of the surrealist Yves Tanguey. Its small shapes are taken from silhouettes that Ms. Reisman drew from outlines of women in fashion magazines and reconfigured for her piece.  "It is the relationship between the two figures [in the drawing], the one moving off or onto the panel and the other fixed into the square of the painting, that is the essence of this work," Ms. Reisman commented.

PURIM POTPOURRI

4Purim this year seemed like a two week long fun-infused celebration as special activities started on Rosh Chodesh Adar and did not wind down until the day after Shushan Purim. If you missed it in Z-Mail or want to be uplifted by a repeat performance, please view our faculty and students as they made merry by donning "crazy hats" and dressing up as "twins" on the first of Adar -- the day that ushers in the traditional directive of "marbim besimchah," compounding our quotient of joy.

4During the intermediary days from Rosh Chodesh to Purim, lunchtime activities added to the festivities. These included music, a trivia game, cookie decorating, mask making, a scavenger hunt, "penguin" bowling, and a play. Get into the spirit by seeing if you can match the activity with the advisor whose students arranged it. Your choices are Ms. Weissman, Mr. Marsh, Ms. Kirschbaum, Ms. Walden, Ms. Wachs, and Ms. Schwarz. Email your answer to Morah Aryana, who orchestrated these events, and she will send you what you are undoubtedly craving, yet another Hamantash!

4With nothing to eat on Ta`anit Esther, students in Grades 7 and 8 spent their lunch period participating in a raffle to raise funds for Od Yosef Chai, a charitable organization that meets educational, social, and financial needs of its clients in Israel. Members of the Student Organization (SO) Presidium had canvassed the faculty in search of goods or services to be raffled off. As in past years, generosity prevailed as teachers contributed gift certificates to local book shops and eateries, pizza parties, a day at the zoo, a manicure, study sessions, a Shabbat invitation, a Sunday barbecue, and other physical and spiritual nourishment. At only a dollar a ticket, many students tried their luck and cast their lots to win a prize and a handsome sum was raised.

4The next day was costume day. In this case, pictures are certainly more worthy than words. The colorful attire and accompanying accoutrements created an aura appropriate to ushering in the holiday, as did the Mishloach Manot packages that were distributed to each of the students from the Grade 8 Israel trip fundraiser.

4The most auspicious of our Adar programming was Purim Pandemonium, a color war like event for which the students were divided into teams along their x, y, and z classifications. Each team was assigned a "pigment": persimmion (orange), periwinkle (blue), or pepper (black). The surprise "breakout" came at the end of sessions on Friday when, after a standard announcement on the PA system after which the loudspeaker was "inadvertently" left on, the SO members were heard engaging in a "private" discussion of the event. As the office phones rang off their hooks telling Beverly to shut the microphone, the students were sent to team meetings to begin the event.

Students came to school on Monday dressed in their appropriate colors and, after two regular class periods, the games began. In "Minute to Win It," students had to perform "challenges" such as moving around as quickly as possible to accrue "steps" on a pedometer or creating a stack of metal nuts without using their hands by sliding them off a chopstick in their mouth. In a custom-made computerized game of   "Jeopardy," they had to identify teachers via their baby pictures or clues about their "secret" pasts or habits. Please ask your children about the other activities, which included "See Build Run," "Capture the Flag," "Scattergories," and "Riddle Me This Riddle Me That." There was also a whole school relay race in which the "baton" could not be passed on to the next group of eagerly awaiting students until activities such as sinking foul shots in the basket ball hoop or identifying objects based on a teammate's sketch had been completed.

While all this was going on, small groups of students were preparing a banner, a "Stomp" performance, and a team song to be presented at the finale later in the day. These were based on the following themes: Megillat Esther and the Jews as People of the Book, Matanot LeEvyonim as a symbol of tzedakah and chesed, and mishloach manot as a symbol of Torah-based interpersonal relationships.

A focal point of the day was an all school lunch, during which Purim Pandemonium took a back seat to Sheva Berachot in honor of Mr. Yonatan Brander and his wife of a week Yehudit Goldberg. Long time family friends Rabbi Alan Berkowitz of Lower School fame and his two MS daughters Aliza (8) and Noa (6) showered the kallah and chatan with kind words. Based on the week's parashah, Rabbi Berkowitz explain that the Israelites' mistake in building the golden calf was rooted in their unfounded belief that in order for something to be real, its needs a physical manifestation. Thus, they were at a loss when Moshe did not come down Mt. Sinai when expected and needed to objectify him. Seeing this, Moshe broke the luchot because, as Rabbi Berkowitz explained, "Torah is more than physical" and could not simply be transferred from "one inanimate object [to] another." The message was clear to the newlyweds as evidenced by the expression on their faces. They continued to beam as a video, produced by Ms. Tali Winer, showed various students and faculty members wishing the couple "mazal tov" through signs, line and circle dances, and waving and otherwise posturing, all set to traditional Jewish wedding music.

The finale was a testimony to what our talented Ramaz students can accomplish, even impromptu. The songs and STOMP were masterful and you can see the beauty of the banners for yourself in the school lobby.

"Finale" was a bit of a misnomer as the event carried into Tuesday morning after tefillah, when students from each team presented Divrei Torah accompanied by a slide presentation.

