Retiring nursery school director-
Dottie Levitsky at the foot of the
tube slide in Adat Shalom
Synagogue's Rona and Herbert
Freedland Memorial Playground.

school Hebrew immersion program.
Depending on age, children spend as
much as half a day speaking and hear-
ing nothing but Hebrew.
In addition, Levitsky brought many
afternoon enrichment programs to the
school, such as woodworking and
cooking.
Teacher Debbie Silverman of West
Bloomfield says Levitsky built Adat
Shalom into an excellent school.
"People should also be aware that
Dottie was always true to her staff,"
Silverman says. "If you had an illness
or a death in the family, she was there
for you."
While working at Adat Shalom,
Levitsky also served for six years on
the U-M School of Education Board
of Governors, including three years as
chairperson. She was an active volun-
teer in the building of Detroit's
Ronald McDonald House, which pro-
vides housing for families of young
people hospitalized or undergoing out-
patient treatment at Children's
Hospital of Michigan, and she contin-
ues to volunteer at the facility.

Changes Over The Years

opened in 1970 with 35 children.
Levitsky was director for only 18
months. Then her daughter's frequent
illnesses forced her to resign.
In 1985, she returned to the direc-
tor's office. Under her guidance, school
enrollment of 2-year-olds through
kindergartners has reached 225.
Adat Shalom has piloted metropoli-
tan Detroit's involvement in a pre-

Children's educational and emotional
needs have not changed in the last 30
years, Levitsky says.
However, as society has evolved, the
skills that preschoolers bring with
them to school have undergone subtle
differences, she says, with many of
them for the worse.
"Children are beginning to read in
preschool, where they didn't before,"
she says. "But they are less independent
and more adult dependent because they
don't go outside and run around."
A generation or two ago, mothers
used to encourage and frequently
force — their children to play outside.
But the era of unsupervised outdoor
play has all but disappeared, Levitsky
says. Now, much of their day is occu-
pied in organized activities away from
home.
"They get to preschool and a lot of
times they haven't learned how to tie
their shoes, zipping or toilet mastery,"
"When you were play-
Levitsky
ing in the neighborhood and your
shoe came untied, vou had to learn
COLOR MY LIFE page 30

Photographer — Margo Katz
About Face — Eland Bodzin
Palazzolo — Maxim

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