All In The
Family

U-M and Hebrew Day School
make a winning pair.

Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor students celebrate their close relationship with
the University of Michigan — many parents are employed by the university.

Left: Researcher Moises Kaplan
with his daughter, Leah, 8, in the
main lobby of the Natural History
Museum.

Above: HDS vice president Matt
Kaplan, who works at U-M, with
his daughter, Hava.

Staff photo by Armando Rios

Dina Shtull
Special to the Jewish News

Ann Arbor

F

rom medicine to law and English
lit to economics — the parents of
Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor
(HDS) students reflect nearly all aca-
demic departments at the University of
Michigan.
The two institutions — U-M and HDS
— though much different in size and
scope, are very much entwined.

HDS is a magnet attracting the children
of U-M's Jewish faculty. In turn, HDS is
a plus for the university — a powerful
recruiting tool for young Jewish families
looking for day school education for their
children in grades K-5. Currently, the
school serves 91 students.
"Consequently," says Dr. Ami Rosenthal,
professor emeritus of pediatrics and com-
municable diseases at the U-M Medical
School, "if you care about U-M, you should
care about the Hebrew Day School. It sup-
ports the Jewish presence on campus."
Dr. Gary Freed, the Percy and Mary

Murphy Professor of Pediatrics at the U-M
Health System, said, "When I was being
recruited to U-M, one of my first ques-
tions was whether there was a day school.
If there had not been, we would not have
moved to Ann Arbor."
Dr. Audrey Newell, associate director of
medical education at Oakwood Healthcare
and clinical instructor of psychiatry at
U-M Medical School, was pleased with the
HDS experience for her three sons.
"After they graduated, they were well
prepared for rigorous academic programs
elsewhere she said. "The immersion
Hebrew program at HDS helped them
perform very well in Latin, French and
Japanese. The Judaic studies classes
enhanced their critical thinking and ana-
lytic skills.
"Parents who are academics want high
standards. They also frequently want a
diverse school where Jews of all back-
grounds challenge, work, debate and
educate each other. Hebrew Day School
provided this kind of environment to our
children!"

Recruiting Tool
Many HDS students are the children of
professors affiliated with the Frankel
Center for Judaic Studies and those who
teach Hebrew language.
"There is no doubt in my mind that
the Hebrew Day School has been an enor-
mous plus in recruiting Jewish faculty
to the University," says Todd Endelman,
former director of the Frankel Center
and the William Haber Professor of
Modern Jewish History at U-M's College
of Literature, Science and the Arts — and
the father of two graduates.
"It helps to convince newcomers from
Boston and New York that the Ann Arbor
community is serious about Jewish educa-
tion!'
Through a grant from the Samuel and

Jean Frankel Jewish Heritage Foundation,
a new Institute for Advanced Judaic
Studies will be established at the Frankel
Center, one of only a handful of such insti-
tutes in the world. It will annually attract
14 of the world's leading scholars from a
variety of disciplines for scholarly research
on Jewish history, culture, literature and
religion. The day school can become part
of the recruiting package for the scholars,
fellows and residents as well as many
Israelis doing work at U-M.
"Even their short presence here adds to
the cultural mix that is part of what makes
the university great:' says Matt Kaplan,
HDS vice president and senior associate
director of U-M's Center for Research on
Learning and Teaching.
"The Hebrew Day School extended
community is now worldwide. Alumni
parents have gone on to become the
dean of Tel Aviv Law School, the dean of
Industrial Engineering at the Technion-
Israel Institute of Technology, the dean of
Yeshiva College and important scholars
at Yale, Columbia and every university in
Israel!"
And those U-M affiliations offer a
wonderful side benefit when parents visit
classrooms to share their expertise.
Julia Rothchild, now in middle school,
remembers a science professor who came
in to talk about microbes and antibiotics
to her fourth-grade class.
"She told us the microbes were making
all the bakers sick, and if we wanted to
save the bakers — and get more donuts
— we would have to figure out a way to
kill the microbes:' said Julia, recalling
resulting experimentation.
"Once we were able to figure out the
best drug to kill the microbes and save the
bakers, she gave us donuts to eat!"

Dina Shtull is head of the Hebrew Day School

of Ann Arbor.

April 26 2007

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