September Newsletter (2009)

Message from the President of JPPS-Bialik

The first newsletter for 2009-2010 is being published to coincide with our JPPS-Bialik Annual General Meeting, at which we will be paying special tribute to the late Nachum Wilchesky Z”L. Mr. Wilchesky was Director of Education Emeritus, after having devoted more than 60 years to JPPS-Bialik, where he played an inspirational role for faculty, administrators, lay leaders, parents, and of course, the students. His passing is a huge loss to our community, and as we grieve with his family, we also move ahead with the strength of knowing that he laid a solid foundation from which we can forge ahead with confidence. A newly mandated Head of School, Laurence Fhima; a new administrative team for Bialik under the direction of Andrew Trager as acting principal; growing enrolment at JPPS; and a new model for our board structure are all crucial steps in the process of pursuing a path of continuing improvement for JPPS-Bialik. Exciting times for sure for the school. Rest assured that we will keep you informed, particularly about the changes we will be proposing for a new governance structure over the next few months in keeping with best practices adopted at private schools throughout North America.

Among the important changes afoot are those that have been brought to the Annual Giving Campaign. Co-chairs Lisa Slawner ’85 and Larry Zoltak ’76 have been joined by numerous committee members representing different constituencies such as the alumni, parents, grandparents, and staff. If you haven’t yet heard from them inviting your participation in the campaign (when the letter goes out on November 26th), then you most certainly will. Please give this appeal your due consideration, because we are counting on your support. Ongoing facility and program enhancements that, frankly put, we all want for our children and the staff are simply not covered by our tuition dollars and government subsidies and so can only happen with contributions, however modest, from ALL of our stakeholders. These annual giving contributions will and do make a lasting difference and will enable us to establish and sustain enriching initiatives that drive excellence and Jewish community values such as continuing to offer free extended day for JPPS students, pursuing JPPS’s pilot athletics project (BEAP), acquiring more SMARTBoards and other technology, and organizing shabbatonim. This support also ultimately means keeping our tuition fees competitive and keeping increases to a minimum, as many of our families are suffering or remain anxious in this period of economic uncertainty. We want to ensure that JPPS-Bialik remains accessible to as many Jewish families as possible, regardless of their financial means, and preserves this socio-economic diversity that we all cherish.

Shana Tova!

Arnold Cohen ‘82

Message from the Head of School

H1N1 is may be on our minds, but rest assured that the school has taken precautions, including the installation of hand sanitizers, to help us stave off this flu as much as possible. We distributed on FirstClass the Quebec government guidelines, as per the attached document. They include encouraging hand washing and recognizing symptoms. We have also received the advice of Dr. Michael Libman, who chairs our Health Committee. He came to speak to the JPPS staff and to address any concerns they had. Please do not hesitate to contact the nurses if you have any concerns.

I want you to also know that much work is underway with regard to our review of LEAP, Section Française, and the Judaic Studies program at Bialik. Many hours are being spent on collecting data, evaluation, and ensuring that we respect Quebec government requirements as well as identifying mission-appropriate models. We ask for your patience and understanding during this period, and naturally, should you feel your input would be valuable, please do not hesitate to send me an email at laurence.f@jppsbialik.ca. You may be assured that all our efforts are being directed towards ensuring that your children are the beneficiaries of any and all modifications.

Laurence Fhima

Message from the Principal and Educational Director, JPPS

Working together, shaping the youth of today into the leaders of tomorrow.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to both our new and returning students and families. The new school year began with 450 students in 24 classrooms, from Junior Pre-k to Grade 6. You can imagine the joyful sounds during all recess and lunch hours!

Your children are amazing! In just a few short weeks, they have adjusted to their classroom routines, happily working and sharing purposeful conversations with one another. This sharing is an important step to student achievement.

For the past two weeks, classroom teachers have been practicing the routines introduced at our grade level assemblies, and our Cycle 3 students now gladly assist the younger and newer additions to the school.

