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60 Years Of Hillel
1958: Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
Detroit founded with 29 students, three
teachers and two classrooms in Detroit
by Rabbi Jacob E. Segal and other local
leaders.
1960: Hillel moves to Ten Mile Jewish
Center with 51 students.
1963: 115 students at Congregation
B’nai Moshe in grades K-6.
1967: 11 ninth-graders comprise
the first graduating class, and school
breaks ground on a new facility with 20
classrooms.
1970: Hillel moves to its current home
on Middlebelt Road in Farmington Hills,
with 270 students.
1976: Rabbi Robert Abramson begins
his 13-year tenure as headmaster.
1979: Hillel affiliates with the Solomon
Schechter Day School movement.
1986: The first renovation of the
campus is complete with the
endowment of the William, Ethan and
Marla Davidson wing.
1988: Last ninth grade graduates.
1990: Dr. Mark Smiley begins his
13-year tenure as headmaster.
1992: Enrollment reaches 636
students, requiring the use of portable
classrooms.
1996: Hillel dedicates a new middle
school wing on the newly named
Schostak Family Campus, including the
7-8 learning community on the second
floor.
2003: Steve Freedman begins his
tenure as head of school.
2006: Hillel institutes its eighth-grade
Israel trip.
2008: Hillel board of trustees votes
to become a community Jewish day
school.
2010: The Early Childhood Center
opens.
2014: The Davidson Tuition Grant
making tuition stable and predictable
went into effect.
2017: The state-of-the-art renovation of
Hillel Day School is complete, housing
the Audrey and William Farber IDEA
Collaborative, the Nanci and David
Farber K-2 Learning Community, the
William Davidson 3-4 and 5-6 learning
community, and the 7-8 learning
community, also funded by the Farber
family.
2018: Hillel celebrates its 60th
anniversary with 585 students in Early
Childhood Center-grade 8, and is a
national model for modern learning.
Source: Hillel Day School
Naomi Floch’s first-grade class celebrating Chanukah,
1960; she was the school’s first administrator and
also a teacher.
conducted lecture-style from the
front of the room.
Now, the internet is an integral
teaching tool in every Hillel class-
room with SmartBoards and per-
sonal student tablets everywhere.
Long frontal lecturing has been
replaced by teachers “launching”
a topic, hypothesis or problem
and then assisting students as
they research, work on projects
and solve problems collabora-
tively in groups.
PAM SMITH
Purim, 1962, Oak Park JCC
Ground-breaking at Farmington Hills site, 1967
A school play at the school in Farmington Hills, 1971
Ground-breaking for renovations at the Farmington
Hills campus, 1985; pictured are members of the
Must, Davidson and Hermelin families with Rabbi
Robert Abramson and Anaruth Bernard.
General studies teacher Pam
Smith began teaching at Hillel 28
years ago. She recalls the early
days, but has certainly embraced
the future.
“We have a mantra at Hillel that
it is OK to ‘fail forward,’” Smith
said. “We encourage students to
keep trying, failing and to keep
discovering. We have a wonderful
Innovation Hub and MakerSpace
where the multiple intelligences of
our students have an opportunity
to come to life. Some students are
more gifted with their hands; oth-
ers are more math-based learners.
The bottom line is every student
has an opportunity to find his
passion and can drive his own
instruction.”
Smith said in today’s digitally
immersed society where children
must navigate many different
outside influences and misinfor-
mation on social media, more
than ever it is imperative to pro-
vide Jewish children with a solid
foundation of social, emotional,
academic and leadership skills, all
reinforced with a precise knowl-
edge of Jewish history, text and
connection to Israel.
As far as instilling long-lasting
Jewish values and fostering
leadership skills, Smith says she
needs to look no further than to
her three children, Alexandra,
Amanda and Garrett, all Hillel
alumni, as evidence. Whether
at home or abroad, they are all
staunch pro-Israel advocates who
have countered anti-Israel pro-
tests, and they have all assumed
Jewish leadership roles on their
college campuses.
“For my kids and for many
Hillel graduates, it is not enough
for them just to be students when
they reach college,” Smith said.
“They are not afraid to express
their Judaism and Zionism as
active leaders on campus. Hillel
gives them that confidence early
on. They become high achievers.”
CLARA GABA
New kindergarten learning community, 2017
Since joining Hillel in 1992 as
a Judaic Studies teacher, Clara
Gaba, a native Israeli, has tried
to touch students’ hearts “so that
they see that Judaism will add
meaning to their lives,” she says.
In 2000, Clara received the
Jewish Theological Seminary
award for Teacher of the Year. In
2007, she received the Grinspoon-
Steinhardt Award for Excellence
in Jewish Education.
Her three children, Ron, Ilana
and Amira, are Hillel alumni, and
Ilana and Amira have followed in
her footsteps as teachers them-
selves. Three of her grandchildren
currently attend Hillel.
“When I see the Hillel values
reflected back years later, as I do
in my own children,” she said, “it
validates that there is no return
on investment as great as the one
parents receive when they invest
in Jewish education.”
ADINA LEVIN
Adina Levin and her husband
moved to town 25 years ago
because of a job transfer and soon
after she started her career at
Hillel as a Judaic Studies teacher.
The Levins did not have many
friends or connections in town, so
the staff, students and their fami-
lies quickly became their family.
“Leaving Israel and being far
away from my family was not
easy,” Levin said. “I can say now
with confidence that working as
a Jewish educator became my
mission in life. Knowing that my
work impacts the lives of so many
young Jewish kids, it gives me a
sense of fulfillment. I know I am
doing avodat kodesh (holy work).
I love what I am doing and enjoy
teaching my students. This is why
I have remained in this profession
for so many years.”
Levin said that in the face of
increasing anti-Semitism and
assimilation, attaining a strong
Jewish education for today’s gen-
eration is critical for instilling an
appreciation for the beauty and
wisdom of the Jewish way of life.
“The support and reinforce-
ment of an institution like Hillel
encourages and ensures that our
students will remain committed
and grow into tomorrow’s Jewish
leaders,” Levin said. “We must
prepare our children to carry on
the traditions of our ancient faith,
especially in the world we live
today that is surrounded by anti-
Semitism.”
AYALA PERLSTEIN
In her 42 years of teaching Hebrew
and Judaic Studies at Hillel, Ayala
Perlstein said Hillel’s mission has
never been more important in the
face of faster-paced lives, growing
anti-Israel sentiments and assimi-
lation. Perlstein joyously relishes
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April 26 • 2018
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