Dear ,
Next Wednesday morning, the Upper School Student Council will sponsor a K-12 family program for Thanksgiving. The program will consist of families getting together to read a story about Thanksgiving from a Jewish lens, discussing the story and sharing traditions related to Thanksgiving. Students will then a complete a “turkey” art project and identify items for which they are thankful this holiday season. Wishes for a happy Thanksgiving and safe travels for all of you.
Shabbat Shalom,
Howard Haas
www.hbha.edu
Calendar Reminders
November 24 - Grade Level Spelling Bees
November 25 - Noon dismissal-Jeans and Sport Shirt Day
November 26-27- No School-Thanksgiving Break
December 01 - Camp Young Judaea and Ramah Outdoor Adventure Meeting 4:00 pm in the Library
December 02 - 06 - Weiner Basketball Tournament
December 02 - Kansas Poet Laureate visits HBHA
December 04 - Go Green Day
December 06 - PTO Mother Son Event
The 2010-2011 Calendar is complete and posted on the web site. Click here for a copy.
You can click here to view the monthly printable calendar, which is updated daily.
Click here to find out how to place an article in the Chai Lights.
Parents-There will be no Updates and Deadlines on November 26.
HBHA in the News
Two HBHA students participated in the Scholastic Chess Tournament at Pembroke Hill School on October 31. Noah N took 11th place and Addison B took 4th. Both boys received individual medals and as a team received a 2nd place trophy. Congratulations to these boys!
HBHA News and Events
The Chai Lights is now archived on the HBHA web site. Click here to view.
Alumni Join the Endowment Challenge
Are you an alumnus who lives in or near Chicago? The Chicago Branch of the HBHA Alumni Association is hosting a fundraising event on December 15 to help reach our endowment goal. Join them for an evening of celebration, meeting old friends and new, and help support HBHA! For more information, click here>>>
HBHA Upper School Student Councils goes to Interfaith Youth Alliance Lecture
On Tuesday, November 10th the Upper School Student Council traveled to Notre Dame de Sion High School to hear Eboo Patel, National Director for the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), speak to students from around the Kansas City metropolitan area about interfaith dialogue and social action. Patel, named by US News and World Report magazine as one of the 20 most influential leaders in the United States, spoke to the students about their responsibility to understand their own faith background, its sacred texts and heroes, as well as engage in a respectful understanding about different faiths in an effort to find commonalities and work toward cooperation. He rejected all forms of extremism as counter to the foundations of all great religious traditions. The Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance is an ongoing project to engage students in interfaith youth dialogue and service, and HBHA students will look for ways in the future to participate in these activities. For more information about the talk, please read Bill Tammeus article at:http://billtammeus.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/11/11141509.html
PTO Donates $18,000 for Technology Advancement
The Executive Board of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) is excited to announce that the Organization has donated $17,800 for technology advancements at HBHA. The gift facilitates HBHA purchasing eleven ceiling-mounted projectors to fulfill the technology plan that each classroom have one. Additionally, the gift will enable HBHA to purchase much needed upgrades for the Computer Lab including updated software, keyboarding programs and more. HBHA will also purchase 18 DVD VCR Combo’s, making it possible for faculty to utilize all of their teaching videos with the new projectors. “I can’t tell you how amazing this contribution is! We have come so far with the technology initiative and I’m excited that all teachers will now be able to utilize projectors in their classrooms. The new lab software will benefit not only the computer classes, but teachers will be able to use it in their classrooms as well. PTO is such a valued organization. They do so much for us. I truly appreciate this donation and all the wonderful things they do for our students, teachers and this school,” said Principal Gayle Gray.
This gift is possible as a result of the revenues generated from The Rams Café for the past few years. “The Middle School and High School Students who eat in the café day in and day out, as well as the volunteers who spend countless hours there preparing and serving the food ought to have the accolades,” said Miriam Kaseff, PTO President. “They really are the unsung heroes who deserve the credit for making this donation possible,” Kaseff continued.
In addition to the technology donation, the PTO has committed $9600 towards the ‘March of the Living’ Junior and Senior Class Trip to Poland and Israel. This amount will be allocated among all of the students, and give each of them approximately $400 towards the $5000 trip. “Even though the students are doing their own fundraising, the PTO felt that The Rams Café really is their fundraiser,” Kaseff said. “It is our hope that going forward the PTO will be able to continue contributing $10,000 for this extremely worthwhile bi-annual trip,” Kaseff elaborated.
Grandparents and Grandfriends Day! Happy Bear Visits Lower School.  One Homeless Night.
Click here for photos of this and more.....
Happy Bear Program
Sunflower House, a local child abuse prevention center, facilitated a presentation of the “Happy Bear” program to our kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students this week. This program is designed to minimize the risk of potential abuse to our students by teaching personal safety skills including: welcome and unwelcome touches, personal safety zones (personal space), resistance skills (saying “no,” moving away), identifying trusted adults to tell about inappropriate touches, and learning that unwelcome touches are “Never your fault!”
Statistics tell us that approximately one in four girls and one in six boys will be the victim of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday, and that one-third of sexual abuse victims are age six or younger. Research demonstrates that by teaching children about personal safety, they are more likely to tell an adult about an inappropriate touch.
For further information about this program, as well as safety tips for families, please visit the Sunflower House website at www.sunflowerhouse.org.
Junior and Senior March of the Living
Support our 11th and 12th Grade as they plan for their trip to Poland and Israel in the spring. They are selling yellow trash bags. Click here for more information.
