Synagogues made from shoe boxes and foam, family trees made from handprints and leaves,
marriage under the Chuppah, Challah made from clay, rolling the dice to walk through Israel, and interviews with Queen Isabella during the Inquisition, filled the hallways of Medway High School this past Sunday. Temple Etz Chaim of Franklin held their first Kefiyada Museum Expo, which displayed their Religious School students’ works. Hana Berman is in her second year as the Director of Education at Temple Etz Chaim and implemented the
Museum Expo this year to highlight the students’ project-based learning. Each class chose different subjects within Judaism and the students decided what projects would best illustrate what they valued within the subject area chosen.
The halls were filled with proud parents, joyous grandparents, supportive friends, curious students
observing their fellow peers and prospective members looking to see if Temple Etz Chaim was the right fit for their child’s Jewish Education. Each grade focused on a different topic from their curriculum: 7th graders wrote and acted out three skits about life cycle events, the 6th grade class chose individual research about the period of the Inquisition, 4th/5th grade students designed their
own synagogues after a semester long study, 3rd grade designed a human-sized board game about Israel, 1st/2nd graders designed family trees, and preK/K acted out a Shabbat dinner.
Parents were encouraged to write on a board offering congratulations to their children and peers, families planted seeds and brought them home to celebrate Tu B’shvat and all were able to do Tukkun Olam, the Jewish tradition of “repairing the world”, by dropping off donations for a local
charity, Project Just Because, in Hopkinton. Guests and students enjoyed delicious snacks, pastries and drinks. Each guest of the Museum was given a guidebook with questions, which could be answered throughout the displays. First grader, Molly Chartoff, was proud to have completed her entire guidebook. Kindergartener, Merrin T., said that presenting her Shabbat dinner was fun. “We’ve found a way to make learning fun for our students. The community support has been just
wonderful,” said Education Committee Co-Chair, Dawn Doucette-Kaplan.
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