The Dean's Blog

Airliner Initiative

2009-07-06T10:22:00.005-05:00

Please watch this video and send the link to anyone you think might be interested in participating. The more people we invite to take part, the better our chances of ensuring that the classrooms that our children enter in August will be dramatically different than those they left in June.

I'm happy to follow up in person with anyone who wants to know more. Just let me know who and how best to contact them. Thanks for your help!

Graduation 2009

2009-07-06T09:43:00.005-05:00

Though a bit delayed, it's never too late to look at pictures of our students in their shining moments. This year's graduations - from Kindergarten to 8th grade to 12th grade - were certainly amongst them. Our students' accomplishments as well as the incredibly unique bond between student, faculty, and administration which pervades every class and every division were on display for all to admire. Enjoy!

To view and download the individual pictures seen in the slideshow click here.

CYHSB Play

2009-06-01T16:08:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to our Boys High School and Dr. Jerry Kutliroff on yet another masterful dramatic performance. Last week's rendition of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People was the culmination of weeks of hard work by the actors, set designers, lighting and sound specialists, Director and Assistant Directors. The quality of our theater program under Dr. Kutliroff's direction, continues to exceed all expectations of a school our size and continues to be a source of pride to the school and the community.

Mini-Macs Come up Big

2009-06-01T14:18:00.004-05:00

There's been a lot of talk this year about the success of our various basketball programs. Our Jr. High boys won the City Parks Championship, our JV Boys won several buzzer beaters and then pulled off an unlikely upset in the BBYO league, our Varsity Girls won the JCC championship, and our Varsity Boys had a dream season, winning three different championships and making it to the Tier Two finals in the Saracheck Invitational Tournament.

Yet, despite all of the truly remarkable success our basketball teams have had this year, I dare say it is our Mini-Macs Baseball team, comprised of students in 1st through 3rd grades, that might rank as our best sports story of the year. When Coach Carr, Coach Roper, and their dedicated assistants started with this group, they looked much like the Bad News Bears. Yet, over the course of just one season they went from struggling to get out of an inning without having the 6 run mercy-rule invoked, to outscoring their opponents 39-1 over their last three games. Their coaches taught them to field and to hit, where to be, where to go, and how to play together as a team. They taught them not to give up and not to get discouraged. They showed them that with hard work, commitment, and a willingness to learn, no challenge is too great and no hurdle is too high to overcome.

Though there are still a few games left to the season, what these boys have accomplished already should make us all quite proud.

For more pictures of the boys in action click here:

Mini Macs Baseball

Sports Bash

2009-05-20T08:09:00.003-05:00

Over the past year, our school's Athletic program has grown by leaps and bounds, both in terms of its offerings and in terms of its educational impact. While this week's Sports Bash was created by Coach Carr as a tribute to all of our student athletes and their dedicated coaches, it also served as a shining example of the initiative, enthusiasm, and dedication which Coach Carr brings each and every day to our students and our school.

Wheelchair Basketball

2009-05-19T08:13:00.003-05:00

Yesterday many of our students had the opportunity to witness what has become an ongoing lesson in experiential learning and sensitivity training by our Junior High, thanks in large part to Mrs. Teri Graber. After having visited their school several months ago, high school students from the Shrine School, a Memphis city public school serving developmentally and physically handicapped kids, visited us yesterday for another inspiring, eye-opening, and most enjoyable game of basketball. As they did last time, when the wheelchair-bound members of their team were in the game, our students also sat in wheelchairs so as to level the playing field. And, as they did last time, our students understood that this game was not about winning and not even about making challenged kids feel good. It was about respecting who they are, getting a glimpse at what they go through, and appreciating that despite the differences between us and them, there is much that we all share.

Early Childhood Education Revisited

2009-05-14T16:22:00.003-05:00

This week's Message from the Dean in our weekly school newsletter refers to two recently published articles which burst commonly held perceptions and argue for the reversal of recent trends in Early Childhood education. The first is an article by Peggy Orenstein entitled "Kindergarten Cram" which appeared in New York Times Magazine at the end of April. The second, by David McKay Wilson, appeared in the May / June edition of the Harvard Education Letter and is entitled "Developmentally Appropriate Practice in the Age of Testing."

If you have a child in Pre-K or Kindergarten, or will have one there soon, both articles are very much worth a read.

