ou're a recent college
graduate and you're
not exactly certain how
you want to spend the
rest of your life.
Y
Want to exercise your soul?
Lift your spirit?
Elevate your heart?
Help others?
Then check this out.
sor at the University of Michigan,
Locke spent a year in Israel between
jobs.
Her relationship with the university
is not unique. If there were no U-M,
there would be no Hebrew Day
School of Ann Arbor. About 75 per-
cent of its students' parents have some
association with the university.
"When our students graduate, they
usually find themselves way ahead of
whatever school they go to next," said
Locke, who earned two master's degrees,
in Jewish education and Jewish commu-
nal service, from Hebrew Union
College Jewish Institute of Religion
in Los Angeles.
"We provide a warm place for
children and teachers," she said.
"The children want to be here;
the teachers want to be here. This
leads to high achievement."
In addition, she said the acad-
emic community that sends its
children to the school is one that
values learning and is eager to
volunteer at the school.
Growing Larger?
omorrow's
eachers
ioday
The Jewish Educational Internship Program
A fantastic new opportunity to shape your own teaching experience
in formal and informal Jewish education.
✓
Two-year paid internship at a school, agency
or camp in the Detroit metro area
✓
Competitive salary with medical benefits
✓
Complete training
✓
Practical, professional experience
✓
Opportunity to travel to Israel
✓
A chance to influence the lives of others
talk! Call the Agency for Jewish
Education at (248) 645-7860, or visit www.ajedetroit.org
Application deadline is May 1, 200L
Interested? Let's
IN
2/16
2001
92
Federal:WI
N T1liance
for Jewish Education
With special thanks
for the support of
the Covenant Foundation
community educator with several dif-
ferent agencies, said the Hebrew Day
School blends many things she values
in a school.
"It combines somewhat of a tradi-
tional focus with a contemporary spice,"
she said. "And it's all done through
hands-on experiences that create a spirit
and love for Judaism. I haven't had one
complaint about the school."
The Hebrew Day School is associ-
ated with the Conservative Solomon
Schechter movement. The school's
families, however, come from a very
As part of a unit on the solar system, third-
graders Michele Freed and Hannah Rose
Alexander collect information from the
Internet.
Ironically, the nature of the Ann
Arbor academic community is
also an impediment to the day
school's growth. Each year; a number
of untenured faculty members, gradu-
ate students or exchange students
leave the area, along with their fami-
lies.
"Sometimes, they are among our
most active families, our best friends,"
Locke said, "But we regroup. We have
many applications for next year's
kindergarten as well as our first and .
second grade."
The school has rented space from
the Washtenaw JCC since 1987.
Before that, they met at Beth Israel
Congregation, after moving from their
first home at the U-M Hillel founda-
tion building.
Because of the rise in applications,
plus the growth of the Ann Arbor
area, the Hebrew Day School board is
. considering adding a middle school.
The school has previously tried -
expanding, one year at a time, but it
hasn't worked.
"When it comes to middle school,"
said parent and board member Dina
Shtull-Leber, "many parents were con-
cerned about the social implications."
Her family has no such objections.
"We feel close relationships with a
small group of friends are more valu-
able than being in a large environ-
ment," she said.
Shtull-Leber, who works as a Jewish
wide spectrum, including Orthodox
to Reconstructionist, Reform to secu-
lar.
At the school, each day begins with
tefillot (prayers). Children in grades K-
2 pray in their classrooms, while
grades 3-5 meet together, led by music
teacher Bev Warshai.
The school is unique in its elabo-
rate celebrations held at the start of
each Heb-rew month. While even the
youngest children learn Hebrew for
half a day, "Immersion" Hebrew, in
which no English may be spoken,
begins in first grade.
Kindergartner Miriam Alexander, 6,
said she loves the gan (kindergarten),
"because I learn the Hebrew alphabet."
Her sister, Hannah Rose Alexander,
8, said the school is "very fun and very
helpful. All the teachers are very nice,
and they teach you a lot of things, and
they keep their promises and they
always have a treat waiting for you."
The girls' mother, Caryn Shapiro,
said the Hebrew Day School has "cre-
ated an impetus for us as a family to
learn and observe more."
"It has provided my children with a
deep sense of belonging to a commu-
nity," she said. "They not only feel
comfortable being Jewish, they feel
fortunate to be Jewish." O