Head of School Message

Turn up the volume. It was a windy day!    

Learning about Trees at HAMC

Our ECC students are learning about trees at HAMC! To help learn about them they are building their own classroom tree!

Growing Green at HAMC

Here at HAMC, we are green with ... pride! We know, it's not the usual expression you find attached with "green," but we're happy to announce that during the summer, our school qualified for the Green Schools Honor Roll.

That makes us the first school in New Jersey to make the prestigious list from the Green Schools Initiative! Check out our profile here.

Students with our new composter!

Our HAMC Green Team is so fortunate to have an administration and staff that fully supports our environmental efforts -- especially because the green message dovetails with the core Jewish value of Tikkun Olam.

We're encouraging parents to pack eco-friendly lunches for their children (with thermoses instead of juice boxes and reusable containers instead of plastic baggies) and to follow the new school policy of "No Idling" in the pick-up line. Also, we hope that all staff members will join us in our efforts to help keep our green school its greenest. With our new Green Schools Honor Roll status, we feel the added responsibility to "walk the walk and talk the talk." Please help us, in any way that you feel comfortable, to spread the message of Tikkun Olam and how it relates to environmentalism. Here are some suggestions:

• Join your students in packing a lunch that reduces waste at school.
• Turn off the lights whenever the class leaves your classroom--even better, let the students do it. At the end of the day, please turn off all computers and monitors.
• Use paper cups instead of plastic cups at snack time. Without liquid (preferably water), these can go into your mixed paper bin. The school is working on supplying compostable cups for all classrooms--which can go into our brand-new composter, located near the greenhouse.
• Your mixed paper bin is not just for paper--cardboard boxes from snacks can be disposed of there, too.
• Avoid plastic or styrofoam for arts & crafts projects, instead choosing "green" materials such as recycled cardboard.
• Encourage the kids to drop off their old, broken crayons in the school's crayon recycling bin, or at the front office.
• Read green books to the children and discuss ways that even the smallest students can make big differences for our planet. It's very empowering for them to learn that their choices have real and measurable effects.

We have another wonderfully green year ahead, from poster contests to special guest presentations to "green captains" in the student body -- all tied into the core Jewish value of Tikkun Olam. We can't wait to share all of our green goings-on here on the blog!

The green message is universal -- how do you go green?

HAMC Goes Green to Fight Consumption

On Tuesday, Rabbi Lawrence Troster of GreenFaith gave two special presentations to our HAMC students. First, he spoke to our kindergarten through fourth grade students on "God Must Love Beetles" and then he spoke to our fifth through eighth graders on "Saving Tree of Life: Jewish Environmental Wisdom and Tikkun 'Olam."

Rabbi Troster used the provocative pictures of photographer Chris Jordan, Jewish wisdom literature, and Jewish prayers to provoke a lively discussion on how we can try to create a more sustainable, happier way of life. The presentations focused on being mindful consumers rather than mindless consumers.

The students got together in groups to discuss and brainstorm on these topics and their work will be showcased on bulletin boards around the school. Our goal is to inspire and motivate students as we move forward with "greening" our school and to connect being "green" with being Jewish.

Rabbi Troster's slideshow from the presentation to the fifth through eighth graders. Let us know what you think, and let us know what your students thought about the program!

Rabbi Troster of Greenfaith on Consumption

View more presentations from hamcblog.