March Newsletter (2009)

Message from the President of Bialik High School

Thursday, March 26, will go down in history at Bialik! It was truly a memorable occasion, as the students inaugurated the new gymnasium and introduced their Bialik Bulldog Mascot. Designed by them—yes it is fierce, but they will go into games accompanied by their mascot with only intentions of winning!—they are grateful to the Bialik Home & School Association for having provided the funds to purchase the mascot. Go, Bialik Bulldogs!

As the students recognize, we wouldn’t have the new gymnasium had it not been for the generosity of many parents, alumni, and friends from the community. That being said, we are fast approaching another milestone event: May 19th. At this event we will be inaugurating our new Athletics and Performing Arts Complex and celebrating completion of Bialik’s expansion. It will include a press conference and reception at which all donors will be thanked, and we hope this will include you! There is still time to get your name onto the plaque that will be installed in the Hall of Honour. Please contact Elizabeth Kennell, Director of Advancement, at 514-731-2944, ext. 220, or by email at elizabeth.k@jppsbialik.ca.

I know that many of you caught a glimpse last week of the action in Bialik Stock Exchange’s market. It has even caught the attention of other schools, who marvelled at the atmosphere, the time and effort put into each kiosque, and the enthusiasm of both vendors and buyers. We want to express a special thank-you to Bialik parent Ron Mayers from Desjardins, who agreed to sponsor this year’s event in spite of the downturn in the economy. Soon, a group from Mordechai Antal’s economics class will visit Desjardins to take in the trading floor. In Mr. Antal’s words, “It is a thrill and privilege in addition to being of high educational experiential value for the students.”

Another high point took place this past month. Bialik students won the Weizmann Institute Physics Competition, winning against Hebrew Academy, Herzliah, St. George’s School, West Island College, and the Study! As a result, the students travelled to the Weizmann Institute in Israel for a short but intense visit made possible largely with support from the Weizmann Science Canada, the Institute, and perhaps most importantly, their teacher, Judy Stein!

There is much to celebrate, as you can see, that would not happen if not for our students excelling in academics, athletics, and a variety of extracurricular pursuits, all carried out with the full support of faculty, staff, and parents alike. And to think that I haven’t even mentioned Bialik Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast!

Michael Eliesen

Message from the Principal and Educational Director, Bialik High School

The breadth of activities and programs going on at Bialik continues to amaze us all!

Only a few days ago, a group of talented Secondary V science students, under the guidance of Bialik graduate Shawn Bramson and supervised by Judy Stein, won the Canadian Eastern Regional Division of the Weizmann Institute Physics Competition and went on to participate in the international competition in Israel. Immediately upon their return, they joined their teams for the highly successful, creative, educational three-day Bialik Stock Exchange Fair, already in session. Special thanks to Mordy Antal, senior economics teacher, for his development of this program, which entails hours of work above and beyond the call of duty.

Last month, a group of 18 Secondary V students took part in what has been described as a life-altering experience by those who participated, students and chaperones alike. Students put their heart and soul into helping those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. While they were there, they built the interior walls of what will become a home for someone in New Orleans. They met this person and together, as a group, lifted a wall, thereby symbolically giving her a home. Thanks to filming by the chaperones and to Shelly Cohen’s initiative, a one-hour video was created and was viewed by parents and students this past week, which allowed all of us to understand the depth of this special tikkun olam project. Special kudos go to students Lara Berliner and Samantha Creme for the inception of the project and for seeing it through under the guidance of Avi Satov and lead chaperone Andrew Trager.

I am writing this newsletter on the eve of the inauguration of Bialik’s new gymnasium and stage facilities. It is so exciting to see Phase II of the expansion project come to fruition. Mezuzot, courtesy of Susan Zelikovic, will be hung, the launch of the Bialik Bulldog mascot created by the senior student council will be launched, and much excitement will definitely be in the air!

