The Schechter Manhattan Annual Dinner & Auction this past Wednesday evening was a wonderful celebration and community building event. It was great to come together with supporters of Schechter Manhattan, faculty and staff, parents of current students and alumni, trustees, and our 8th grade students, to express our shared commitment to our special school. We also had fun. We shared food and drink, shmoozed with friends old and new, watched three terrific new videos about the Lieberman Family STEAM Center (Buildings, Circuits, Playgrounds), and bid on an array of exciting auction items.

We took time as a community to thank important people who help sustain Schechter Manhattan. Our honorees, Daniel M. Labovitz and Sharon Seidman Gross and Philip S. Gross, are richly deserving for recognition. They have contributed much to our school’s success over the last few years, and I want to extend my personal thanks to them for all they have done and continue to do in support of our school.

It was humbling to be recognized at the dinner for my 10 years on the faculty at Schechter Manhattan. A special thank you to my fellow staff member, Yolanda Guzman, for her 10 years of service to our community. I feel honored to work with Yolanda and the entire faculty and staff of Schechter Manhattan, a wonderful group of committed colleagues.

I am also thankful to the many people who helped to put together such a wonderful event. Thank you to current parents Amanda Kravat Cohen, Dinner Chair, and Rosita Weissberg, Auction Chair, for all of their work to plan and lead the event. Thank you to alumni parents, David Icikson and Harvey Tepner for leading the live auction with good humor. Thank you to Suzanne R. Katz, President of the Board of Trustees, for serving as master of ceremonies and for her tireless commitment to Schechter Manhattan. Thank you to Abby Harrington, Advancement Associate, for attending to so many of the details and to Liz Freirich, Director of Institutional Advancement, for conceiving and leading the event.

Thanks to everyone in the community who attended the dinner and who donated to the fundraising efforts. Your support has an important impact on Schechter Manhattan’s continued project to nurture self motivated, reflective, thoughtful, young Jews. Spending the evening with so many people who share a passion for our mission was inspiring and invigorating.  May our communal efforts lead us mchayil lchayil, from strength to strength.

Benjamin Mann

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Author’s Chair

THIS WEEK WE ARE FEATURING WORK BY SOME OF OUR STUDENTS IN GAN, KITAH BET, AND KITAH DALET.

 

Gan students are beginning to work on their non-fiction books. They started by writing about things about which they are passionate. 

 

Hamantaschen – FOLD iT inTo a TIANG (Fold it into a triangle)

–Lavi

 

Lions – LionS Hav MET TO ET (Lions have meat to eat)

–Hanna

 

The students of Kitah Bet have been learning about all different kinds of poetry. Here are some examples of their own efforts.

 

Obstaclals
I am ready I am ready but
there is only one problem I am not done.

–Sammy

 

Lesens
Krea is reading
Cteava is righting
Cheshbone is math
But torah is torah.

–Zack

 

Cats
I Love cats
Look at that cat in the windo
furry blak and oring cat
I will love to adopt you
but wate what did you say
you sed she got adoptid?
wate how do you now she is a she?
O never mined

–Jory

 

Path parade
There is a path parade
Outside my front door
There is a path parade
and much much more
Two Turkeys are being killed
a chickens being grilled
kandinskys making his picture
my friends hanging a light fixture
my brothers just sitting there picking his nose
my moms in the garden sniffing a rose
but I’m just sitting here
Watching a path parade outside my
front door

–Renata

 

Kitah Dalet is writing short fiction essays. Here are some examples.

Click HERE to read Batya’s short fiction essay

Click HERE to read Daniel’s short fiction essay

Click HERE to read Elana’s short fiction essay

Click HERE to read Eli’s short fiction essay