Spring Fling

And finally, the big day came - our Spring Fling this past Sunday. Everyone dressed up for the occasion - in JQuest t-shirts. We began the morning in our classroom. I finished reading the final chapter (the Epilog) of "A Shout in the Sunshine," and then we played our end-of-the-year Shekel Game.

We had two teams, with 3 students on each team. The Goldfish crackers were still on the table, which the boys had been snacking on while I read the story.

David was the treasurer, Phin was the recorder (of the bets made), and Billy was the reporter of the answers on this team.

Once I told the group which category their question would come from, they had 30 seconds to come up with the correct answer.

For the Hebrew Through Movement category, the boys were given the option to only have the reporter carry out the commands, or for the entire group to do so. This team, made up of Brody, Callen and Josh, opted for the latter (Josh is just rounding the bend of the table out of camera range as they successfully performed the command, "la'lechet mee'saveev la'shoolchan. "Walk around the table.")

What I have enjoyed most about this game through the many, many years that I have played it in my classrooms (going back all the way to when I first introduced it as the "Stockbroker Game" in my 8th grade U.S. History class at Albany Middle School some 30 years ago!) is watching each team cooperatively work out how much they'll bet if they think they know the answer and then discussing the answer they will give me:

It's especially wonderful for me when they arrive at the correct answer!

As is the case every year, our classroom time together flew by faster than the wind, and it was time to clean up and head upstairs to the Sanctuary to join the rest of the school and parents and other guests. 

In past years, I've had to read more chapters to complete whichever novel we've been reading, leaving us much less time to play the Shekel Game. This year, with only one short chapter left to read, we had plenty of time for the game, and therefore we left the classroom on time. What I didn't figure on was that we would be going up to the Sanctuary during "rush hour," with every other class heading up there at the same time. This was one "rush hour" I actually enjoyed! And this time, my husband, Peter and daughter, Jannika, were there waiting for me to join them. 

This was the first year that we've ever had our Spring Fling on Shavuot (or ever had classes on Shavuot, for that matter!)

Rabbi Shanks, Ian (our 7th grade coordinator and youth group director) and I were each about to be given the great honor of carrying a Torah scroll, since all three of us are leaving JQuest.

I honestly didn't ask Peter and Jannika to join me just for them to take photos that I couldn't take. But this fringe benefit of having them come certainly paid off with the photos they took! Here, Rabbi Shanks, Ian and I, along with the rest of the congregation, are chanting the "Sh'ma" at the start of the Torah service. 

At this point, I have to make a confession - I have taught religious school for some 28 years, but have never had the chance to carry a Torah scroll. Needless to say, the great weight of this honor (both literally and figuratively) fell on me as I walked up and down the aisles with this most precious gift that I've been teaching to younger generations for so many years.

Rabbi Greninger called up all the teachers to chant the blessing before reading the Torah.

And Karen, our Yad b'Yad teacher, chanted the Torah portion so beautifully! Yasher Ko'ach, Karen!

And after Karen finished and the teachers chanted the blessing, another honor was bestowed upon me. Oh my goodness, another confession - I've never dressed a Torah scroll before. Thank goodness, I had expert guidance leading me through each step!

And then it was time for Rabbi Greninger to call up all the teachers, for teacher appreciation...

...followed by our TA appreciation - you can see 3 of my TA's this year in the front row, beginning with Aaron (fourth from the right in the front row), Ella and Kyra. YASHER KO'ACH to all my TA's this year and in past years - all but a few have been students in my class, and have not only helped me tremendously with the administrative aspects of running a classroom, but with working with students and sharing what they learned during our class discussions as well.

Rabbi Greninger also prepared a very warm and wonderful  "Thank-You" presentation for Rabbi Shanks. Karen's Yad b'Yad students came up to the beema, to present Rabbi Shanks with gifts and cards from all the JQuest classes (including the card we worked on the previous week day sessions in our Edot class). 

They and all the classes received a very big thank you from Rabbi Shanks!

And afterwards, I caught this wonderful shot of Rabbi Shanks enjoying some of the cards she received.

We rounded out the program in the Sanctuary with a slide show overview of highlights from each of the JQuest classes, including this one showing our Edot class at the Crypto-Jewish Seder on March 25th, and playing the Beta Yisrael (Ethiopian Jewish) game "Qileblebosh" a couple of weeks ago:

And I even caught a shot of our Edot class in one of our Hebrew Through Movement sessions:

Jojo, our Teva (Nature) track teacher led her students in a song on the beema:

This was followed by a video compilation made by our Y'tzira track teacher, Maimone, of skits his students performed (which my camera, sadly, didn't want to record clearly). And finally, our Shira teacher, Erin, shared her track's big project of the year with us - their musical video recounting the Passover story!

And with that, we all moved into the Social Hall for a wonderful barbeque lunch prepared by Bill,
who was constantly refilling the trays with hot dogs, hamburgers and veggie burgers, buns and all the trappings.  I was so busy eating and schmoozing, that I completely forgot to take any photos.

Just before it ended, Peter, Jannika and I went to my classroom, so I could show them what it looked like just before I had to take everything off the walls and begin to sort through all the materials I've collected over my years teaching at Isaiah. It's a bittersweet time for me, but I know that I don't have to say goodbye for good to everyone, since I'll be subbing when called upon to do so, during the coming years.

So for now, I'll say...

SHALOM V'L'HEETRA'OT (au revoir) to you all!