SPARKS Nitzotzot Spring 2023

Letter from Shira Deener, Head of School

רפסה תיב שארמ

In this spring’s Nitzotzot edition, you will get an insider’s view of the teaching moments that JCDS intentionally creates to best prepare our graduates. Each article provides you with texture and voice so that when we use terms such as “Backward Design” or “Differentiated Instruction,” the words come alive through colorful descriptions and examples of some of the core elements of our program. In this edition, we aim to do more “showing” and less “telling” of what makes JCDS so unique and special. It is easy to take for granted the infinite number of intentional moments in the life of a JCDS student that seem to just happen, and I hope that, by reading through these articles, you will come away with a deeper understanding of how we do things at JCDS.

Below is my letter to this year’s graduating class that will appear in their Yearbook. I am sharing it with you as a tribute to these outstanding students who have already made a lasting impact on our school.

DEAR CLASS OF 2023,

What an amazing class you have been throughout the years!

It is no secret that you have grown up during a period of explosive change, one we all feel acutely is the technological revolution surrounding us. Unlike me, a digital immigrant, who continuously needs to re-learn how to navigate digital frontiers such as the internet, cellphones, and social media, you were born directly into this revolution. You incorporate the sweeping arc of today’s technologies, with all of its brilliance and challenges into your everyday lives.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can now assist you by giving you a framework to write your essays and Divrei Torahs, and even to help you drive your car. You are graduating from JCDS at such an exciting time. All you need to do is imagine something innovative, and the information and tools are available to you to sharpen your thoughts and develop a plan.

Our new Makerspace, HaSadna, has become a local, thriving JCDS community hub in which problem solving, design thinking, and project development are introducing all of our students to what is possible. You are the first graduating class to have had this experience for integrated, creative thinking, but it is only a taste of what is to come within a makerspace environment.

But above all else, this is what I truly hope you remember –that all human endeavor depends upon human connection; that happiness and purpose rely heavily on relationships and community, and that no technological advancement can ever take their place. It is the relationship among people that provides the foundation from which great advance-

ments evolve. There are no shortcuts. Active, thoughtful engagement, as you have learned at JCDS throughout your years, relies on open-mindedness, curiosity, empathy, and integrity. In high school and beyond, you will undoubtedly lean on new educational platforms, but remember that it is your unique perspective and how you interact with others that will ultimately shape your future. Trust that unique voice, listen to your heart, and be open to those with whom you agree and with whom you may disagree.

Mazal tov, Class of 2023! We are truly going to miss you. Your individual personalities – all 27 of them – have contributed powerfully to our warm, joyful, and inclusive JCDS culture. Your deep questions, creative insights, enthusiastic volunteerism, and reliable leadership have shaped the most up-to-date contours of JCDS today. Our youngest students have looked up to you, our most seasoned teachers have grown because of you, and I have no doubt that we will be very hard pressed to replace the human spirit you have breathed into our school.

Chazak, Chazak, V’Nitzchazek!

Letter from Rachel Fish, Board President

םינמאנה רבח תאישנמ

Over the past several weeks, the word tikvah (hope) has often been on my mind. Tikvah feels right for this season of spring as tree and flower buds gently nudge their way out of hibernation and into plain sight. It is also the season of hope on our liturgical calendar, as during the weekly reading of the parsha, we see the emergence of a new nation, a people grappling with what it means to be a community that is united but not uniform – a community that is evolving from having been in positions of slavery and marginalization, to one holding agency and recognizing its capacity for creating change.

Throughout these several parashot, the thread of tikvah weaves together the journey of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, to their wanderings in the desert, to the eventual revelations they will experience at Mount Sinai.

Tikvah, too, extends to the inspiration I feel around the ongoing JCDS strategic planning process that we are embarking upon this spring. Each task force is working tirelessly to consider how best to position our school, ensuring that our long-term objectives are strengthened, while our core tenets remain integrated and ever-foundational to our community. It is precisely this healthy combination of identifying who we are, and where we want to be in the next decade of our school’s life, that propels this process. As our school year is nearing completion, may we feel rejuvenated by that sense of tikvah for what has been, and what is yet to come.

A Blaze of Glory

ABlaze athlete is not your typical competitor. Every student is an integral member of the team, and every member of the team feels worthy; it is a winning combination!

