We are looking forward to seeing all parents, faculty & staff at the wine tasting on Saturday, October 31st at 8:30 pm. If you are interested in helping set up or clean up, please email CAPTS@shoshanascardin.org. See you then!

REFLECTIONS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

What’s Happening at Cardin?

The last few weeks have seen some momentous occasions in the life of The Shoshana S. Cardin School.  Our board of trustees signed an agreement with the Associated to purchase property in Owings Mills for our permanent home, and we held our first gala, honoring Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum.  Now in our 7th year, we are rapidly adding new milestones to our growing list of achievements.  

Now that the High Holiday is season over, the students and faculty are settling in to the serious and fun task of achieving academic excellence.  Looking beyond Cardin, the seniors and juniors are speaking with a plethora of college admissions officers, all without leaving the confines of school.  Each week during the fall admissions season, Hallie Schein, college counselor extraordinaire, brings 8-12 college representatives to speak to the students.  Just this week, students had the opportunity to hear about Vanderbilt, American, Stevenson, Clark, Emory, Binghamton, Ohio Wesleyan, and Brandeis. In the sports arena, both the girls’ and boys’ soccer teams have finished regular season play and are awaiting the conference tournament schedule. What I love about sports at Cardin is that the students who are competitive athletes can excel,  yet the students who are novice athletes can grow and learn together with them.   

Text Talk on Parshat Noach
with Adina Golob, ’12, Kate Scher, ’12, & Arielle Bodner,’12     

This week I thought we’d mix it up a bit and study the parsha with a group of students.  That’s why Adina Golob, ’12, Kate Scher, ’12 and Arielle Bodner, ’12 stayed after school on Wednesday to join me in what turned out to be a rousing look at Parshat Noach.  It turns out that they studied Noach in Rabbi Chaitovsky’s class last year and really retained a lot of the information they learned! The students looked at the parsha and we discussed what they found interesting or perplexing.  I am going to step back and try to recreate the conversation for you. However, it was so rapid fire that I can’t always attribute specific questions and statements to Arielle, Kate or Adina.

6:11 – The parsha mentions corruption, robbery and corruption.  Why is corruption mentioned twice?  Maybe to emphasize that the people were really doing bad things.  God made a mistake and has to start again with one family. 
7:11 – Noah was 600 years old! We don’t know how they counted years (Kate).  Maybe it wasn’t actually 600 years old but 600 years of responsibility so it was like he was 600 years old (Adina).  Remember in Rabbi Chaitovsky’s class last year we learned about Ham and Noah?  How Ham walked backwards so he wouldn’t embarrass his father (Arielle). 
8:21 – Here is one of the sources we looked at in Project ROPE (Roots of Philanthropic Education) where it talks about people being evil from youth.  But should all of mankind be responsible for an individual’s sins?  Why was the entire population wiped out?
9:3-9:4 – Hey, here is where people are given permission to eat meat. (Kate) What did they eat on the ark?  How did they tolerate the smell? No one would still be around if Noah wasn’t righteous to begin with.
10:1 – Why are only the sons named?  If they only had sons, who did they marry?  And if everyone was destroyed, who did the men marry? How did they have children without wives?  Maybe they had daughters and the names aren’t included.  Maybe the girls just weren’t considered important.
11:14 – Wait, here are daughters’ names!  But these are only Shem’s descendents.  These are the ten generations from Noah to Abraham.
And the rest of the conversation – Remember yesterday when we were talking about the Noahide laws?  Why is there a law about eating meat from a live animal?  Who eats meat from a living animal?  There are people who do – remember the show Fear Factor?  That was so gross!!         

Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach,
Barbie Prince

MOVING TOWARD THE FUTURE
Open House this Sunday
This Sunday, October 25th is an opportunity for Cardin to shine. Prospective families will be coming to Cardin to learn about our school, to evaluate and see if they feel that Cardin is a place where they fit as well.  Families will hear from faculty, students, parents and alumni and we will have an opportunity to highlight all that makes Cardin so special. Guests will, of course, have a chance to ask their questions.

