GiRB metro >> on the cover Ladies Night Out Wed, June 4 I $30 ea Into The Future Temple Kol Ami school revamped to stress experiential learning. Beverly Stone I Special to the Jewish News June 6 -22, 2014 Tickets: $20 - $24 ea I Saturday and Sunday matinees 415 S Lafayette Ave, Royal Oak, MI 48067 248.541.6430 I All seats reserved sTaGecraFTers.orG Sponsored by iner's Den JEWELERS By L. Frank Baum. With Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Background Music by Herbert Stothart. Dance and Vocal Arrangements by Peter Howard. Orchestration by Larry Wilcox. Adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Based upon the Classical Motion Picture owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed in all media by Wamer Bros. The Wizard of Oz" (RSC version) is produced by special arrangement with Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc, New York, NY. Caring For Aging Parents Feels Like The Toughest Job You've Ever Had. Pam Feinberg-Rivkin RN, BSN, CCM, CRRN, ABDA I understand. It can be overwhelming. My team of experienced professionals can help. No matter your challenge or situation - in Michigan or Florida - we know what you are facing and what to do about it. It's our job to plan, manage and even provide the care, so you can focus on family support and all of your other responsibilities. Our trained professional caregivers through Bridgeway Home Care work under the direction of a geriatric care manager. Just call us at (248) 538 5425 to talk about how we can help. - ,Feinberg ■ \- :vr/ , consulting, inc. dgeway Home Care Care Coordination & Health Advocacy A Division of Feinberg Consulting, Inc. 248.538.5425 www.feinbergconsulting.com 248.702.6510 www.bridgewayhomecare.com 14 May 15 • 2014 Ami's Chai Time. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Kol Ami's educational philosophy — and the West Bloomfield synagogue's students have responded incredibly. Congregation members created the religious school's mission and vision during the process, highlighting priori- ties for experiential learning to make Jewish learning relevant for life. Under the direction of Margery Jablin, school administrator, and Tiffany Green, cantonal soloist and soon-to-be education director, students this school year began their Sunday mornings in Chai Time, where all students were introduced to the day's theme, and where appropriate songs were intro- duced and sung together to set the stage. Students then selected from four to five activities to reinforce the theme through dancing, cooking, Hebrew games, art projects and other content- based hands-on projects. Examples ranged from social action training to creating Havdallah ritual objects to immigration history for the family. "I like the new Chai Time rota- tions because you get to pick what you want to do," said fifth-grader Eddie Eichenhorn. "It's the perfect mixture of fun and education:' Self-paced Hebrew language study, called Mitkadem, followed for grades 4-6, where small groups of students worked at individual levels to master the language, prayers and blessings. Students were evaluated before moving from level to level. Students also read with partners each week. The balance of the morning was spent with teachers expanding learning via the newly developed Chai Curriculum by addressing its pillars: Torah, Avodah (work) and Gemilut Chasadim (loving kindness). Learning Is Fun "Gone are the old boring days where kids get dropped off for Sunday school and spend the next two-and-a-half hours in a classroom:' said Paul Gross, Temple Kol Ami co-president. "Our kids have a high-energy, exciting morning of Jewish learning, and they love First-grader Emily Leary agreed. "I learn more because I'm having fun:' she said. "The amount of input and interaction the kids have in the new program has them learning more than ever before, without their even realizing that learn- ing is taking place because they're hav- ing fun," said Sandy Jessop, grades K-3 music teacher. "Even the teachers are having more fun:' Kol Ami is one of nine local syna- gogues participating in Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education's Congregational School Innovation Initiative (CSI2). "Kol Ami has utilized the expertise of its CSI2-provided facilitators and its own educational staff to totally revamp its educational format and offerings, particularly with the development of its Chai Time initiative," said Harvey Leven, Alliance's director of CSI Squared Detroit.