Debbie Friedman, MLK, Kabbalat Shabbat, so much to celebrate in a week at LGA...

Today, our second snow day in a week, I have the rare opportunity to reflect on our past week at LGA. It was a really meaningful one and has given me a lot of pause as to why LGA is just one of those special schools.

Remembering Debbie Friedman

Long time ago when I was in Kitah Gimel (3rd grade), my classmates and I stood up on the bimah and belted out the alef-bet to what was back then (the 1980's) a new fangled rendition of an old classic. We all sang with glee as our Romanian-born Israeli teacher, Channah, sang out the letters to the alef-bet by a relative newcomer to the Jewish music scene, Debbie Friedman. This is just one story of many that I can recant about enjoying a Debbie Friedman tune or song. I am sure that many of you don't even realize when you are hearing some piece of Jewish text that Debbie put her great musical prowess to.

Last Monday morning, after receiving the news that she had passed away. Our LGA community gathered together for a tribute and sing-along of some of Debbie's classics. Every Monday morning, students at LGA gather for the first thirty minutes of the day just to sing. Some weeks it is just the lower school, other times it is the whole school. We sing a combination of both English and Hebrew songs. We sing lots of fun songs and we sing folk songs that you rarely hear anymore. Our students look forward to that half-hour. Sixth graders often get nostalgic at their last all-school sing session. Debbie has been a part of our sessions from the beginning. Thanks to her for everything that she did for modern music! May her memory be a blessing...

Celebrating the life and legacy of MLK

At LGA, there is an inherent attribute that infuses every aspect of our daily life. There are deliberate and thoughtful initiatives that we as a community take very seriously. This is our social curriculum. Our students at all ages are taught meaningful life lessons not only about themselves as a Jewish people but also as a member of a large global community that is diverse and cherished for its many gifts. The study of Martin Luther King is one of those times. The weeks leading up to the annual MLK assembly is my favorite time. Students return from December vacation and learn about the rich history of the African-American culture. They read poetry, listen to songs, hear speeches and monologues and dive deeply into a culture that for many (not all) is unfamiliar.

On Friday, the culmination of this time is a celebration of MLK's life and legacy. The Kindergarten started the presentation by slowly and quietly singing "We Shall Overcome," then grade after grade and the assembled adults all joined in. It was quite powerful. Our 5th graders reenacted a scene from the Little Rock 9, the 4th graders stood up on the stage and took turns reciting MLK's "I Have A Dream." Our 2nd and 3rd graders sang a medley of songs that were sung in churches, 1st graders recited a beautiful poem and together our Kindergarten and 6th graders sang "If you miss me from the back of the bus". Many walked out feeling invigorated.

Our normal Kabbalat Shabbat routine

LGA is about community. We find times to work on building community. By Friday afternoon, everyone is ready to move into Shabbat and the weekend. Every week, our school celebrates Kabbalat Shabbat at the end of the day on Friday. Some weeks we do it as a whole school, others in different grade configurations and yet others sometimes just by class. I usually bounce between all the different ones. This week, I walked into where the 2nd-4th grades were gathering and witnessed just a lovely moment. Moreh Aharon was leading the students in a rousing celebration of Shabbat. It was joyous! Kids were laughing, dancing, singing, enjoying each other's company. The 4th graders were sitting around the circle each drumming. Aharon was teaching them a new song. The feeling was electric.

That's what I love about LGA. It's electric. The teachers love this school. The students love this school. I love this school. We all love it because it is electric. After a long week of intense meetings, decisions, strategizing, and planning, this is what it all comes down. I have attached a video that one mother (Thanks, Shana!) quickly took on her iPhone. The feeling here exemplifies an LGA education. Thanks for ending my week that way!

Now I am at the end of my snow day (lots of breaks to finish this blog post) but I feel satisfied and lucky for what I have.

A thoughtful approach to student behavior...Part 1

As a community school, we take many important steps to make every student at our school feel valued and cherished. One such step is creating a detailed policy to serve as a guideline for student behavior.

