| Pardes will remain on Phoenix campus - Feb. 3 2012 |
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JOSH SAYLES Staff Writer Jewish News |
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Pardes Jewish Day School will remain at its current site through at least the 2012-13 school year. Jill Kessler, Pardes head of school, and Jeffrey Greenberg, board president, made the announcement in a joint statement on Jan. 24. Pardes, a Reform K-8 school with about 320 students, has been at 3916 E. Paradise Lane, Phoenix, since 2006. "We had shared information with parents in the past about the possibility of a move," wrote Kessler in an email to Jewish News. "We wanted to bring parents up to date and be clear about where classes will be held this coming fall." Since the K-12 Jess Schwartz Academy (JSA) shut its doors at the end of last school year after a failed attempt to consolidate with Pardes, Pardes has considered relocating to the former JSA campus, which is located at 12753 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, on the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus. At present, Lexis Preparatory Academy, a K-8, 35-student school for students with mild to moderate learning disabilities and other issues such as ADD and ADHD, has a one-year lease on the property, which is owned by the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community Day School Corp. through the end of the school year. Kessler said, "The Pardes board is on record favoring the move if all the issues can be worked out." She said that some of the "issues" are legal and financial, but declined to elaborate. "It has become clear that we cannot resolve all the issues in time to allow for a start of school this fall" in a different location, she said. Kessler said that one advantage to the Scottsdale campus is the room it provides to grow. While that location is zoned for 250, and the current Pardes location is zoned for approximately 400, there are an additional six acres on the Ina Levine campus that could be built upon if Pardes were to expand. A second advantage, she said, would be the proximity to several Jewish community organizations that are housed on the campus. "We will make more information available as we can, but we wanted to give our parents and the community as much (information) as we could for now, especially with the need for parents and faculty to make plans for the coming school year," said Kessler. |
Pardes offers early taste of Hanukkah Students celebrate before their winter break
by Eugene Scott - Dec. 20, 2011The Arizona Republic
They sang songs
in the sanctuary, watched Israeli folk dancers, decorated menorahs,
made Hanukkah candles and ate potato pancakes (latkes) and jelly-filled
doughnuts called sufganiyot.
Students at Pardes Jewish Day School in northeast Phoenix got a
chance Friday to celebrate Hanukkah, the festival of lights, a few days
early.
Hanukkah, an eight-day holiday commemorating the rededication of the
Jewish temple, this year began Tuesday and will end Dec. 27.
Halya Engel, a first-year parent at Pardes, organized this year's festivities.
The school's celebration was the last day of school before winter
break. Pardes, 3916 E. Paradise Lane, has more than 300 students
enrolled this year.
Engel's two children were students at the Jess Schwartz Academy last
year. Her family transferred to Pardes after the academy shut.
Engel, an active parent at Jess Schwartz, now chairs Pardes' holiday
committee. "I figured that would be a good way to help out and get to
know the other parents," she said.
Celebrating Hanukkah with your school community can be as meaningful
for some students as home and synagogue celebrations, Engel said.
"It's a family type of activity. It's something that families do. And
being in school, their friends are their extended family," she said. "I
think it's important that they get to celebrate with their school
family."
Jill Kessler,Pardes' head of school, agreed. She said the Jewish
holiday's close proximity to Christmas has made it more popular over the
years.
"Hanukkah commemorates the miracle of the oil found in the temple
that should have only lasted a night but burned for eight days," she
said. "Its message is about the triumph of light over darkness."
Hanukkah events in the Northeast Valley
At 4 p.m. today,Chabad of Fountain Hills is holding a "Chanukah Bowl" at the Fountain Bowl, 16737 E. Parkview
Ave. Events include "Bowling Pin Menorah Lighting,"dreidel games and
music. Food will include kosher hot dogs and warm latkes. Cost: $12 for
adults, $10 for children (includes the food, two hours of bowling and
use of bowling shoes). To check if there is space still available, call
480-776-4763.
The Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale,
is offering "Hanukkah in the Hallway" events. Unless noted, programming
begins at 4:45 p.m. each day and candle lighting at 5. Contact: 480-483-7121.
They sang songs in the sanctuary, watched Israeli folk dancers, decorated menorahs, made Hanukkah candles and ate potato pancakes (latkes) and jelly-filled doughnuts called sufganiyot.
Students at Pardes Jewish Day School in northeast Phoenix got a chance Friday to celebrate Hanukkah, the festival of lights, a few days early.
Hanukkah, an eight-day holiday commemorating the rededication of the Jewish temple, this year began Tuesday and will end Dec. 27.
Halya Engel, a first-year parent at Pardes, organized this year's festivities.
