Kol HIllel: Winter 2023

‫קול הלל‬

KOL HILLEL Scheck Hillel’s Award-Winning Magazine Winter 2023 | 5784 ‫חורף‬

Semester in Review

2023-2024/5783-5784 Educational Administration Rabbi Ari Leubitz, Head of School Rabbi Shlomo Sprung*, Rabbinic Head Craig Carpentieri, Chief Academic Officer Orly Dromi, Director of Early Childhood Education Libbie Zimmer, Director of Juda and Maria Diener Lower School Josh Meisels*, Director of Samuel and Henrietta Scheck Middle School Benjamin Thompson-Echevarria, Director of High School *Scheck Hillel Alumnus/Alumna

Board of Governors Isaac Marcushamer, Chair Marc Haime, Vice Chair Jacques Bessoudo, Treasurer Sharon Minski ‘97, Secretary Michelle Azout ‘02 E. David Bensadon Martin Fleischer Anita Givner Sara Sevillia ‘03 Jeffrey Scheck (Alumnus) Philip Solomon Joseph Woldenberg 2

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About Us Scheck Hillel Community School educates and inspires students 18 months-Grade 12 to become exemplary global citizens with enduring Jewish identity and values through an individualized college preparatory curriculum highlighted by Design/STEM, Capstone, college dual enrollment, arts, athletics and community service. Its 14-acres include a 115,000-sq.-ft athletic complex with academic expansion plans. Set within a nurturing, diverse community, Scheck Hillel is one of the world’s largest Jewish community day schools and a National Blue Ribbon School. For more information about Scheck Hillel Community School or to arrange an in-person or virtual tour of the school, please contact our Admissions office at 305.942.9787 or write to admissions@eHillel.org.

Accreditation & Affiliation National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools/Cognia, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Council for Private Schools Association (NCPSA), Middle States Association (MSA-CESS), National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), College Board, Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education.

On the cover: Overflowing with pride! Our students welcome back their beloved teacher Moreh Ishai, who returned from Israel after his tour of duty with the IDF.

HEAD OF SCHOOL MESSAGE Our Scheck Hillel Lions are one big family, and I am so grateful to be part of this special community. It was so heartwarming to welcome so many new families this year, including those who joined us from Israel due to the war. Having recently finished mine, I can say that your first year at Hillel is a special time, and I look forward to seeing all the ways our new students will grow and develop during their time at our school.

“I love the culture we are cultivating and creating at Scheck Hillel. Our families are so diverse, but we stand as a cohesive community, united by our belief in a traditional Jewish education.”

Our Lions remain a bright light in these dark times. Our students thrived — in academics, arts, sports, and local and national competitions. It has been emotionally challenging to navigate this time, and I am so proud of our Lions for pushing through with strength and resilience. This was a team effort. Our parents stepped up, engaging with and trusting our school to provide a safe home for their kids. With flexibility, our teachers found ways to incorporate Israel education into their lesson plans.

More than ever, I was reminded that I have the honor and privilege to serve the most important population: our students.

My office is now located right next to the playground, where I get to hear the squeals of laughter from students and see the personal interactions between them and their amazing teachers. Every Friday, I visit the Lower School during lunch and ask the students to tell me jokes. Their excitement is infectious, and it is always the highlight of my week.

As a community, we remain devoted to securing our Jewish future through a dual curriculum, emphasizing the importance of Judaism and preparing students to excel today, in college, and beyond. I thank all of our faculty, staff, alumni, parents, students, and other community members for staying true to our mission.

To support our school and the amazing opportunities we provide to our students every day, please consider making a gift to The Annual Lion Fund. Simply visit eHillel.org/give.

Invest in the best. Invest in your child’s second home. Invest in their Jewish future.

Welcome back home!

Rabbi Ari Leubitz Head of School

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AM ECHAD, LEV ECHAD ONE PEOPLE, ONE HEART 4

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The October 7 attacks on Israel shook our school community to the core.

