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EDUCATION
AJA Prepares for More Than 60 Graduates Outgoing Head of School Rabbi Pinchos Hecht also will address the Class of 2016. The AJA graduates’ plans in clude gap years in Israel at Emunah V’Omanut, Derech Etz Chaim, Machon Ma’ayan, Midreshet Harova, Nish mat, Orayta, Tiferet, Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Zion and Yeshiva Temimei Darech, as well as service in the Israel Defense Forces. The Class of 2016 has accepted admission to the following universi ties: Brandeis University, Florida State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, New York University, Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University, the University of Maryland, the University of Miami, Washington University in St. Louis and Yeshiva Uni versity. AJA’s Junior High will hold its eighth-grade commencement the next day at 6:30 p.m. in the same location as the Upper School graduation. The ceremony will include a stu dent presentation on the theme “It is not your responsibility to complete the task, yet you are not free to withdraw from it,” drawn from Pirkei Avot. ■
Student Wins Israel Trip
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tlanta Jewish Academy fifthgrader and Congregation Shearith Israel member Noa Rudisch has been named one of 40 worldwide finalists in the Manuel Hirsch Grosskopf International Com petition on family history, sponsored by Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People. Shearith Israel worked with the Breman Museum to offer Beit Hat futsot’s My Family Story curriculum. About two dozen children ages 10 to 15 participated in the Atlanta pilot of a program that’s 20 years old. A grant from the Covenant Foun dation enabled Beit Hatfutsot to offer the six-week program. At age 10, Noa is one of the young est finalists among more than 20,000 students from 12 countries. Through My Family Story, chil dren learn about genealogical re search, then dig into their own fam ily histories. The curriculum includes information on interviewing, the use of historical artifacts, and writing and presentation techniques. The program culminates in art projects reflecting each family’s story. Noa created a short animated film about her family, including a timeline
of both parents’ families that ex tends back to the late 1800s. She learned about what happened to her mother’s fam ily during the Ho locaust and dis covered that her Noa Rudisch father’s ancestors emigrated from Kedainiai, Lithuania, to the United Kingdom. “This project was really fun,” Noa said. “I liked studying family trees and family photos and contacting people I usually don’t see very often. It was easier because I go to a Jewish school, so I already knew a lot about Jewish things that other kids might not. I also worked on AJA’s Immigration Project in fourth grade, so I had done an inter view like this before when I asked my mom about immigrating with her fam ily from Latvia when she was little.” Noa and her mother are leaving Sunday, June 5, for a 10-day visit to Is rael, including the international award ceremony in Tel Aviv. Noa said the part of the trip she’s most looking forward to, however, is spending time with her extended family. ■
Photos by Harold Alan Photographers
The Atlanta Jewish Academy Upper School graduates are Jacob Adler, Dean Alkalay, Adam Alsberg, Adam Arbiser, Oryah Bunder, Jesse Cann, Aharon Davidson, Maia Dori, Avraham Greene, Rachel Kahen, Michelle Khandadash, Batel Man, Ariel Mordoch, Nicole Nooriel, Dauren Parker, Eleanor Parker, Avi Rappoport, Rachel Rosenberg, Greg Shapiro, Daniella Sokol, Shira Solomon, Abigail Stein and Gilbert Vayner. This year’s eighth-grade graduates of the Atlanta Jewish Academy Junior High are Joshua Benjamin Anderson, Joseph Max Arbiser, Helena Asherian, Adina Yocheved Bader, Ariel Joshua Cann, Elizabeth Carolyn Decker, Aden Dori, Eliana Leah Dosetareh, Ariel S. Feingold, Natan Baruch Friedman, Kody Paul Gabay, Gabriel Gadelov, Talya Gartner, Emanuel Joshua Glinsky, Eliana Goldin, Max Evan Goldstein, Ephraim Harel Herer, Eliana Devora Horwitz, Henry Elliot Hyman, Gavriella Jutan, Rotem Rachel Kadosh, Jacob Solomon Kassel, Noam Laufer, Aidyn Maya Levin, Jaren Gustav Linowes, Ethan Judah Linsider, Zechariah Dean Mainzer, Aliza Moosai, Chana Rivka Pechenik, Jordan Joseph Port, Sela Zahava Ratner, Arielle Rivkah Roth, Leead Noam Ze’ev Silverstone, Ariel Max Slomka, Hannah Rebecca Solomon, Hannah Faye Solon, Sarah Solon, Sophie Pearl Steinberg and Joseph Daniel Vogel.
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MAY 27 ▪ 2016
D
avid Bockman will deliver the keynote address when Atlanta Jewish Academy holds its Upper School graduation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at the academy’s Northland Drive campus in Sandy Springs. Bockman, the managing direc tor and head of ultra-high net worth resources for Morgan Stanley, will be introduced by graduating senior Mi chelle Khandadash. The AJA Upper School’s valedicto rian is Abigail Stein, a National Merit commended scholar, STAR student and recipient of a Georgia Certificate of Merit. Abby has been a member of the National Honor Society, co-president of the Student Council and yearbook staff member. She played varsity vol leyball and was frequently involved in the Upper School’s musical theater productions. Salutatorian Greg Shapiro also is an athlete and served as vice president of the Student Council and as a peer leader. Daniella Sokol, Abby’s co-presi dent on the Student Council, will in troduce the commencement. Aharon Davidson will deliver the d’var Torah.
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