February 8, 2008
Science is serious, but art is fun TIME OUT by ANNETTE VAN DE CAMP-WRIGHT As always, the dedicated teachers at Friedel are very interested in getting parents involved. More often than not, this takes the form of ‘projects to help your child with’, evident in the note that is sent home explaining all about the Science Fair. The next week, I receive a communication from my daughter’s art teacher, telling us they are preparing an exhibit based on Judy Chicago’s artwork. My daughter is supposed to choose a woman that inspires her. She picks me, and I refuse to cooperate, telling her that it’s her choice, but she’ll have to get her father to assist her. I am not sending pictures of myself to school. She protests that if she is going to learn about inspiring women, she is certainly not going to ask a man to help her. She pronounces the word man with a dislike that is a bit troubling, but I get the point. I promise to help her find someone else, and settle on Frida Kahlo. With her bright, colorful paintings, not to speak about her dresses and hairdo, she will certainly inspire my daughter to great heights; or so I think. I should know better by now; every time I pick a topic for my daughter, she chooses to assert her independence. This time is no different. I show her a few clips of Salma Hayek’s Frida biopic, thinking to impress her, but the only thing she wants to know is why Diego Rivera is kissing another woman. Oops, wrong scene. Then she comes up with an idea of her own: Marie Antoinette. Artists are great, but a Princess and a Queen can’t be beat. She is six, after all; she is growing up in the United States, and thus deprived of any real royalty. “But she got her head cut off!” My husband says, before I can throw him a warning glance. Great. Now I can explain both adultery and guillotines. I take the coward’s way out and promise her we will certainly, absolutely, talk about it ‘later’. (Yeah, right. I’ll just wait until she’s forgotten all about it.) In an attempt to divert her attention, I talk to her about the Science Fair. She is enthusiastic at first, claiming she already has a topic. Great, I think, until she tells me what it is: “I want to do my Science project about Feelings.” What? I talk her out of it by showing her the leftover onion and potato that never made it into the Latke batter last month. They lie forgotten in the kitchen; the onion has started to sprout thick green leaves.
“Look what happens when you forget things,” I say enthusiastically, but she isn’t listening. To her, this is old and tired material: she’s already researched plenty of related hypotheses. Leave a lollipop in a hidden spot and you’ll need a tire iron to remove it from the carpet. Leave a half eaten apple behind the couch and it will turn a sick shade of grey. Those are exciting outcomes, but onions and potatoes? Feh. Luckily, when I explain to her that it’s this-or- nothing, she starts to cooperate. Together, we take and upload photos; together, we plant these sad vegetables in pots. But once the novelty has worn off, she loses interest in what is starting to look like “Mommy’s Project”. Will I never learn? All she’s interested in is drawing the pictures for her display board. Last year, ‘we’ researched the weather; she learned to color the sky, the sun, she glued 50 cotton balls on one piece of paper. She spent half an hour contemplating the background color of her display board. To everyone who saw it, she said: “Isn’t it pretty?” This year, she will explore how many different colors of green exist; how many ways you can draw an onion. To my daughter, science is only moderately interesting at best. What she really wants is art class, 24/7. I think that’s fine; some people are meant to make the world a better place, others just make it more beautiful. One display board at the time. The Friedel Jewish Academy Science Fair is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, 6:30-8 p.m. For more information, please call 334.0517.
Visions gets new officers
Harry Alloy, right, installed the Visions officers for 2008: Doris Alloy, left, Sol Schwartz, Tootie Simon, Jim Wax, Phyllis Schwartz, Florence Hauss, and Betty Sanford at a recent Visions luncheon meeting. Not pictured: Howard and Sissy Silber, Ethel Goldston, Rose Pitlor, Ilse and Marcel Kahn, Phyllis Roffman and Sally Masnek.
OLESH/PRENDERGAST Mara Renee Olesh and Patrick James Prendergast of Phoenix, AZ, have announcd their engagement. The bride-to-be graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha with a degree in Business Marketing. She is a marketing coordinator for Kiewit. She is the daughter of Dr. Robert and Donna Olesh, and the granddaughter of the late Meyer and Rachel Rosenstein, and the late Isidore and Bella Olesh. Her fiancé also graduated from UNO with a degree in Civil Engineering. He is a Nebraska Registered E.I.T. (Professional Engineer-In-Training), and works as a civil engineer for Kiewit. He is the son of Mike Prendergast and the late Margaret Prendergast, and the grandson of Madeline Dineen and the late Thomas Dineen, and the late Mike and Patricia Prendergast. A Sept. 13 wedding is planned at the Magnolia Hotel. EGERMAYER/ RABIN-HAVT Julie Anne Egermayer, daughter of Robert and Janice Egermayer, and Ari Rabin-Havt, son of David Havt and Anita Rabin-Havt of Port Washington, NY, have announced their engagement. The bride-to-be graduated in 2001 from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in political science. She is pursuing a masters in social work from the The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., with plans to graduate May 2009. She also is an intern at Dominion Hospital, Falls Church, VA. Her grandparents are Edward and Sally Malashock, Margaret Egermayer and the late George Egermayer. Her fiance is a graduate of Brandeis University with a degree in Politics and Peace Studies, and earned an M.A. from The George Washington University, Washington D.C., in Political Managment. He is Vice President and Creative Director of OMP Direct and advisor to former Vice President Al Gore and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. His grandparents are Bernard and Helen Rabin A May 25 wedding is planned for Joslyn Art Museum.
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