We are looking forward to a year in which all of our students will experience much success. In partnership with you, we are committed to providing a SAFE and SECURE environment, which will enable all of our students to grow intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically and culturally.

Our staff is determined to help all students feel comfortable and show them that they care about them as individuals. Everyone at JPPS has the responsibility of showing RESPECT for one another as well as themselves, through words as well as actions.

I hope that all of our students are looking forward to this coming school year and that each student will do his or her best to get the most out of each and every school day. We invite all parents to work closely with us throughout the year. A positive partnership between home and school is very important for the success of our students. Remember, you are your child’s first teacher and you know him or her better than anyone. Do not hesitate to share what you know with your child’s teachers. COMMUNICATION is very important in our partnership. We are a family here, and each and every member of this family can make a difference in the lives of our students.

Thank you for sharing your children with us! We are looking forward to a busy and exciting school year.

Students and staff, have a great school year!

Adina Matas

Message from JPPS Home and School

The 2009 school year has started very well! Most parents purchased their children’s school books and hot lunches BEFORE the summer so that their orders were all ready for them on the first days of school. The book pick up went very smoothly and quickly, and hot lunches are already being served on a very regular basis. In our ongoing efforts to “GO GREEN,” we would like to remind all parents to send cutlery in your children’s lunchboxes, for none will be provided by the school.

This year, the school calendar looks beautiful! The months are decorated with class pictures and birthday wishes. As a fundraiser, at the end of last year, parents had the option to purchase a birthday wish for their children and have them printed on the calendar.

Throughout the month of September, Home and School is also trying to more actively sell Entertainment books. A book went home with each child in the school. Parents had the option to either purchase the book or return it to the school. Home and School is hopeful that this will be a successful fundraiser.

In celebration of Rosh Hashanah, children were asked to bring an apple into school and were provided honey by Home and School. Also, for Succot, all students will go to the sukkah in the school yard, and Home and School will provide them with grape juice and honey cake.

This year, as part of our book sale/hot lunch forms, Home and School offered parents the opportunity to take part in our tikkun olam program—and we are very happy to say that our parents donated over $2000.00!! This money is being used specifically to provide hot lunches and books for families who cannot afford them. We would like to thank everyone who helped make our tikkun olam initiative so successful. Lastly, JPPS Home and School Association would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year! Shana Tova!

Mimi Bercovitch '82

Marnie Mitnick Cohen JPPS '78

JPPS-Bialik in the News

Since last June’s newsletter, JPPS-Bialik has been in the news thanks to a very heartwarming Canadian Jewish News article about our beloved Nachum Wilchesky Z”L (July 9). The CJN also ran a wonderful piece on the JPPS math program (August 20), while both the West End Times and the CJN printed an article on Bialik’s new traffic regulations following a meeting between Bialik and Côte Saint-Luc District 2 city councillor Mike Cohen.

With the Suburban’s new student sports reporter program, we hope to have much more JPPS-Bialik sports coverage in the near future.

Glenn Nashen: Cote Saint-Luc’s Super Man and Bialik Alumnus of the Month for September 2009

If you reside in “the Luc” (Cote Saint-Luc), chances are that the September Bialik alumnus of the month and longtime city councillor (first elected in 1990), Glenn Nashen ’79, does not represent a foreign name. Come to think of it, due to his lifetime of involvement in the Montreal Jewish community and a myriad of other volunteering ventures, Glenn Nashen is likely a recognizable name regardless of where you live. When he is not attending meetings pertaining to Agence Ometz, (where he serves on the board of directors), volunteering his time to Cote Saint-Luc’s Emergency Medical Services (2009 marks his 30th year), or VCOP (Cote Saint-Luc’s own volunteer security service that he founded), he is proud to be the director of Public Affairs and Communications for the Jewish General Hospital. Mr. Nashen credits his own personal mission of practicing tikkun olam to his days at JPS and Bialik

“I wanted to help people who could not help themselves. That really is the spirit of tikkun olam. I didn’t learn that from anywhere other than my parents and from Bialik.” Mr. Nashen also deems that part of the foundation for his lifetime of leadership and public service was laid during the intense efforts to release Jewish political dissident Anatoly Sharansky and others from Russian prisons during the Refusnik movement time period. JPPS-Bialik as an organization was in the forefront of those efforts, as was our September honouree.

