Spring Fling

And so, our final day of JQuest this school year arrived yesterday - our Spring Fling! The weather was perfect for all the activities of the day.

First, we met together one last time in our classroom. The hour we had together flew by. I continued reading two more chapters from "A Shout in the Sunshine" which I'd been reading aloud to the students since February. We didn't have enough time to finish reading the entire book, so I read the chapters then summarized the rest of the story. The focus of the book is on what happens when two very different cultures (the Sepharadi -Spanish Jewish and Romaniote - Greek Jewish) are forced to live together because of the political situation of the time (in this case, the late 15th century, following the Spanish exile). There is a definite parallel to what is happening in our own times, with refugees streaming into Europe from the Middle East and Africa.

As soon as I had finished summarizing the book, we got ready to play our final Shekel Game of the year. As always, I was very impressed at how much information the students retained. In this game, the material for the questions came from everything we had studied since September in Hebrew, Siddur (Prayer book), Holidays, Jewish History and Edot. The students take the game very seriously, even as they're having a lot of fun deciding how many shekels to bet on whether they can answer the question correctly.

Sammy is sharing what he's sure is the correct answer, and it was!

Let's see how much money we have - we can't bet more than half the amount we have!

The group has 30 seconds to answer the question after I've asked it.

Kyra is the recorder - writing down how much the group bets, so there's no question about the amount when it's time to pay them for answering correctly!

Hmmm - still mulling over the answer.

And while we played, those students who were absent during the previous weekday session had a chance to thank Rabbi Graetz for all he's done for our Isaiah community over the past quarter century on the card we made for him.

We finished the game, then went upstairs to the Sanctuary where all the other classes were gathering, and where many of our Edot students joined their parents. Once everyone had settled down, it was time to honor the volunteers, teachers and TA's.

Here, we're honoring the TA's.

And here are the teachers, minus one (I'm taking the photo!). (Notice the screen above - just before the concert began, the Shira track's music video was screened. Yasher Ko'ach to Erin and all her Shiraniks on an amazing project!!!)

Special thanks went to Jory, who is leaving JQuest to travel through South America next year.

And then it was time for our special honoree, Rabbi Graetz, to come up front. Rabbi Greninger spoke for all of us when she thanked him, and then presented him with a large bag filled with cards and special gifts made by each class.

As Rabbi Graetz carried his "treasures" back to his seat, Billy Jonas and his band began to perform. He uses all sorts of interesting instruments, and best of all, had us all join in for every song! Below, he's leading us in singing, "Who's Gonna Make Our Music?"

The concert lasted a good part of an hour, and then it was time for everyone to move to the Social Hall, where Bill and his crew had tables ready, brimming over with barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs and all the fixings. 

Amazingly, there was plenty of food for everyone!

The room filled quickly. Once you filled your plate, you could eat at a table inside, or...

...you could find a seat at a table outside, enjoying the glorious weather.

Inside, Cantor Korn led our Kleztone musicians in concert.

Here's our own Sammy playing the dumbek (Yemenite drum).

It's obvious the Kleztones have their own fanbase - and possibly a future member or two!

And outside, there was plenty of action in the funhouse...

...and playing Gaga (there's Ariston heading toward the ball!).

And so the 5776 school year is ended. Have a wonderful summer, and I'll look forward to seeing my students - past and present - on Sunday, September 11th, when our 5777 JQuest year begins (about 3 weeks before Rosh Ha'Shana, when 5777 itself begins!). 

L'HITRA'OT! (AU REVOIR!)