Friday, March 26, 2010

Passover stories

Inside each of us is a natural-born storyteller, waiting to be set free. Passover awakens our inner storyteller. It creates the opportunity to tell our stories and to build a storytelling tradition at home. The rabbis of the Haggadah knew very well that storytelling adds a layer of richness to everyday life - that everyday life is a story.

Once upon a time Reb Zebulun told Naftali, “When a day passes, it is no longer there. What remains of it? Nothing more than a story. If stories weren’t told or books weren’t written, man would live like beasts, only for the day.” Reb Zebulun said, “Today we live, but by tomorrow today will be a story. The whole world, all of human life, is one long story.”

Have a happy Passover and may the stories you tell at the seder add great strength and joy to your family’s life.

Rabbi Stuart Seltzer

Thursday, March 25, 2010

News from the Art Room

Monday art elective has gotten off to a great start. Everyone seems to be very excited about the images that they can create through printmaking. Printmaking is a way to “recreate” a drawing many times and each time you can give it a new twist. For instance, you can print on different color paper with different color ink. You can take your image and print it many times on the same paper but each time you print it you change the color ink. Or you only ink up certain parts of your printing plate and then create multiple images on the same paper. What’s the printing plate? It is the surface on which you have created your image, either by cutting in or by building up. In this class, the students are using foam plates (restaurant take-out boxes purchased at Sam’s Club with their sides cut off) and cutting lines into them with pencils, knives, paper clips, anything they can find that will make the mark they want for their drawing. Check out the bulletin board outside the art room for some good examples that the students have created.

Elaine Brandes
Art Instructor

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

4 Things YOU Can Do For Cardin

During each of our seders, someone poses the four questions. Perhaps this year there will be an additional question at your table…Why Cardin? Are you ready to give the best answer? A gathering of family and friends is the perfect place to advance our school. Let them know about the exceptional faculty and students who work together in a pluralistic setting. Tell them about Interim Week, My Fair Lady, and the incredible science projects in which our students are involved. List the colleges where our alumni are meeting with success. Mention Matt Marcus’ recent speech to NASA.. Tell them about Max Lifson’s contributions at Dartmouth or the confidence with which Johanna and Chelsea Schein are involved at F&M. Would they enjoy hearing about Hannah Crystal spending a semester away from Dickinson College in Japan, speaking in Hebrew to Israeli Canadian travelers? Answer the question with enthusiasm and commitment!

In addition to answering 4 questions, let’s all take 4 actions:
1. Be an ambassador for Cardin.
2. Contribute to the Annual Fund for The Shoshana S. Cardin School.
3. Join us on May 3 at Tranquille Hair & Body (in Towson) to pamper yourself (Save the Date- details will appear in the newsletter this week!)
4. Sign up for the Kayam Eco-Bike Ride on Sunday, May 16. (Training ride on April 25 at the NCR Trail)

Have a wonderful holiday.

Marjorie R. Hoffman
Director of Development and Marketing

Monday, March 22, 2010

March in years past...

השבוע לפני...
ב-21 בחודש מרץ 2000 האפיפיור יוחנן פאולוס השני הגיע לביקור בישראל. הוא ביקר גם ב"יד- ושם".
ב-22 בחודש מרץ 1983 חיים הרצוג נבחר לנשיא השישי של ישראל.
ב-24 בחודש מרץ 1993 עזר ויצמן נבחר לנשיא השביעי של ישראל.
ב-26 בחודש מרץ 1979 ישראל ומצרים חתמו על חוזה שלום בוושינגטון.
ב-26 בחודש מרץ 1981 מכבי תל-אביב זכתה בגמר גביע אירופה לאלופות בכדור-סל.
ב-27 בחודש מרץ 1996 יגאל עמיר, הרוצח של ראש-הממשלה יצחק רבין, נידון למאסר עולם.