“Bialik was a magnificent stepping stone for me to get smarter and smarter. It created a real sense of leadership.” Throughout his time in the school, Glenn held the school newspaper editorship, as well being responsible for creating the first Bialik graduates society after a request from the late, great Nachum Wilchesky Z”L.

It is quite apparent that Glenn Nashen is both a Bialik and a Cote Saint-Luc success story, but this veteran legislator and public relations expert impeccably carries out both responsibilities despite that fact that he did not attend law school, nor does he have a formal degree in communications. In actuality, Mr. Nashen graduated McGill University with a degree in Industrial Relations. He explained to me that, while he had always recognized that his true calling and passion was public service, his life’s journey, thus far, could not have been foreseen way back in high school. To that end, Mr. Nashen advises that young people ought to “stick their toes in many different areas, even if the waters may seem a bit cold.”

As a current JPPS parent who credits his own parents for the sacrifices they bore to be able send him to JPPS and Bialik, Mr. Nashen closed by saying, “They could not have made a better decision for me than what they chose, and I could not have made a better decision than to send my children here. My hope is that it (JPPS-Bialik) will do the same for my children as it did for me. The people are different, but the neshama (soul) is still there.”

This Isn’t Your Grandparents’ School

Wilensky’s hot sandwiches? Field trips to shofar factories? Visits and demonstrations by Mad Science? This really isn’t your grandparents’ JPPS anymore. It is quite sufficient to say that JPPS has gotten off to an incredibly fun start to the year. But you certainly don’t have to take my word for it, just ask Grade 1 student Jillian Goldenberg (pictured with a shofar) her opinion!

NECC Conference

Over this past summer, JPPS-Bialik Director of IT Brenda Fayerman, JPPS Vice-principal Debra Michael, JPPS French Coordinator Alexandra Dernis, Bialik teacher Marcy Stein, and fellow Bialik teacher Etti Kimchi, all attended the National Educational Computing Conference in Washington DC. According to Brenda Fayerman, “This was the first year that a Judaic Studies staff person attended NECC, which was a testament to the fact that we want to include Judaic Studies in our technology program.” The conference was attended by over 18,000 people. If you ever wonder how JPPS-Bialik constantly stays at the forefront of the technology world, attending conferences such as this certainly doesn’t hurt.

Lara Berliner May Change the World

JPPS-Bialik is extremely proud of 2009 graduate Lara Berliner for being accepted into the United World Colleges. The United World Colleges are a group of 13 international schools that hand-pick the very best and brightest pre-university students who have demonstrated an unyielding disposition towards social action, or what we like to advocate here, tikkun olam. The Colleges promote understanding between different nations through education and through interaction between young people from different countries living and working together. We wish her the very best of luck in her exciting endeavours at school in Victoria, BC!

Nachum Wilchesky

JPPS-Bialik would like to thank the people at CFMB for their tribute to our late and great leader Nachum Wilchesky Z”L, who was also responsible for producing a weekly Jewish radio program for many years.

Charity Poker Tournament Organized by Bob Nathan

Former Bialik staff member Bob Nathan lost a friend of his to a rare form of cancer called sarcoma. To that end, Mr. Nathan, in conjunction with the Montreal General Hospital, is organizing a poker tournament on October 17 at the Côte Saint-Luc Recreation Centre to raise awareness of and funds towards research into this disease. If you like poker, there’s no better way to get your fix while helping out a good cause. For more information, or to register, please contact Bob Nathan at 514-624-0601 or by email at bnathan@videotron.ca.

