Kindergarten Chumash Bereishit Siyum

After weeks of learning the parshiot stories and the values of the various characters in the Chumash, the Kindergarteners finished Sefer Bereishit (the Book of Genesis) and celebrated with a siyum on Thursday. Dressing in the Israeli colors, wearing crowns and performing a play with songs reflecting the main idea of each parasha, the students put on a beautiful presentation. Moreh Dror was so proud and gave each student a medal and a special certificate. At the end of the program, everyone watched a cute power point presentation of the students dressed up and acting out the scenes which they learned. The students decorated a tzedakah box that was sent to them by their friends in Rakefet School in Israel as a gift for this event.  Each student received an album as a memento and concluded the party with a yummy treat. Kudos to Morah Jamie for all her hard work and dedication in preparing the students for this occasion. This also could not have happened without special daily help from Morah Naomi. This is just a small picture of what occurs in and out of their classroom on a regular basis.  Yasher Koach. Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazayk! May we go from strength to strength!  

The Final Frontier

After our village has invested all it can in each child, we are not done. As a Modern Orthodox, Zionistic school, we want our students to live the dream of Israel. We like to call it taking a year on (vs. a year off) to study in one of the great Israel programs. Having that said, it can be an overwhelming decision given all of the unknowns.

Last week a group of our recent graduates (Emily Chase, Max Herszage, Danny Lebowitz, Abi Rosen and Rachel Salutsky) made a special visit to talk with our seniors about their recent experiences and reflect on their transition from high school. This helped provide seniors the chance to make the most educated decisions and have a chance to discuss concerns with a group they can easily relate to. A special thanks to Emily for helping get them all here at one time! We wish them all continued growth and success!

Table Talk: After receiving the 10 Commandments, this parsha (Mishpatim) begins to detail the 613 mitzvot. It is supersizing that the discussion begins with rather mundane topics like laws of servants, dealing with other people's property and damages. Why didn't Hashem start with something high and inspiring like davening or prophecy?

Thank you to those parents who braved the arctic temperatures and polar vortex on Tuesday evening to attend the Annual Town Hall meeting.  Marcia Hershfield presented a report on the Headmaster Search and Rabbi Kahn recapped some of the highlights from the first semester of the school year.  A list of upcoming events shows that a great many academic and school milestones are coming up for our students and our school community.  The Lower School and Upper School divisions met in different areas of the building to talk about curriculum areas and administrative developments that are specific to each.  

Welcome and add to your copy of the PTO Parent Directory: Rabbi Noah and Miriam Karp, 634 Enfield Rd., Columbus, OH 43209, 410-504-3125, Shifra Nechama, Kind.

Have you been wondering about the 2013 yearbook? Have no fear, it's on its way! A few snags in production led to the delay of our books being printed. They are due to arrive mid-February. We apologize for any inconvenience and assure you they will be jam-packed full of colorful memories from the 2012-2013 school year. 

Looking ahead to our 2013-2014 book, we want YOU to be a part of our CTA yearbook by submitting your own photos to our online portal - it's quick and easy and let's you become an active part of the yearbook process. 

It's simple to register: 

1)  Go to www.replayit.com and click on the yellow "register" link. 

2)  Start typing "Columbus Torah Academy" in the Find Your School box - select it and click "continue" 

3)  Complete your registration or login with Facebook! 

4)  Upload your photos to share with the yearbook. 

To make an impactful Language Arts lesson about contractions, Mrs. Buster's second grade viewed the process of making a contraction as a surgical procedure - something needed to be removed and then the word was "patched back up."  Mrs. Buster distributed surgical gloves and masks, scalpels (scissors) and plenty of words that needed to be made into contractions. After the words were cut up, they were reassembled and band-aids served as the apostrophe to keep the word together. 

Explained Mrs. Buster, "The students were very serious about the whole project and referred to each other as Doctor throughout the procedures.  Many of the students continued to wear their masks to recess and for the rest of class, which made an interesting Social Studies lesson.  They had a blast and hopefully can manage contractions with no problem!"