By now you should have received your invitation to the 2010 Civic Service Award Celebration to be held May 2 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City.  Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy will be honoring Howard and Rosalyn Jacobson.  They are huge supporters of the school and in the community.  The celebration begins with cocktails at 6:00 pm and the auction and entertainment at 7:30 pm.  We hope you all will be able to attend this special event.  To register, click here

Shabbat Shalom,
Howard Haas

April 22-April 30- MAP testing continues
April 23- Go Green Day
April 27- 7th Grade Parent Meeting about the Arizona trip 6:00 pm in Room 204
April 28- Coffee and Chat with Head of School 8:00 am
April 29- 5th Grade Field Trip to Exchange City
May 2- HBHA Annual Civic Service Award Dinner
May 2- Lag B'Omer
May 3- Lower School Lag B'Omer Field Day
May 3- AP Government Exam 8:00 am
May 4- AP Statistics Exam 12:00 pm
May 5- Creative Kids 2:15 pm
May 6- AP English Exam 8:00 am
May 7- Go Green Day
May 7- Upper School Honors Assembly 1:45 pm
May 10-12- 6th grade trip to Camp Sabra
May 10-12- 8th grade trip to Chicago
May 10-14- 7th grade trip to Arizona

Important reminder:  May 18th is Erev Shavuot (the day prior to the Jewish festival of Shavuot).  Because it is the day before a festival, we will dismiss school at 2:50 and Talmid is closed.  Kindergarten will dismiss at their regular time.   

 
HBHA News and Events

Zimriyah to Honor Myrna Braverman
Myrna Braverman will be recognized for her many years of contribution to Jewish music, locally and nationally, on Wednesday, May 12, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Campus. The evening, at which Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy students will present a Zimriyah (musical program) --“The Jews of Broadway” -- directed by music specialist Myrna Braverman and Devra Lerner, will honor Myrna's 21 years of teaching at the school.  Additionally, congregational cantors, music directors, and Yachad-The Traveling Tefillah Band will join together recognizing Myrna's 40+ years of dedication to the musical life of the Kansas City Jewish community. The community is invited to attend and honor Myrna.  A book highlighting special moments with Myrna is being created and messages can be sent to Judith Epstein at dovsgirl@hotmail.com by May 3. 


Upper School Course Selection
This week during mentoring, Todd Clauer met with the 8th, 9th and 10th graders to go over the procedure for selecting courses for next year. The students also attended a session with their mentors and other teachers to learn about all course offerings for the upcoming year.  The students were given forms to take home so they could make their course selections and have parents sign.  These forms will be mailed out to the family as well.
The Upper School Course Guide 2010-11 can be found by clicking here.  For those who prefer, hard copies will be available in the office beginning Tuesday, April 27th.    The guide offers an overview of Upper School at the Academy including academic and procedural policies such as graduation and community service requirements, grading policies, academic recognitions, and other general information as well as course descriptions for multiple years.

MAP Testing
Students in grades 2-8 are hard at work taking the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP test).  Parents will receive the results by mail after the testing window is closed the first week of May.  

Spring College Fair Announcement
On Tuesday, April 27th, at William Jewel College in Liberty, the Missouri Association for College Admission Counseling is holding its Spring College Fair from 5:30-7:30 PM.  Over 80 colleges will be in attendance at this fair. Students in grades 10 and 11 are encouraged to attend.  The following link lists all the colleges who will be in attendance at the fair:
http://www.moacac.org/2010_1-70_Kansas_City.pdf
If you have any questions, please contact Todd Clauer, College Guidance Director at tclauer@hbha.edu

Greater Kansas City Science Fair  
Congratulations to Lower School fifth graders who participated in the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair.  Ariel Brudoley and Leah Sosland received gold ribbons and Sammy Galapo, Kyle Gold, Eli Picker and Emma Shapiro received silver ribbons. 

Price Chopper Reading
Fifth grade students participated in the Price Chopper “Feeding the Reading Appetite” program.   The fifth graders have read over 40,000 pages this school year.  Price Chopper has rewarded them with gift certificates to buy snacks and rent a movie for a class party.  Mrs. Franks has challenged the students to continue to read and reach a goal of 50,000 pages by the end of the school year.

