REFLECTIONS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Text Talk on Parshat Miketz with Ben Jacobson, ’09
Ben and I skimmed Parshat Miketz, another parsha that spans a great deal of time and story. Joseph is released from jail to interpret Pharoah’s dream, he is set up as the viceroy of Egypt in order to administer the saving of stores for the seven lean years, the years of plenty pass, the years of famine begin, Joseph marries and has two sons, his father sends Joseph’s brothers to Egypt from Goshen (twice!) to barter for food, both times they spend time with a disguised Joseph and finally, the second time they travel back to their father Joseph hides an expensive chalice in Benjamin’s sack. Wow! A few years ago, Cardin’s musical production was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which spans the parsha but neither Ben nor I were at Cardin then so it didn’t influence our discussion.  Ben explained that his psychology class is currently looking at dreams so he wanted to focus on Pharoah’s dreams and Joseph’s interpretations, the beginning of Miketz. Why did Pharaoh so readily listen to Joseph’s interpretations of his dreams and give Joseph such a large administrative role in preparing for the upcoming famine years? This was all a part of G-d’s plan to keep the promise to Abraham concerned his progeny in exile.  However, Pharaoh was also looking out for his people, like a good ruler should.  What if Joseph was wrong?  The only downside would be that the Egyptians had extra food in storage.  So what?  Pharaoh was only ensuring that the country was prepared – Ben pointed out that the Boy Scout motto is “be prepared.” This is another way that we can understand Pharaoh to be a good leader as he is allowing Joseph to prepare for the worst case scenario that he dreamed about.  Ben very astutely compared the biblical situation in Egypt to our current economic crisis.  What if people had thought ahead when the “fat” years began and instead of taking elaborate vacations and buying “McMansions,” they had set aside that money for the potential of lean years? Just like the situation faced by Pharaoh, even if the lean years never came, what harm would have been done? We discussed how many people have a “me first” and “me now” attitude that has certainly contributed to our current financial crisis.  Unfortunately, Ben had to go to class so we did not have the opportunity to further discuss the current recession and its causes.  I look forward to spending more time talking with Ben in the near future.

As we close out 2008, I’d like to reflect on my text talk column experiences. I have now spent time learning Chumash with students from all four grades.  Students have volunteered and have been volunteered. I have only had one student say no when asked, a senior who was feeling the pressure of school work coupled with college applications.  Each student brought a marvelous and unique skill set to the table.  This week, it brought home how differently each student learns at Cardin and how we are uniquely qualified to meet the needs of these diverse individuals. Some of the students came to our session with a problem already at hand, some started from scratch. Every one of the students came ready to discuss and share their insights.  Some students focused on biblical times and others, like Ben, brought the biblical story to us. I hope you find an opportunity to meet with one or more of our students, open up a Chumash together and see what a amazing young people we have here at Cardin – both collectively and individually.

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy 2009!

GOOD & WELFARE
Mazal Tov to Mr. Joel Neft on his recent engagement to Ms. Leia Rosenberg.
Mazal Tov to the Lipton family, Lisa, Marc and Mollye ’10, on Noa’s Bat Mitzvah.
Mazal Tov to the Lucas family, Susan, Mitch, Deena ’12, and Aviva on Eli’s Bar Mitzvah.

IN THE NEWS
Live from New York: Lincoln Center Comes to Cardin
On Monday, December 1 through Wednesday, December 3, teaching artist Patrick McKearn and consultant Heidi Miller, from Lincoln Center Institute made music come alive for our 10th grade students. A series of hands-on, interactive workshops transformed the moadon for three days into a musical laboratory to prepare the students for a special performance by the Alexandria Kleztet.

The focus of the workshops was on doing; students getting up and trying things.  After exploring rhythmic patterns, melodies and sounds, students formed quartets and created their own simple pieces of klezmer music using glockenspiels, keyboards, and percussions. They experienced the same process and decision making that the klezmer musicians went through to create their performance pieces.  

On Tuesday morning, the students attended the performance of the Alexandria Kleztet. Many of the students agreed that the workshops prior to the performance deepened their engagement. One student wrote, “They’re doing exactly what my friends and I did in the workshop.”  Following the performance, students had a chance to share reflections and observations on the concert.  They also discussed the different ways a musical instrument can express the possibilities of a human voice, and the various ways the Alexandria Kleztet re-interprets the melodic, rhythmic and timbrel elements of klezmer music. 