From our youngest cubs to our seniors, solidarity with our Israeli brothers and sisters imbued our campus with prayer, song and purpose. In the early days of the ensuing war, we sent off with love Lower School faculty member Moreh Ishai and Student Life Director Rav Oded, who were called to serve.

Both have now returned safely to their families and to us. Alumnae Maiyan L. ‘23 and Amit M. ‘22 are currently serving, and IDF reservist David N. ‘19 volunteered. We owe them - and the entire IDF - our gratitude and admiration.

Among the many acts of solidarity inspired by these events, our students wrote letters of encouragement to Israel’s chayalim (soldiers), formed daily prayer circles, and created art in tribute to Israel. Students also have helped collection efforts at Skylake Synagogue, packing, wrapping and boxing donations destined for Israel. Our senior girls donated and wrote more than 100 personal letters and gifts for Israeli children!

Many alumni and Scheck Hillel families traveled to Washington, D.C. to march for Israel. Our Head of School, Rabbi Ari Leubitz was present among the hundreds of thousands of Israel supporters, proudly displaying his Scheck Hillel banner.

Our HIP/PTA hosted a parent education series focused on Israel, headlined by our resident scholars Rabbi Sprung, Mr. Yativ, and Reb Boyd. The evening sessions provided a space for learning, discussion, and reflection.

Scheck Hillel also has welcomed speakers from Israel advocacy organizations and hosted a survivor of the Nova festival massacre, who shared his testimony with our seniors.

With antisemitism surging on college campuses, Rabbi Sprung, our Rabbinic Head, traveled to Boston to counsel our alumni in person. Learn more about Rabbi Sprung’s trip in this issue.

Our school community stands in unwavering solidarity with our homeland, collectively extending heartfelt prayers for the safety and well-being of Am Yisrael.

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PATHWAYS TO EXCELLENCE Every day, our vibrant community of 1,280+ students breathes life into the Scheck Hillel curriculum through unique encounters with knowledge, ideas and relationships. From dual language learning to STEM, Judaics and arts, we checked in with a few Lions to learn how they’re charting their own pathways to excellence.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: BUILDING BLOCKS In Morah Chana and Morah Nina’s PK3 class, Danielle S. ‘38 and her classmates are busy learning all about light, a science topic tied to Chanukah, our Festival of Lights. As Danielle rotates through different centers, she meets each new challenge with interest and curiosity. She tests the properties of light and shadows in a shadow box built by her teachers, writes numbers in neon sand over a light box, shapes letters using neon Play-Doh, and cuts with scissors along neon lines, scaffolding to more complex cutting skills along the way. The stations are designed to develop fine motor and pre-writing skills while teaching science. For Danielle, it is all that and a great load of fun!

Meanwhile, in PK4, the children are getting ready for a science experiment. Morah Jacqueline and Morah Tali set up oil, water, food coloring and pipettes, 6

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and ask the class to name the ingredients. Here they recount the miracles of the oil and the triumph of the Maccabees against the odds. Moving on to the experiment, the teacher asks students to predict whether oil and water mix. Lucas L. ‘37 listens to instructions and begins to pour oil into his cup of water.

As the oil rises to the top of the cup, he observes that the two separate. Again, the teacher inquires. Why does the oil rise to the top? These guided questions help students build scientific knowledge in a way Lucas and his peers won’t easily forget. They move on to making oil-and-water art while continuing to observe the properties of these liquids in action. Each of these activities fills Lucas with awe as understanding sets in.

Foundational lessons such as these are emblematic of our NAEYC-accredited early childhood curriculum: hands-on, structured, rich with vocabulary, interactive and guided by trusted teachers. This is how learning unfolds best in the early childhood years.

