On the Road to Russia

We're happy to announce that we're taking our students on an interesting adventure that will take them from Russia to Israel, Canada, and even Brazil! Don't worry, we're not globe-trotting, it's our new After-School Enrichment Class: Go Geography!

On Fridays, our students will take imaginary trips where -- during two classes on each country -- they'll learn from native speakers, participate in class discussions, art projects, and songs. We'll be spending time on weather, the landscape, interesting or unusual native animals, history, customs, music, and food.

Our first destination? Russia!

We're busy decorating our travel hats.

Before venturing out, our students learned how to say Privet, Ja ...  ("Hello, I am ...), and then we took a look at the globe, pinpointing New Jersey in the United States and Russia. Finally, ready to travel, our students took a short train ride, followed by a trip by plane to Russia where they encountered brown bears and horses, Siberian tigers, the soup borscht, lakes and forests, and Russian children's games!

In two groups, students took on projects. One group colored their travel hats, writing Privet, and put handmade country-specific pins on them, while another group went "fishing" in Russia's Lake Baikal, which is the biggest fresh water supply lake in the world. The students also "visited" the caves of South Russia and got to play with some of the Russian toys, including matroyshka (nesting) dolls, and fishing bears. Next week, our groups will swap activities so everyone gets a chance to explore the fun of Russia.

We read a Russian story called "Repka," a folktale about The Great Turnip, and we also read a letter from Vladimir, a Russian boy, who wrote to greet the class and share interesting facts about the weather, animals, food, and flora of his native country.

After a busy class, we wrapped up with circle time, which gave the students a chance to practice some Russian, and we sent everyone home with a small plastic horse to remind them of what they learned.

We're excited to travel on to Israel, Canada, and Brazil! Until then, Poka! (That's "goodbye" in Russian!)

A Snowy Reward

As a result of very good behavior with a substitute teacher Thursday, our Fifth Grade Class was given a Friday recess. The students had a (snow) ball!

Blue Box Bob Brings Israel to HAMC

Have you met Blue Box Bob? Our students have!

Blue Box Bob -- a colorful, costumed character made to look like one of the Jewish National Fund's signature tzedakah (charity) boxes -- connects students to modern Israel while teaching them its history. At HAMC, Blue Box Bob shared stories about Israel and spoke to students about the role that JNF has in taking care of the land of Israel. Our students were thrilled and had a great time with Bob!

The Blue Box Bob Program is a multi-component educational program for Jewish day, afternoon, and Sunday schools. It is designed to use stories and innovative educational materials to foster themes such as nation building, connection to Israel, and how to help take care of others. It is a program of the Jewish National Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to serve as caretaker of Israel, on behalf of its owners -- Jewish people everywhere. Over the past century, JNF has planted more than 240 million trees, built over 180 reservoirs and dams, developed more than 250,000 acres of land, created more than 1,000 parks, provided the infrastructure for 1,000 communities, and educated students around the world about Israel and the environment. 

Trees and Treats on Tu B'Shevat!

Today was a big day at HAMC! In honor of Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees, our students filled their day with crafts, singing, eating lots of fruits, and tree planting. Our fourth graders hosted visitors from The Lester Senior Housing Community in Whippany, and the students and seniors enjoyed arts and crafts together.

How did you celebrate Tu B'Shevat? For more photos, be sure to visit our Facebook page!

A Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration!

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day, our students put together a celebratory and educational program about one of the most prominent leaders of the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

As we prepare to celebrate Tu b'Shvat -- the New Year of the Trees -- our head of school, Moshe Vaknin, tied the two holidays together by reminding our students that Martin Luther King Jr. was passionate about the Torah and that many Jewish leaders still talk about their support for the Movement to this day.

We hope you are as proud of our students as we are!

A Parent's Take on HAMC

We're pleased to receive feedback from parents and community members about HAMC, and this week we want to share one parent's perspective from the Dishin' with Dana blog on the United Jewish Communities of Metrowest New Jersey website.

Dana Lichtenberg, the blog's author, handed her blog over to HAMC parent Jonathan Ramsfelder, who had some glowing and thoughtful things to say about his kids' 27 years of combined education at HAMC in "And, Of Course, I'd Like to Thank the Academy!" Here's a mere sampling of Ramsfelder's reflections on HAMC and what it has to offer families and the Jewish community.

HAMC is a pluralistic Jewish day school where families from across the Jewish denominational spectrum come together to educate their children, truly reflecting the diversity of the American Jewish community today. The school lives up to its mission statement by maintaining high standards of academic excellence; nurturing students in an environment infused with the richness of Jewish life; and inspiring intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and personal integrity to enable its students to emerge as lifelong learners, compassionate individuals, and successful members of society.

Jewishly, HAMC is a beautiful model of what the state of American and world Jewry could be if we focused on what unites us as a people instead of our minor differences. Members of the HAMC community embrace and encourage one another’s Judaism even if it is quite different in practice than our own. Some may be shomer Shabbat and some may not be religiously observant at all. However, parents, faculty and students at HAMC share a powerful understanding that no one has a monopoly on the right way to practice and different types of religious experiences and modes of practice are meaningful to different people.

HAMC Alumni Give Back!

Have you seen the HAMC Alumni Scholarship Fund video? If you haven't, be sure to watch it and let us know what you think!