Date: October 17, 2009

Place:
Cote Saint-Luc Recreation Center
7500 Mackle Rd.
Cote Saint-Luc, Quebec

Time:
6:00 PM: Dinner
7:00 PM: Poker Begins

Entry Fee:
$150.00 in advance
$200.00 at the door

Tikkun Olam—Oliver Mayers in Hawaii

This summer I volunteered on a community service program in Hawaii. There were three main parts to this program. The first was working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui and Honolulu. This international organization helps keep kids from low income backgrounds and abusive homes off of the streets. At the Boys & Girls Club we engaged in various programs in literacy, sports, and music to increase the kids' self-esteem.

The second part of our trip consisted of working for Habitat for Humanity to help build a house for an underprivileged Hawaiian family. Through this experience I learned a lot about the concept of "paying it forward" and the notion that when given so much, it is imperative that we give back to the world in some way or another.

Finally, the third part of my volunteer work involved working at the Maui Nature Center. There I helped to preserve the rainforest by eradicating invasive species of plants from otherwise "healthy" areas of the forest. This program taught me a lot about the world we live in, and how just a bunch of 16-year-old kids can really make a difference in only 25 days.

Oliver Mayers

Simchas

Below is a list of simchas that I have managed to compile over the summertime. Please do not hesitate to inform me of other simchas that have been overlooked. Drop me a line at david.s@jppsbialik.ca

• Jen Vineberg '99 & Jeremy Carson had a son, Noah Sean, on June 5, 2009.
• Lauren Cracower '96 and Chris Manitt had a daughter, Hannah Dylan, on March 8, 2009.
• Adrienne Rosenhek '96 and Efrem Berman had a daughter, Cassandra (Cassie) Nelly, on March 31, 2009.
• Michelle Rosenhek '99 and Gideon Zelermyer had a son, Max Samuel, on September 23, 2008.
• Say Kerner and Avi Steinberg '95 had a daughter, Kate Lily, on April 25, 2009.
• Shannah Star ‘95 and husband had a son, Samuel, on Sept 24, 2008.
• Tammy Nemes ’96 and Adam Saskin ‘96 had a daughter, Zoe, born Oct 3, 2008.
• Andrea Barmish '96 was due to get married this summer.
• Brenda Segal's son, Harvey, married Taryn Weinstock in August 2009.
• Glenn Nashen and his wife, Dr. Judy Hagshi, welcomed their first son, Jeremy Daniel, on May 21, 2009.

Donor Listing

The following individuals and organizations have made donations to JPPS-Bialik from June 6, 2009, to September 23, 2009. These donors will also be included in a year-end listing according to their level of giving in the JPPS-Bialik annual report. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has helped facilitate JPPS-Bialik's role in nurturing Jewish identity and culture while continually pursuing cutting-edge competitiveness marked by academic rigour and excellence.