And next week, we will really launch our new facilities with the production of Beauty and the Beast, directed by Anisa Cameron and involving more than 50 students participating from all grade levels. From the costumes to the music to the set-design and, yes, even to the student-producers, professionalism has been a common trait. We couldn’t be more proud of each and every student who has committed so much personal time so that extracurricular activities have come to mean so much more here at Bialik! I want to also take this opportunity to express special gratitude to our students for “giving up” one night of their three-night run to collaborate with Concert Society for the benefit of the entire school. Tikkun olam is a way of life at Bialik.

On another note, oftentimes things that we sometimes consider commonplace here at Bialik are still considered “innovative” and “novel.” Take our podcast for example. Just recently it was brought to my attention that a teacher from another local school wants to put a link from their website to our website, specifically to the podcast, in order to have us inspire them with ideas on how to best communicate to the stakeholders. Emulation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.

All the best to you and your families for the upcoming Passover holiday!

Elaine Wisenthal-Milech

Message from the Director of the CPE

“Spring has sprung, and the hole is dug. JPPS Children’s Centre has the moving bug.”
Finally, construction has begun. The new Children’s Centre will be located at the very end of Westminster Avenue. We will begin our 2009 school year in our own, free-standing location. Stay tuned for more updates.

Once again we held a “Jump for Heart” fundraiser; approximately $15,00.00 was raised for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

We have also been busy with all of the holidays. Purim brought with it weeks of dressing up, face painting, and serious acting. A new version of the Megillah was published, with our children in the leading roles. We learned the history and the stories, while working on many art projects. We enjoyed a play by a visiting theatre group, who shared the story of Purim and made finger puppets with us.

After eating hundreds of hamentashen, we moved on to the subject of Egypt. The classes have been looking at ancient Egypt and are making the connection to Pharaoh, baby Moses, and the Jewish slaves. We took a trip to the Matzah Factory to see how matzah is made and enjoyed a taste before the holiday begins. We are preparing for our own class seders as well as making seder plates, matzah covers, and Eliyahu’s cups. We are also learning the brachot and songs to share with our families at home.

Now that spring is in the air, we are trying to spend more time outside, enjoying the sunshine. We wish you and your families a healthy and happy Passover.

Randy Zucker

JPPS Home and School

In celebration of Purim, Home and School arranged to have homentashen delivered to all of the students and teachers.

The Grade 4 students, in conjunction with the JEM Workshop, helped prepare beautiful Purim baskets that were then sold as a fundraiser for our school. A portion of these profits went toward the Home and School Association. Many thanks must be extended to Mandy Ephraim and Judy Hagshi-Nashen for their help with this project.

Debbie Gurman and Joanne Eisman organized the Budding Artists fundraiser. Our students drew beautiful pictures in school. They then had the option to submit them to a company, where the art was transferred onto various objects of their choice (mugs, notepads, T-shirts, etc.). The profits from this fundraiser went directly toward Home and School. Many thanks go out to all of the volunteers who came into the classrooms to help our students with their artwork.

In mid- February, we celebrated our teachers by funding a beautiful teacher appreciation lunch. We thank them all, once again, for the wonderful job they are doing with our children.

In our ongoing efforts to go green, all of the plates used during our hot pizza lunches are now being sent to Bialik to be composted. Thank you, Alan, for helping to get the job done!

Soup lunch is over for the year. Cindy Heller and Wendy Gold did a great job. A big thank-you to all of the volunteers who helped throughout the year.

Marnie Mitnick Cohen JPPS’78

JPPS: 2009 Canadian National Mathematics League Champions

It can now officially be said that the brightest young mathematical minds in Canada hail from the Jewish Peoples and Peretz School. The brilliant JPPS team of 14 Grade 6 students has won the Canadian National Mathematics League’s annual competition for the elementary school level, beating out 398 other participating schools. By finishing first overall in Canada, JPPS, by extension, also placed first in Quebec.