Morah Zohara Chaban
Instructor of Hebrew

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A Word from the Development Office

During the course of this academic year, we have joined a variety of organizations in an effort to make The Shoshana S. Cardin School more visible in the community and to take advantage of the vast opportunities for professional growth that they each offer. To that end, we are now members of The Pikesville Chamber of Commerce which has proven to be both enlightening and a wonderful network within the local community.

A colleague suggested that I become a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and pay particular attention to the local chapter. I promptly researched, only to discover that the international convention will be in Baltimore next month. How fortuitous! Thousands of people from around the world will gather to talk about ways of advancing our institutions. There are sessions for those of us representing smaller organizations and I look forward to learning from leaders in the field of development.

In reading the information about programs offered by the Maryland chapter, I noticed a section entitled Youth Philanthropy and was delighted to realize that, once again, Cardin is ahead of the curve. With our participation in Project ROPE ( Roots of Philanthropic Education) through RAVSAK, a team of students has been working with Head of School, Barbie Prince, to understand how and why Jewish tradition has mandated philanthropic giving for thousands of years and what the implications are for us today. They have begun to develop a basic knowledge of effective methods of philanthropy and have met with community leaders and donors including Matt Friedman of The Associated and Shoshana Cardin. Our students are working in collaboration with peers from selected schools across the country. Cardin is the only school in Maryland in the selected group.

The AFP in Maryland has an annual award specifically for youth-The Outstanding Youth Fundraiser Awards. Now I am going to download the application and enter our ROPE team in the local competition.

In a short time, I have discovered that we are advancing our mission in myriad ways and learning so much in the process.

Marjorie R. Hoffman
Director of Development and Marketing

Friday, March 12, 2010

the past in Hebrew

היום לפני...
ב-19 בחודש מרץ 1799 נפוליאון התחיל במצור על עכו.
ב-19 בחודש מרץ 1930 הלורד בלפור מת.
הלורד בלפור היה בעל ההצהרה הנושאת את שמו: "הצהרת בלפור" בהצהרה נאמר שממשלת בריטניה רואה בעין יפה את רעיון הקמת בית לאומי יהודי בארץ-ישראל.
ב-15 בחודש מרץ 1978 מבצע ליטני התחיל! המבצע היה נגד בסיסי מחבלים בדרום לבנון.
ב-20 בחודש מרץ 2003 ארצות-הברית החלה במתקפה על עירק. באותו היום בשעה 5 בבוקר, נתנו לתושבי ישראל הוראה להכין חדר אטום למקרי חירום, וכל תושב חייב לשאת עימו ערכת מגן!

Morah Zohara Chaban
Instructor of Hebrew

Monday, March 8, 2010

Interim Week has begun!




Cardin CAN tell the story. This year's Interim Week theme is Jewish storytelling.

Sunday night, we gathered for a murder mystery that involved King Herod and members of his court. The suspenseful evening culminated with dinner and the revelation of the murderer.

Monday began with a community activity with local preschoolers from Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and Oheb's Learning Ladder. Our young friends helped us sing songs and paint murals depicting different stories. Check out some of the pictures!

The rest of the week promises to be just as fun and filled with more surprises.

Friday, March 5, 2010

A few notes in Hebrew

השבוע לפני...

ב-8 בחודש מרץ 1957 ישראל יצאה מ"שארם-א-שייח" והאו"ם נכנס במקום ישראל.

ב-9 בחודש מרץ 1992 מנחם בגין שהיה מפקד אירגון האצ"ל, ראש הממשלה, וחתן פרס נובל לשלום, נפטר בגיל 79.

ב-12 בחודש מרץ 2000 האפיפיור ביקש סליחה מהעם היהודי על רדיפות היהודים זה 2000 שנה!

ב-13 בחודש מרץ 1997 חייל ירדני פתח באש על קבוצה של תלמידות מבית-שמש שיצאו לטיול שנתי, 7 תלמידות נהרגו...