This is the perfect time to refer a friend. Let them know about our Open House and encourage them to come. Encourage them to bring a friend. Friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, schoolmates, fellow congregants are all welcome. The program begins at 3pm. I look forward to welcoming a full house!!
Anne Tanhoff Greenspoon, Director of Admissions

WHAT’S DEVELOPING AT CARDIN
Greenbaum Event
It was an historic moment for The Shoshana S. Cardin School on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 when close to 200 supporters, faculty members, and parents gathered at The Woodholme Country Club to honor Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum for their vision, leadership, and generosity. Vision in Action afforded the Cardin community and its many friends the opportunity to showcase our unique mission and curriculum while “toasting and roasting” our honorees.

The guest list included Senator and Mrs. Ben Cardin, Susan Driscoll representing the office of Governor Martin O’Malley, Councilman and Mrs. Kevin Kamenetz, Delegate Jon Cardin , Dr. Robert Gallo of the University of Maryland Institute of Human Virology, and State Comptroller Peter Franchot.  Mrs. Shoshana S. Cardin. Dr. Arlene Bearman, chair of the Board of Trustees along with her husband, Dr. Sheldon Bearman, joined many other trustees for the celebration.

Rabbi Steven Fink of Temple Oheb Shalom, one of our founding rabbis, led us in the Motzei. Following dinner, Michael Greenebaum, Robert Gallo, Robert Levine, and Howard Janet shared personal and entertaining stories about their father and close friend.  Culminating the program was Dean of Judaic Studies, Rabbi Stuart Seltzer, whose modern retelling of the Noah story featuring the Greenebaum and the inception and growth of the school, brought tears of joy to many eyes. Mr. Greenebaum concluded the evening with a meaningful memory from his Hebrew school days concerning Maimonides that inspired him in his practice of Tzedakah.

IN THE NEWS
State Comptroller visits Cardin
Peter Franchot, the State Comptroller came to visit Cardin's Personal Finance class today. He watched as Mrs. Schein taught the students about tax forms and where their gross income goes. Cardin's program is a model for other financial literacy courses around the state. The class was also joined by a camera crew from a local news station. A feature on Channel 2 (WMAR-TV) aired Monday night during the 6pm news. Congrats to Mrs. Jan Schein and the financially literate 12th graders!

New Consortium Website
The Shoshana S. Cardin School is participating in a consortium with other Baltimore Jewish Day Schools in order to promote Jewish Day School education.  We ran several joint ads in The Baltimore Jewish Times last spring and this fall.  Working together, we have created a website where families can go to learn more about why a day school education gives Jewish children an advantage.  It is complete with studies about day school education, articles, as well as information about all of the schools in the consortium and links to their websites.  Here is a link to the website if you’d like to check it out:  Baltimore Jewish Day Schools.

JUDAICS.COMMUNICATIONS
Artist-in-Residence, David Wander visits Cardin a Second Time
On Monday, October 11th, the very same Monday we began reading the story of Creation, David Wander returned to the Cardin school for a second visit to help our students paint their newly created works of art inspired by the story of Rabbi Akiba and the Crowns of Torah. The students painted over their sketches with red paint using a technique developed during the Renaissance period. They added values using black and white paint and then added color. They students spend the entire day in the artist’s studio (the Cardin Moadon) changing and refining their work. They met individually with David and art teacher, Elaine Brandes for feedback on their creative responses.  Several times during the day, David reminded the students that they were not just explaining the rabbinic text with art, but making something entirely new.  “Be courageous, have confidence, and get involved with your work” was David’s motto throughout the day.  He complemented our 11th and 12th grade students for their high level of cooperation, independence, and creativity. “Their high quality work and relentless energy to complete their projects in one day continued to amaze me,” David shared with the staff. Tuesday morning was devoted to last minute touch ups. David displayed their work on a bulletin board and led the students in an exercise on talking about their art. The student works of art are currently being matted for display. On Monday, December 7th, parents, students, and faculty members will gather at the Hendler Learning Center at Chizuk Amuno for an open gallery of the students’ work and a reception in their honor. David Wander looks forward to meeting the parents of our young artists.

Beat It!
On Hoshana Rabba, we invited the 8th grade of Krieger Schechter Middle School to join the Cardin community for a special Hallel service that incorporated a “FUN DRUM RHYTHM CIRCLE.” Imagine 120 students and faculty, sitting in a circle, each with his or her own percussion instrument chanting the Hallel service and marching 7 times in a circle with lulav and etrog. Imagine those magical musical moments where one powerful voice was created out of many voices and instruments. We not only created beautiful music, but the drumming and music fostered a shared sense of community. The sights, sounds and driving rhythm all contributed to a wonderful celebration which expressed our appreciation and gratitude to God. After participating in the ritual of havatat aravot or “beating” the willows on the floor, the 8th grade students joined our 9th and 10th grade students in an active college bowl and for a pizza lunch.