LOWER SCHOOL: PERSONALIZED JOURNEYS TO EXCELLENCE Karen B. ‘31 thrives in her Grade 5 math class. Right now, she is learning about operations using variables, a prealgebra program. “It’s some Grade 5 and some Grade 6 math,” she explains. Karen has followed a personalized path as her skills have evolved. She is currently in the highest level, she explained, but revealed she didn’t start there. Thanks to her hard work and dedication, she was able to advance to the highest level halfway through the Grade 3 year. “When I first moved up to the higher level, it was really hard to learn all the material,” she said. “But I like being challenged.” Scheck Hillel’s personalization makes it possible for Karen to advance through the curriculum at her own pace.

In Grade 5 science, David T. ‘31 is loving every unit he has learned so far. “I like that this class isn’t a singular thing, it’s everything all together,” he says. “You get to learn so much in a short period of time!” Right now, David and his peers are researching ecosystems using multiple reading sources, and he enjoys poring through them to further his knowledge. Grade 5 students also enjoy greater independence and responsibility as they prepare for Middle School.

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MIDDLE SCHOOL: A TIME OF INTELLECTUAL GROWTH We catch up with Jack E. ‘28 and his Grade 8 classmates as they walk into their Beit Midrash Tanach class brimming with questions for their teacher, Rabbi Hochner, about the upcoming midterm. As students take turns bringing up topics, it’s clear they are passionate and engaged.

Jack explains how the review session works. “The review topics vary. Some of them are skills, like being able to analyze and translate passukim, and know the prefixes and suffixes and how every word is correctly translated. We covered the laws of sacrifices and the laws of the holidays, why we celebrate each holiday and why some holidays are connected to others.”

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When asked why he loves learning in the Beit Midrash track (one of two Judaic Studies tracks in Grades 6-12), Jack explains, “It’s more interactive learning; we can use Tanach and ask questions, debate, and share different opinions. Rabbi Hochner always gives us opportunities to contribute and whenever someone’s confused he always helps. He challenges us just enough so that we’re not super stressed; he challenges us to use our thinking skills and to use what we learned in the past few years to put it into our writing and explain how we can interpret different laws.”

Jack is also in Beit Midrash Talmud, and he tells us how these two classes are different. “So basically,” he explained, “it all goes back to Mount Sinai; Hashem gave us the Torah, the written law; we analyze the Torah

and the passukim, and in Talmud, it’s the oral law, where we learn the exact laws of each mitzvah; it’s the explanation of the written Torah.”

When asked who his favorite Torah scholar is, Jack settles on Hillel: “I think that his approach is not always so strict but focuses on human interaction and how it will affect people.” What resonates most in listening to Jack is the deep intellectual engagement the students experience in these classes, coupled with the passion for their history and traditions.

We asked Jack to give advice to incoming middle-schoolers: “Be interactive with teachers, students, and participate and learn. Try to do your best in everything. Enjoy Middle School, there’s more freedom than in Lower School.

Take that, and use it to do good.”

HIGH SCHOOL: IDENTITY, COLLEGE AND BEYOND Gabrielle L. ‘24 has already heard from several colleges, and is excited that one of her top two choices, the University of Central Florida, has accepted her. As she prepares to take a midterm, her sense of relief and excitement for the future is palpable.

Gaby shares that her three older sisters went through high school at Hillel, so she was familiar with the program. Her academic pathway has included classes in several levels, from College Prep to Honors to Advanced Placement.

She “doubled up” in math, a subject she considers her strong

suit, taking Geometry and Algebra II in Grade 10 and AP Statistics and AP Calculus this year. “Math is what I love and want to do,” she added.

She plans to major in finance

opened my eyes to how lucky I am to have a supportive family and a good environment and a good community, in school and outside of school.”

Along her journey, she has valued her relationship with her teachers.

“They want to help you; their goal is to make sure that you succeed in their class,” she said, underscoring an important aspect of Scheck Hillel culture.