• 3070352 Canada Inc.
• Karen Abells
• Marc Abitbol
• Henry and Natalie Abrith
• Phil and Rose Adesky
• AGF Funds Inc.
• Almo-Dante Mfg. Co.
• Amalgamated Textiles
• Phyllis Amber
• Anonymous
• Aquila Textiles
• Nina Baker
• Raymond and Shelley Benhaim
• Jack and Ray Beraznik
• Faygie Bercovitch '80
• Reva Bercovitch
• Anne Biringer
• Rachelle Blaichman
• Casper Bloom
• Arthur and Corinne Blumer
• Rhoda Bobrove
• Irwin and Freda Browns
• Harold and Natalie Brownstein
• Janis Brownstein
• Julie Brownstein
• Joe and Paula Bultz
• Eileen and Isaac Burbela
• Mrs. Karen Byer
• Harold Cadloff
• Canadian Friends of Jewish Community of Greater Stowe
• Jeff and Susan Candib
• Jim and Denise Carson
• Sol and Marcia Cartman
• Jason B. Chrein and Family
• Larry and Edna Cohen
• Leonard Cohen
• Linda and Earl Cohen
• Phyllis Cohos
• Lynn Collin
• Consolidated Investors Limited
• Leon and Eleanor Copnick
• Crescent Commercial Corporation
• Brian Cytrynbaum
• Eileen Devine
• Heddy Ebedes
• Stuart Eiley
• Ruth Eliasoph
• Barbara and Joel Engel
• Marvin and Anette Epstein
• Malka Ettinger
• Evergreen Personnel
• Rosalie Feigenbaum
• Harry Feldman
• Leonard Feldman
• Sylvia Finesilver
• Rosa Finestone
• Kenneth Finkel
• Lianne and Matt Finkelstein
• Michael Fish '80
• Dr. and Mrs. Rowan Fish
• Antony and Brenda Flanz
• Usher Fleising
• Sheryl Freder Fagen
• Jerry Freidman
• Shoshana Frucht
• Abraham Fuks
• Ken and Sharon Fuller
• John and Wendy Galambos
• Simon Gameroff
• David Gameroff
• Marcia Gans
• Ode Garfinkle
• Alfons and Sari Geenen
• Dora Gladstone
• Jamie Gladstone
• Edward Glassman and Lise Hendlisz
• Irving Gold
• Lorne and Jacqueline Gold
• Mr. Allan Goldenberg JPPS '56
• Mark and Marla Goldenberg
• Israel Goldstein
• Mervyn and Rena Gornitsky
• Greene Avenue Clinic Inc.
• Lorne and Iris Greenspoon
• Mrs. Miriam Gross JPPS '53
• Mr. and Mrs. George Grostern
• Leslie and Sharon Groszman
• Mary Grotell
• Renee Gordon and Abie Grunspan
• Mr. and Mrs. Victor Guindi
• Nahum and Regina Halpern
• Hartford Investments
• Moshe and Tamar Helman
• Miriam Herszkopf
• Marlene Itzkowitz
• Paul and Lily Ivanier
• J. Slawner Ltd.
• Carrie Stacey and Steven Jast
• Mr. David Joseph and Mrs. Annette Wolfstein
• Robert and Nina Josephson
• Mr. Denny Josepovici and Mrs. Ronit Ziegler
• Ian and Katherine Kacer
• Dr. Amnon Kahn
• Henry and Leadrice Kaplan
• Sary and Earl Karanofsky
• Ethel Kesler
• Stanley and Susan Kitman
• Diana Kochman
• Willie and Tilla Kofman and Judy and Willie Rostoker
• Eli and Sandy Kogut
• Freda Kopelman
• Guenter and Bertha Krebs
• Lorne and Bonnie Kronish
• Beatrice Krupp
• Eva Kuper
• Cecil and Reva Labow
• Lady Sandra of Canada
• Caroline and Steve Lake
• Perry and Yetta Lande
• Mr. Shane Landsman Mrs. Cindy Schneider
• Dr. Adrian Langleben '00 and Dr. Ruth Horn
• Aviv and Cynthia Laor
• Mr. Lazar Lapidus
• Elliot and Hannah Levine
• Marty and Paula Levitt
• Chaia Libstug
• Glennie Lindenberg
• Elaine Lithwick
• Harvey and Yvonne Lithwick
• Sam and Angela Litman
• Lydia and Larry Long