A small three-person committee, made up of an administrator, faculty member, and lay leader, have been hard at work at creating this detailed, intricate, and thorough behavioral statement. There are many directions this policy can take, and when I talk to the committee members who are working on it, I am reassured that we will have a course of action that will embody the LGA mantra of “learning while learning to care.” I want to share with you the first four guiding principles on which this policy is based.

melyShalom (Peace) Students behave in a manner that maintains harmony and harmonious relations throughout the school. We all strive for this basic principle. At LGA, we show our students on a daily basis, in a myriad of places and events, what this means -- whether it is on the playground, when students negotiate play, or in the classroom, when classmates have differing opinions. We teach our students the concept of living, studying, and playing peacefully every day. Students start their day by greeting an administrator, working on the ability to interact in the adult social realm.

cqg Hesed (Kindness) Students are friendly, generous, and considerate of others. Often when prospective families tour our school, they tell us how friendly and warm our students are. This is something our faculty take many planned steps to embody. Our students are taught starting in the Gan the importance of others –- be it through community service, our buddies program, or baking challot on Fridays. They carry the concept of Hesed throughout their career at LGA when they see our community take social action, both locally and globally.

ceak Kavod (Respect) Students show regard for others and for the physical environment of the school. Earlier this year, the entire student body worked with Jonathan Kohrman on a mural that now adorns the side of our building facing the yard. It is beautiful! Students took pride in their work. When our current fourth- and fifth-graders helped come up with the concepts that Jonathan integrated into the design, they wanted to emulate the “learning while learning to care” slogan of LGA. They get what LGA is all about! In first grade, Morah Rana teaches explicitly to her students that everybody has something that they can work on about themselves, and that we must work together as a team. Our first-graders understand what respect means, and you can even sometimes hear students remind one another to be respectful. This policy focuses on this important concept.

zegiha B’tichut (Safety) Students behave to keep everyone in the school free from harm, danger, risk, or injury. This is an important one! If a student doesn’t feel safe in school, then we aren’t doing our job well. The committee will probably spend the most time on this concept. Children are impulsive. While I can appreciate that impulsiveness in many ways, it is also something that I struggle with when working with kids of all ages. We embrace it when children use their energy to think analytically and creatively, and sometimes an impulsive feeling creates really good work. We can all think of times in our own lives when we may have made an impulsive decision that turned out for the best. But impulsive behavior can become problematic when children are playing together, negotiating with one another, or when they aren’t getting what they want at that moment. It is the school’s job to teach children how to handle difficult or tense peer situations effectively. We have great (I daresay amazing) kids at our school who still need to be taught the many ways to interact with one another civilly.

I look forward to sharing with you the last four concepts in my next posting. Have a wonderful vacation.

You've got a friend...

There are many wonderful parts to an LGA education - the high standard of academics in both general and Judaic studies, the powerful ethics-based education and the strong sense of community that a student walks away with. One of the most powerful and meaningful parts of the LGA experience is our BUDDIES PROGRAM. Our youngest students in Kitot Gan and Alef (Kindergarten & Grade 1) are matched up with our oldest students in Kitot Hey and Vav (Grades 5 & 6).

The value of the BUDDIES program can not be underestimated. There are teachable moments at all levels. The faculty create purposeful moments for our students to participate in. Students in 6th grade take their leadership roles incredibly seriously. On Wednesday afternoons, students gather together for an hour to not only get to know each other but to learn together. There is always an aspect of learning that takes place. One afternoon, I witnessed pairs of students spread out all over the classroom and hallway working on creating a giant Noah's Ark. The Gan students were completely engrossed with their older buddy. More than just doing an art activity the students are studying together the story of Noah. They grapple with different concepts and have conversations that are quite inspiring. You wouldn't think that a 5 year old boy and a pre-teen young woman would have a lot to share with one another but they do.

These students eat together multiple times a week. They sit with each other at Kabbalat Shabbat. They read and learn together. They genuinely care about each other. In the morning, as I greet students, our Kindergartners and 1st graders will often be so excited to see their buddies. They are jumping out of their skin. They recant some episode with a lot of pride about how special their relationship is with this older student.

This is another aspect of making a small school seem just a bit bigger. The multi-age aspect of the curriculum really takes that "Learning while learning to care" and makes it real for all involved. Kol Hakavod to all of our students who take their jobs so seriously.

If the walls could talk, they would say...