On Wednesday, Seth Kibel, the director of the Alexandria Kleztet, delivered a lively lecture on the history of klezmer music to help the students enhance their connection with the work and to begin a conversation on the relationship between klezmer music and their own heritage and identity.  The workshops concluded with the entire 10th grade class playing an original piece of klezmer music followed by a celebratory ice-cream party.

Each afternoon, after the student workshops, Cardin teachers attended professional development classes to learn methodology for teaching the arts experientially across the curriculum. On Wednesday, December 17, Dr. Prentiss, Ms. Czopnik, Ms. Wittner, Mr. Neft, Ms. Brandes and I led a workshop on the structure and movement of a piece of klezmer music.  The students divided into three groups and explored how music can create a narrative, provide a musical score for the story of Chanukah and evoke abstract visual representations. 

Having experimented with the themes of klezmer music and the techniques of aesthetic education, the 10th grade students were ready to see the Alexandria Kleztet a second time.  The entire school was invited to join them on Friday, December 19.  When I walked into the moadon, I saw that a student had reviewed the performance.  Written in large bold words on the whiteboard:  “KLEZMER ROCKS, AND ESPECIALLY THE SOLOS.”

We are looking forward to LCI’s return visit in February when our students will explore visual arts.  We are very grateful to the Herbert Bearman Family Foundation for making this partnership with Lincoln Center possible.

See the Jewish Times article on page 34 in the December 12 issue.
Rabbi Stuart Seltzer

Following is a letter from Ms. Heidi Miller, consultant from Lincoln Center Institute

Dec. 8, 2008
Dear Rabbi Seltzer,
It was our great pleasure to work with you, your faculty and students at the Shoshana S. Cardin School on Dec. 1-3 around the study of the Alexandria Kleztet performance.
We very much appreciated the atmosphere of your school and the students’ level of engagement and learning that we observed in teaching artist, Patrick McKearn’s lessons. It was a delight to witness your students’ exploration of concepts found in klezmer music as well as their own artistic choices in musical composition.
We look forward with anticipation to our future visits when we will delve into other wonderful works of art together, as well as witness the effects overtime of the integration of aesthetic education at the Cardin School.
Lincoln Center Institute is grateful for your skillful coordination of the Arts L’shma project, and for the time and effort you and the faculty devote to its success.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Heidi Miller

Shoshana S. Cardin Signs Memoir, Shoshana, at The Jewish Museum of Maryland
On Sunday, December 7th, The Jewish Museum of Maryland hosted Shoshana S. Cardin, her family and friends for a reading and book signing from Shoshana.  Mrs. Cardin read a few excerpts from her book to the delight of all those present.  After a short question and answer session, books were available for purchase and autographs.  The Shoshana S. Cardin School will be presenting another book signing event on Friday, February 6 at 1pm.

JUDAICS.COMMUNICATIONS
Cardin Seeks Opportunities to Make Each Day Better than the Day Before

• On Hanukah, we light the candles according to the disciples of Hillel who instruct us to add an additional candle each night. One reason given in the Talmud for this approach is that we increase in matters of holiness.  The Cardin community knows this well and often seeks opportunities to make each day better than the day before.
• On Wednesday, December 3, Rabbi Chaitovsky studied Shabbat 127a with the entire school in memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg and the other innocent victims who died in Mumbai.
• On Wednesday, December 10, our students and faculty attended a lecture on “Israel and Terrorism” by Dr. Nadav Morag, Associate Professor, and Chair of the Political Science Department at the American Jewish University.
• On, Friday, December 12, Rabbi Chaitovsky received this year’s Moot Beit Din case which will take place in Denver later this year.  Moot Beit Din is a unique program that enables students from Jewish high schools to delve into issues of Jewish law through creative engagement with contemporary situations. Last year, Shachar Binyamin, ’10, Sophie Solomon,’09, and Jeremy Hiken,‘09 led Cardin to first place in their division. This year’s participants, Beth Zaleon, ’11, Gabe Baraban, ‘11 and Shachar Binyamin,’10 are busy preparing the case and writing their decisions.
• On Monday, December 15, Abby Grobani and Adina Shanholtz planned a surprise party for Mr. Joel Neft in celebration of his engagement to Leia Rosenberg.
• On Tuesday, December 16, Emily Boling and Tara Lichtenstein performed a selection of Hebrew songs at a celebration honoring Israel’s 60th anniversary at the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center.
• On Wednesday, December 17, our 11th and 12th grade students welcomed Tal Bouhnik to Cardin. Tal, a shaliach from our sister city of Ashkelon who is spending the year in Baltimore during his gap year before serving in the army, will continue to spend Wednesday mornings at Cardin enriching our Israel programs.
• Also on Wednesday, December 17th our Israeli dance troop joined the KSMS 7th grade class for a pizza lunch and Israeli dancing.

