Busy Summer for Buildings, Grounds There Wasn’T Much Downtime During the Summer of 2013 for Maimonides Director of Operations Mervin Alge
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קולaŠryz a`-fenz “רמבם a`-fenz-`לeל SUMMER 2013 bŠryz KOL RAMBAM Busy Summer for Buildings, Grounds There wasn’t much downtime during the summer of 2013 for Maimonides Director of Operations Mervin Alge. A wide range of projects, from construction and upgrades to acquisition, filled the July and August agenda and greeted students and teachers with an improved quality of life for 2013- 14. Most of the endeavors were financed by gifts from generous donors. The most visible undertaking was the de- molition and reconstruction of the south- east section of the Saval Campus perim- eter wall. The wall is about a century old, predating by decades the school’s opening in 1962. Mr. Alge said the section’s deterio- ration had become a safety issue. The replacement wall is concrete with a stucco finish, replicating the existing struc- Gabriel Herzlinger shows features of the Brener Building lunchroom to teacher aide Jeremy Arcus-Goldberg and fellow ture. “It took a lot of planning to make sure second grader Ephraim Fischer. All three are new to the school this year. we had the right design,” said Mr. Alge. ”It netting to keep sports equipment inside more attractive, and usable in all kinds of has been a lengthy process, because town the yard, Mr. Alge said. weather. The kids will love it,” Mr. Alge said. building officials have to sign off on it. But Other playground improvements include it should last another hundred years.” Also on Saval Campus this summer, the facilities staff overhauled the Upper School freshly painted outlines for recess games Behind that section of wall is the asphalt faculty lounge, replacing carpeting, win- and a more permanent arrangement for that has served as a play area since the dows, lighting, ceiling and millwork, and the basketball hoops. school was opened. The project included painting the walls. The adjacent classroom Interior work focused on the 4,000-square- was also fitted with new windows, lighting foot cafeteria/gymnasium, where Mai- and ceiling. “A drop ceiling means better monides parent Miriam Tropp Spear, an In This Issue: acoustics, better lighting and better climate architect, coordinated a visual upgrade. control,” Mr. Alge stressed. The staff also The room, which is home to everything New Teachers ........................2 upgraded carpeting and furnishings, and from lunch and physical education classes repainted, in the math and science office. to schoolwide programming, has a brand Graduation ............................3 A 14-foot electric screen and projector new look — and the change is dramatic. was installed in the shul, and a new divider “The whole idea was to brighten up the Alumnus Profile ....................4 curtain in Fox Gymnasium replaces the place, both acoustically and visually,” said deteriorating original. Mr. Alge. A team of volunteers designed Thinking Maps ......................5 Across the street, the Leonard F. Brener the patterns, and the multicolored design Building underwent its first significant -ex includes improved safety padding along Summer Science, Sports ........6 terior and interior changes since it opened the walls and new lighting. Audiovisual almost 16 years ago. improvements include a state-of-the-art Class Notes............................7 Synthetic turf was installed along more sound system that interfaces with projec- tion equipment. Acoustic tiling and a new News Briefs ...........................8 than 800 square feet of the asphalt play area. “This will make the play area safer, built-in screen complement the system. 1 faculty profile: Rabbi Dror and Mrs. Oranit Saadia Rabbi Dror and Oranit Saadia, with Amiad, Matanya and Ravid A couple with two decades of teaching experience principal in Elad, a position he said has been a high point in his career. and youth leadership in Israel and the U.S. are the Mrs. Saadia taught high school mathemat- ics in Israel for about nine years, and also new World Zionist Organization shlichim at helped new olim prepare to take the Israeli equivalent of the Scholastic Aptitude Tests. Maimonides School. She and Rabbi Saadia each hold advanced degrees from Bar Ilan University in educa- Rabbi Dror and Mrs. Oranit Saadia will be formal and informal education that they tional administration and Judaic studies. teachers, role models and ambassadors for are bringing to the community,” said Rabbi Israel in the school and the community. Mordechai Soskil, Middle and Upper School The Saadias have been schlichim before — Judaic Studies principal. at Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis “We feel it is a privilege to teach at Mai- for five years beginning in 2004. Mrs. Saadia monides School,” Rabbi Saadia said. “Even Mrs. Saadia grew up in Afula in Israel’s north, said she especially enjoyed teaching entirely in Israel we heard many good things about