Gaby feels strongly about keeping her Jewish tradition and values in college. “I think UCF has a big Jewish community. There, I would be able to go to Chabad and maintain values I learned at home.” Is she concerned about campus antisemitism? “A little bit. But Hillel taught us all how to handle antisemitism.”

Outside of the classroom, Gaby is a member of Scheck Hillel’s varsity soccer team and belongs to the real estate club. She volunteered in an Israel program that supports orphaned and abandoned children.

She shared, “The program really

Gaby’s advice to incoming high school students: “Try your best and know you tried your best.”

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STEM

AROUND CAMPUS

STEM: Science + Technology + Engineering + Mathematics STEAM: STEM + Arts Design: The “action” part of STEM: applying the knowledge from these disciplines to solve modern-day problems.

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At Scheck Hillel, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics are part of the schoolwide curriculum, reflecting a world where knowledge from several disciplines frames investigation, discovery and problem-solving. Design adds a social-emotional dimension to hands-on learning: through teamwork, a sense of empathy for those confronting a problem, and testing and iterating a product, students build solutions that aim to alleviate world problems.

EARLY CHILDHOOD STEM LAUNCHES CURIOSITY Scheck Hillel’s STEM learning begins in ECE (PKT-PK4), where sciencerich activities foster a sense of curiosity and exploration. Activities like water play, tending gardens, and nature walks allow children to directly observe and interact with the natural world. Linking science lessons to specific Torah portions and holidays like Noach and Tu B’Shevat, creates a meaningful context for learning. Science becomes more relatable and enjoyable for young learners. ECE Assistant Director Morah Jennifer explains, “The goal is to spark curiosity and lay the groundwork for a lifelong interest in STEM fields.”

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LOWER SCHOOL BUILDS FOUNDATION In the Juda and Maria Diener Lower School (KindergartenGrade 5), “STEM learning is everywhere,” according to Ms. Penchev, Lower School Design/STEM teacher. The curriculum connects subjects the students are learning in the classroom - science, language, social studies, Judaics - to Design/STEM in the science lab. When Grade 2 explored animals and their habitats, students learned to code a path so a “turtle” could move around its habitat and find food. Similarly, when Grade 4 studied the human body, they built 3D models of organs. Grade 5 created ecosystem models in science, and, when researching Native Americans in social studies, they coded their findings using Scratch. Ms. Penchev added, “The important thing is the process they learn along the way.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL TACKLES DESIGN Our Samuel and Henrietta Scheck Middle School students further their STEM skills through biweekly Design classes.

Our curriculum features project-based units that engage students in Design Thinking, a problem-solving approach that prioritizes empathy, collaboration, and prototyping to address complex challenges. Concurrently, they acquire STEM skills such as coding, circuitry, building, tinkering, graphic design, video editing, and collaboration.

Middle School students compete at various day school showcases and contests, such as First Lego Robotics and the CADENA Initiative. The CADENA Initiative is a competition exclusively where teams work together to solve a humanitarian problem, focusing on chessed and innovation through the Design Thinking process.

HIGH SCHOOL ENGINEERING BUILDS THE FUTURE Each student in our Ben Lipson High School participates in at least one semester STEM course, typically in Grade 9. Students who are accepted into the Honors Engineering program study electronics, mechanics, programming, entrepreneurship, and innovation over the span of two years. Scheck Hillel Engineering students showcase their 12

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work at the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) Innovation Day each year. Recently, Avichai M. ‘26, Eliana M. ‘25, and Aviv Z. ‘26 created “Robobowl,” an electronic bowl designed to optimize pet feeding.

Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, they programmed a device that can be worn on a collar, allowing the bowl to recognize each pet as an individual, especially in environments where multiple animals eat out of food dishes. Team Robobowl’s project was one of 10 finalists in the “CIJE Tank” for the chance to win a patent. “I am extremely proud to support team RoboBowl through their learning journey. From an initial concept, research, prototyping, and business development they have consistently infused pride and effort into each task,” said Mrs. Ferster ‘00, High School Engineering Teacher and Design/STEM Department Chair.

