Little Scientists

Yesterday, our Kindergarteners conducted yet another science experiment with Mrs. Gilbert!  They learned all about the relationship between water and wood by squeezing droplets of water onto a wooden block.  They became pros at using the scientific words, "absorb" and "dissolve".  What will they conjure up next...?!

Shabbaton Highlights!

This week in Moreh Moshe's Head of School Message, we get to hear from HAMC students and their reflections on this year's Shabbaton.

Enjoy!

Kindergarten Shabbat Program

This morning Morah Edna's Kindergarten class celebrated Shabbat with a very special family program.  The students first impressed their parents with a performance of their favorite Shabbat songs. Then, both students and parents worked as a team on two Shabbat projects; challah baking and challah-tray decorating.  The students loved coloring in the Hebrew word "Shabbat" on the challah tray and especially enjoyed rolling the sticky challah dough with their hands and rolling pins. They couldn't wait to take the challah home and eat it at Shabbat dinner tonight! Finally, the students lit the Shabbat candles, recited Kiddush, and said Ha Motzi on the challah in preparation for Shabbat.  Overall, it was a wonderful program and put everyone in the Shabbat spirit!

ECC Science with Mrs. Gilbert

Yesterday our little scientists explored the effects of carbonation on still objects.  They placed raisins in a beaker of seltzer and watched in amazement as the raisins slowly rose to the surface of the water. Last class they did the same experiment, but with regular water and the raisins just sunk to the bottom of the beaker. Seeing the contrast between the two experiments was, in their words, "so awesome" for our ECC-ers!

A Rosh Chodesh Celebration

This morning we celebrated Rosh Chodesh, the new Hebrew month of Sh’vat, with a special prayer service and festive breakfast.  We also honored those students who had their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs over the past month by calling them up to the Torah and listening to each student speak about his/her Torah portion.  After Tefilah, we were lucky enough to get a special surprise from both the HAMC Performing Arts Club and the HAMC Choir.  The Performing Arts club did a creative rendition of “The Lorax” and the choir sang a classic Israeli medley and Joni Mitchell’s, “Yellow Taxi”. The audience (especially the staff!) couldn’t help but sing along and clap to the catchy rhythm.  The morning culminated in a delicious bagel breakfast and an excitement for the new month. Tu B’shvat is coming….!!

1st Graders Get Snowy in the Art Room

Yesterday our 1st grade class smocked up and created some colorful paintings of snowmen.  Mrs. Knapp taught the students the concept of artistic "perspective", having the students paint only a close-up version of the snowmen.  See photos below of our artists hard at work!

Shabbaton 2012!

Even with the arrival of  2012's first snow, this years Shabbaton was a huge success! Our 5th-8th graders had a blast spending the night in school and celebrating Shabbat together.

Here were some of our favorite highlights!

• Bringing in Shabbat with spirited singing led by Moreh Moshe
• Beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat service
• Delicious Shabbat dinner
• Staying up late bonding with our classmates
• Playing in the SNOW!
• Home cooked food from Morah Nurit and Mrs. Bacharach
• Challenging teambuilding games
• Creating our own culinary creations in a heated Iron Chef competition
• Using our teamwork skills in an awesome Apache Relay
• Hanging out with Lior and Noga
• Havdallah ceremony with our parents

And so much more!

There was a real sense of community and family reflected from the Shabbaton that the students created on their own.  The students were filled with so much spirit and excitement throughout the entire Shabbaton and really had an unforgettable weekend.  We can't wait for next year!

A big thanks to Moreh Moshe, Mrs. Bacharach, Morah Nurit, Ms. Gates, Jaclyn, Lior and Noga for putting the Shabbaton together and making sure everyone had a great time throughout the weekend!

Check out photos below of before Shabbat (candle lighting) and after shabbat (Havdallah).