If you are so lucky to be able to visit LGA, park your car and walk around the side of the building by the playground. You will be pleasantly surprised to notice the beginning of the most beautiful mural our fair city of Northampton has seen in a long time. Thank you to LGA parent and professional muralist Jonathan Kohrman, for our school is soon to be the site of a magnificent piece of giant, colorful art. The most impressive part of the project is that it’s been completely collaborative, involving just about every member of our school -- students and faculty.

This past spring, Jonathan met with members of our admin team and our arts educator, Morah Kitty Marshall to discuss the mural. He envisioned a piece of art that would be not only eye-pleasing but also meaningful, conveying who LGA is and what we stand for. We all agreed that student participation would be a central focus. Moreh Aharon’s third- and fourth-grade (‘09-10) Judaics classes met with Jonathan to discuss which themes to include in the mural. Even after Jonathan’s initial conversation with the classes, the students were still highly engaged, thinking about what would make sense.

Jonathan took the students’ ideas and ran with them. I want to walk through just a few of the highlights of the mural. If you have a moment to check it out, I am sure that you will find other features that spark something within you.

First, a prominent feature is all the Hebrew letters scattered throughout the mural. A sofer (scribe) in the bottom right is creating letters that float in midair, symbolizing that Hebrew is a central part of our school and permeates much of what we do.

Also, notice the sailboat carrying children. Strikingly, one child is lifting another up into the boat, emulating the school’s mantra, “Learning While Learning to Care.” He is giving a helping hand to a friend in need.

And throughout, you’ll see that Jonathan and the students weaved a nature theme into the mural, paying homage to how fortunate we are to live in the beautiful Pioneer Valley.

Does something different stand out to you? I have attached a partial picture for you to take a look at. What stands out to you? I am sure it will spark great conversations.

Every student in the school has been involved in creating the mural; Morah Kitty has dedicated some of her art class time to work with Jonathan. As you walk into the LGA Oolam (Multi-Purpose Room), you’ll see a bulletin board detailing the many steps in the process: First, Jonathan and Kitty divided the entire mural into tiny boxes called a grid system. Students then learned how to trace a specific part of the mural as practice. From there they took it to the mural and finally painted their portion. It is our hope to complete the mural before our long winter sets in.

Thank you to Jonathan and Kitty for all your hard work on this project, and thanks to our students for taking it so seriously. The process that happened here emulates what makes LGA such a special learning environment.

Whispers with chickens...

Last Wednesday, I received the most unbelievable joy in accompanying the LGA Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) over to one of the student's houses to witness a young person's version of kapporot. For those of you who don't know what kapporot is. It is the ancient tradition at Yom Kippur where a person seeks atonement for their sins via a chicken. The chicken from what I understand is waved above a person's head and the following blessing is recited: "This is in exchange for me, this is instead of me, this is my atonement. This Rooster (or Hen) shall go to its death, and I shall enter in and go to a good, long life and to peace."

Now, I am sure some people are thinking how could we teach a class of 5 and 6 year olds about killing another living thing and rest assured nothing was killed last Wednesday. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite happened. We spent the afternoon really respecting animal life!

The Gan faculty taught the kids an age-appropriate version of kapporot. Their lead teacher, Amy approached me about doing this and explained that Rabbi Susan Schnur explained to her a modern-day approach to kapporot which involves whispering things you want to atone for from the past year into a chicken's ear therefore confiding all of your "sins" in a chicken, who the last time I knew would keep your secrets quite safe.

On a beautiful and cloudless day, the entire class caravanned over to their classmate's house in the center of Northampton. Now while I have explained that the valley is more or less a rural place, there are many parts that are quite built up especially nearer to the town center. Houses are close together and you are in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood (for where we live). So there we were traipsing through the back yard to a chicken coop where our confidantes lived.

Mr. W explained to the class about the chickens and allowed the class to pet them. Rabbi Riqi came and helped the kids contextualize what they were about to do. And then one by one, each student (and the adults!) whispered in the chicken's ears. After the confessional was complete, there was a tzedekah box for us to put a few pennies in the pushke. Our youngest students most definitely had an experience they won't forget any time soon. For them, Judaism was brought alive in a completely different way. They interacted with an ancient ritual in a completely age-appropriate yet significant and creative way. Thank you Rabbi Schnur for sharing your ritual with our LGA kindergartners!