Lag Ba-Omer Softball

2009-05-12T18:04:00.005-05:00

4 teams... 34 boys... 3 inning single elimination tournament on our rain soaked muddy field...Rabbi Gersten with his tie, Rabbi Spodek with his batting glove, and Rabbi Feigenbaum doing his best Keith Hernandez impression... a fun time was had by all...

Graduation Honors

2009-05-11T17:08:00.005-05:00

It is my pleasure to announce that two most deserving young women from the Goldie Margolin School for Girls have been selected as Valedictorian and Salutatorian of this year's graduating class. Following in the school's tradition, the honors are given to the two students from either of our two high schools with the highest cumulative grade point average. This year those distinctions go to Raquel Kampf, who was named Valedictorian, and Eliana Graber, who was named Salutatorian. Both Raquel and Eliana will spend next year studying in Israel at Sha'alvim for Women, after which Raquel will go on to Stern College for Women and Eliana will attend Barnard College.

Also receiving special recognition at graduation will be Andrew Tavin, who will be presented with his National Merit Scholarship Award. Andrew, who will be attending NYU as a Presidential Honors Scholar, is one of only 8200 students - out of 1.5 million entrants from across the country - to win the prestigious National Merit award.

Congratulations to them all!

Yom Ha-Atzma'ut

2009-05-04T08:38:00.000-05:00

From the solemn ceremonies and thought provoking programs of Yom Ha-Zikaron to the Early Childhood airplane rides and school-wide celebratory march of Yom Ha-Atzma'ut, these two action packed days serve as powerful reminders to our students of the place which the State of Israel has - and must always have - in our hearts and minds.

2009-05-01T15:28:00.002-05:00

Last week's Girls High School Dinner was a wonderful tribute to two special teachers - Mrs. Bluma Zuckerbrodt-Finkelstein (Zionism) and Mrs. Barbara Manserberg (Spanish) - and to twenty-eight special girls whose hard work, dedication, and boundless school spirit made the night a phenomenal success.

Yasher kochachen!

Dean's Writing Award Winners

2009-04-24T14:42:00.002-05:00

With all the excitement surround Pesach, we didn't get a chance to announce the March winners of the Dean's Writing Contest. We again had the pleasure of choosing from lots of great selections covering many different topics, many different genres, and from many different grades. This month's winner in the Judaic Studies category was 2nd grader Edya Finkelstein, and the winner in the General Studies category was 3rd grader, Shmuel Meir Perl. Click here to see the list of nominees and to read the work of each of the finalists.

Yom Ha-Shoah

2009-04-21T17:01:00.000-05:00

The remarkable talents of our Torah MiTzion Kollel and our Bat Ami girls, as well as those of Moreh Shimshon, were on full display today's moving and thought-provoking Yom Ha-Shoah program. The program began with grades three through twelve entering a darkened gym through a "tunnel" of Holocaust pictures which helped them create mental picture of at least some element of the tragedy. With a visual image in mind, each student then lit a candle which, together with those of all of our other students, formed two Jewish stars.

The students then sat for a presentation which began with Yizkor for victims of the Nazi genocide then segued into a dramatic performance based on letters sent between brothers living on opposite sides of Europe as Hitler came to power. The presentation ended with a reading from a little girl who described her feeling upon entering a concentration camp followed by a chilling rendition of Ani Ma'amin and Ha-Tikvah.

To make the program even more personal, grades 7-12 then took part in an additional segment in which they traced the life story of a particular Jew through the Holocaust years and then came together to talk and discuss what the Holocaust means to them personally and to us as Jews.

Yasher kochachem to all to who helped put the program together.

2009-04-21T16:33:00.004-05:00

Chametz that was in your possession over Pesach is no longer good after Pesach, but pictures that were in your possession (and never made it onto your blog) are definitely still good. So...here are some snapshots of the various programs and activities held throughout the school in the weeks leading up to our Pesach break in an effort to prepare our students for this yom tov. From the Early Childhood parents Pesach program to the Girls High School Yom Iyyun and everything in between, it was truly a special time of year.

2nd Grade Pesach Play

2009-04-03T14:30:00.002-05:00

Words cannot describe the spectacular job our 2nd grade, under the direction of Morah Rachel, did on yesterday's Pesach play, so I'm hoping these clips can...

From 2nd Grade Pesach Play

For more pictures from the play click here.

Krupp And Cooper Beat The Buzzer To Head Into Tier-II Finals

2009-03-30T11:20:00.002-05:00

Coverage of last night's game from Macslive.com...

