18 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023 
J
N

D

isplaying one’s Jewish 
pride is among the 
most important 
actions the Jewish communi-
ty can take at this time. 
A Farmington Hills 
mother and son went all 
out with a literal display 
of their Jewish pride for 
Multicultural Night at 
Kenbrook Elementary 
School. 
Shayna van Uden and 
her son Austin, a Kenbrook 
fifth-grader, immediately 
jumped at the chance to par-
ticipate in the event, which 

allows Kenbrook families to 
share their culture/heritage 
by preparing a display table 
in their own creative way. 
Along with promoting 
Jewish pride in the face of 
the current climate for Jews 
around the world, and with 
Chanukah coming up, van 
Uden thought this would be 
a good learning opportunity 
for the school community. 
“Kenbrook is very mixed,” 
she said. “We have a lot of 
Indian, Arabic and Christian 
families, but there’s only four 
or five Jewish kids in the 

school. I felt we needed to 
educate and show them we’re 
just like everybody else.”
She bought a three-sided 
poster board and filled up 
the board with various edu-
cational pieces for parents 
and students to read as they 
passed by the display table. 
One side of the poster was 
dedicated to Chanukah, with 
descriptions of the holiday, 
the various foods eaten and 
dreidels. Another side was 
dedicated to Shabbat and 
all it entails. Information 
also was given about 

Reform Judaism and Reform 
Zionism, the Star of David, 
the hamsah and challah, and 
a short blurb of what being 
Jewish means to Austin, were 
also on the board. 
Their table had an Israeli 
flag, menorahs and sufgani-
yot (Israeli donuts) for pass-
ersby. And van Uden had 
shirts made for them that 
read “Am Yisrael Chai.”
“I was very happy to repre-
sent being Jewish, what our 
holidays are and how being 
Jewish isn’t just our culture, 
it’s our way of life,” van Uden 

Kenbrook Elementary School 
community learns about Jewish 
culture from fifth-grade student.

Farmington Hills 
Family Displays 
Jewish Pride

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

LEFT: The van Udens’ 
Chanukah display. 
BELOW: Austin 
answers questions 
from passersby.

