S’TAV 5777/5778 * FALL 2017 THE HEILICHER MAGAZINE A PUBLICATION OF THE AMOS & CELIA HEILICHER MINNEAPOLIS JEWISH DAY SCHOOL Full STEAM Ahead Inquiry-Based Learning Takes Of Community Rallies to Revitalize Campus Library Helen Siegel Honored Enduring Values • Extraordinary Education Dear Heilicher School Families & Friends, his promises to be an extraordinary year at Heilicher as we make strides implementing our Heilicher ‘20 strategic plan. Earlier this month, we were proud to announce a generous $9 million grant over ten years from the Lynne & Andrew Redleaf Foundation to support this strategic work, which Tincludes building our endowment and improving financial accessibility for families. Look for more information about this tremendous gift later this fall. Looking ahead, we are thrilled to be entering a partnership with Mechon Hadar, a national organization that will help us adopt cutting-edge standards for fluency in From the Jewish text and practice. We’ll see the curriculum infused with new energy as we continue to integrate Limudei Kodesh (Judaic Studies) and Hebrew with General Studies, art, music, technology, and PE. Head of Our cover story on STEAM will give you a taste of the inquiry-based and cross- disciplinary learning approach that will permeate our coursework. And you can School read about the movers and shakers behind the revitalization of the Stephen and Sheila Lieberman, Children and Grandchildren Library. As you’ll see in photos throughout this magazine, our students, faculty, and community of supporters are energetically engaged in learning, doing, and growing. Our alumni continue to amaze us, including Hannah Borowsky (‘05), a scientist and future doctor, who is ready to take on the world. I think Alex, class of 2017, said it best in his graduation essay: During my nine years here I have learned a lot - not only the essentials to go to high school, but about our people and our past: Mishnah, Torah, Te Holocaust, and many other important things. I am proud to graduate from this school knowing that I have a great foundation…I have been taught to be a leader, to be a friend, to be a student, and a self-advocate. I have also learned to have a fun time. Could we ask for more? We are excited for another outstanding year at Heilicher. B’shalom, Yoni Binus, Head of School SAVE THE DATE 2018 Heilicher Annual Benefit Thursday, March 15, 2018 Honoring Suzanne Fenton and Dan Lieberman Cover photo: Julia S., Heilicher 2017 graduate. Honorees pictured with their children. 2 Cover Story Full STEAM Ahead HEILICHER INTRODUCES INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM STEAM has arrived at Heilicher. STEAM • Redefinition of failure to help “We look forward to exploring how we (an acronym for the disciplines of students understand that a “fail” can expand our inquiry-based approach, science, technology, engineering, arts, is an amazing (and sometimes the especially as we look to deepen the and mathematics) refers to more than best) opportunity to learn deeply. integration of Limudei Kodesh and just mastery of these particular subjects. Hebrew with General Studies as well as Also known as inquiry-based learning, STEAM AT HEILICHER art, music, and PE.” STEAM pedagogy uses a student’s Implementing STEAM pedagogy at (Read reflections on this by Limudei innate curiosity and questions as the Heilicher is a major component of Kodesh Teacher Rabbi Jefrey Schein, starting point for learning. Heilicher ’20, the school’s strategic Ph.D., on page 5.) action plan through the year 2020. “We see this as the best way we can SO WHAT IS STEAM WHAT’S AHEAD PEDAGOGY IN A NUTSHELL? prepare students for their futures,” says Yoni Binus, Head of School. Trough Teachers are enthused about their STEAM disciplines emphasize certain STEAM training and the potential practices or “habits of mind.” At their inquiry-based learning, students will have meaningful, rich, hands-on for STEAM to enhance student most basic level, some of these include: engagement. “STEAM is opening up • asking productive questions; experiences that will help them develop skills to direct their inquiries, tackle new way of approaching the content in • making careful observations; my curriculum,” says academic council • developing and articulating hard subjects, and stay engaged in lifelong learning. coordinator and fifth-grade teacher predictions and explanations; and Trish Mintz. “It’s powerful to give • testing ideas through action. “Actually, STEAM concepts have students the chance to make their own already been in play at Heilicher in discoveries through guided trial and many curricular areas,” says Maia POWERFUL STEAM error. Tis way, students come to know Poling, General Studies Director. “Now that with hard work and perseverance ENVIRONMENTS USUALLY we are taking it to the next level with INCLUDE: they can overcome whatever obstacles extensive faculty training to ensure that they encounter. Tis is going to be an • Opportunities for students to form inquiry-based learning is applied in exciting year.” STEAM habits (outlined above) in every discipline as our central teaching a cross-disciplinary way to solve philosophy. (See examples of STEAM “Te implementation of STEAM across problems connected to the real concepts in action on pages 4 and 5.) Heilicher will be an evolution,” explains world (for example, using art, math, Maia. “Te faculty will spend quality science, and engineering skills to time reflecting with peers and students design a bird feeding station that THE JEWISH CONNECTION about their experiences with STEAM students can observe to study birds). So how does STEAM relate to Limudei activities. As a scientific approach • Platforms for students to articulate, Kodesh (Jewish Studies) and Hebrew would dictate, this process will be well demonstrate, or otherwise share at Heilicher? “Some could say that evaluated and evolve over time.” Stay their work through projects, Limudei Kodesh is one of the oldest and tuned to the latest developments on the demonstrations, and presentations. most enduring inquiry-based endeavors Heilicher Full STEAM Ahead blog at • Emphasis on collaborative and on the planet,” points out Etan Weiss, www.hmjds.org in the News section of creative work with their peers. Jewish Life and and Hebrew Director. our website. Tis article is adapted from the writings of Patty Born-Selly, Faculty Program Coordinator, Master of Arts in Education: Natural Science and Environmental Education Program and Assistant Professor at Hamline University. Patty is a STEAM consultant and trainer at Heilicher as the school adopts this pedagogy across the curriculum. Trough the support of John and Michelle Kuhl, Ted Wittcof, and Te Moscoe Group, Heilicher was able to support a STEAM consultancy and professional development for teachers to establish and grow the school’s work in inquiry-based education. Te Kuhl and Wittcof families have also generously established the Dorothy and Harold Wittcof Fund for Patty Born-Selly Science Education to support important eforts in this area. hmjds.org | 3 What Does STEAM Look Like at Heilicher? Heilicher students already participate in inquiry-based projects in many curricular areas. In the future, they will have even more opportunities to learn how to ask good questions and experiment to make discoveries in all subjects. Here are just a few examples of how Heilicher has begun to implement the STEAM approach. Last year, Heilicher launched an after-school Students participated in the Gardening robotics program through Level Up Robotics. elective through the Wellness Students in grades 3-8 had the opportunity Wednesday program. Heilicher to experiment with building and rebuilding partnered with local nonprofit SLP robots to perform various tasks. The program Seeds to teach students about will expand to include grades K-2 this year. gardening, sustainability, and food justice and to begin the process of planting a community garden. Fifth graders practiced engineering by building Rube Goldberg Machines, which are deliberately complex contraptions designed to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally Fourth graders are using an interactive including a chain reaction. curriculum called Social Studies Alive, Students invented unique ways which presents the five regions of to pop a balloon. Students the United States through the lens applied STEAM methods to The Tallit Project allows sixth graders to study of four social sciences — economics, develop hypotheses and test their B’nai Mitzvah Torah portion or a piece geography, political science, and them using their knowledge of of text that is important to them and create a history. An online component enables physics and engineering. unique piece of Judaic artwork based on their students to take virtual “tours” of studies. Students spend time in Art, Limudei all five regions, while engaging in Kodesh (Jewish Studies), and Hebrew working to activities (such as participating in an complete this project, and then share it with their assembly line to learn about mass parents during a special service and presentation. production) to make discoveries. Pictured are Ann Kaner-Roth and Marc Roth with Some topics studied are: How has their daughter, Isa. farming changed in the Midwest over time? How has geography helped shape daily life in the Southeast? What are the features that have drawn people to the West? 4 Reflections on Inquiry-Based Learning in Judaism Susan Vlodaver’s first-grade class culminated their study of motion by designing and building their own sleds. The challenge was to “build a stable sled that goes the farthest.” They applied their knowledge of friction, gravity, weight, and other concepts from their science unit, and then tested each sled on a snowy hill. Students worked together to rethink and rebuild the sleds based on their new learning. INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING HAS BEEN ALIVE AND WELL IN JUDAISM FOR MILLENNIA. CONSIDER THIS STORY: In the Talmud Yerushalmi, a group of the students of Rabbi Yohanan spy a colleague, Rabbi Abbahu, from a distance.