The wonderful news does not end there. With a score of 98% (39 questions correct out of 40), JPPS student Noam Barsheshat received the highest score in all of Canada! Moreover, four of her classmates, Shawn Gordon, Noah Cohen, Ilana Nyveen, and Andrew Hersh, scored the five highest results in the entire province of Quebec!

Over one million elementary and secondary students in North America participate every year in the contest, created in 1977. The elementary school version of the contest consists of 40 multiple-choice questions given in a 30-minute time period. The team score for each school is the sum of the top five scores for that school. A perfect team score for a single contest would be 200. JPPS’s grand total was a phenomenal 187 out of 200.

Sheila Perry, teacher of the victorious accelerated group class, and Ireene Wolfson, longtime JPPS math teacher and team mentor, demonstrated their sense of pride with the following joint statement: “We are overjoyed and simply bursting at the seams! The students worked so hard and were drilled to the absolute maximum. But all the effort certainly paid dividends.”

The contest questions are designed to cover a range of mathematical knowledge for each grade level. Topics focus mainly on exponents, geometry, and especially logic.

JPPS Chagigah

“Torah connects us to our past; the wisdom it provides is oh so vast”

With these words spoken by the children of Grade 3, the chagigah had begun. The annual chagigah traditionally celebrates the official start of a student’s Torah scholarship career, for Grade 3 marks the point when serious Torah studies become infused in the daily school curriculum.

While sitting in the audience, I could not help but think back to 1993, when I was myself a JPPS Grade 3 student. I have clear memories of my class hardly being able to contain its excitement while standing backstage waiting for the piano to start playing. Looking out into the audience, I could see the look on our parents’ faces as they fiddled around with their enormous 50-pound video cameras, bursting with anticipation for the performance to begin. Sixteen years later, the size of the video cameras in the audience may have dwindled significantly, but the atmosphere in the gym was exactly the same.

The brilliant team of Grade 3 teachers made extraordinarily great efforts to ensure that the nature of the chagigah remained traditional, while still managing to infuse into it many modern elements. Sure, the classic Ladino (a mixture of Hebrew and Spanish) song of “Quando el Rey Nimrod” and the time-honoured Yiddish tune “Oifen Priperchick” were performed by the students, but new for me was an updated version of George Michael’s hit “Faith,” singing about how Sarah ought to have had faith in God that she would be impregnated at a ridiculous old age. To that end, I was blown away to hear the Stevie Wonder classic song “Isn’t She Lovely” updated to discuss the miraculous birth of our patriarch Issac. Yes, of course they changed the lyric to “Isn’t he lovely.”

Another cute touch to the performance was that the students narrating the event were wearing hats with the name “God” written on them. If one wanted to act out Bible stories, the entity known as God clearly needed an official part. While this may have been considered sacrilegious to do at a Yeshiva, at JPPS, where the goal is religious pluralism, the comedic value was appreciated.

JPPS Principal Adina Matas’ closing words that referenced inspirational quotes in Judaism really brought to the forefront the underlying theme of what this Chagigah meant to our community. She struck a chord with the audience by reminding us that the Torah has always been an unyielding source for information and religious comfort. Written in Pirke Avot is: “Turn it (the Torah) over and over, for everything is in it.”

Having said all that, perhaps the most important lesson of all to take from this event was Rabbi Hillel’s brilliant answer to a challenge brought to him over one thousand years ago. He was tasked to explain the entire Torah while standing only on one foot. His answer: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Law; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”

So, what are we waiting for?

Tikkun Olam in New Orleans

On Monday, February 16, 2009, I returned from the trip of a lifetime. Eighteen Bialik students, including myself, had left nine days earlier for New Orleans. We left as individuals, as we wrote on our internet blog, each one of us with our own motivations and feelings. We came back a family, each of us changed and all of us united.