Cardin’s Rainbow
It always rains around the time we read the story of Noah and the Ark, and this year is no exception.  And if we are lucky, we get a glimpse of God’s glorious rainbow, the rainbow of God’s everlasting covenant. How fantastic are the colors in a rainbow!

Red like the flushed faces of our Cardin athletes as they run up and down the basketball court without any replacements – Red is Cardin’s passion.

Orange like the warm friendships Cardin students share with each other – Orange is Cardin’s warmth.

Yellow like the yellow cake filling with chocolate frosting we enjoy every Friday – Yellow is Cardin’s happiness.

Blue like the sky above Sinai accepting the challenges of a relationship with Judaism. Blue like the stripes on the tallit, representing many perspectives and ideas – Blue is Cardin’s love of learning.

Green like the green path of grass we try not to walk on in front of our school building – Green is Cardin’s kindness.

Purple is like the royal purple of graduation when Cardin students feel like Kings and Queens – Purple is Cardin’s pride.

And every time you see a rainbow, don’t forget to say the blessing:
“Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who remembers God’s covenant, is faithful to it, and keeps God’s promise.”

Rabbi Stuart Seltzer
Dean of Judaic Studies

CLASSES IN ACTION
Hebrew VI

Students are learning about kibbutzim in Israel. The students were divided into two groups, one representing idealistic people who believe in communal life and sharing everything and the second group representing people who want to live in kibbutz but not sharing everything with their friends. The students wrote what they learned and what they like/ don’t like about life in Kibbutz.

Emily Boling, ‘10 - We are learning about old and new kibbutzim and the people who live in the kibbutzim. We used the new vocabulary to argue our case and we had a lot of fun. I learned from this that I don’t like the idea of living on kibbutz.

Daniel Solomon, ‘11 - In our Hebrew class, we had a debate about the kibbutzim in Israel and how they have changed over the years. Today the kibbutzim are different. Idealistically, everyone was equal and nobody had their own possessions or whatever they like. I believe that this is a major problem confronting the kibbutzim as the ideal way of life is changing to modern society and losing its original meaning.

Adina Shanholtz, ’11 - We learned that today the environment where food, clothes, money, and space in a kibbutz varies from that in the past.   

Ayala Brilliant, the current Baltimore Zionist District Shlicha, lives in Kibbutz Shfayim (north of Hertzeliya) and she told the student about her experience as a child who was born in the kibbutz and as a grown up. The students had a chance to ask her questions. I was VERY impressed with our students, they asked questions using the vocabulary we learned in class, and they understood everything Ayala told them about the Kibbutzim in Israel.
Morah Zohara Chaban

AP Physics
For their first trimester project, students were asked to design and build a race car using a cassette tape player as the motor and a common base. They then raced their cars against their instructor to see who had the best design.  Segev Goldberg, ’10 utilized a Lego gearing for a direct drive that gave him more torque. Gabe Baraban, ’11 utilized a tapered main gear on a belt to give him a variable acceleration. I went simple with a direct drive belt and large drive gear.  It is debated who won but the students put together some pretty divergent designs and had a lot of success not only racing the cars but also measuring their motion.
Mr. Dean Whitfield

COLLEGE SCENE

• JCC College Fair – Sunday, October 25 1-3pm at the Owings Mills JCC
• MASA Gap Year in Israel Fair – Tuesday, November 3 at Cardin (in Oheb conference rooms)
• College Financial Aid workshop with Dr. Herm Davis – November 10 from 7-9pm in M1

COMMUNITY EVENTS
Israel Education & Engagement Summit
On Monday, November 16th, THE ASSOCIATED, the Baltimore Jewish Council, and the Center for Jewish Education are sponsoring the Israel Education & Engagement Summit. Throughout the day educators, community leaders, and professionals will meet to discuss how as a community we can provide opportunities for teens, college students, and young professionals to create meaningful relationships with Israel.

In 2008, THE ASSOCIATED working with partners at the Jewish Agency for Israel conducted an assessment of the role that Israel plays in the life of the Baltimore Jewish community and how to strengthen that position for younger generations.  The summit will continue the dialogue begun during the study and bring about ideas for immediate implementation, improved collaborations, and set long term goals for our community.

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