Advertising Intersects With Science at Yavneh

Advertising Intersects With Science at Yavneh

One of the highlights of sixth grade at Yavneh Academy is the science fair. Students from the younger grades attend the fair and listen in awe as the sixth graders present their projects, demonstrating the depth of their expertise.

Preparations began for the upcoming science fair when the students were introduced to their task: to prove or disprove a claim made in a product advertisement. Students quickly began brainstorming and reciting their favorite commercials. The excitement in the classroom was palpable.

Yavneh parent Elie Rosenfeld led an animated discussion about the method and research that goes into creating an advertisement. Mr. Rosenfeld is CEO of Joseph Jacob Advertising, one of the leading advertising agencies for Jewish marketing. Mr. Rosenfeld’s engaging presentation made the students think about the research and process by which companies decide how to most effectively present their products to the public. Advertisements for Polly-O String Cheese and Empire Chicken were among those analyzed by the students, under Mr. Rosenfeld’s guidance. With his assistance, the students identified the claims that needed to be verified by these companies before the relevant advertisements were printed.

This unique visit afforded Yavneh students the opportunity to see how the scientific method is used in the real world. Find a problem, ask a question, create a hypothesis and then test it out. Now the students are off to find their own problems and create unique tests to prove or disprove claims made in advertisements of their choosing.

Yavneh Academy Students Collect American Immigrant Stories

Yavneh Academy Students Collect American Immigrant Stories

Yavneh Academy’s fifth grade classes completed their exploration of immigration to America by creating an Immigration Cookbook. The process for creating the cookbook included interviews with a family member, or a close family friend, who was an immigrants. The goal was for the students to learn about the

interviewees’ journeys and the story behind a favorite family recipe. The cookbook page that each student wrote incorporated the recipe along with a photograph and a paragraph describing how and when the family member came to America.

Can You Spell ‘Gargantuan’?

Can You Spell ‘Gargantuan’?

Yavneh Academy’s Annual Spelling Bee is always a winter highlight. Students vie for the opportunity to represent Yavneh Academy at the Northern NJ Spelling Bee which will be held on the March 22 at Bergen Community College. The winner of that competition will be one step closer to competing in the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Standing on stage in front of their peers, children spelled words including query, languish, effusive, and olfactory. The preliminary qualifying rounds left three finalists: Dahlia Feintuch, Elana Felig and Ephraim Helfgot. The words flew across the stage with the children mastering additional words: acquiesce, porcelain, melee. With two finalists left, the words that determined the winner were xenophobic and gargantuan.

The winner was Elana Felig who will be competing on March 22.

Yavneh Students Taught Sefer Torah Process

Yavneh Students Taught Sefer Torah Process
Yavneh Academy second grade students learned about the process of making a sefer Torah with the Living Legacy Program. The children had the opportunity to write their Hebrew names on klaf using a goose quill and special ink.

Yavneh Academy Celebrates Annual Dinner

Yavneh Academy Celebrates Annual Dinner

On Saturday evening, January 16, nearly 600 attendees gathered at the Marriott Glenpointe in Teaneck for Yavneh Academy’s 73rd annual dinner.

Guests gathered to celebrate the school and to pay homage to this year’s honorees—Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera, Community Service Awardee, and Dr. Sarah Feit, Faculty Service Awardee. Co-chairs for the 73rd annual dinner were Yavneh parents Moshe Weinberger, Michael Wimpfheimer and Keith Zakheim.

Mayor LaBarbiera thanked the Yavneh Academy and spoke about the importance of community. The mayor, who played an instrumental role in helping to build Yavneh’s new gym, also spoke about the importance of physical fitness for children.

Dr. Sarah Feit, who was also celebrating her “bat mitzvah” year of being a Yavneh Academy administrator, stressed how Yavneh strives to meet the specific learning needs of each of the students attending the school. Through Dr. Feit’s dedication and innovative and enthusiastic approach to education, many Bergen County children have benefited from the Yavneh Learning Center and Yavneh’s inclusion program.

At the dinner, Yavneh President Pam Scheininger announced the establishment of the Judah Marans Memorial Fund, an effort spearheaded by his parents, Nina Kampler and Zvi Marans. The fund will enable the creation of the Judah Marans Music and Art Center at Yavneh Academy. Judah, a Yavneh graduate, was a gifted artist and musician and brought tremendous beauty to the world during his short life. The Music and Art Center will honor Judah’s contributions and enable the life which Judah lived to enhance the world through music and art—even in his absence. The fund has been set up through the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey and contributions can be made at www.jfnnj.org/judahmaransmemorialfund.

“It was truly a thrill to honor Mr. LaBarbiera, a man whose efforts have facilitated the growth of Yavneh’s physical plant, as well as Dr. Feit, whose efforts have facilitated the advancement and achievement of Yavneh’s lofty educational aspirations,” said dinner co-chair Michael Wimpfheimer. “Through the efforts of wonderful people such as these, the Yavneh family can confidently look forward to many years of continued growth.”

The funds raised through the dinner are critical in supporting our school’s annual fund. This fund enables Yavneh to continue providing all their students with top-quality educational programs and scholarship assistance, allowing the school to achieve its mandate of “affordable excellence.” For more information, please contact Michelle Weinraub at michelle.weinraub@yavnehacademy.org.

The Big NFL Game Bet Is On!!!

The Big NFL Game Bet Is On!!!

In advance of the big NFL playoff game this coming Sunday between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Heads of School for Moriah and Yavneh made a big bet this week.

Rabbi Daniel Alter, Moriah's Head of School and a recent transplant from Denver, and Rabbi Jonathan Knapp of Yavneh, originally from Pittsburgh, made a friendly and fun bet with each other Wed. night. The stakes are high as the losing Head of School has agreed to wear the other school's kippa on Monday after the game.

They are pictured here in their respective team colors.

Yavneh Academy Sixth Graders Deliver Mishna Shiurim

Yavneh Academy Sixth Graders Deliver Mishna Shiurim

Yavneh sixth graders recently created original shiurim on the topic of tefillah, based on their learning of the mishnayot of the fourth perek of Mesechet Berachot. The students presented their shiurim to faculty and guests at a “Lunch-and-Learn” program.

These shiurim were the culmination of an extended project-based learning unit in Rabbi Simcha Schaum’s class, in which the students collaboratively learned the mishnayot and built their shiurim around the question, “What do you think people should know about tefillah that can be learned from משנה ברכות, פרק ד” While each team of students learned the same mishnayot, they each found original ideas and patterns within the perek that represented their deep understanding of the material.

Yoetzet Halacha Shoshana Samuels came to teach the students the ins and outs of how to give a polished shiur and the students prepared mishnayot to teach and cite, and created handouts, slideshows and a few games to make their shiurim come alive. They practiced and then practiced some more to perfect their delivery. Different teams assisted one another by offering constructive critique. Their hard work paid off in shiurim that were delivered with poise and were very well received.