Winterim
HBHA has a wonderful program every year the first week in January called winterim. We offer unique courses for Middle and Upper School students for one week in an effort to increase exposure to different course opportunities. If you have a special skill or talent that you think our students would be interested learning, please email Gayle Gray. We love to have parents come in and volunteer their special skills and teach students. We also welcome ideas from friends and family members that would like to help out.
Playground Safety
We want the children who play on the new playground to be safe. Please click here for the playground safety rules.
One Homeless Night
Thirty Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy 8th-12th graders, along with five teachers and administrators, participated in Synergy Services’ One Homeless Night on Thursday, November 12th. HBHA students raised $715 for Synergy Services in an effort to aid homeless youth in the greater Kansas City area. Students simulated homelessness by sleeping outside and constructing cardboard shelters. Guest speakers from Synergy Services and Veronica’s Voice gave presentations and provided question and answers sessions with the students regarding the estimated 2,200 homeless youth in the KC metropolitan area.
Between the arrival of the speaker from Synergy and Veronica’s Voice, students made fleece blankets to donate to the youth shelter. Upon arrival, the speaker from Veronica’s Voice shared with the students the startling fact that within the first 24 to 48 hours of homelessness, teenagers are approached or forced into prostitution and why it is so important to raise awareness.
Reflecting upon the homeless night and the speakers, Sam Sosland, eighth grader, said, “I experienced what it was like to be homeless. It was a great experience. It was fun but touching at the same time. I was astonished how open the speaker from Veronica’s Voice was. This was a very good experience, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”
Micah Stiel, eighth grader, said that the event not only was worthwhile in raising money to help the homeless youth, but also enabled him to realize how he lives in a protective bubble and is isolated from the disturbing reality of many teenagers.
Synergy Services has served the Kansas City community for 38 years, and according to Jeff Matascik, Prevention Education Specialist with Synergy Services, their new Youth Campus opens this fall. It houses the new Synergy House Youth Emergency Shelter, the Transitional Living Program, the Children’s Advocacy Center, Counseling Offices and Youth Resiliency Center. Matascik said, “The Campus is a place where unattached and at-risk youth can drop in, no questions asked, and find a place to keep themselves and their belongings safe, do laundry, shower, have a meal and access countless practical and creative resources to help them meet their basic needs.”
This year, the event has grown to include over 29 schools, colleges, universities, and youth and religious groups, with an estimated number of 1,200 youth participating. Last year the event raised over $30,000, and this year the fundraising goal was $80,000.
Matascik said the goal for One Homeless Night is to “expand community awareness around the issues of youth homelessness and a resolve to directly address the issue by supporting Synergy and our service projects to help our youth.”
HBHA students participating in the event collectively agreed that their understanding of the scope and seriousness of homeless youth in the Kansas City metropolitan area increased exponentially. Jonathan Edelman, eleventh grader, said, “It was truly a life changing experience for me. Sleeping out in the cold for one night was so difficult, but for someone who has to do this every night, I feel horrible.”
The next day students attended school, as usual. Participating students were exhausted from a fitful night’s sleep, but said even that experience helped them realize how difficult it is for homeless youth to function at school. HBHA students look forward to participating in Synergy’s One Homeless Night again next year. Hannah Azorsky, eleventh grader, said, “It was a very good experience. I thought it was a lot of fun, but I also learned a lot. I would definitely do it again.”
Calling all HBHA students
If you are interested in participating in our Civic Service Award Dinner on May 2, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, please sign up with Pat Caldwell before December 15th. Only 20 students in Grades 4-12 will be able to participate in this exciting evening. You will be in two big production numbers during the evening's program. Both will involve singing and dancing, and several rehearsals will be required. If you agree to be part of HBHA's most important fundraising event, it is necessary that you be at rehearsals. Please keep this in mind when signing up.
Your participation in the 2010 Civic Service Awards really helps make the evening special. Your talent, energy and enthusiasm will help us have a strong and financially healthy 2010-2011.
If you have more questions, please contact event coordinator Paul Lerner or at 913-649-0457, or development director Martha Atlas or at 913-327-8156.
Morim v Horim: Partners in Parenting
Due to low attendance, the administrative team has decided to discontinue Morim v'Horim. All future sessions have been cancelled. |
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Regional Kinnus in K.C.
KCUSY is proud to host this year’s EMTZA Regional Kinnus, the largest annual convention, where over 200 USYers and staff gather to celebrate Thanksgiving and Shabbat, USY style. Delegates will travel to Kansas City from 17 chapters in 10 Midwest states and two Canadian provinces. A highlight of every year, Kinnus offers social action projects, opportunities for study and discussion, awesome evening programs filled with song and ruach and time to just hang out with friends. To date 38 KCUSYers are registered, and everyone is encouraged to attend. A fun (and helpful!) way for adults to get involved is to serve as shomrim (chaperones). Please contact Stef,at swlliams@bethshalomkc.org, for available shifts. Kinnus will take place at the Sheraton KC Sports Complex Hotel Thursday-Sunday, November 26-29. The theme of the event will be “Across the Jewniverse,” with programming creatively centered on the Beatles. HBHA seniors, Ilana Heisler and Ethan Kaseff, will chair this not-to-be missed experience. The annual pre-Kinnus turkey dinner will be held at the home of Marla Brockman and John Goldberg on Monday, November 23 at 6:15 p.m.
Community Happenings
Jewish Family Services is in need of drivers for their JET Express. These drivers provide needed transportation for those who no longer are able to drive themselves. Please click here for more information.
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