As JCDS Athletic Director, Laura Ball philosophized: “If a Middle School student has a passion, or even a small interest in joining a team, they can. There are no try-outs or cuts. The inner drive should not be squashed, but celebrated.” Laura went on to say, “We have had dozens of players over the years who never believed, or had confidence that they could possibly compete, but after a very short time as a Blaze member, they recognized their own athletic capabilities and suddenly blossomed. For many, it has been a life changing experience.”

This inclusivity not only produces students with invaluable life skills, but also creates some formidable young athletes! JCDS is the smallest of the JDSL (Jewish Day School League) thus to compete successfully, we accept fifth graders on our teams. As it turns out, this necessity brings far greater depth and spirit to our teams, including beautiful opportunities for older kids to mentor younger ones. The 7th and 8th graders perpetuate the leadership they were given by guiding their 5th and 6th grade teammates!

Blaze members regularly experience the thrill of competition and winning, but more importantly, they understand the moral imperatives of dedication, perseverance, accountabili-

ty, self-esteem, fairness, leadership, and sportsmanship. Our student athletes have character. They love to win, but they are also taught how to graciously lose and accept defeat. As basketball coach, Ari Ebstein, wisely stated, “We emphasize positive body language and communication – for students to keep their heads held high regardless of the situation, and to keep their comments to one another constructive. ‘Build one another up’ is a phrase we frequently use at practices and games.” And in his ever-positive way, Ari also reminds the kids frequently that, “99% of games are won by the team that wants it the most.”

The JCDS community surrounds our teams with tremendous energy and support. Although we are often the smallest school to compete at any game, home or away, we have never-ending school spirit and the loudest parent and student cheering squad! Over the years, The Blaze has had countless high-scoring games and matches, winning multiple trophies. We’ve won both the boys’ and the girls’ basketball championships, and this season, we were the only school in the JDSL to have two teams in those championship games. Our girls came so close; giving their absolute all, and they lost the final tournament by only three points!

On the field, the court, and in the classrooms, at JCDS we encourage students to be their best selves; to show self-confidence, to be brave, kind, and to take risks. We cultivate our graduates to be proud and move forward without worry of failure, but rather, to believe they will succeed.

Mathematics Matters

תיטמתמה הבישחה תובישח

Engaging our students in critical thinking, discussions, and hands-on learning are all key components of our mathematics program. Teaching students to memorize math facts and standard algorithms is crucial, but it is not enough. They must also have a solid grasp of what numbers represent, how to manipulate them, and an understanding of why the algorithms work. The following central aspects of reaching our mathematics goals are consistent in all of our K-8 classes:

A FOCUS ON PROCESS AS WELL AS THE ANSWER

Getting the right answer is important, but of equal importance is the students’ reasoning process. Beginning in Gan Nitzan (Kindergarten), students are taught how to show their work and are expected to do so on a regular basis. Whether the displayed work is a group of tally marks as a Kindergartener might show, or a complex and organized chart as a middle schooler might create, both the process of documenting their thinking and the actual product are essential. This enables the students to check their math, and it allows the teachers to assess what the students understand, as well as to uncover areas of challenge.

TEACHING MULTIPLE WAYS TO SOLVE A PROBLEM

We intentionally teach the students multiple ways to access mathematical concepts and to solve problems, allowing each to choose the strategy that works best for their way of thinking. For example, one second grade student may choose to solve the problem 64 + 38 by adding the tens together (60 + 30), then the ones (4 + 8), and then finding the total sum of those parts (90+12 = 102), while another student may choose the traditional algorithm. Having multiple ways to solve a problem also provides students with a way to check their work. As students advance, we ensure that they consolidate their understanding of how to choose an efficient strategy.

MATH DISCUSSIONS

Engaging in discussion plays a central role in the students’ mathematical learning. Students are able to strengthen their understanding of a new concept by having to explain their thinking and approach, listening to their peers, and asking questions. These discussions both support students’ learning and signal to teachers what the students understand and what needs reinforcement.