Lighting the Hanukiyah the Cardin Way
On the last night of Hanukkah, I am going to light my hanukiyah the Cardin Way by placing a different color candle in each of the holders.  A red candle for Orthodox Jews, a blue candle for Zionists, an orange candle for Conservative Jews, a green candle for Environmentalist Jews, a purple candle for Reform Jews, a silver candle for Reconstructionist Jews, a gray candle for secular Jews, and a white candle for all the other Jewish expressions I missed.  According to the laws of the hanukiyah, each individual candle is equal in its significance - no one candle is more important or better than the next.  In fact, they all have to be on the same level so that we can count off the correct days of the holiday and the shamash honors each of them the same.  As I once learned from the noted historian Jonathan Sarna, so long as there are various denominations of Judaism, so long as there is an expression of Judaism for everyone, Judaism will always be here to stay. I think we can say the same thing about Cardin. As long as the Baltimore Jewish community has a pluralistic school, all denominations and expressions of Judaism will be honored and appreciated for their unique contributions to the Jewish people. And all Jews might even understand and get a long a little better with each other! 

Rabbi Stuart Seltzer
Dean of Judaic Studies

CLASSES IN ACTION
Physics
Students are using our kinex ramps, purchased last year, in conjunction with our motion probes and graphing calculators to experimentally determine a value for the acceleration due to gravity.  This will include observations of sources of error, friction, and the effects of rotational motion. Students will plot the accelerations and take averages, use a trig-identity, and then determine an approximate value for g.  They’ll also be calculating a percent error. This lab will provide a transition into rotational motion and away from Newton’s three laws of motion. 
Mr. Dean Whitfield

US History
The U.S. History class has been working for the past two months on extensive research papers on varying topics such as biographies of presidents, the Boston Massacre, and the roles of women during the Civil War. The project culminated in presentations of their research which included a visual representation of their projects.
Ms. Amy Fink

Mikra 10
As an addition to studying the books of Shemot and Bamidbar (Exodus and Numbers) in their Mikra class, students have been studying the historical background/context of classical commentators. Until now they have learned about the Jews of Sefarad (Spain) and Ashkenaz (France and Germany) in 9th – 16th century. To present the knowledge to others as well, they created a map of Europe on which they placed a number of crucial information including demographic data, migrations, big Jewish communities and bios of great scholars. As the year progresses we will add information about the Jews in Italy and Eastern Europe.

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Levindale’s Celebrates Israel’s 60th Anniversary!
On Tuesday, December 16th, the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center was celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Israel. The keynote speakers for the celebration were Mrs. Shoshana S. Cardin and Mr. Alex Reznick. While Mr. Reznick recalled the difficulties that Israel has encountered since its creation as an independent state, Ms. Cardin gave an upbeat speech about how much Israel has contributed to the world of science and technology. Emily Boling, ’10, Tara Lichtenstein, ’10, Rabbi Chaitovsky and I attended the event. Emily and Tara concluded the afternoon by giving a beautiful rendition of “The Hatikvah” and “Eli, Eli”. The audience was charmed by their exquisite voices and they received a lot of wonderful and well deserved compliments.
Mme. Sylvie Rowen

COUNSELING CORNER
During our most recent professional development day, the Cardin faculty had an opportunity to learn more about ADHD, Executive Functioning, and other learning disabilities (LD) with psychologist, Robin Waxman. Dr. Waxman discussed the prevalence of these as well as difficulties students with LD may have in the classroom and ways in which the teachers could support them. In addition, we briefly explored brain development research which gave the educators evidence for age-appropriate expectations. For more information on this presentation, please contact me at jvillet@shoshanascardin.org or 410-585-1400 x211.
Ms. Jackie Villet
School Counselor

COLLEGE SCENE
Winter break is a great time to begin the college search for 11th graders and for seniors to complete the final pieces of their college applications.  Here are a few tips for things you should be doing over winter break:

11th graders should…

• Schedule a family meeting with Ms. Schein for after January 13th
• Continue working on SAT and ACT prep online!  Increase your daily prep time to 30 minutes a day.
• Begin casually looking at colleges.  Drive through campuses while on family vacations or search online.
• Start writing a list of your college criteria.  Do you want a big school? Urban school? Liberal arts school? Large Jewish population? Etc.  

