Starting next week, during parshat ha'shavuah classes, we will learn the parshiot about building the mishkan.  The students will learn about the building, the unique vessels that were placed in it and, of course, about the Kohanim, their clothing and their works.  The sixth grade students have already started to learn about the mishkan and Kohanim.  They studied the details of the keilim with Morah Elana and placed information about them on tri-fold boards.  These will be used to teach younger children about the mishkan.  In addition, together with our art teacher Ms. Neiwerth, they have built wonderful models of the vessels (the menorah, the ark, etc.). You will be able to see all of that and more in a special exhibit.  Stay tuned.

Stealing Time

Rav Moshe Feinstein, of blessed bemory, would tell yeshiva students that in order to become a talmid chacham (Torah scholar), one needs to "steal time". In other words, there is simply not enough time to master all of the Torah, we need to create pockets time whenever possible.

In the Junior High, we took advantage of one of those moments: For a week or so in January, the 7th grade was busy working on their celebrated Shakespeare production. This left the 8th grade with half empty classes; a pocket of time! We cover so much Torah over the 12 years of day school but there is so much more we simply can't fit in. Naturally, we seized the moment to tackle some topics that were of particular interest to our class; berachot.

Our 8th grade girls conducted an in depth analysis of our lunch menu to determine the correct berachot procedures. They then created illustrated beracha posters to be hung in the cafeteria so that the rest of the school would benefit from their research. 

The 8th grade boys tackled the "other berachot"; those berachot that many know little about or may not even know exist: The correct berachot on fragrant trees versus herbs versus fragrant foods, in addition to the berachot on natural phenomenon like lightening and thunder. Our "Beracha Bodega" is pictured at left.

Food for Thought: The following question was asked to me by Noah Ziv (10th grade): Until now, the Torah has been basically a storyline. However, beginning last week with the Aseret HaDibrot (Ten Commandments) and increasing exponentially this parsha, is the emphasis on the laws. What is the reason for this shift in focus? 

Check out the videos of school events and activities.  Most events are recorded for your later enjoyment and can be viewed at the ColumbusTorah Youtube page.  Recently added videos include: Grandparents and Special Persons Day and the Kindergarten Breishit Siyum.  These are not glossy productions, but wonderful reminders of these milestone events of our students.

CTA Grandparent Special Person Day 2015

CTA Kindergarten Siyum 2015

Last Friday was a special day for our Lower School as they welcomed Grandparents and Special Persons to our school for a short program and activities in the classrooms.  The special adults in our student's lives enrich their learning and their experiences learning about their heritage and traditions.  Visitors and students participated in classroom activities that ranged from using math manipulatives to playing Hebrew language games and more.  The purpose of GPSPD is to expand our school community beyond our faculty, students, and parents to engage a wider cross section.  Showing off our wonderful program and great facility empowers everyone with pride in CTA.  Thank you for the faculty support and parent volunteers who made it successful.  A special thank you to teachers Mary Lynn Buster and Cheri Friedman for their help to make it happen.  Enjoy the short video of the student's presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL79NFvKkwk. 

Varsity Boys:  Last week's "Senior Night" highlighted the members of the Varsity Boy's Basketball team who will be graduating this year.  Coach Byron Allgood shared heartfelt words about each of the players and Mr. Bailey expressed appreciation to Orri Benatar who has been recording and calling the games over the years. 

Varsity Girls:  The Lady Lions will be heading to Miami, Florida for the 10th Annual RASGHA Basketball Tournament from February 18-22.  Watch for more information on Facebook.

Middle School Boys:  Our middle school boys played an amazing game last week with a buzzer beater vs Liberty Christian in the last few seconds of the game to win by 1 point. 

Middle School Girls:  Our girls won their recent tournament game to proceed to the semi-finals of the tournament and finished a respectable 10 out of 15 in the league.  

Twenty-one potential kindergarteners for Fall 2015 from area preschools spent the morning this week at CTA in our annual Kindergarten Preview Day.  The morning highlighted our faculty and included stories and songs about Tu B'Shevat with Moreh Dror, activities in the classroom with the teachers and "veteran" kindergartners, a hamburger lunch and fun with Mr. Bailey.  Pictured are some of the adorable incoming kindergartners.  Applications are still being accepted.  Please contact Shari with any perspectives.

As the State of Ohio's standardized testing is moving away from the pencil and paper format, at some point in the future students will be taking standardized tests online.  The lower school has begun to prepare students for online testing by piloting a program called Scootpad. It is an interactive site that not only prepares students for online testing but provides teachers with real time feedback on student performance in Mathematics and Language Arts.

So far the Fifth and Sixth Grade students have been testing the mathematics portion with great success! Students have been using their computer class time to learn how to navigate through math problems online. They are able to work at their own pace and challenge themselves with mathematic concepts that are based on the Common Core Curriculum.

Teachers can design the program to automatically assign personalized learning paths or they can manually select Common Core Curriculum elements for students. With either method, teachers can track each student's performance and adjust online learning levels accordingly. This is an ideal platform for differentiated learning, allowing both accelerated learning and remediation to take place simultaneously.

In just the past two weeks teachers and students have learned much about online learning and testing. We hope to expand our pilot program to other grades in the coming weeks.

For those who think Columbus is "a cow town," Congregation Ahavas Sholom says "It's a kosher cow-town!" Columbus's first ever Kosher Food Festival will be on Sunday, February 15 from 11 AM until 3 PM, at Ahavas Shalom.   Local vendors will be displaying and selling kosher food and other products available in central Ohio. Come, taste and buy gourmet cheeses from Kosher614 and baked goods from Matt's Bakery.  Satisfy your craving for thin mints by buying Girl Scout cookies. Silver Spoons, Etc. will be selling beautiful, reasonably priced paper goods for your next dinner or party. Raffle tickets are being sold for $5 and include prizes from Bexley Natural Market, Costco, and the Breslov Center.  Admission is free but sorry no children under 12 admitted.  Vendor space is still available. Please contact KosherKolumbus@gmail.com for more information. 

Brachos Bash 2015 on Sunday, February 15, 10-11am, at the Columbus Community Kollel for boys and girls in grades K-5. For more information, contact Rabbi Alt at rabbialt@thekollel.com or 237-7133.

By demand, the E-Dateline will now be offering advertising space in its weekly newsletter.  Space is limited and rates are weekly as follows:

Weekly Dateline Sponsorship $150 (includes tribute line at top of newsletter)

Full Weekly E-Dateline Sponsorship:  $150 - Name at top

Full Size Submission:  $75 - size is 780 x 432 pixels/10 x 6"

Half Size Submission:  $50 - size is 390x 216 pixels/5.4 x 3"

1/3 Size Submission:  $30 - size is 260 x 144 pixels/3.6 x 2"

Rates are weekly and all submissions must be received by Wednesday at noon.  At this time advertising is only available in the e-Dateline, not paper version.  Advertising submissions are subject to content review. Contact sherszage@torahacademy.org for more information.