HANDS-ON MANIPULATIVES

Students learn through doing, and the use of hands-on manipulatives help students understand mathematical concepts and skills. Manipulatives allow students to visualize what is happening with numbers, to see patterns, and to test and prove their ideas. It also makes math learning both engaging and concrete.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Our teachers strive to differentiate their lessons and teaching. In the Lower School, this often takes the form of math centers, where teachers work with small groups of students to meet them where they are in their learning. This may include reteaching material, providing extra practice, previewing concepts, or facilitating extension work. There are also extension groups in grades K-5 which are flexible in their grouping according to the data collected from unit pre-assessments. In grades 6-8, math classes are leveled to meet the needs of all students.

There are many components to our mathematical teaching approach at JCDS, all of which work to support the students’ understanding of mathematical language and the world. Of course, we strive to make math exciting for the students and to reinforce the idea that we are ALL mathematicians. As our lovely first graders recite on a daily basis, “Math is everything!”

HaSadna * Comes to Life!

In last fall’s Nitzotzot, we asked you to “stay tuned for a full article about HaSadna, *our new Makerspace,” and we now delight in sharing with you four of the many extraordinary projects that have come to life within its walls. With profound thanks to Rose-Jane Sulman for her gift to our school, every child has discovered, created, innovated, and benefited in this remarkable new workplace. As Lower School engineering instructor, Catherine Ross, recently affirmed, “HaSadna is more than just a beautiful classroom, it’s a transformative space where ideas from children’s imaginations come to life. The creative energy radiating from the students is palpable, and it’s been just wonderful to grow and learn with them in this amazing space!”

IN THE SEASON OF PURIM… our second graders were tasked with programming small KIBO robots to deliver a mishloach manot (the sending of gifts) basket to a classmate. To begin, they feverishly designed and sketched the actual basket and goodies, including, of course, hamentashen! Next, using the Glowforge laser cutter, the students cut each item out of wood. With their basket filled, each child then determined the means by which they wished their classmate to receive it. Would their robot drag it, pull it, or even catapult the basket to its recipient? So many design possibilities were considered as second graders delighted in programming, through assigning a specific order to a series of color-coded directional blocks, how the mishloach manot would be delivered.

IT’S NOT BRAIN SCIENCE… or maybe it is! To better understand their own learning styles and how they think, fifth graders were given a lesson by Middle School Support Services Director, Jo-Ann Figueroa and Middle School Learning Specialist, Chera Garlick, on the major lobes of the brain and how humans take in information and learn. Using student-friendly language, children were introduced to the prefrontal cortex (a “wise owl”) where executive functions lead us to learn and effectively carry out everyday activities; the amygdala (the “guard dog”) which keeps human beings safe and curious; and the hippocampus (the “memorable

elephant”) which helps store learning, emotional, and life experiences.

Students then created 2D drawings of how they each perceived their own brain might look. They then used Tinkercad, a program used to design 3D models, and with the assistance of HaSadna staff, Anna Martinez, Standish Chiasson, and Catherine used the laser printer to produce masterful 3D jigsaw puzzles of their own unique brain! JCDS fifth graders have given new meaning to the old term, brain puzzle!

AS PART OF THEIR EARTH SCIENCE CURRICULUM… seventh graders were challenged with creating and designing a presentation to explain to Lower School students how the water cycle works. With gusto, they tackled the challenge: to describe, in a way that our younger burgeoning scientists could fully understand, the process of water evaporation and the way in which water changes from liquid to vapor.

One group used software enabling them to give voices to sock puppets, and in a puppet show performance, the socks then described the process! Others created digital backgrounds for pseudo-television newscasts. One group used the laser cutter to make their own dioramas depicting the water cycle, and we even had students who created a computer generated 3D mountain, rigging up pumps to squirt water to illustrate earth’s precipitation!

AND AS AN UNEXPECTED BONUS… adults within the JCDS community have also had the joy and excitement of creating within HaSadna, including former Board Members who recently had their first annual reunion within the Makerspace, in which they were given a lesson in robotics, circuits, and the value of learning from failures. Many were tentative as they began the assigned project of building a Brush Bot, but eventually, joy and curiosity were evident on everyone’s faces as one remarked with laughter, “It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks!”

Fine Arts: A Spectacular Bilingual Integration of Music, Movement, & Art

The whimsy, rapture, and joy of Saint-Saëns, The Carnival of the Animals, is reimagined at JCDS, as first graders listen, throughout the year, to this classical piece, deciphering the fourteen animals beautifully brought to life by an orchestra. They attend to the donkey’s bray by paying keen attention to the low buzz of the violins’ strings; they listen for the lion’s roar in the tremolo of the lower register piano notes, and they giggle at the staccato of plucking strings sounding like pecking chickens!