Purim Pandemonium was indeed, as Dr. Sokolow had predicted in an email to parents, "a playful and pleasurable program replete with plentiful tri- partisan participation."  It could not have taken place without the cooperation of the entire faculty who, once again, stepped out of their usual roles, to ensure the students a good time. Of particular note are the team faculty captains Rabbi Schwarz, Ms. Schwarz, Moreh Tamir, Morah Tali, Morah Orit and Rabbi Hertzberg. The heroine of this megillah, however, is our own Queen Erin, Ms. Olsen: indefatigable, upbeat, creative, organizational genius, and mistress of detail.

4But it wasn't over yet. Purim spirit continued into the next day, when the winners of the raffle were selected at lunch. And it will continue to linger as students collect their prizes and deepen their relationships with the dedicated faculty at the Middle school.

5 STUDENTS ENTER NEW YORK CITY HISTORY DAY

Each year at the Middle School, a group of self-selected students opt to enter New York City History Day, a contest that brings them together with hundreds of other entrants from schools throughout the five boroughs. Administered by the Frederick A.O. Schwarz Children's Center at the Museum of the City Of New York, this competition expands its participants' scope of knowledge and hones their research skills.  Students choose a topic related to the program's annual theme, which, this year is "Turning Points in History." They then develop a project in one of the following categories: exhibit boards, documentaries, websites, papers, and performances. We are very proud of our students' accomplishments:

◄Two students have written 2500 word, carefully annotated research papers. "The Nationalization of the Suez Canal: A Waterway to a New World Order" by Gabriel Klapholz's (8) demonstrates how Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser's seizure of the canal from its French and British masters and the Sinai-Suez War that followed had salutary effects on Arab, Israeli, Soviet and American power, while vastly diminished the sway of colonialism. Jacob Aufzien (8), in "Ignac Semmelweis: Washing Our Hands of Sepsis," traces the crusade of the pre-germ theory reformer, who linked the spread of infection to poor sanitary conditions.  

◄In a ten-minute long documentary film titled "The Raceman: Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Major League Baseball," Jacob Lefkowitz (8) uses both his own voice as well as interviews with key sports figures, historians, and Robinson relatives to showcase this sports icon's role in combating racism.  

 ◄Lillian P. (7) will be taking on several different roles, including that of Frances Perkins, when she stars in her one-woman original ten minute long dramatic performance, "The Fair Labor Standards Act: Was It Enough to End Child Labor?"

◄Our youngest entrant in the 14 years that our school has been participating in New York City History Day, Daniel Levy (6) is preparing an exhibit board with the title, "Going Up...! How Advances in Elevator Safety Changed the New York Skyline." Its focus is the safety brake developed by Elisha Otis that allowed for elevators to rise higher than six stories.  

First and second prize winners at the city competition go on to the statewide contest in May, and those who excel there qualify for National History Day at the University of Maryland in June. 

Dr. Sokolow, who mentors the students as they prepare their entries, is always delighted when students win awards; yet, is gratified when parents and students laud the educational benefits of the History Day experience, whatever the outcome. "History Day participants are so resourceful and hard-working," she said. "Working with them is an intellectual adventure and I am grateful to be part of the process." 

We wish our students continued success as they face the judges on March 10. 

49ERS SUPERBOWL CHAMP VISITS MIDDLE SCHOOL

By Rabbi Joseph Schwarz

What could be more exciting to a middle school student than to meet someone who won, not one, but two Superbowls? What could be more inspiring than to find out that he is now an observant Jew who davens with a minyan regularly and learns Talmud daily?

This year the Baltimore Ravens played the San Francisco 49ers in one of the most thrilling Superbowls in recent memory. The game became even more exciting for the Ramaz Middle School students, when a former tight end from the San Francisco 49ers, John Frank, came to visit Ramaz on the Friday morning right before the Big Game.

John Frank played professional football from 1984-1988 with such well known names as Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. He won Superbowls in his first and last years, and then retired from the game and became a physician. He has since married, had two children, and recently became more observant in his Judaism.

Rabbi Schwarz, not knowing who he was, met him in synagogue and invited him and his family for a Shabbat lunch. Since that time, they have become good friends. Rabbi Schwarz asked John if he would join the Ramaz Middle School for tefillah one morning before the Superbowl.

There was a great buzz in the air as the students watched Mr. Frank don his tefillin and daven with his tallit over his head.   At the conclusion of shacharit, when John stepped forward to the podium, he handed Rabbi Schwarz one of his Superbowl rings! The students stared in wide-eyed amazement in the direction of the glitter. He then began to speak.

Playing off the biblical story of Kayin and Hevel where rivalry went terribly awry, Mr. Frank explained that competition can be a negative when it is driven by the desire to diminish others; yet, it can be a good thing when it pushes a person to achieve more. He also answered questions from the students.

You might like to view a video that the students watched which highlights Frank's life. One of his "hobbies," they learned, was that he helped found the Israeli bobsled team, dubbed the "frozen chosen," and he acquired Israeli citizenship in order to compete. He is satisfied with his life choices. "I try all the time to help someone," he says in the video. "That's what I do."

"It was one of the most exciting school events of the year," exclaimed Morah Aryana Bibi about the visit. "It certainly changed the way I watched the Superbowl this year; I rooted for the 49ers!"

However, despite a hard fought comeback by the 49ers, who were losing 28-6, the Ravens held on to win 34-31. Oh well! There's always next year, John!

Profile: Mr. Keith Waskowitz

By Junior Journalist ESTHER KATZ (6)

Learn about Mr. Keith Waskowitz, Senior Food Services Director for FLIK School Dining