News Updates
New Technology Site
9/1/2010 10:26 AM
Click
here to access Heschel's New Technology Site.
Heschel Day School's Model Seder
3/26/2010 0:00 AM
Students at Heschel Day School present a story of faith at a Model Seder.
8th Grade Student Reflects on Experience with Holocaust Survivors as Speaker at Facing History Annual Event
5/22/2009 4:21 PM
On April 22, 2009 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Heschel 8th grader, Stevie Goodrich spoke before an audience of hundreds at the 2009 Benefit Dinner for Facing History and Ourselves.
Throughout the 2008-09 school year, 8th grade students have participated in an innovative project in which they interviewed Holocaust survivors about their experiences during and after the Shoah (The Holocaust). The project was developed in partnership with the educational nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves, which worked closely with the teachers to create the unit. The 8th grade students worked in small groups to document the stories of six survivors, asking them sensitive and probing questions about how
one re-builds a life in the aftermath of tragedy and what life lessons survivors would hope are passed on as their legacy. The interviews were recorded by award winning filmmaker Jodi Binstock. Stevie’s inspiring reflections have proven to us that our students are ready to go out into the community as leaders who understand the importance of making a positive difference in the world. Looking forward, Heschel was recently selected to receive a multi-year grant that will provide extensive training and support from Facing History and Ourselves and the Jim Joseph Foundation for four of our middle school teachers to collaborate with seven other schools in Boston this summer for a seminar focused on teaching the Holocaust in the context of Jewish history, ethics, and identity.
East Coast Trip Blog
5/1/2009 1:33 PM
On The Wings of Hope
4/22/2009 2:19 PM
On Tuesday morning, April 21st, Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School dedicated a new addition to our campus - a wall entitled “On the Wings of Hope” remembering the 1.5 million children who lost their lives in the Holocaust. The butterfly has been chosen as a symbol of hope for the future of all people. The Heschel community including faculty, staff, grandparents, students, parents, board members, and friends hand painted over 800 ceramic butterflies over the course of nine months. These butterflies have been incorporated into a wall of art displaying messages of hope interspersed amongst the coloful buttterflies. These butterflies are a daily reminder that we must remember the communities of Jewish Europe that were destroyed in the plan intending the eradication of Jewish people, we must remember the bravery and persistence of those forced into ghettoes and the fighters who rose in rebellion to redeem our people's honor, and we must remember the righteous among the nations who saved Jews at the risk of their own lives. Heschel is proud to be a global participant in the remembrance of those who lived through and those who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Inspired by the documentary “Paper Clips” and the poem “The Butterfly”, written by a child, Pavel Friedmann, during the Holocaust, a group of parents, staff and children of San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) initiated the Butterfly Project as a Holocaust remembrance. Led by Rebeca Besquin (Project Coordinator) and Cheryl Price (Artist in Residence at SDJA), Zikaron V’ Tikvah (Remembrance and Hope), was created to memorialize those children who lost their lives in the Holocaust, to honor the survivors, and to display handmade butterflies from around the world as a symbol of renewed life
Following the dedication of the Butterfly Wall on the Heschel Campus, holocaust survivors and their stories were honored at a Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) ceremony in the Beit Midrash. At the ceremony, clips from the 8th graders interviews with Holocaust survivors were shown and students shared their reflections about what the experience meant to them.
“The integration between English, Social Studies, and Judaic studies teachers here at Heschel along with the resources from Facing History has empowered our students to think more about their own responsibilities to others, and to bear witness to this history,” said Larry Kligman, Assistant Head of the School and Middle School Director.
As a Jewish Community Day School, we study the traditions, texts, languages and history of our people, but the tasks of our classroom are just a preparation for our students to serve as leaders - a role they are already fulfilling. By researching and recording the lives of these survivors our students are prepared not only to tell the stories to another generation but also to keep the experience of the Shoah in mind as we face the moral challenges and choices of today.