A next step in STEM learning is the opportunity to take two AP Computer Science classes. AP Computer Science Principles is an introductory-level class taught using a curriculum from Harvard College’s introductory coding course. Students then have the option to continue to AP Computer Science A, an intermediate level course that focuses on Java programming. Our High School AP Computer Science program has been recognized by the College Board’s AP Program for at least 50% female representation in one of or both AP computer science courses.

When students begin their Scheck Hillel journey, they participate in a rich Design/STEM curriculum that builds year after year. While they acquire knowledge, they also develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and practical skills. The college and career landscape for students interested in these subjects expands daily through Scheck Hillel’s strong foundation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

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FIELD & COURT

More than 200 Scheck Hillel students participated in competitive team sports this fall, and seven teams to date have moved into playoffs!

Congratulations to all our student athletes. Thank you to the coaches for their hard work and dedication to the Athletics program! We look forward to a very competitive and successful spring season. Keep up with all things athletics at eHillel.org/athletics.

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Varsity Boys Flag Football won the league championship

Varsity Boys Golf won the district championship.

Middle School Volleyball reached the league’s district championship game.

Varsity Girls Volleyball reached district finals for the first time.

Middle School Flag Football made it to the championship game.

Middle School Boys Soccer made it to playoffs.

Middle School Girls Basketball made it to playoffs.

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STAGE & STUDIO

All the world’s a stage at Scheck Hillel! In our Jordan Alexander Ressler Arts Program, students explore new passions, as well as develop values such as determination, perseverance, hard work, and deferred satisfaction. After a very successful fall semester, the spring term promises to be full of excitement, with two plays, a concert, and more.

“THE LITTLE MERMAID JR.” featured 31 ACTORS between Grades 3-5.

16 TECH CREW MEMBERS from Grades 8-9.

THE WINTER CONCERT showcased 150 STUDENT PERFORMERS 75 in band and 75 in orchestra.

1 OUT OF 3

middle school students is involved in the performing arts.

1 OUT OF 5

high school students is involved in the performing arts.

Over 1,200 AUDIENCE MEMBERS have come to watch a school performance this year.

COMING THIS SPRING: Upper School Musical: “Descendants” Matanot Shelanu (“Our Gifts”) Performing Arts Showcase Upper School Band and Orchestra: Spring Concert Lower School Musical: “Cats” Annual All School Art Exhibition KOL HILLEL - WINTER 2023

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STUDENT WELLNESS:

A LOOK AT MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAMS Student wellness is central to our children’s ability to learn. It is the #1 priority of our school and counseling teams, who play a crucial role in supporting our students’ academic, social, and emotional development. In Grades 6-8, wellness is focused through our Middle School counseling program and Grade 6 Advisory.

Our counseling team, Mrs. Chocron and Mrs. Gelbspan, recognize that middle school is a time of change for students regarding physical appearance, social dynamics, academic expectations, and independence.

Their approach to supporting students is holistic: they track various indicators to determine how students are faring. For example, a sudden dip in grades might prompt a check-in with teachers and parents, as academic struggle may be a symptom of other issues. “We don’t see grades only as numbers but as indicators of the whole child,” they said. By taking a proactive approach, our counselors can prevent further academic — and, in turn, social and emotional — decline.

In addition, their efforts involve visiting classrooms to conduct lessons about consent, substance abuse, social media, healthy eating habits, disordered eating, dealing with stress, and general 16

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emotional wellness. They also visited classrooms following the September bomb threat on campus and the October Hamas attack in Israel, two traumatic events that students struggled with.

