Kehillah High
8th Grade
2021-2022
Wednesday evenings:
7:00 - 7:25 p.m. Dinner
7:30 - 8:15 p.m. Session A
8:15 - 8:20 p.m. Break
8:20 - 9:00 p.m. Session B
7:30 - 8:15 p.m. Session A
8:15 - 8:20 p.m. Break
8:20 - 9:00 p.m. Session B
Session A: 7:25 - 8:15 p.m.
Each student may choose one class in Session A. They will take all three classes by the end of the year.
OPTION 1:
Values in Action – Katelyn Bleiweiss, Michael Duke, & Lisa Stone
Judaism provides a unique lens with which to engage in community service, offering a strong foundation to apply both traditional value, and nuanced teachings, in a relevant way to the world around us. As students, you have spent hours of classroom time studying values, such as chesed, tzedakah and tikkun olam. Throughout this trimester, you will roll up your sleeves and put those values into action. This trimester you will pool your talents and work together on a wide variety of community service projects. Some projects we’ll be able to perform on-site, while others will have us venture out into the greater Houston community. By trimester’s end, we will have served many of our neighbors in need, while representing ourselves as Jews and individuals who make a difference in the world.
OPTION 2:
Words to Action: Empowering You to Address Anti-Semitism – Lisa Stone, Goldensohn Fellow at ADL
Would you know what to do if:
· You found swastikas on a door of your school?
· Someone gave you a “Heil Hitler” salute?
· Someone accused you of killing Jesus?
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Words to Action is an interactive, nationally recognized program. It’s designed to empower and equip you with constructive responses to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents by strengthening confidence and building knowledge. Words to Action gives greater awareness of these issues, motivates you to respond, and gives you skills and strategies to do so effectively. Together we will look at students’ experiences with anti-Semitism, and stereotyping at their schools and in their everyday lives. #BecauseEveryWordCounts
OPTION 3:
So You Want To Be A Mensch - Katelyn Bleiweiss
What is a mensch? How are our decisions and actions in daily life rooted in Jewish values? We’ll answer these questions as we use Jewish ethics and culture to explore traits of a mensch. Join us to create your own personal mensch code where you define the Jewish values that are meaningful and important to you.
Values in Action – Katelyn Bleiweiss, Michael Duke, & Lisa Stone
Judaism provides a unique lens with which to engage in community service, offering a strong foundation to apply both traditional value, and nuanced teachings, in a relevant way to the world around us. As students, you have spent hours of classroom time studying values, such as chesed, tzedakah and tikkun olam. Throughout this trimester, you will roll up your sleeves and put those values into action. This trimester you will pool your talents and work together on a wide variety of community service projects. Some projects we’ll be able to perform on-site, while others will have us venture out into the greater Houston community. By trimester’s end, we will have served many of our neighbors in need, while representing ourselves as Jews and individuals who make a difference in the world.
OPTION 2:
Words to Action: Empowering You to Address Anti-Semitism – Lisa Stone, Goldensohn Fellow at ADL
Would you know what to do if:
· You found swastikas on a door of your school?
· Someone gave you a “Heil Hitler” salute?
· Someone accused you of killing Jesus?
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Words to Action is an interactive, nationally recognized program. It’s designed to empower and equip you with constructive responses to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents by strengthening confidence and building knowledge. Words to Action gives greater awareness of these issues, motivates you to respond, and gives you skills and strategies to do so effectively. Together we will look at students’ experiences with anti-Semitism, and stereotyping at their schools and in their everyday lives. #BecauseEveryWordCounts
OPTION 3:
So You Want To Be A Mensch - Katelyn Bleiweiss
What is a mensch? How are our decisions and actions in daily life rooted in Jewish values? We’ll answer these questions as we use Jewish ethics and culture to explore traits of a mensch. Join us to create your own personal mensch code where you define the Jewish values that are meaningful and important to you.
Session B: 8:15-9:00 p.m.
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Meta Maus: Learning the Lessons of the Holocaust Through Graphic Novels – Michael Duke
Throughout this trimester, students will read and analyze the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, "Maus," and will then discuss and debate the myriad lessons it teaches future generations about the Holocaust. Students will also have the opportunity to learn the story behind the story of how the book came into being and why it was recently banned by a school district in Tennessee. |
Shattering Stereotypes: Our experiences and beliefs about race and identity – Randi Sonenshein & Tracie Jae
In this class we will explore our feelings and thoughts about our identities and people who are different from us. Join Tracie Jae and Randi Sonenshein for conversation, reflection, and scrutiny about race and identity. This is a workshop style class for explorers open to going deep, so together we can go far. |
The Power of the Mind: Conflict & Connection from the Personal to the Political – Leah Wolftal
We will be exploring & practicing tools from individual meditation to group mediation (negotiation). These tools, rooted in emotional awareness and identifying shared human values, help us transform conflict to compassion internally, interpersonally, and in community. |
This Too is Torah: Finding Jewish Wisdom in Unexpected Places – Sarah Yonas
When you were younger, Torah was just a scroll that held the five books of Moses, but did you know that we have a long tradition of finding wisdom in current events, pop culture, and our daily lives? In this course, we will seek out Torah in unexpected places. We’re part of a tradition – even in that official “Torah” – where Jacob woke up after a dream, featuring a slew of ascending and descending angels. And he said “Wow! God is in this place, but I hadn’t noticed.” |