The school's celebration was the last day of school before winter break. Pardes, 3916 E. Paradise Lane, has more than 300 students enrolled this year.
Engel's two children were students at the Jess Schwartz Academy last year. Her family transferred to Pardes after the academy shut.
Engel, an active parent at Jess Schwartz, now chairs Pardes' holiday committee. "I figured that would be a good way to help out and get to know the other parents," she said.
Celebrating Hanukkah with your school community can be as meaningful for some students as home and synagogue celebrations, Engel said.
"It's a family type of activity. It's something that families do. And being in school, their friends are their extended family," she said. "I think it's important that they get to celebrate with their school family."
Jill Kessler,Pardes' head of school, agreed. She said the Jewish holiday's close proximity to Christmas has made it more popular over the years.
"Hanukkah commemorates the miracle of the oil found in the temple that should have only lasted a night but burned for eight days," she said. "Its message is about the triumph of light over darkness."
Hanukkah events in the Northeast Valley
At 4 p.m. today,Chabad of Fountain Hills is holding a "Chanukah Bowl" at the Fountain Bowl, 16737 E. Parkview Ave. Events include "Bowling Pin Menorah Lighting,"dreidel games and music. Food will include kosher hot dogs and warm latkes. Cost: $12 for adults, $10 for children (includes the food, two hours of bowling and use of bowling shoes). To check if there is space still available, call 480-776-4763.
The Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, is offering "Hanukkah in the Hallway" events. Unless noted, programming begins at 4:45 p.m. each day and candle lighting at 5. Contact: 480-483-7121.
Arizona Science and Engineering Fair in the spotlight
Tucson High senior Kelsey Waite spent about 500 hours since June experimenting with canine kidney cells for the science project she entered into the fifth annual Arizona Science and Engineering Fair.
Waite, 17, of Marana, was trying to find out if Rab14, a protein found in the human body whose use is unknown, regulates the "tight junction" integrity and polarity in epithelial cells. The cells keep infections and diseases out, and if the "tight junctions" of the cells allow bad things in, it can lead to cancers, infections and Crohn's disease, which causes inflammation of the digestive tract.
Waite is among 886 students from throughout the state who have brought 739 science projects to the Phoenix Convention Center.
Some students, such as Waite, spent months working on complicated hypotheses, while others did simpler projects that tested general questions, such as if a cellphone is dirtier than a bathroom (no).
The large number of participants, from fifth-graders to high-schoolers, would have been even higher this year if it weren't for AIMS testing, said fair director Phillip Huebner.
Many junior highs did not allow their students to participate because they didn't want students to miss the annual testing.
"Statistically, with our numbers last year, we should have approached 1,500 kids this year," said Huebner, who lives in Gilbert and whose students are in the Higley Unified School District.
Current and retired engineers, scientists and Intel and Honeywell managers were among the 352 judges deciding which project earns first to fourth place in the various categories.
To ensure only the best of the best science projects are on display next year, only students who place first in their school, district or regional fair will be eligible to participate.
"Initially, we wanted to get schools involved and get students to understand the level of major research projects," said Huebner, who has been a science teacher and then science-fair coordinator for 24 years. "Next year, we want to be a science fair celebration."
Despite the change, Huebner said the quality of the projects had risen over the years.
In 2009, the state brought back more international science awards than ever.
Chandler sixth-grader Dhruv Iyer was looking for another chance for his solar-cell science project after he didn't win his school science fair at Jacobson Elementary School.
He wanted to find out if solar cells that track the sun were better and cheaper than fixed solar cells.
"I'm excited and nervous, because there are a lot of other kids who have good projects," said Iyer, who wants to go into robotics engineering. "I enjoy when things go wrong (in my projects). It's a challenge to find out how to make it right."
Pardes student's winning essay asks ET to phone us if he can help Earth
By now, a plea to E.T. sent from Arizona State University has left our solar system and is traveling at the speed of light to far-flung galaxies.
The message of a student from Mesa was moon-bounced Saturday into the universe as the winning entry in a "Dear Aliens" essay contest sponsored by ASU's Origins Project.
Stephen Hawking, the iconic British physicist, surprised about 50 students and their families by attending the moon bounce in person.
Hawking read seventh-grader Benjamin Lee's letter with the help of a specially designed computer. Hawking is paralyzed from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, but he continues to be the world's most renowned theoretical physicist since Albert Einstein.
Sitting motionless in his wheelchair, Hawking read Benjamin's letter, which began:
"Dear Aliens, Please help us save our world. Not from you, from ourselves. We are destroying our planet and need help from more technologically advanced beings. Our planet is polluted, many nations are at war, there is civil unrest, and our economy is in turmoil."