Jason Kirshner and Mark Rocklin

Published on: 03/30/2009

March 29, 2009 (MacsLive Reporting Services, New York) – The second Tier II semifinal of Big Sunday featured two teams that live and die on their shooting. Tonight’s headline story would be the hot hand of Joel Bowman (17 points), the Cooper Macs 6”4 guard, who camped out at the three point arc, on his way to propelling the Cooper Macs past a good Maimonides M-Cats squad, 49-47.

The full throttle defense of both the (13) Cooper Yeshiva Macs and the(9) Maimonides M-Cats held each team scoreless for the first 4 minutes and 30 seconds of the game when Ari Packer would fly to the rim putting in the acrobatic lay-up sparking his team on a 7-0 run. The M-Cat defense and cheering section proved too much for the Macs to handle, until Joe Bowman would rally the Macs back into the game on his three point touch. But Ben Zack of Maimo was also feeling the rhythm knocking down three-pointers of his own, and at the end of one quarter it was M-Cats leading 13-8.

The start of the second quarter looked like a carbon copy of the start of the first as both teams picked up their intensity and wouldn’t allow the ball into the cylinder, until unsung hero from the first quarter, Bowman, would continue his touch draining the long ball. On their ensuing possession Cooper hit another three point field goal taking the lead 14-13. The Maimonides M-Cats did not panic, making a little run for themselves and going into the half leading 22-16...

Read the rest at Macslive.com

Tal Am in Action

2009-03-19T08:14:00.003-05:00

While a bit belated, I couldn't help but post this clip from our 3rd grade Purim puppet show a few weeks ago. It displays so beautifully the strides we have taken in facilitating natural acquisition of Hebrew language through the implementation of the Tal Am program and the creation of Hebrew immersion environments for all Judaic studies in grades one through four.

Names, Not Numbers

2009-03-18T22:54:00.007-05:00

Two hundred and sixty people from across the community came out last night to view Names, Not Numbers: A Movie in the Making. The documentary film told the story of the oral history project which our seniors embarked upon this year under the direction of Rabbi Gersten, in which they researched, interviewed, filmed, and edited the stories of 6 local Holocaust survivors and one concentration camp liberator.

The evening began with a dinner for the students and their families together with the interviewees and their families. It then proceeded with a formal program in which those who had come heard from Mr. Bob Mamlin, the Dachau liberator who participated in the program, followed by Mrs. Tova Rosenberg, the program's creator, who introduced the film. After the film, Rabbi Gersten called up each student who presented the final version of their work to the interviewee about whom it was made. Plaques of gratitude were also given to Mrs. Rosenberg and to Mr. Bert Bornblum, whose charitable foundation helped fund the project.

Our deepest thanks for a most memorable evening goes to the Memphis JCC, and its Director, Mr. Barrie Weiser; to Rabbi Gersten for months of hard work teaching our students and organizing the program's many logistics; and, most of all, to our fourteen phenomenal seniors who did exceptional work.

Copies of the video can be ordered through the school by emailing Mrs. Phylis Levine at plevine@mhafyos.org. For the pictures found in the slide show below, click here.

CyC Now a Blog

2009-03-13T15:29:00.004-05:00

The Cooper Yeshiva Connection (CyC), the newsletter which Rabbi Spodek created earlier this year to keep parents and community members up to date with the latest events in our Boys High School, has now become a blog: http://cooperyeshiva.blogspot.com . On the site you can subscribe for email updates so that new posts are delivered directly to your inbox. I'll also keep a feed from the CyC site on the bottom right hand of this blog so that you can easily keep up to date.

Dean's Writing Contest

2009-03-13T14:40:00.003-05:00

The winners of February's Dean's Writing Contest have just been announced. Winning for best General Studies piece for this month is Asher Finkelstein who accidentally "fell into his book," and landed up changing the course of American history. Best Judaic Studies piece for this month goes to Kindergartner Akiva Braverman who, through the use of inventive spelling, expressed his feelings for the holiday of Tu B'shvat. For a full list of nominees and to read the work of the finalists and winners, visit our Dean's Writing Award wikispace.

Great job to all and keep on writing!

Another Stunning Performance

2009-03-12T18:08:00.002-05:00

Under the masterful direction of Dr. Jerry Kuttliroff, our Girls High School put on another stunning dramatic performance last week. This time it was George Bernard Shaw's classic play Pygmalion. The efforts which our girls put in to getting their lines memorized, their timing perfected, and their accents ever-so authentic, were nothing less than extraordinary - and it showed.