The counselors underscored the importance of parent involvement in their child’s well-being. Having open conversations about feelings and being a trusted adult is critical to a child’s sense of security. Parent learning options, such as sessions on substance abuse among teens, will expand to other topics. A website featuring child development research is also available for parents. “As students walk through the maze of adolescence,” they said, “counseling in middle school becomes the compass that not only points them in the right direction but provides them with the skills to face the twists and turns of personal growth.” Most importantly, they want students to know that it’s okay to visit the counselors for any reason.

The Grade 6 semester-long Advisory program provides social-emotional skills and executive functioning tools to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities of transitioning to Middle School. Program coordinators Ms. Tanz and Ms. Toer used feedback from student surveys to design experiences for boys and girls in smaller groups. Facilitated by teachers and older student-leaders, sixth-graders learn about themselves

in the context of their middle school experience, review expectations, explore multiple intelligences theory, evaluate the effectiveness of their workspace, and learn to advocate for themselves. They genuinely enjoy learning from students who have completed the Middle School journey.

The program aims to create microcommunities of peers, student role models, and faculty who provide support beyond the subjects they teach. Grade 6 students will continue expanding their skills as they put their new tools into practice.

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IN OUR COMMUNITY

RABBI SPRUNG COUNSELS, COMFORTS UNDERGRADS Rabbi Shlomo Sprung sensed that Scheck Hillel undergraduates on college campuses needed the comfort of Torah and a taste of home. Some had reached out to him with questions and concerns about how to address the alarming rise in anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on their campuses.

So Rabbi Sprung brought the spirit of Hillel to them on his visit to Boston, where more than 50 Scheck Hillel alumni and their friends attended his two-hour shiur. “I wanted them to know that their community home has not abandoned them,” Rabbi Sprung said. He counseled the undergrads on a variety of concerns, including who to engage with and who not to, how to answer specific questions about Israel, and the theological ramifications on the subject. Rabbi Sprung commented that the connection with Hillel is profound: “Students may be in college all over the country, but when they return to Miami, they want their own children to attend Hillel.” #HillelisHome.

COMMUNITY LEARNING Hillel’s Involved Parents GROWS! Opportunities for parent learning are expanding! This fall, in addition to bringing together families and students for traditions such as the annual Scholastic Book Fair, Challah B’Yachad, and Chanukah in the Shuk, HIP/PTA organized three parent education sessions led by our faculty, which shed light on Israel’s history and geopolitics.

Scheck Hillel hosted a panel on teen substance abuse, coupled with classroom instruction for students. The parent session focused on identifying signs, risk factors, prevention, and intervention. In another forum, our Early Childhood Education parents broadened their toolkits in neuroscience, learning how pathways form in their child’s brain and the importance of a rich, multifaceted curriculum to cultivate and build skills for later success.

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SCHECK HILLEL ACCOLADES

Annie S. ‘28 - “Good to be Gluten-Free?: Does Gluten-Free Food Raise Your Blood Sugar More Than NonGluten-Free Food?”

Emmy C. ‘28- “In Your Face, A Bacterial Place: A Prototype of a Water Bottle Stand for Short-Snouted Dogs”

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY Scheck Hillel’s Segula Chapter of the National Honor Society celebrated 35 new inductees, bringing total membership to 117 students. To be inducted, students in Grades 10-12 must hold a 3.67 unweighted or 4.00 weighted GPA and must demonstrate a Ami K. ‘28 - “Boomers to Zoomers: Which Generation Can Most Accurately Differentiate Between AIGenerated Text and Human Text?”

CELEBRATING GREAT TEACHING AND INSPIRING FUTURE EDUCATORS

commitment to upholding our core values.

SCHECK HILLEL STUDENTS RECEIVE 57 ADVANCED PLACEMENT AWARDS

Continuing a tradition of academic excellence, 57 Scheck Hillel students earned 2023 AP Scholar Awards from the College Board. These prestigious awards recognize high school students who have demonstrated collegelevel achievement through Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams. Mazal tov!

SPELL IT OUT!