I can only imagine the stories those three chickens told each other later that day. I sure hope my secret is safe with them!

The great pumpkin!

When I first moved to the Pioneer Valley, I was living in Amherst which is across the Connecticut River from Northampton. I had a commute of about twenty minutes and would take back roads to avoid the traffic on the main through fare connecting Amherst to Northampton. One late summer morning, I was looking out over the Holyoke Range to one side of me and driving through an arch of corn fields and thought to myself it is awesome to see, smell, and feel the nature surroundings all around me and that we were quite fortunate to have this beauty so close at our finger tips.

Students at LGA interact with nature all during the year. It is just a part of the milieu of what makes this Jewish day school so unique. Two summers ago, a master gardener approached me about having a small garden in the back yard of the school. I jumped on the idea and imagined Kindergarten students frolicking in the garden as they learned about all the different vegetables, fruits and flowers that were planted. I envisioned 5th and 6th graders studying about plant life and having the garden as a real-time laboratory where they would experiment in different ways. I dreamt of art classes designing placards for the garden and spending time just thinking about art amongst the flowers. I imagined 2nd and 3rd graders classifying species of insects and bugs that they witnessed in the garden and finally I could see a 4th grade Judaics class harvesting and picking all the vegetables and making a big pot of soup to walk over to our next door neighbors at the Northampton Survival Center. Well much to my joy and chagrin, some of this happened and some just became a dream!

This year, Amy, our new Kindergarten teacher, approached me about having Margaret, the master gardener come back and help her create a pumpkin patch for her students. This spring, Amy put a call out to our community to help get the garden done. On a beautiful Sunday morning, a whole lot of families arrived ready to dig, till, plow, and plant all with the goal of having a beautiful pumpkin patch for our students. Over the summer, I would walk into school and have the privilege of watching the pumpkins grow and grow.

Last week, right before Rosh Hashanah, our Gan students got the lucky privilege of picking the pumpkins. Pumpkins and gourds of all different shapes and sizes are now sitting in the classroom. Science lessons abound and the eventual cooking and eating the seeds is holding everyones excitement.

Less you think the garden will lay dormant, Morah Caitlin, our Kindergarten teaching fellow and an avid farmer, took our students out and planted a whole bunch of veggies that can grow in the autumn. Who knows we could have quite a nice bounty for Thanksgiving!

Gmar Chatima Tovah! May you be inscribed for a good year!

Nothing like the first day of school...

I start the school year with a renewed interest in blogging. I will attempt to post something once a week.

As a child I remember very clearly the night before the first day of school. There wasn't a lot of sleep happening those evenings. Thoughts would run through my head about all of the exciting things I was going to be doing over the next year. Having a vivid imagination, I would concoct elaborate scenarios about my new teachers, new and old classmates, and the overall blast I was going to have with the routine of being a student again.

Now as the person who leads the charge, I still get that incredible jolt on the first of August when I think about our students coming back to fill the classrooms in not such a long time. The first day of school brings fresh new clothes and supplies, a twinkle in many a students eye, and refreshed and rejuvenated educators ready for another fantastic year of learning.

Most mornings at LGA, I get the opportunity to greet students with a handshake and a Boker Tov (good morning). We look at each other in the eye and get to acknowledge each other in a real way. This past Wednesday morning, our first day of school at LGA, I again walked out and greeted every student. But on that day, I took my time with each student finishing up my duty well beyond the 8:15 start of school, because I wanted to hear every single story that our students had to share with me.

Returning students to LGA are comfortable sharing a quick line and know that it is a unique trait of LGA that I (or another administrator) stand out there no matter what the weather is and focus on them even if just for thirty seconds. New students quickly get into the habit and often by week two no longer need to be cajoled to shake my hand. These kind of one-on-one moments is what make Jewish day schools so special. This personal interaction carries throughout the day for students at LGA because they know that every adult working in the building cares about them on all levels from the top down.

The first days of school signify change in routine. We go from the lazy days of summer back to many planned and plan-full moments. This transition can be hard for everyone. There are new expectations put on us that weren't there when we ended school last year and there are some different routines that we have to get used to. Keeping those thoughts in our mind should help us navigate transitions back to a new school year.

Shanah Tovah u'Metukah. Here's to a sweet and good new year!