Below is a brief clip from the show. For more pictures click here. Enjoy!

From Pygmillion

City Champs!

2009-03-11T15:30:00.004-05:00

In what was an amazing display of teamwork, discipline, and effort, our Junior High Macs fought through adversity last night to make MHA / FYOS history by becoming the first Jr. Macs team to become Memphis City Parks League basketball champions. The team came out on fire, working the ball to the open man, and draining shots from everywhere on the court. Their defense was stifling and even when their opponents closed the lead to only 1 point in the second half, they kept their focus and persevered.

Perhaps even more impressive still was the complement the league commissioner gave the team during the trophy presentation when she said that not only did they play "awesome" basketball, but that she has never seen a display of sportsmanship quite like that of our boys. It was a kiddush Hashem of the highest order and an accomplishment for which we should all be most proud.

Congratulations to Coach Carr and to all of the guys for a truly spectacular season!

For more pictures from the game click here.

Adar Is Here!

2009-03-03T22:06:00.000-06:00

The spirit which engulfs our school with the onset of the month of Adar is electrifying and contagious. Every student from Pre-K3 to 12th grade, and every teacher from Judaic Studies to General Studies, gets into the celebratory mood as the holiday of Purim approaches. Here is a short compilation of but a few of the sights and sounds which have pervaded our hallways and classrooms over the past week...

Alumni Game 2009

2009-02-26T15:07:00.003-06:00

There are few days in our school calendar as special as the annual alumni game. Hundreds of men, women, and children spanning four generations, sixty years of school history, and all walks of life, come together for a laid back evening of food, fun, and basketball. Every child who wants to play gets a chance to shine and every parent who wants to play gets a chance to try. The number of volunteers is astounding, the willingness to help is inspiring, and the collegial spirit is uplifting.

Thanks to the efforts of Tracy Rapp and her dedicated committee, this year's game was even more special than most. Held for the first time in Briarcrest, it featured even more children's games, more food selection, and a crowd that might well have been the biggest ever. There was even exciting basketball (from the 1st-3rd graders, at least!).

Thank you to all who helped make it happen.

Academy Students Win National Awards

2009-02-17T13:49:00.006-06:00

Two of our high school students received prestigious national awards last week. Andrew Tavin, a senior in our Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys, was selected from among 16,000 semifinalists to advance to finalist standing in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Winners of the National Merit Scholarship are selected based on their academic record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, his or her school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the student’s own essay. By attaining Finalist standing, Andrew, has already put himself in the running for several lucrative college scholarships both from the National Merit Program itself as well as from its college and corporate partners.

Raquel Kampf, a senior in our Goldie Margolin School for Girls, was notified last week of her standing as a Finalist in the Coca-Cola Scholars Program. While the National Merit Scholarship puts its primary focus on a student’s academic accomplishment, the Coca-Cola Scholarship gives equal weight to a student’s leadership and community service accomplishments – an area where Raquel’s accomplishments are extraordinary. From her roles as President of Student Council, Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook, and lead actress in the school play, to her weekly volunteer efforts at the Memphis Jewish Home, her work with the homeless at the Cook Convention Center, and her efforts on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Raquel has distinguished herself in her school community and well beyond, as an emerging leader with a passion for making the world around her a better place.

Chosen out of 75,000 applicants and 2,100 Semifinalists, Raquel has already qualified for an award of $10,000 toward her college tuition. On the weekend of April 3^rd, Raquel will join the other 251 Finalists for Coca-Cola’s Scholars Weekend in Atlanta. There she will be honored at a special banquet and will participate in a host of special programming designed only for this select group of highly accomplished high school students. Raquel will also undergo several interviews over the weekend which will help to determine whether she qualifies as one of fifty-two Finalists who will be chosen as National Scholars and will receive $20,000, instead of $10,000, toward their college tuition.

Andrew topped off the week with yet another award. He was part of the school’s ten student delegation which took part in a three-day simulated Model United Nations convened by Yeshiva University in Stamford, Connecticut. Over 450 students attended from 43 different Jewish High Schools from across the country. Each school was assigned a different country and each student was asked to represent his or her country on a particular UN committee. Andrew returned to Memphis with a First Place Award for Committee Leadership, for his skillful stewardship of the 1540 - Terrorism Prevention Committee.

Both Andrew and Raquel expect to hear from their respective scholarship programs regarding their final status in late April or May. We wish them the best of luck!