It is hard for me to explain what we witnessed while in New Orleans. The stories we heard and the people we met, the work we did while we were there—I can only attempt to describe the emotions stirred in us all: the sadness, the anger, the injustice, the desire to help, the will to rebuild.

Bialik has always taught us about tikkun olam and how it is our duty to take responsibility for our actions and improve the world. The Torah says that saving one life is like saving an entire universe. The Bialik students and chaperones who participated in this trip had the chance to effect change in the world and to affect the life of one young woman named Tanya Huang. When we arrived in New Orleans, I do not think any of us realized the extent of the damage and ruin that still fill the streets.

Our drive from the airport to the guest house where we stayed and the next day’s drive from our house to the Community Center of St. Bernard where we volunteered really impacted us all deeply. We were suddenly hit with the reality of the devastation and the horror, and what struck us the hardest was that we arrived about three and a half years after the storm and flooding, yet we still saw entire blocks of destroyed houses and uninhabited areas, trailer park make-shift hospitals, and people living in FEMA trailers. Imagining what the city must have looked like before was hard. Seeing large “X”s spray- painted on the sides of each house, with each corner representing the relief organization, the date of their inspection, how many dead animals they found, and how many human bodies, was humbling. As Steve, a full-time volunteer at the Community Center said, “We like the number zero around here.”

I cannot describe the sadness we all felt when we drove by a house with the number “1” spray painted below its “X.” Steve’s story was heart-wrenching, and we all sat transfixed after a long day of work at the community center, ranging from taking inventory to painting to cooking, as we listened to him speak. He showed us slide-shows and videos, cried as he remembered the wife who died in his arms, and shook with frustration as he spoke of how he still lives in the trailer where she passed away, because he has not yet received permission to begin rebuilding his house. As well, he cannot rent an apartment, because that would use the money he has saved to build his actual house.

Another man told us of the many fights he has had with insurance companies and how, at the end of the day, he is not going to receive a penny for his restaurant, which was destroyed, or his house, which was displaced two blocks from its foundations and landed in the middle of the street. There was much resentment in the air as survivors compared stories about how their insurance companies found loopholes and refused to pay, or how it took the U.S. National Coast Guard four days to arrive after Hurricane Katrina.

The people we talked with put human faces to our goals in New Orleans, and when we arrived at our construction site over the next four mornings, we arrived with energy and unmatched fervour as we completed each task assigned to us. At the end of three very rewarding days, during our last day on the site, we had the honour of meeting the homeowner for whom this house was being built, Tanya Huang.

Born in Taiwan, Tanya is a violinist hoping to return to school and finish her degree. Tanya broke down into tears of joy and gratitude as she happily told everyone assembled at the Wall Raising Ceremony that this house belonged to all of us and that we were always welcome at 3917 N. Prieur St. for food, tea, or even a place to stay. If the survivors we met at the community center a few days earlier had embodied our future challenges, this young woman represented our hope. Not only was she excited about her new home, although it is not big or fancy, she was immensely grateful. And most of all, she was thrilled. Her smile beamed from ear to ear as she shook each one of our hands and received our prayers for success, safety, and happiness. The fact that people who have witnessed such destruction and horror are still capable of waking up every morning, of smiling, laughing, and joking, is truly incredible.

So, on Monday, February 16th, around 7:00 PM Montreal time, I walked through the doors from Canadian Customs and Baggage Claim to the Arrivals section of the Pierre- Elliot Trudeau Airport and into my parents’ waiting arms. Although by now, a couple of days later, somewhat normal life has begun again, we all have truly been changed forever. Bialik always taught us about tikkun olam and the importance of “doing what is right and good.” Every student in this school understands how significant each act of kindness is.

Once you have stood three feet away from the person whose house you are building, and once you have reached out and touched her and shook her hand, once the horrors have a human face, once you have seen with your own eyes all that still needs to be fixed and how much work remains, once you have learned what tikkun olam means outside of a classroom, you can never forget it for the rest of your life.

