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6 | OCTOBER 17 • 2019 

lunches for the kids at David 
L. Mackenzie Elementary-
Middle School. He knew the 
favorite sandwiches for his 
regulars from Bays English 
Muffins. He navigated the 
“nightmare certification” of 
WIC and stocked quality 
products for families — 
without neglecting Twinkies 
and Rosé Impérial, both 
available in bulk.
One night, when Michael 

got stumped trying to balance 
his books, he posted online, 
“
someone should really teach 
this stuff in school.” 
“Is that an offer?” replied 
Peter West, his former teacher 
and adviser.
Michael heard — though 
he’
s still not sure who did the 
offering.
Hearing his students sing 
along with Martha Reeves (or 
possibly the other way around) 

was a highlight of the nearly 
two years Michael has been 
back at Ann Arbor Academy, 
first as a part-timer and now 
as development director and 
electives teacher. But every day 
is an adventure.
Michael is quick to 
boast about the school’
s 
multisensory experiential 
learning: film production 
(“they cast me!”), metal 
smithing, woodshop, 

humanities, American Sign 
Language (“
great for auditory 
issues and dyslexia”), political 
theory (“weirdly popular”) 
and adulting (“life skills class 
that kids will actually sign up 
for”). 
He hears his students the 
way Peter (“
still my adviser”) 
heard him. 
“They’
re learning to 
navigate a road I have 
traveled.” 

Jewfro from page 5

publisher’
s notebook

The JN: Remembering Your Name,
Keeping Your Flame, Telling Your Story
A

nd when you’
re gone, 
who remembers your 
name? Who keeps 
your flame? Who tells your 
story? Who tells 
your story? Who 
tells your story?”
These mem-
orable lyrics at 
the dramatic 
conclusion 
of Hamilton: 
An American 
Musical could be asked of 
you. Who has told your fami-
ly’
s story? Who is telling your 
story? Who will tell the story 
of your future generations?
Since 1916, the Jewish 
News and its predecessor 
publication, the Jewish 
Chronicle have been captur-
ing and telling the stories of 
literally tens of thousands of 
Detroiters, like you. More 
than 330,000 pages of con-
tent — all digitized and easily 
searchable via the Detroit 
Jewish News Foundation’
s 

William Davidson Digital 
Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History (djnfoundation.org) 
— provide breadth, depth 
and context about the way 
your family, friends and com-
munity lived, worked, played, 
learned, prayed and loved.
These myriad snapshots 
in time comprise our com-
munity’
s DNA. They are the 
first and final drafts of his-
tory. They help ensure that 
even in our current era of 
“fake news” and “
alternative 
facts,” your legacy will not be 
defined or revised by others. 
Each week, digitized copies 
of the Jewish News — our 
newest snapshots in time — 
are set aside for inclusion in 
the archive, which is part of 
the permanent collection of 
the University of Michigan’
s 
Bentley Historical Library. 
And because more of our 
community’
s story — your 
story — is being told daily 
via thejewishnews.com, the 

Bentley is capturing this con-
tent, too.
Dramatic changes are 
disrupting all facets of the 
media industry. Our commu-
nity’
s main source of news, 
information and connectivity 
— the Jewish News — is not 
exempt from these chang-
es. Printed advertising, the 
backbone of the industry, is 
eroding. Since 2004, more 
than 2,100 newspapers across 
America have ceased to exist. 
Meanwhile, two mega-busi-
nesses, Google and Facebook, 
are the recipients of 87 per-
cent of all digital advertising. 
That leaves almost nothing 
for everyone else.
Today, demand for trust-
ed Jewish journalism in our 
community is stronger than 
ever. With a rapidly growing 
daily digital presence and 
iconic (and now all-glossy) 
publication, the Jewish News 
reaches more people than 
at any time in its history. 

However, because of the 
decline in the industry’
s 
print-advertising-centric 
business model, the ability to 
meet this demand is severely 
limited. 
That’
s why the Detroit 
Jewish News Foundation, an 
independent 501-c-3 non-
profit organization, will be 
initiating a “bridge to the 
future” campaign to secure 
resources to help enable the 
Jewish News — our commu-
nity’
s main source of news, 
information and connectivity 
— to transition to a sustain-
able business model under 
nonprofit ownership. You’
ll 
hear more about this cam-
paign shortly.
“And when you are gone, 
who remembers your name? 
Who keeps your flame? Who 
tells your story?” 
The Jewish News does, and 
with your partnership, will 
continue to do so for many 
years to come. 

Arthur 
Horwitz

