Friday, May 18, 2012
  Search
 

Our Religious School

Minimize

Achduth Vesholom's Religious School offers comprehensive educational programming for children from preschool (age three years) through 12th grade. Our objectives include teaching our students Jewish values, traditions, history, heritage, and way of life. We want to create a meaningful Jewish experience for our children so that Judaism becomes a positive intellectual and emotional experience. We also want to strengthen and reinforce Jewish feelings, associations and fellowship. We utilize the URJ's CHAI Curriculum.

Basic Hebrew is part of the comprehensive religious school program. We use the URJ's Mitkadem Hebrew program through the URJ. Additional Hebrew classes are required for bar/bat mitzvah candidates. Confirmation marks an educational milestone for young people in the 10th grade. Post-confirmation classes are offered to students in grades 11 and 12.

A recent dimension that has proven particularly successful is our high school afternoon program. Students in public school grades 9 through 12 come together on Sunday for lunch and social time followed by study they find relevant to their lives as Jewish teens and young adults. The school's program of field trips, Confirmation class trips, intermediate and junior high school retreats, and teen trips to Israel has broadened our students' view of the Jewish world; as has our close association with Goldman Union Camp Institute (named for the late Myron S. Goldman, former Temple president).

Our 163-year tradition of meaningful Jewish education in Fort Wayne has been fostered by the hard work and dedication of teachers, rabbis and educators. Registration forms for the 2012-2013 school year will be available in August.

Please click here for Religious School Registrations forms.

 

 

  

Our Goals

Minimize

The Religious School at Congregation Achduth Vesholom seeks to provide an enriching learning experience that engenders a deeper, more purposeful appreciation of our students' spiritual heritage.

Our aims and objects:

  • To implant in our students and their families a feeling of belonging to the Jewish community.
  • To teach Jewish values, traditions, history and culture.
  • To create meaningful Jewish experiences for our children so that Judaism becomes a positive intellectual and emotional experience that brings pleasure, beauty and joy of life.
  • To strengthen and reinforce Jewish associations within the lives of our young people so that the TEMPLE and HOME become the centers for Jewish life and values.
  

Our 2011-2012 Teachers

Minimize

Zera/Pre-K/Kindergarten: Melissa Kessel

Grade 1: Heather Hefer

Grade 3: Leah Hadashi

Grades 4 & 5: Cookie Mastbaum

Grades 6, 7 & 8: Ellen Tom

High School (Grades 9-12): Various Guest Teachers

Madrachim: Adi Ben-Yehoshua, Rory Pomerantz, Jaclyn Sider, Laura Zweig

Librarian: Brooklyn Schreier

Hebrew Staff: Bruce Colegrove, Nili Ben-Yehoshua, Rabbi Javier Cattapan

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tutors: Nili Ben-Yehoshua, Pam Friedman, Chuck Replane, Bruce Colegrove, Iris Fuchs

  

Weather Cancellations

Minimize

Religious School: In the event of inclement weather, a calling tree will go out to all families, teachers and aides no later than 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Hebrew School: If Fort Wayne Community Schools are closed due to weather, then we will not have Hebrew School. If the weather gets bad later in the day on Tuesday, a calling tree will go out to all Hebrew School families and teachers no later than 4 p.m.

As always, please use your discretion regarding the weather. You and your family's health and safety are always the top priority.

  

Meet our Religious School Directors

Minimize
Bonnie Pomerantz, Director of Religious Education
            I grew up on Long Island, later obtaining my degree at SUNY Oneonta.  I met my husband, Lee, also a native Long Islander, while working in New York City.  After getting married, we moved to Northern California where four years later our oldest son, Rory, was born. Four years after that, we moved to Fort Wayne. We joined the Temple after the birth of our twin boys, Marc and Seth. I taught 3rd grade for six years, teaching our precious 8 year olds. I became the Director of Religious Education in 2007. 

Nili Ben-Yehoshua, director of Hebrew Education

            I was born and raised in Herzelia, Israel, a town north of Tel Aviv. At the age of 18, I joined the Israeli army (IDF) and served for three years in the Air Force. After my army service, I traveled abroad, eventually meeting my husband, Amir, in Australia and getting married later in Israel. We lived in Jerusalem while studying at Hebrew University and later moved to Be'er Tuvia, a moshav in southern Israel where Amir's family had lived since 1929.  I studied pharmacology at the university and worked as a pharmacist--later managing a pharmacy in Yavne--until we moved to the United States.  Lior and Adi, our older kids, were born in Israel and grew up on the family farm on the Moshav. Tal, our younger daughter, was born in Texas. We moved to Huntington, Indiana, in 2002 and immediately joined Congregation Achduth Vesholom. Soon after, I began teaching Hebrew at the religious school.  I received my Master of Business Administration from Indiana Tech in 2005, and became the Temple’s Director of Hebrew Education in 2007.
  

Tzedakah Program

Minimize

At Religious School, our children's weekly education includes the recognition of Jewish responsibility and helping others in need in the community. Weekly collections of Tzedakah taken in each classroom on Sunday morning give each child the opportunity to put this knowledge into action. Please encourage your child to share his or her good fortune by giving from his or her allowance. Funds will be allocated during the school year as students learn about places and people in need.

  

Religious School Registration

Minimize
Plan to register your child for another great year of Religious School. Check back in August for enrollment forms on our website and for information about Registration Day on Sunday, August 26. Please contact us at (260) 744-4245 for membership information or with questions about our school.
  

Family Education

Minimize

The goal of the Temple's Family Education program is to provide tools for integrating Jewish customs, observances and rituals into a student's home. Family education attempts to provide a level playing field for both parents and children in our school and give a basis for family celebrations of holidays and life-cycle events. Discussion revolving around faith issues and the role of Judaism in family life (both historically and with current relevance) will provide parents an opportunity to participate in various discussions without having to initiate them. Family Education Programs occur approximately 2-3 times per year in grades kindergarten through 8th grade.

  

Youth and Family

Minimize
  

Interfaith Family

Minimize
  
Copyright 2011-2012 Congregation Achduth Vesholom