May 31st 2008, 00:00

   I have seen plaques and coffee mugs that bear the saying, “Three reasons to become a teacher: June, July, & August.” While the summer months do provide a welcome pause from the routine schedule of the school year, there is nothing like the presence of children to brighten an educator’s day. The last day of the 2007-08 school year was a day unlike any other. We all dream of sending our children to Israel, to give them a taste of our collective history and to give them a shot of Jewish identity. Our dedicated team of Religious School teachers took this to heart and created a closing day program that proved to be fun, educational, and inspirational. 4th grade teacher Marilyn Spielberg got the ball rolling, and each staff member then created an activity to give our students an experience to remember.
   As the students arrived at school, they were given a “passport” with the picture of one of four Israeli leaders: Golda Meir, Chaim Weizmann, Theodore Herzl, or Moshe Dayan. It was soon time to be led to the “plane” in the chapel, where seats were set up in rows like a plane (of course no one under 18 was allowed to sit in the emergency row). Once the flight started, we heard all the safety information and were treated to our in-flight movie – a virtual tour of Israel created by teacher Tara Filowitz. Both entertaining and informational, the children saw the sites of Israel and heard voices and music from our Jewish heritage.
   It was soon time to leave the plane and divide into groups (according to the Israeli leader on the passports). Students participated in four activities led by our teachers:
*IDF training: a physical workout to prepare for defending the State of Israel (led by Tara Filowitz)
*Safed artistry: making stained glass pictures of Israeli flags (led by Sammi Jass)
*Archaeological dig: in the sandbox of the preschool playground, students unearthed “ancient” fragments of pottery (led by Bethany Spielberg)
*Prayers for the Western Wall: students wrote amazing prayers and placed them in our “Wall” that was created out of stuffed paper bags.
   At the end of the morning, we gathered at our own Dizengoff Street café (on the patio) for falafel (thanks to Greg Weitzman for preparing the batter, to Todd Menaker for doing the frying, and to Lysa Bloomfield, Carmen Feldman, Dafna Gutterman, and Joan Wiener for chopping veggies and helping to serve the children – all under the watchful eye of third grade teacher Emily Wiener). And of course a sidewalk café wouldn’t be complete without strolling minstrals and music – all provided by our songleaders Jonathan Katz and Ben LaCross.
   While all of the above took place, we culminated a year-long mitzvah project tied in the celebration of Lag Ba’Omer, a holiday which provides traditional Jews the only opportunity between Passover and Shavuot to cut their hair. In the social hall we set up a beauty salon, and several adults as well as children got 8-10” of hair cut to help make wigs for those suffering from illnesses that cause hair loss. Thanks to beautician Mo Khooban and the students from Marinello Beauty School for donating their time to make this activity possible! We hope to make this an annual event, and I can already see that some of our children are working towards next year’s haircutting event!