• Marsha and Michael Lustigman
• Magna Vista Investment Management
• Gerry and Susan Maldoff
• Alan Marmor
• Alexander and Eunice Mayers
• Phillip Mayman
• Benjamin and Shirley Meltzer
• Rina Michaeli
• Dean Michaels
• Beverly Miller
• Dr. Sydney and Susan Miller
• Mr. and Mrs. Michel Moatti
• Mona Nadel
• George and Phyllis Nashen
• Nelmar Security Packaging Systems Inc
• Martin and Cheryl Novack
• Miriam Novick
• Betty Nowa
• Olymbec Group of Companies
• Ellyn Organ
• Orna Hilberger, Attorney
• Avery and Évelyne Palevsky
• Laurence Paperman
• Park Cemetery Maintenance
• David Pearl
• Leon Perez
• Ryna Pinsky
• Jack and Miriam Pleet
• Joseph Pleet '92
• David and Sylvia Ptak
• Gail Rabinovitch '79
• Mildred Ram
• Lina Marx, Marilyn Rappaport and Richard Rochester
• Stephen and Wendy Rapps
• Mr. Ernest Rashkovan JPPS '49
• Dorothy Rebner Mikelberg
• Dr. Stan Reich
• Hy and Sandra Reinish
• Bonnie Roiter
• Rabbi Daniel Rosenberg
• Robert and Audrey Rosenfeld
• Karen Rosenstein
• Jack Rosenthal
• Michael Rosenthal
• Lana Rosenwald JPPS '53
• Esther Rotenberg
• Cheryl Rutenberg
• Steven and Deborah Salpeter
• Lillian Satenstein
• Edward Schachter
• Joe and Fay Schaffer
• Saul and Stephanie Schipper
• Mrs. Cindy Schneider
• David and Lisa Schneider
• David Schreiner
• Judy Schure
• Sarah Schwartzberg
• Mrs. Shirley Sebastien
• Jay S. Sederoff
• Eileen Ramos Segal and Joel Segal '80
• Chaze and Shifra Segal
• Audrey Seltzer
• Ellen Shanfield
• Barry and Monica Shapiro
• Annette and Michael Shevell
• Moishe Shiveck and Family
• Joseph and Isabel Shuster
• Robert Sigler
• Jeff and Risa Silver
• SLF Mangement Limited Partnership
• Lainie Smajovits
• Pauline Sohmer
• Andrew Mielewczyk and Anne-Marie Stanczykowski and the Staff of CFMB Montreal
• St-Viateur Bagel
• State Of Israel Bond Organization
• Danny Steinberg '83
• Murray Steinberg
• Steven and Gloria Steinberg
• Dan and Reesa Sterlin
• Richard Stern
• Stanley and Judy Sternthal
• Bobby Stoller and Alyssa Yufe
• Cathie Stone
• Marina Strauss
• Jeffrey and Sharron Sugarman
• Marilyn Takefman
• Brian Tannenbaum and Rona Shaffran
• Hody Lyon Tannenbaum
• Percy and Bracha Tannenbaum
• Connie Taras-Gold
• Sara and Irwin Tauben
• Rachel Teicher
• The Kisber Family
• The Leonard and Alice Cohen Family Foundation
• The Mireille and Murray Steinberg Family Foundation
• Charles and Susan Ticker
• Syd and Roslyn Ticker
• Neri Tischler
• Transtate Logistics Inc
• Paula Trossman
• Luc Trudel
• Joan Tucker '80
• Susan Ungar
• V.I.S. Versatile Intermarket Solutions Inc.
• Mr. and Mrs. Howard Vineberg
• Manny and Debby Vineberg
• Linda Waserman
• Gary Wechsler
• Dr. Ted Wein
• Sue Weinstein
• Sylvia Wenger
• Benjamin Wiernik and Dounia Tiprus
• Lynn Wintraub
• Nicole and Martin Wirtschafter
• Linda Spector and Howard Wiseman '80
• Dr. Lorne Wiseman
• Lawrence Yanofsky
• Neil Yarrow
• Joyce Yudkovitch
• Alan and Barbara Zavalkoff
• Dr. Michael Zigman
• Bob Zipursky and Debbie Katzman
• Gerti Zlatkin
• Mitchell and Terry Zlotnick
• Stuart and Joanne Zuckerman