Congratulations to Spelling Bee finalist, Sarai L. ‘29, who will represent our school at the Miami Herald Spelling Bee. Participants from Grades 4-8 showcased their skills in the school bee. Keep an eye out for further updates!

VARSITY GOLF STAR

Congratulations to Diego A. ‘24 for earning the varsity golf district championship title! Diego shot a 70 at districts - the best individual score of the tournament.

SCIENTISTS ADVANCE!

Mazal tov to three Grade 8 students advancing to the South Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fair, where they will showcase these projects:

What makes for a great teacher? In their recently published, beautifully illustrated book Top Ten Reasons to Quit Teaching…or Not Even Start, seasoned Scheck Hillel educators Mr. Butler (Upper School English Department Chair) and Mr. Carpentieri (Chief Academic Officer) present the best and the worst parts of being an educator, based on their decades of experience. Their book is a love letter to great teachers, and is aimed at inspiring the right kinds of people to enter this wonderful profession.

As part of this passion project, Butler and Carpentieri have committed to donating 70% of all book sale profits toward a new endowment fund to support excellent teaching at Scheck Hillel. The book is available on Amazon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2024 Acceptances to Date From

36 UNIVERSITIES

Early Decision Acceptances to

20% OF CLASS

STAY TUNED! KOL HILLEL - WINTER 2023

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ALUMNI NOTES BAGEL BREAK FOR ALUMNI PARENTS Scheck Hillel welcomed alumni parents at a “Bagel Break” (right) to kick off the school year. Nearly 40 participants perused yearbooks and caught up.

It’s wonderful to see so many alumni choosing Hillel as a home for their children! #HillelisHome

MAZAL TOV! MARRIAGES Sarah Weitzman and Salo Serfati ‘15 Andrea Cohen ‘16 and Liel Dardashtian Sarah Chehebar ‘15 and Federico Fragachan Donna Neuman and Joseph Wolf ‘16

BIRTHS Elise and Jason Morjain ‘03 welcomed a baby girl.

Stephanie and Gabriel Gilinski ‘05 welcomed a baby boy.

Raquel (Amselem) ‘08 and Abraham Gean welcomed a baby girl.

Michelle (Bennaroche) ‘08 and Meir Zafri welcomed a baby boy.

Alexandra ‘13 (Amiel) and David ‘09 Benoliel welcomed a baby boy.

Susi (Alalu) ‘14 and Jesse Simon welcomed a baby girl.

Maya (Lalo) ‘17 and Jacques Benhamu welcomed a baby girl.

Jacqueline (Waksman) (alumna) and Ido Alexander welcomed a baby boy.

Dorita (Gilinski) (alumna) and Peter Burgess welcomed a baby boy.

Samara (Dennis) (alumna) and David Goldrich welcomed a baby girl.

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INVEST IN THE BEST. INVEST IN YOUR HOME. INVEST IN YOUR CHILDREN’S JEWISH FUTURE.

Every gift to The Annual Lion Fund is meaningful and makes a lasting impact.

The Annual Lion Fund directly supports: • Scholarship funds, making a Jewish education accessible to more families.

• Campus security, as we are constantly evaluating and enhancing our security standards.

• And so much more!

Please consider making a donation today!

GIVING IS SIMPLE: Online with a credit card: www.ehillel.org/giving Venmo: @SupportScheckHillel By check: Scheck Hillel Community School (Attention: Development) 19000 NE 25th Avenue, North Miami Beach, FL 33180

All donations are tax deductible. You can also make your pledge over time.

Your support ensures that Hillel remains an exceptional school — a future home for generations of Jewish leaders.

Contact the development team at give@ehillel.org with any questions.

K HI LE EC HH ECK HLIL LE LL SC SC

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For more information, please e-mail give@eHillel.org or call 305.931.2831x826. *As of December 14, 2023

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Scheck Hillel faculty proudly wear their “Scheck Hillel Loves Israel” shirts.