12th graders should…

• Finish any outstanding applications.  Many colleges have Jan 15 or February 1 deadlines, so it’s better to get applications in early.  
• Fill out the FAFSA (federal financial aid form) beginning January 1 (I recommend setting a self-imposed deadline of February 1 just to assure timely completion). Even if you think your family makes enough money to pay for college, it does not hurt to fill this out.  This will trigger college-based scholarships and other free money. The only way you are guaranteed NOT to get any money is if you don’t fill this out and don’t apply for scholarships. All FAFSA materials can be found online at www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Check to see if any of your colleges require the CSS Profile (another financial aid form typically required of private colleges).  You can find this out on college websites or by calling admissions and/or financial aid offices.  The CSS profile is a product of the College Board.  More information can be found at https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/index.jsp
• Apply for scholarships.  There are tons of scholarships out there and private companies that want to give you money, you just have to do a little searching. A few good sites are: www.scholarships.com, www.fastweb.com, and Central Scholarship Bureau (also provides INTEREST FREE LOANS and loves Jewish students) at www.centralsb.org (applications available after January 1).  
• Keep in touch with Ms. Schein. Feel free to email me if you need help with application/scholarship essays, want to talk about college decisions, or need any help at all.  I’m here for you!  
• Relax. Come spring, you’ll be making more decisions and get closer to the big transition to college.

I’ll be in Israel on a college counselor tour of gap year programs from January 1-12 and will have limited access to the internet but will try to return all emails in a timely manner. Have a relaxing break and a happy New Year. 
Ms. Hallie Schein
Director of College Counseling

JEREMY’S JOURNAL
As 2008 comes to a close, the Student Government continues to plan various events and fundraisers.  We would like to thank everyone who bid on the Ravens tickets for December 28, and we are thrilled to have raised $400 in the auction.  We are also in the process of hooking up a hot chocolate machine in the Moadon. As soon as it is cleaned (which will probably be the week after winter break), we should be ready to sell the hot chocolate.

On the activities front, the SGA has just finalized an event at Players in Westminster.  Players is a gaming venue with batting cages, miniature golf, and laser tag among other things.  We will be holding the event on Saturday, January 10, from 7pm to 9pm.  We look forward to seeing everyone there! See attached flyer for detail. 

With the help of several faculty members, SGA is also in the process of arranging Spirit Week shortly after break.  We hope to introduce several new contests and dress-up ideas this year!

Finally, on behalf of all of the SGA, we would like to wish everyone in the Cardin community a Happy Hanukkah, a restful winter break, and a Happy New Year!

Jeremy Hiken

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Jewish Community Services Offers Scholarships for High School Seniors
Jewish Community Services’ Big Brother Big Sister Program is offering several scholarships for eligible students graduating from high school this year. Grants are available for Jewish students from single-parent homes for assistance in pursuing higher education. In addition, JCS offers one Newhoff scholarship to a Jewish student with recognized learning disabilities, whether the student is from a two-parent or single-parent family. This award is for assistance in pursuing vocational, trade or college education. Recipients for both categories of scholarships are chosen based upon financial need, academic performance, community and school involvement, and letters of recommendation. 

For both categories of awards, the firm application deadline is March 31, 2009. Qualified students are encouraged to apply for one of these grants.   For an application, please call 410-466-9200 or download General Scholarship or Newhoff Scholarship. 

Summer Internship at NASA!
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is offering several summer internship opportunities for high school students.  These internships are highly competitive and have detailed applications.  The applications are due no later than March 6, 2009.  Students interested in aerospace engineering or physics are highly encouraged to apply.  All application materials should be submitted online. 

• The following URL takes you directly to the application: http://university.gsfc.nasa.gov/application/

• The following URL lists programs by name and provides a description of each. There is a hot link to the student application.  http://university.gsfc.nasa.gov

ALUMNI UPDATE
Becca Weinstein, ’08 had a very full first semester at Muhlenberg College.  In addition to becoming accustomed to college life and taking a full load of classes, Becca kept Cardin near and dear to her heart.  Over the course of the semester, Becca sold baked goods and sponsored Israeli dinner parties in order to raise funds for the Cardin School. 

GAP YEAR OPPORTUNITIES
SIACH is a program that respects the freedom and individuality of each student and that encourages students to deepen their personal connection to Israel and Judaism through study, exploration, and "siach," Hebrew for "discussion" and "dialogue."  The Gap Year Experience for Inquisitive Minds http://www.siach.org/ For more information, contact:  Program Director Rabbi David Harbater 1-866-572-7913, info@siach.org

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