Lara Berliner ’09

JPPS-Bialik in the News

We had a healthy recent period of time, media-wise.

• February 18: The online version of the Monitor and the Chronicle published an article on Jesse Ehrlick’s QAIS competition winning speech
• February 25: The Suburban ran a story on Bulldog Basketball
• February 26: The Monitor discussed the huge Bialik physics victory
• March 4: You may have noticed that the March 4^th edition of the Suburban was chalk-full of Bialik, beginning with the front cover picture and headline “CHAMPIONS Bialik Bantam Girls Win.” Inside that edition, one found the physics story covered, as well as two other articles about the Bialik Lady Bulldogs.
• March 5: The March 5^th edition of the Canadian Jewish News featured an article about Israeli Professor Dr. Mordechai Kedar’s visit to Bialik, and to Montreal in general.The CJN also covered the physics victory. JPPS was represented with a photo about a recent Tikkun Olam related activity.
• March 5: Also on the 5^th of March, the Jewish Tribune discussed the Bialik physics win, and ran a story on Laurence Fhima becoming our new Head of School.
• March 9: the Gazette ran a picture pertaining to their ongoing JPPS Tikkun Olam activities with JEM.
• March 16: On CJAD, Dan Laxer aired a wonderful interview with our Concert Gala Nominee, Jonathan Mann ’77.
• March 18: David Lazarus from the CJN wrote a piece about Jonathan Mann and the Gala.
• March 25: Both the Jewish Tribune and the Suburban ran stories on Jonathan Mann returning to Bialik at the Gala. Thanks to Mike Cohen for those. Moreover, Julia Gerke from the Suburban wrote a piece summarizing her interview with drama guru Anisa Cameron.

Finally, in a nice example of Bialik graduates partnering up with other Bialik graduates, the March 17 edition of the Jewish Tribune featured an article written by 2003 alum Daniel Smajovits who reported on an event entitled “Free Speech, Hate Speech, and the New Anti-Semitism,” organized in large part by McGill law student Oliver Moore ’00.
You can read it online: http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php/200903171464/Matas-discusses-demonization-of-Israel-at-McGill.html

A Tough Safe to Crack

Bialik High School’s team of five budding physicists competed against some of the best young minds from the world over last month at the final round of the Weizmann Institute’s International Shalheveth Freier Physics Tournament at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. While they did not win any further prizes, all of us here at JPPS-Bialik were thoroughly impressed with their abilities.

Their victory in the Eastern Regional Canadian Semi-Finals, hosted by Weizmann Science Canada and held at Bialik, permitted them to travel to Israel to experience this thrill of a lifetime. Consul General of Israel Yoram Elron, who announced the winning team at the Bialik event, had this to say: “I have so much admiration for the work, creativity, and ingenuity displayed by the students. They give me such optimism for the future.”

The staff advisor to the winning Bialik team, Vice Principal Judy Stein, beamed following their initial victory in the Semi Finals. “It's been quite the process from the first brainstorming ideas for the physics back in November. I have marveled at your creativity, enthusiasm, and teamwork throughout the process. Next stop—Israel!”

The winning team of David Benrimoh, Chad Cohen, Samantha Creme, Madison Goldberger, Erica Shrier, coach and Bialik grad Shawn Bramson ’08, and teams from the competing schools (Hebrew Academy, Herzliah, St. George’s School of Montreal, West Island College, and the Study) were given a box and a lock mechanism and tasked to build a safe that operated on the principals of physics. The teams were allowed only 10 minutes per safe to figure out how to crack the lock. A panel of nine esteemed judges, including head judge Professor Vicky Kaspi, astrophysicist and 2006 winner of the prestigious Steacie Prize in the Natural Sciences, carefully analyzed all the entries and scored for their being pick-proof, as well as for aesthetics and originality.

