Orna Sonnenschein
Welcome to Temple Beth Am

As the Director of Education of Temple Beth Am, I am pleased to make available, on-line, my thoughts which are found in Temple Beth Am's monthly newsletter, TEBEAM.

My articles are available on-line and are readily available for viewing or downloading and reading at your convenience.

Director of Education’s Message
Tebeam
January 2008

Ironic as it is that I would choose to write about the progress of the school for my December article…I believe it is still relevant and appropriate that I continue with my intended article for this month.

When I first came to Temple Beth Am 10 years ago I quickly fell in love with the children.  Prior to working here I had experience teaching in other communities and despite always enjoying being with the students I found that our students had a sweeter more menchlike disposition.  It was clear to me that the parents had a lot to do with who the children were and I grew to feel more than comfortable and was eager to raise my own daughter in this community.

Over the years I have worked toward creating a unified and solid faculty.  Since my first few years we’ve had very little turnover and our teachers are a tightly knit group who strive to work together, coordinating their curriculum and collaborating with me to create an engaging, creative and educational school program.  This not only engenders a warm feeling in the school, but it enables our teachers to cover for each other’s classes because the students are very familiar with all of the teachers.

When working with the older students I realized they had a limited knowledge of bible.  Having a great appreciation for what biblical studies can offer our students both spiritually and historically I decided to introduce the study of Torah to our younger students and insure they continue to review the Torah portion of the week throughout their years here.  I created the position of “Bible Specialist” and handpicked Phyllis Trincia to teach the class.  Story Telling is one of Phyllis’ hobbies and our Torah is most accessible to youngsters when it is recited and dramatized.  Each week our younger students visit Mrs. Trincia.  Phyllis tells her weekly story in an engaging and captivating way to introduce the students to the material.  The students (and faculty) then act out what it is they have learned.  When I first proposed the concept to Phyllis we agreed that we would try it for a year to see how it went.  We originally planned on offering it to students in grades K-2.  When the 2^nd graders graduated to 3^rd grade and realized they no longer attended bible with Mrs. Trincia they complained.  Today we have grades PK-4 eagerly learning about our ancestors.  Even the teachers have gotten so involved they compete with each other for the “best teacher performer award.”  Phyllis with the help of the teachers has done a remarkable job bringing the bible to life for the students.  I hope those of you with younger children hear about their adventures in bible.  I know I do!

After my first few years here we were lucky to have Marsha Massey become our librarian.  She and her team of helpers have created a beautiful and thoughtfully appointed library.  After several conversations with her I decided to have our students visit the library to hear a story and then check out books.  Marsha not only agreed to this idea but developed an incentive program for our students to take out and read Jewish books.  She creates a new theme each year and makes an effort to establish a relationship with the students as they are looking through, or checking out books.  Marsha has assistants who help out during the week, and parents who volunteer on Sundays but it is her dedication that has made the library program so successful.

Most of you are probably aware of the fact that this school went from a 3 day a week program to a 2 day a week program.  As an educator this was quite a challenge.  There is a lot of material that I would like to see covered and with so little time the teachers have had to step up the tempo a bit.  To compensate I asked Amy Brickman to become a resource teacher.  She has become indispensable as a tutor for students with special needs, students who have had to make-up work and to other teachers looking for suggestions on accommodations etc.  Amy has worked successfully with the children and has helped us be able to keep on track.

In the past, our students have had liturgy (the study of the service and its parts) with the Cantor about once or twice a month.  As not all of our teachers are comfortable singing in front of their students this review with the Cantor is crucial.  When Don Levey (our music specialist) came on board, I asked him if he would be willing to come in during the week to supplement the Cantor’s class.  He graciously agreed.  So now our students have liturgy each week either with the Cantor or with Don Levey which not only gives them that extra review in preparation for their b’nai mitzvah but hopefully will remain with them long after.