Yet how, exactly, is all of this orchestrated?

“When first wondering about a new animal,” explained Lower School music teacher, Elah Grandel, “we just listen, and then we watch. First we listen for tempo; is the music fast or is it slow? Is the pitch high or low? We watch the orchestra and notice what instruments are playing as we try and guess further information about a particular animal. Is it large? Is it small? Is it fast? Is it loud? How does it move?” And then comes the big reveal – to see if we got it right! Once the children understand which animal they hear, they come to understand the thoughtfulness and humor SaintSaëns gave to his musical composition.” And oh, the fun they have!

Once carnival animals have been identified, it is time to create individual and unique masks. In their art class, as the Carnival suites play as background music, the children discuss, with art teacher, Vered Singer, how each animal looks and what unusual and important features make up its head

and face. And now the best part, without specific directions, students construct their very own original and magnificent animal masks using both the information they gathered in their discussion and a variety of materials, from cardboard to crinoline, that Vered has laid out for them.

To express the movement of their critters, dance teacher, Alla Shimron, meticulously describes to the first graders the importance of “using their understanding of the animal to then function in a space with others to create unique movement.” Before asking if an elephant can waltz, the special rise and fall of the “1-2-3, 1-2-3” three-quarter waltz rhythm is discussed. Children are taught the composition of dance, learning the components of rhythm, direction, and rotation. They collect data and consider individual and group movement, and then, using props such as light blue flags for sky and green crêpe paper to represent forest, children create the ambience and setting of their production. And similar to the self-initiated means by which the children construct their masks, they choose their own individual motions and movements, within the parameters given, to create unique dances. Alla, using their ideas and input, then choreographs a new and wonderful JCDS Carnival of the Animals!

The fine arts in our Lower School are not only aligned to bring a full and rich daily experience to our younger students, all three classes are taught equally in English and Hebrew, creating a spectacular bilingual integration of music, movement, and art.

It’s All Relative: Roots to Nechama Liebowitz

Those in the know, know the name Nechama Leibowitz as an impassioned educator, commentator, Zionist, and scholar whose brilliance had, and continues to have, a significant impact on the way Tanakh is taught and studied throughout the world, including here at JCDS!

A woman light years ahead of her time, Liebowitz, introduced an inquiry-based approach to teaching Tanakh in the 1930’s. Her forward thinking and pluralistic views brought comparisons and interpretations from a vast array of Bible commentators, as well as the use of multiple literary devices to study and probe the Tanakh more broadly and deeply.

In 8th grade Tanakh class, teacher (and Bible scholar in her own right) Dorit Zmiri, studies the Biblical story of Yosef and Eshet Potiphar (Potiphar’s wife) with her students using Liebowitz’s methodology. Students compare the shrewd

differences in word choice that Potiphar’s wife uses when telling her servants the story of her alleged sexual assault in contrast to the way in which she retells the same story to her husband, illustrating both her thought processes and frailties of the human condition.

Before this particular teaching came a unique introduction, as 8th grader, Hadas Liebowitz, great-great-niece of Nechama, offered a first hand presentation of her great-great-aunt to her classmates. Explaining Nechama’s extraordinary journey and background, Hadas, who bears a striking resemblance to her, discussed Nachama’s lineage, unprecedented influence on the study of Bible, and accomplishments, while also speaking of her humbleness and humility.

From Israel, to Tanakh, to JCDS; a spectacular familial 8th grade connection.

Righting the Write: The Power of the Written Word

By the time our students reach eighth grade, the concept of backward design* becomes even more critical to their education. Determining what they will need to be academically well-prepared for high school is integral to building our eighth grade curriculum. This is particularly true in the writing arena, for students will be writing literary essays, composing research papers, generating reports, and other written communications for years to come, and the manner and style in which they write is as important as the content itself.

From Gan Nitzan through 8th grade, students are taught to take pride in their writing; to consider words used, feelings expressed, and to know that the first draft is never the best one. Good writing takes time and requires scrutiny, editing, and continued revision. Our Nitzanim are taught to: “think, draw, label, write, edit, and publish.” Simply remove draw and label from the mix, and those are the very same instructions we give our Middle Schoolers!