Morah Zohara Chaban
Instructor of Hebrew

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Jewish Day School Education: Preparing Our Children For The Future

I grew up right here in Baltimore going to public schools. I received my Jewish education at Beth Israel’s Hebrew school. Although I wanted to attend confirmation at Beth Israel, my parents made it clear that I would be continuing my Jewish education at the Hebrew High School program at Baltimore Hebrew College (as it was known then). This was supplemented by my active involvement in Kadima and USY, and of course, a recognizably Jewish home. When I went to college I majored in business with minors in Spanish and Jewish studies. I was originally inspired to pursue the minor in Jewish studies largely due to the fact that I had already earned 6 college credits from the program at Baltimore Hebrew College so I thought it would be an easy addition to my program.

I found the Jewish studies classes in college to be just what I needed to take my studies to the next level. However, it was in college that I encountered students that had attended Jewish day school. I quickly realized that I while I thought I had a good grasp of Jewish history and Jewish law, my education was really elementary compared to theirs. In addition, in many cases these were the students who really became the Jewish leaders in college. These students clearly were comfortable with their Jewish identity (as I was) but their Jewish education informed them and enabled them to quickly respond to the issues of the day, particularly to the Jews for Jesus who often visited our campus, or to the Palestinian students who were forever demonstrating about campus. This was probably the first time I really ever thought about the value of a Jewish day school education.

What’s going on at our college campuses today? Surely the Jews for Jesus haven’t gone away. Students rallying for Palestinian rights have increased. And antisemitic incidents on college campuses are growing every year. More and more Jewish students on campus are being marginalized. So it was not a surprise when I opened up my email this morning to find a message from a friend about a disturbing thing that happened at UC Irvine in February. On February 8th Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren came to speak at the University. During the course of his speech he was interrupted repeatedly by students representing the Palestinian cause. Eleven students were arrested that evening for trying to block the inalienable American right to free speech. I had heard about this a few weeks ago but seeing it first-hand on YouTube was eye-opening. Here is the link so you can view it for yourself: YouTube - Uncivilized Tactics at UC Irvine (High Quality)

There are many reasons that we send our children to a Jewish Day School. Chief among them is for them to acquire an excellent education combined with a commitment to a joyous and deep Jewish identity. Ideally our students will be prepared to be leaders for the Jewish world of tomorrow. We might not realize it often, but we are training our children to be advocates for the Jewish future. That includes their ability to respond to challenges against Israel on college campuses in the not-to-distant future. It is my hope that the experience of a Jewish day school education will help to meet this goal on all its levels.

~Anne Tanhoff Greenspoon
Director of Admissions

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Annual Fund

I keep pondering the question of how to create a “culture of giving” at a relatively new school like Cardin. Many of our families come to us from public schools where there was neither tuition nor the concept of an annual appeal. In many messages, I have shared information about how a contribution to the The Shoshana S. Cardin School Annual Fund bridges the gap between tuition and the actual cost of operating the school. The importance of 100% participation by all of our constituent groups cannot be overemphasized. Foundations and corporations note the level of support from within an institution before making decisions about funding proposals. Everyone has been told that it is not the size of your gift, but rather your intent to work toward a goal as part of our community. Regardless of the size of your contribution, it is significant!

Your understanding of the purpose of the annual fund drive means that you will make a contribution in an amount that is at your comfort level today!
Spring is finally approaching and with it our target date of March 21.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
Winston Churchill

Marjorie R. Hoffman
Director of Development and Marketing

Monday, March 1, 2010

Athletics Update

Congrats to our winter teams and good luck to our spring teams.

Spring sports practices start this week with the baseball team having light practices starting today and the softball team starting light practices on Wednesday.

Tennis will start practices in a few weeks. (Once all of the snow is off the courts.)

All participants should remember to dress appropriately for the colder weather. Please wear long sleeve t-shirts, appropriately sized sweatshirts, and some type of athletic pants.

Foye Minton, CAA
Dean of Students & Director of Athletics