My first year here I was beholden to a calendar that was scheduled prior to my arrival.  There were several family programs scheduled and so I had to ensure that they indeed took place.  The programs mainly took place with the upper grades.  The 6^th grade program I did with the immense aide of Leslie Brenner Zichrona Livracha who had written part of the program.  After the program she and I both agreed that upcoming bar/bat mitzvah families could benefit from more sessions.  Today the program has expanded to three programs, plus the school committee instituted a social service program to complement the curriculum.  The last of the series of programs is the Tallit Program.  Despite the fact that it takes the entire Sunday School day to complete, there is nothing more gratifying than seeing the proud faces of the kids and their parents after tying the final tzizit on their beautiful new self designed tallit. 

It was during the first 6^th grade program that I realized that students did not write a d’var torah for their bar/bat mitzvah.  In truth I will admit I have a small obsession when it comes to bible studies…but in my mind an integral part of the process of becoming a bar/bat mitzvah is the studying of Torah.  With Rabbi Splansky’s blessing I offered parents the option of having their child study with me and write a d’var.  I am pleased to say that many took me up on my offer and I had the honor of working one-on-one with quite a few students.  Those students who met with me had to spend extra time here at the temple and do extra work.  But each of them did a wonderful job and I had a great time with them.

Several years ago the school committee prepared and sent out a survey to parents.  Our Shabbat dinner on Family Service nights was just one of the results of that survey.  Since the very first one we have had a great turnout at our special Shabbat Dinners.  It not only relieves the stress of families trying to feed their kids and get them to temple on time, but it provides yet another opportunity for congregants to gather and socialize before entering the sanctuary to pray together.

Three years ago I began campaigning for a new larger Sukkah.  (My apologies to Lloyd.)  It seemed to me that since we were having a dinner prior to the service it would be great to be able to actually eat in the Sukkah.  Little did I know that my nagging would be rewarded with the permission to purchase a new Sukkah along with the assumption that I would be erecting it as well.  Augusto and I spent many hours screwing brackets onto 2 x 4s (or whatever).  I can’t tell you how many moms walked by me while I was working surprised that I knew how to use an electric screwdriver and did I know I was Jewish?  Truly I did not know what I was getting into when I ordered that Sukkah and by the time we were done I’m not sure Augusto or John Guarino were ever going to speak to me again.  But thanks to their help and some of our 7^th and 8^th grade parents we managed to put together a magnificent Sukkah.  And indeed despite it being a bit nippy several families opted to dine outdoors.  This past year Rabbi Miller invited the students to shake the lulav after the service which I thought was a fabulous idea and made for a beautiful closure of the evening.

For the past few years I have had our older students lead both the Sukkot and Simchat Torah services in hopes of encouraging our younger students to continue on past their b’nai mitzvah.  I believe the older kids like modeling for the younger ones and the little ones definitely look up to the older ones.

Other ways our school has grown…we now have 2 sessions of 1^st and 2^nd grade as opposed to just one.  We started taking our 9^th graders to Washington D.C.  (Last year’s trip will stay with me forever.)  I offered several adult education programs over the years which allowed me to get to know other members of our community.  We had school wide programs for Passover, Purim and Tu B’Shevat.  We brought in Israelis from the area.  Our Pizza Night has grown.  We’ve started teaching Hebrew in grade 2.  There have been so many changes and hopefully most for the better.

My goal has always been to make the temple a place the kids enjoyed.  While it’s hard to “sell” Hebrew School as it is a “school” I still think it’s possible of making it a warm, welcoming and fun environment.  Each year I’ve had more and more older students asking to work on Sundays.  I even have middle school students who volunteer in the school “just for fun.”  It warms my heart to know that so many of the students feel so comfortable and at home here.

I hope that the school will continue to grow and flourish.  Our children deserve a school that seeks and serves their needs.  We have wonderful students, terrific parents, talented faculty and a fabulous school.  I feel very blessed to have had this challenging but very rewarding opportunity.

L’Shalom,