As eighth grade English teacher Joanne Baker has voiced over the years, “The single most important thing I can teach eighth graders is to be articulate, crisp, and mindful writers. To recognize that evidence is vital in exposition, that thoughtful, decisive word choice determines a reader’s impression and understanding of what is on the page; that excellent writing is a form of communication, and communication drives a functioning society. Writing well is hugely important, and I want our kids to leave JCDS, masterful wordsmiths.”

Recently, while eighth graders studied the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler in history class, they simultaneously read Orwell’s Animal Farm in English class. The rise of Napoleon the Pig on the farm parallels the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, thus the book was used as a vehicle for the writing of a comparative essay in which eighth graders compared the two dictators’ rise over their prospective lands. In the process, parent Dave Cutler asked Joanne her thoughts on the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and specifically the implications of ChatGPT being readily available to students. He then, using the very same prompt given to

the eighth graders for their work, generated an essay using ChatGPT!

During peer reviews of each others’ papers, students also read the AI essay, and passionately discussed its pros and cons. It was eye-opening and deeply heartening to hear their comments which so clearly illustrated their full understanding that: “While the AI piece is well written, it sort of lacks voice and doesn’t have detail,” and “. . . it doesn’t give any examples of proof like we had to do. There is definitely a lot of stuff missing.” The class discussion continued with the import and vitality of human voice that comprises life experiences; something AI, despite having vast amounts of information, acutely lacks.

While Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, our students graduate with an understanding that writing is critical to self-expression, self-reflection, and imparting their unique voices, experiences, and thoughts to others. There is humanity in the written word that was, is, and always will be, vital to communication and one’s transmission of ideas.

*Backward design begins with what students are expected to learn and be able to do—and then proceeds “backward” to create lessons that achieve these desired goals.

Lower School Literacy הנותחתה הביטחב תוניירוא

Should you walk into a JCDS K-2 classroom during a literacy lesson, the teaching and learning may look different from how you experienced learning to read as a child. You won’t see the students memorizing words from Dick and Jane, nor will you hear the teachers prompting the students to guess unfamiliar words based on picture clues or context. Students are manipulating words with letter tiles, sky-writing letters in the air, and marking up words on their whiteboards to show the phonetic breakdowns. You’ll hear Interactive Read Alouds and vocabulary exploration, and you’ll see the students taking ownership of their reading development in a way that most of us never experienced as children. It is quite a sight to behold.

Recently, there has been considerable research and controversy around the effects of different approaches to teaching reading. However, the findings are overwhelming that when foundational skills instruction are taught explicitly and systematically, students become better readers. Since language is complex and is not just about phonics, there must also be specific instruction around reading comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary. This approach is what has come to be known as the Science of Reading or science-based reading instruction. At JCDS, we are strong proponents of this approach for our young readers and couple this with child-friendly opportunities to find joy in books. After all, the ultimate goal is for our students to fall in love with reading.

So what does this look like in practice at our school? One component is learning phonological skills. This might take the shape of asking the students to answer a set of ques-

tions to practice hearing, identifying, and manipulating the individual sounds in a word: “What sounds do you hear in ‘cat’? What if you replace the ending sound with the /p/ sound – now what word do you have?” It might take the form of students clapping out the syllables they hear in a word or doing a kinesthetic movement when they hear a pair of rhymes. Why is this all important? Just as understanding what numbers represent makes for a stronger mathematician, understanding that the letters in words are represented by sounds makes for a stronger reader!

Vocabulary and reading comprehension are also essential aspects of the “learning to read” process so the reader can understand what s/he just read. Vocabulary is taught both through the Fundations curriculum and also through the robust conversations that occur during regular interactive Read Alouds. Whether the teacher is using these to model the thinking process, or posing intentional questions to engage the students, they enable them to interact with, and make meaning from any text.

This approach towards reading is complex and it takes time, but we are confident that the hard work and patience are worth it! Not only does the explicit instruction result in strong, proficient readers, it provides the students with confidence in their reading skills, and the belief that they have the ability to decode and engage with any text.

After all, why feed the children’s reading appetite for a day, when you can give them the skills to satiate that appetite for a lifetime?