Getting Married at 10? Only at the JPPS Purim Carnival

If one were to take a poll to inquire which day of the school year is the most fun, bet on Purim coming in first. On March 10, the JPPS gymnasium was transformed into a wonderland of sorts, otherwise known as the annual Purim Carnival. From trivia games to a marriage booth, there was certainly no shortage on excitement. As always, the Grade 6 classes were responsible for manning the different booths for the younger grades as a very nice example of JPPS school spirit.

JPPS Greening: A Parent Perspective

Mimi Mendelson is a parent on a mission—a green mission.

It all began last year when Mimi had an epiphany of sorts when she saw how many Hillroy notebooks get thrown away after only a page or two had been used. This stark example of wasteful environmental practices led to a meeting with Vice Principal Debra Michael (the spoon lady), which in turn led to radical transformation at JPPS that includes waste-free lunches and composting.

“We parents have grown up in the ‘easier and faster’ generation. What is needed now is to re-educate the parent body,” said Mimi, who believes that if the message is driven home enough times, the change will happen.

Mimi explained that JPPS-Bialik families may not be helping the environment even if they intend to recycle seemingly recyclable materials. What may not be known to many is that objects with the number 6 next to the recyclable logo end up directly in Montreal garbage dumps. This is due to the little known fact that our city’s recycling sorting stations do not have appropriate facilities to handle number 6 objects. To that end, Mimi convinced the frozen yogurt company TCBY to change their yogurt cups to a different, non-number 6 material.

Another small but important green-related change at JPPS this year is the adoption of a personal ID-like card for every child participating in the hot lunch program. In the past, different stickers were given to the children every lunch day to organize matters. Today, this twice-a-year card has the entire year’s menu on it, thus saving printing costs and actual garbage.

David Smajovits ‘00

Milestone Events for the Bialik Expansion Campaign

The excitement is building! Screams and cheers dominated the scene on March 26th as students inaugurated their new gymnasium, delivered as per plan as part of Bialik’s expansion. Mezuzot were appropriately installed. Principal Elaine Wisenthal-Milech spoke about school spirit, of which much was in evidence! Adam Shapiro and Albert Roditi spoke on behalf of the Student Council and expressed special thanks to Michael Eliesen and the rest of the Bialik Expansion Campaign Cabinet. Greeted by the student-designed Bialik Bulldog mascot, there was no doubt that it was a momentous occasion. Emerson Thomas ran inaugural games of basketball for both the senior and junior school, including girls versus boys; the new scoreboard got a workout and the GMAA Juvenile Touch Football 2008-2009 Championship banner won by Bialik was installed to a place of honour. Students left with photos of themselves taken with the mascot, a memento to cherish forever!

Not to miss are two important dates that are fast approaching: On April 1st the Concert Gala will be presenting Bialik Theatre’s Highlights of Beauty & the Beast. We will be inaugurating Bialik’s new state-of-the-art stage. On May 19th we will be inaugurating Bialik’s new Athletics & Performing Arts Complex as well as celebrating completion of Bialik’s expansion. At the latter, in the new Mitch Garber ’81 Hall of Honour, we will be unveiling the donor plaque recognizing everyone who has contributed to the campaign. Everyone is invited. This is the time to get in your pledge or donation in order that your name be included! Be sure to specify how you or your family would like to be recognized. Contact me at my coordinates below or Amy Finkelstein at 514-731-2944, ext. 263, or via email at: Amy.f@jppsbialik.ca.

We are also pleased to share with you that the Avi Chai Foundation in the States responded positively to our request for further support for Phase II of Bialik’s expansion by loaning us $500,000 (added to our $1 million loan for Phase I), also interest-free and in light of the current economic downturn, payment terms have been extended for all recipients of support, in Canada and in the US!

There is much to sing about, so please get on board and be part of the students’ success by participating in the Campaign!

Elizabeth Kennell, Director of Advancement
514-731-2944, ext. 220
Elizabeth.k@jppsbialik.ca