As a culminating activity for the end of the year, in Morah Elana's Fifth and Sixth Grade classes, the students worked on two special programs. In 5th grade, they worked on the Torat Chayim project where the students each picked one value which was most meaningful to them. They researched the pessukim learned throughout the year to build a thesis and show how they learn this lesson from the text. They explained how the pessukim help see this point and why it is relevant to their lives. The students prepared display boards with their topic, pessukim and life lesson. In Sixth Grade, each student was assigned one of the ten plagues. They made either a PowerPoint or Animoto presentation of their plague, including quotes from the text and graphics. These will be displayed on the chrome books at the Achievement Fair.  Yasher Koach to Morah Elana for all of her hard work and dedication to her students. 

Please make plans to personally pick up your child's medication by the last day of school, Wednesday, June 11. For safety reasons, medications will not be sent home with your child. Any medication/inhaler not picked up by the end of the last day of school will be thrown away.

Jeff and Murielle Rosenberg on Simon becoming a Bar Mitzvah

Dr. Florence Neymotin (Class of '98) and Dr. Louis Nemzer (Class of '00)

   on the birth of a son

ALL (current and new) Columbus bus riders must fill out an Application for Pupil Transportation for the 2014-2015 school year.  You can access this form at CTA's website at  www.torahacademy.org. Print the form, fill it out, and return it to Norma Whitmyre by the last day of school, Wednesday, June 11.  Transportation cannot be guaranteed without a form.

It has been a time-honored Jewish tradition to give tzedakah in recognition of important events. Todah Rabah to the following for their donation to the Scholarship Fund:

   Gary Liebesman and Stacy Leeman in honor of the 2014 graduates

First grade celebrated what they have been learning this year at their Siddur ceremony.  In kindergarten and first grade, our students use the Artscroll Children's Siddur (prayer book) for their morning tefilla (prayers).  By learning and practicing all of the blessings and prayers each morning, the children gain lifelong skills and gain the comfort of walking into any synagogue or temple and feel confident to open a prayer book.  They also are building a relationship with Hashem (G-d) through prayer.

At their Chag HaSiddur celebration, the students had the chance to show parents, grandparents and friends what they have learned as they received their first "grown up siddur" which they will continue to use at school and beyond.  As they continue to pray daily, they will become more skillful and confident as they embrace the meaning of each prayer.

The first graders shined at Thursday's Siddur program with pride at what they have learned.

The students were honored to have Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, chief rabbi of the Kotel, and Rabbi Shmuel Herman, Rosh Kollel of The Schottenstein Kollel, both from Jerusalem, join them and share a special blessing for continued learning. 

Ms. Breen and the High School Environmental Science class made a trip last week to the Columbus Zoo.  The weather was absolutely perfect . . . for the animals the students observed.  The cold weather allowed for the animals to be a bit more active than they normally would have been during morning or midday.  The students were divided into groups, and each group chose an animal that they would make an ethogram for during a three-hour period.  An ethogram is a behavioral study that scientists track in order to observe changes in the behavior of particular animals, or groups of animals.  Students, Ellie Chase and Arik Bality chose the Zebra Shark.  They were in the aquarium all morning tracking the swimming path of the three sharks at the zoo.  Ellie and Arik noticed that there were distinct differences between the movement of the juvenile sharks and the adult sharks, and now they will be faced with the task to figure out why that might be.  Other groups observed the gorillas, the kangaroos and the bobcats.  Each group did a fantastic job cataloging the behaviors of these different animals and we look forward to spending some time in class researching and explaining these behaviors.  

Thank you to the parents, teachers, staff and supporters who volunteered to make the Spring Fling Family Festival a tremendous success!  It would be hard to thank everyone individually.  We hope you recognize yourself here, maybe even more than once. 

Thank you to:

the ones who dreamt this event up and created its name.

the ones who came early to set up and stayed late to clean up.

the ones who shopped for stuff.

the ones who prepared the food for concessions.

the ones who lent their coolers.

the ones who helped with Talent Tent, Kidz Karaoke, Brutus Buckeye, the High School Band, including the performers and their parents.

the ones who lent us equipment.

the ones who helped keep the line straight for the ponies.

the ones who brought refreshments to other volunteers.

the ones who helped to get volunteers and keep them organized.

the ones who stayed all day.

the ones who helped set up the chairs and tables.

the ones whose classes were interrupted to help.

the ones who helped carry soda and water.

the ones who answered calls about the event.

the ones who shared the event on Facebook and Twitter (and in person).

the ones who set up the Fun Run and guided people along.

the ones who welcomed new faces onto our campus.

the ones who set up impromptu davening groups.

the ones who stood at the parking lots and welcomed people to the event.

the ones who created logos, promotional materials and t-shirt designs.

the ones who took pictures to share in the school archives.

the ones who copied, laminated, cut things out and posted things up.

the ones who lent their trucks.

the ones who worked at admissions and concessions.

the ones who took the initiative and showed real leadership to get things done.

the ones who were runners, trying to get everywhere and help everyone.

the ones who used their muscles to shlep.

the ones who put up lawn signs and the ones who let them be put up.

the ones who helped with all of the different activities.

everyone!  Mark your calendar for 

Thursday, May 7 for Spring Fling Family Festival 2015!

Congratulations to Ida Crown from Chicago for their CBI Tournament win! And, a very special thank-you and Yasher Koach to the entire CTA community for making the 2014 Columbus Baseball Invitational a huge success.  The dozens of volunteers and sponsors who contributed to CBI are the reasons that we, as a relatively small Jewish community, can host more than 175 players and coaches from communities as large and as far away as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, New Jersey and Atlanta.  Because of YOUR efforts; YOUR participation; and YOUR hospitality; Columbus, Ohio and CTA are in the spotlight of the national Jewish community for three amazing days every Spring.  We look forward to another fantastic CBI in 2015.  Sincerely, Jon Hartstein and Bob Lane, CBI Co-commissioners.    Pictured are the CTA and CJDS athletes who participated in Junior CBI Baseball Clinic.  These are the future of our Jewish community and the future of CBI - The Jewish World Series.

LEGO ROBOT CAMP: Design and build working robots; learn problem solving, engineering and computer skills in a fun, hands-on environment, and compete in a "sumo robot" championship. Camps are in Dublin, Westerville and Gahanna.  For more information, call 893-8106 or email [email protected].

OHIO HOLOCAUST AND LIBERATORS MEMORIAL will be dedicated on Monday, June 2, at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St.  The event begins at noon. Free tickets will be needed to enter the theater and attend the event but a closed-circuit television feed of the ceremony will also be shown on the Statehouse lawn for those without tickets. At the event Gov. John Kasich, the Memorial's designer Daniel Libeskind, and leaders from across the state will dedicate the Memorial as a tribute to the Holocaust's victims, survivors and liberators-and lead Ohioans in dedicating ourselves to be ever vigilant in making sure it never happens again.For more information, please contact Ohio Jewish Communities, at (614) 463-1835 or [email protected].