Letter from Sari Korman,

Director

of Development and Communications

Dear Friends,

Twenty-one years ago, I thought that choosing a school for our eldest child would only tangentially impact me; little did I know that the decision would change the trajectory of our entire family. That singular decision to send our son to JCDS led to my forging deep friendships, a new career path, and a greater sense of purpose.

So what brought us to JCDS? In researching schools, we heard buzzwords that meant little to us, but as a welltrained lawyer, I did my due diligence. I spoke with friends, acquaintances, and teachers, and we visited multiple schools. While visiting JCDS, however, something felt different the moment we walked through the door. It was warm and joyful, and we saw highly engaged and confident students everywhere. We witnessed teachers moving around their classrooms, enthusiastically encouraging students to speak up, and Hebrew was ever present; on bulletin boards and whiteboards – spoken at lunch and on the playground. “This is it,” we thought . . . a school that combines an extraordinary secular education along with deep thinking and questioning that comes with text study, and all within the truly bilingual curriculum we sought.

The emphasis on teaching children how to think rather than what to think gives JCDS graduates an incredibly strong foundation. Our three children, now young adults, continue to carry with them all of the skills they learned at JCDS – from public speaking, to powerful writing skills, to the ability to explain their thinking and opinions. And yes, they are joyfully Jewish!

Looking back, I realize that in my childhood, the long stretches of time that I spent in Israel with extended family were infused with joy. Not surprisingly, for me JCDS represented warmth and community and felt like home. When you consider where to invest your philanthropic dollars, ponder this: Is a JCDS education the kind of education that our children deserve? Is this the kind of education that benefits the broader community because of what our graduates bring to the workforce and to society?

Please join me in investing in our students, our faculty, and our future. Together we will ensure that JCDS will continue to graduate students who are well prepared to tackle whatever lies ahead.

CLASS NOTES:

JCDS ירגוב

CLASS OF 2002

JCDS alum Emma Gildesgame ’02, a climate adaptation scientist with The Nature Conservancy, is quoted in the New York Times piece, “A Toxic Stew on Cape Cod: Human Waste and Warming Water”. Kol HaKavod to Emma for her efforts to ensure clean water and conserve the environment!

CLASS OF 2006

Announcing the birth of Zamir Oriya, at the end of April, to parents Rachel Jackson ’06 and Jackson Mercer. Grandparents are former JCDS Rabbinics curriculum developer and teacher for 15 years, Claudia Marbach, and Daniel Jackson, and Rachel and Ken Mercer. Rachel has her own art and design business binahdesign.com. Sharing in the joy, aunts Rebecca ’09 is the newly appointed Southern correspondent for the Economist and lives in Washington, D.C., and Akiva ’11 is a programmer in Boston and lives in Cambridge.

CLASS OF 2011

Aaron Hunt (’11) completed his Master’s thesis on “Moth Productivity and Community Composition in Urban Areas” and recently published an article in the RI Naturalist.

Alumni, let us know what’s happening in your life by emailing your updates to news@jcdsboston.org.

Save the date for the 7th annual JCDS Alumni Reunion on Sunday, November 26, 2023!

CLASS OF 2011

David and Michael Goldman are proud to announce the wedding of their son, Shai-B Goldman (’11) to Talya Hyman of New Haven, C.T. on Sunday, March 19th at Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, M.A.. Brothers Aryeh ’11 and Yehuda ’17 attended the wedding.

CLASS OF 2015

Jacob Foster ’15, spoke at “A Taste of What Matters” the 24th annual Matters of Taste event, about the lasting impact JCDS has had on his life. He graduated as an officer from West Point this spring.

CLASS OF 2015

JCDS is so excited to share the news that Noa Vineberg ’15 has won a Fulbright! She will be teaching in Senegal next academic year (2023-2024). Noa’s mother, Nancy, gives a lot of credit to JCDS for laying an amazing foundation for her.

CLASS OF 2023

After winning last year’s USA Chidon HaTanach (Bible Contest), 8th Grader Kayla Shechter [far left] advanced all the way to the final 16 in this year’s International Chidon HaTanach in Israel on Yom HaAtzmaut. Kayla was the youngest contestant of 41 students who qualified to participate in a two-week Chidon camp, and was one of four American contestants, all of whom advanced to the final 16.