and she has fond memories of the beauty in Hebrew at the pre-Kindergarten-Grade 8 the school — the great professional staff, of the Emek Yizrael region. As a child she day school. “It brought me great joy to hear the high level of learning, and of course decided she wanted to be a teacher, and students talk, sing and play in Hebrew,” she the motivated students whose success at later served as a Bnei Akiva leader. After said. Her husband taught limudei kodesh Maimo opened a lot of opportunities in the high school she completed a year’s national and Hebrew and also was student activi- academic world.” service with Bnei Akiva in Gan Yavneh. ties director. They ran the NCSY branch in “A teacher has a lot of responsibilities,” Mrs. That’s where her husband grew up. He stud- Indianapolis and taught Torah classes in the Saadia added. “One is to be an excellent ied at nearby Yeshivat Hadarom in Rehovot, community. educator who teaches professionally. An- and in 1988 began learning at a Hesder “It’s important for us to play a significant other is to recognize the students’ personali- Yeshiva, Or Tzion. His years included Army role in the community here, and to contrib- ties. A teacher has to be a role model and to service with the Givati Brigade. The couple ute as much as we can, with love and care,” build personal connections with her pupils. was married in 1994. They have three chil- said Rabbi Saadia. “We also want to give our During the course of all my teaching years I dren: Amiad, 18; Matanya, 14; and Ravid, 10. students a taste of Israel, the beauty and the have tried to see the students through their The family resided in Chashmonaim, a reli- importance of this land to our nation.” eyes and to bring them forward academi- gious Zionist community midway between cally and socially.” Jerusalem and Tel Aviv (and home to four “We wish everyone a shanah tovah, a year in Maimonides graduates). which all the wishes in your heart will come Rabbi Saadia will teach limudei kodesh in true,” Mrs. Saadia said. “We want to take this the Middle and Upper Schools, while Mrs. Rabbi Saadia also was a local Bnei Akiva opportunity to thank everyone for helping Saadia will teach Judaic Studies and Hebrew coordinator before starting a nine-year us in our first steps here. We really appreci- in Grade 4. “We are very excited about the period as principal of a girls’ school in 1997. ate it and feel lucky to live and work in this wealth of experience and the passion for In recent years he has served as a school wonderful school and community.” 2 Class of 2013 Joins Alumni Ranks Fifty-three members of the Maimonides we have always risen to the occasion,” Elisha Galler, Akiva Gebler, Joshua Girard, School Class of 2013 culminated their she declared. “Perhaps more important Simcha Goldish, Yael Hamer, Tara Hanau, high school careers on Sunday, June than what we have accomplished in each Jacob Henry and Bracha Hirsch. 16, accepting diplomas at the school’s of these separate worlds is what we’ve Also, Elisha Jacobs, Alexander Kahan, 61st commencement ceremonies in Fox accomplished by integrating the two,” Samuel Koralnik, Adam Kramer, Miriam Gymnasium. The two student speakers including both skills and values. Kramer, Robert Naggar, Benjamin Offen, each used a favorite extracurricular activity Three other seniors — Jason Avigan, Yoni Daniel Ofman, Natan Pomper, Lior as a context for addressing the assembly. Schoenberg and Etai Shuchatowitz — Ramati, Miriam Renz, Joshua Rosenbaum, Moshe Beiser, class valedictorian, chose were recognized for academic excellence Yosef Rumshiskiy, Daniella Sassieni, Avi to use his participation and interest and read excerpts from writings of the Schechter, Shlomit Schechter, Kayla Seigel, in athletics as a metaphor. He lauded Rambam. Mikhael Smits, Shoshana Stitcher, Kaigen his teammates (classmates), coaches In his opening remarks to the seniors, Talerico, Shoshana Traum, Lev Tsisin, Ariana and trainers (teachers) and league Judaic Studies Principal Rabbi Mordechai Turk, Arianna Unger, Yosef Vaitsblit and commissioners (principals). Soskil read an excerpt from Halakhic Mollie Wald. The actual “game” is school, and “the Man, one of the best-known books by the Members of the class celebrated their experience can be exhilarating and founder of Maimonides School, Rabbi Dr. accomplishments, values and character tension-filled, but it can also be a major Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt”l. on June 13 at the penultimate event of struggle,” the translation of his Hebrew The theme in the selection was that the their Maimonides School careers: Senior valedictory said. “To stand on the field or beauty of the world can be transformed Recognition Night. court and compete is a great feeling. We into a “holy living phenomenon,” but Each senior basked in his or her own measure success not by how many more such a high level of appreciation requires spotlight, with thoughtful and witty points we scored than the other team, but continuing Torah study.