Puppet Shows Teach Social Skills
Lower school students were recently treated to the world premiere of four puppet plays: “Speak for Yourself” by Leah Sosland; “I’ve Got Empathy in my Shoes” by Emma Shapiro; “The Wrong Rumor” by Sarah Stevens; and “A Twist in Tolerating” by Davi Sher. The project began with the student authors interviewing fellow students, Ms. Gray, and Mrs. Hardeman to find out what problems students have at recess, in the lunchroom and just in interacting with one another. Mrs. Gray and Mrs. Hardeman also shared what strategies work best in resolving these issues. Each student playwright then chose one of these typical problems lower school students might have socially at school and wrote a play highlighting potential strategies to use when confronted with such issues as bullying, rumors, and misunderstandings caused by lack of empathy or tolerance. After each play, the playwrights led a discussion with the students highlighting the strategies to use and the student attributes involved. Audience reactions indicated that the puppets were a very fun way to highlight this useful information!

Bridges of Understanding
Bridges of Understanding's final meeting of the year welcomed the new sixth grade representatives and said good-bye to the outgoing eighth grade reps.  New HBHA representatives to this middle school interfaith program are Aleck Bratt, Elana Goldenberg, Lindsey Paul, Michael Paul, Naomie Scharf, Maya Schreiber, and Jed Shaffer. These students meet with their catholic counterparts at St. Therese Catholic School to discuss each religion’s Basic Beliefs, looking for both commonalities and unique features. Thanks to Rabbi Debbie Stiel and Father Mike Roach who serve as our resident experts and mentors. A highlight of the event was building edible suspension bridges out of kosher food items. The task was not only to build a standing bridge, but also to discuss the parts of a suspension bridge with their group and decide how each part represents an aspect of their religion or an aspect of the Bridges of Understanding program. Graduating 8th grade representatives - Ellie Davis, Kara Khan, Matt Kavanaugh, Alex Sher, Micah Stiel, and Shayna Towle – celebrated their Bridges journey. Be looking for them to be “bridge building” leaders of the future! The mission of Bridges of Understanding is to deepen the awareness of G-d, religion, and culture while building relationships among Catholic and Jewish middle school students in a spirit of service to the greater community.

How to be Organized for 2010-2011 School Year
"The assignment is due when? Tomorrow?"
We've all been there at some point. Somehow, that assignment due date just slipped right up on us without our noticing.
That is why organizational skills are so important to school performance. Who can afford to lose points on a paper, just because we didn't pay attention to the due date? Who wants to get an "F" because we forgot to put our completed project in our book bag the night before it was due? 
Poor organization skills can reduce your final scores by a whole letter grade, which is why you should learn to use a day planner the right way.
If you are entering seventh grade and above and would like to order an effective student planner, that works best for our block period schedules, please fill out the order form and send $4.00 (cash or check to Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy) to Netta Krashin by May 7.  You will receive a 2010-2011 planner in August.  Click here for the order form. 

Admissions Office News
Parents and Friends of HBHA: Help us spread the word about our wonderful school and upcoming admissions events:

Re-enrollment for 2010-11 School Year
Re-enrollment packets for the 2010-11 school year were mailed on Wednesday, February 3.  Please help us plan for next year (staffing, supplies, etc.) by completing and submitting your forms ASAP. Thank you!

Now Accepting Lateral Entry Applications for 2010-11
You are HBHA’s best advertisement! Please tell your friends about HBHA’s wonderful academics and warm community as well as our reduced tuition under the Academy Access Program (AAP).  Private tours available weekly. Click here for Admissions Process & Procedures. 
 
President’s Volunteer Service Awards Due Date – April 30, 2010
Reminder: Upper School students can earn the Presidential Volunteer Service Award by completing over 100 community service hours in a calendar year.  Completing between 100-174 hours earns a bronze award, 175-249 hours earns a silver award and over 250 hours earns a gold award.  These awards recognize students for extraordinary service within a school year.  All completed hours must be properly documented and submitted by April 30th, 2010 for any students who would like to be recognized at the spring honors assembly.  Nearly 40% of students each year achieve these honors, which speak well to the level of service our students perform in many areas of the community.
Additionally, all other upper school students are reminded to complete their annual service requirements by the last day of school (June 2nd), while seniors must complete their requirements no later than May 12th.  Any questions about community service should be directed to Todd Clauer at tclauer@hbha.edu.

Spring Exam Exemption guidelines are available for students and parents on the HBHA Web site. Click here for the link.  The deadline for submission is May 14.

A Walk Through Jerusalem
Topeka’s Temple Beth Sholom, Grace Episcopal Cathedral, and Islamic Center are co-hosting a program aimed at promoting religious and cultural understanding.  It is a traveling interactive exhibit called ‘A Walk through Jerusalem’ and will be offered free to the public from May 30-June 20, 2010 in Topeka – the program’s only stop in the Midwest. For more information, contact Michael Massesy at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka, Kansas. 816-608-0003.