Benjamin said he was "very surprised" Hawking attended the event and read his letter.
"He's my hero. This has been a great day for me," Benjamin said.
An hour after the letter was read, the missive had careened to the edge of the solar system at the speed of light, said physicist Lawrence Krauss, director of the Origins Project.
Krauss and other scientists participated in the hourlong event as part of a four-day science and cultural festival that ends tonight with a dance performance at ASU Gammage auditorium.
The featured event was a performance by the ASU Symphony Orchestra and Women's Chorus set to Gustav Holst's "The Planets" against a backdrop of satellite images of Mars, Venus, Mercury and other heavenly objects. It was followed by a lecture by Hawking titled "My Brief History."
At the "Dear Aliens" event, ASU Regents Professor Stuart Lindsay explained how the letter was sent into space.
ASU transmitted it to amateur radio operator Ned Stearns in Scottsdale. Stearns, who has a large radio antenna in his backyard, then transmitted the message to the moon.
After arriving at the moon, the message scattered into the universe. An intelligent being would need a receiver to get the message and then reassemble it, Lindsay said.
The idea for the essay contest came from Hawking's daughter, Lucy Hawking, writer-in-residence for the Origins Project. She got the idea for a moon bounce from Paul Davies, a physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist. He is chairman of the SETI: Post-Detection Science and Technology task force and would be responsible for responding to a message from extraterrestrial life if one were sent and detected.
The moon is about 240,000 miles from Earth, making it the closest object from which to bounce a message into the universe. The message took 1.5 million light seconds to travel from Earth to the moon, Davies said.
A radio-ham operator in Princeton, N.J., confirmed that he had heard the message being transmitted, as did others across Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
Lucy Hawking said she was impressed by the nearly 1,000 entries received in the contest.
She read from some of her favorites: "We are all uniquely different," one student wrote. "Dear Mysterious Being," began another. Others dropped heavy hints that earthlings eat food, not each other. "We humans don't eat brains; not saying that you do," one student wrote.
Some sign-offs were profound, Lucy said, such as "From Earth, humanity and me."
"That's really what this is about, isn't it - Earth, humanity and me," she said.
ARMDI Ambulance Visits Pardes
Students at Pardes Jewish Day School had the opportunity to climb in and explore a Magen David Adom ambulance on Nov. 1, 2010, before it was shipped to Israel. Photo courtesy of Barb Zemel.
Lisa Keller in Nationwide Top 9
Pardes Jewish Day School Judaic Studies teacher Lisa Keller has earned the distinction of being in the Top 9 lessons available in the SMART Board Jewish Educational Database (SJED). SJED, which was developed by Legacy Heritage Fund, enables knowledge-sharing throughout the world of Jewish education and offers educators ready-made SMART Board lessons in a variety of topic areas and grades. The database includes thousands of lessons.
Mrs. Keller’s submission is entitled "Creation" and is geared towards fourth grade. This lesson is an introduction to the first seven days of creation and includes a description of what God created on each day.
A SMART Board is an interactive whiteboard that has a touch sensitive screen and connects to a computer. A SMART Board facilitates the use of graphics, video, sound and images which can be manipulated on screen and engage the students in the educational process. The user's finger is the mouse, and by touching the screen the teacher or student controls the information on the screen. Pardes Jewish Day School has SMART Boards in most classrooms.
Mrs. Keller has been teaching at Pardes since 2006. She has a Master’s degree in Jewish education from the American Jewish University, a Master's in human development from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a BA in psychology from Maryland as well. Following college, she lived in Israel, studying at Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies and volunteered on Project Otzma. Lisa teaches Jewish studies to 3rd through 6th grades, and coordinates the Judaic curriculum. (March 22, 2010)
Johns Hopkins Announces Top Ten
Pardes Earns Number Five
Congratulations to Pardes Jewish Day School for being a Top School in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search for 2009. PJDS came in as the Number 5 school in the state. The full list may be found here.
CTY Talent Searches identify, assess, and recognize students with exceptional mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities. Students may participate in the elementary group (grades 2-6) or the middle school group (grades 7-8).
Participating at high levels in the annual CTY Talent Search reflects upon the school's academic quality, student abilities, and teacher talent. It also reflects upon the school leadership that encourages students to seek out educational challenges beyond traditional school walls. It's a mark of quality for which your school can be justly proud.
Further information about the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth search may be found here.
“Congratulations from all of us at CTY, and best wishes for continued academic success.” Lea Ybarra, Ph.D, Executive Director, The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CT
