October was a busy month of learning for all of the Religious School students and even the Teaching Assistants!

The Teaching Assistants and our Confirmation Class were able to take part in a special program with the Pittsburgh Shinshinim, two Israeli emissaries who are in Pittsburgh for the year to teach about Israel. Hadar and Raz, our Israeli guests, led the teens in discussion and activities that centered on Israel.Towards the end of the session, they helped the teens consider how they would be able to lead a class for the younger students. The Teaching Assistants, now armed with this new knowledge and a guidebook that Hadar and Raz put together for them, will begin to plan and develop their very own Israel Programs this December!

Featured Classes:

2nd Grade, Taught by Donni Roth

The 2nd Grade class took a field trip to our school’s Israel Room, where their TA, Lexi, led a lesson about The Holy Temple and King Solomon. Donni and Lexi then helped the students as they designed their own sanctuaries, or safe spaces, from shoe boxes. They used cardboard to make furniture and decorated their spaces with pictures that they thought displayed comfort, safety, warmth and love. Donni did a wonderful job reinforcing this idea of sanctuary, drawing connections between the synagogue’s sanctuary to a safe, warm, loving and comfortable space. This became especially relevant to the students after the tragic events at Tree of Life that left many without sanctuary.

5th, 6th and 7th Grade, Taught by Shelly Andreas, Sarah Savitz and Nava Chernoff

As the older students have grappled with the tragedy that the Jewish Community of Pittsburgh faced at the end of October, they were searching for ways to show support and put a little bit of good into the world. When one of our 7th grade students visited the memorial set up outside of Tree of Life, she became inspired to have her classmates at Religious School create posters to put up as a sign of solidarity and support. She brought this idea to her teachers and classmates, who all welcomed the chance to express themselves artistically. The three classes came together with their teachers and our art teacher, Sharon Serbin, and created three beautiful posters. These posters were taken to Tree of Life by the 7th Grader who led the project. As much as it breaks my heart to see these children have to contend with such hard questions and fears after something so awful, I am so proud of their courage, kindness and passion!

September has flown by quickly for our religious school students! Between the High Holidays and preparing for Sukkot, they were kept busy.

Each class had the opportunity to go visit the art room this month, where Sharon Serbin led them in creating special “Super-Hero” art to hang during Sukkah Decorating Day. From the Kindergarten and First Grade’s super hero plate faces, to the 7^th grade’s “Super Hero” Ushpizin, the creative art pieces added color and flair to our Sukkah.

The third through seventh grade students were able to spend some time in our new Youth Lounge before religious school on Tuesdays. Between playing knee hockey, board games, and Foosball, the students were able to have some fun and spend time with their religious school friends before heading to class. Our new Youth Leaders, David Kronman, Casey Lazear, and Alexa Correnti, are enthusiastically developing programs for our new space. Keep an eye out for invitations to new Lounge Nights and Lounge Lunches in the months to come.

Featured Class:

KINDERGARTEN/FIRST GRADE, taught by Rachel Eaton.

In the K/1 class the students spent time getting to know each other and the routines of their classroom. Through read-alouds and discussion, they considered the what, why, and how of the fall holidays.  They learned all about special foods and rituals associated with the holidays, and joined the older grades for a special Shofar Blast experience. They each were even able to build their own Lego Sukkah! With the holidays behind us, they will shift gears towards Bible Stories and more Hebrew in the months to come. They will hear the stories of Jonah and King David, and talk about what it is to be kind and caring towards others. The Hebrew letters will not be taught sequentially, but instead will be introduced in an order that supports reading key words that are a part of other lessons.