It’s typical hallway chat for a Thursday— the day a student chants Torah and leads the student body in a discussion about its teachings. At Mirowitz, leading the Torah service is a rite of passage that begins in third grade. By that age, students can adequately decipher ancient texts, apply trope (chanting notations), contemplate possible interpretations and serve as a spiritual leader.
This may be ordinary at Mirowitz. But visitors are awed by the Torah service, and remind us how extraordinary our leadership development opportunities are!
We have designed a childhood experience that ensures that every child graduates from Mirowitz a leader, and that they excel in their next academic setting, through college and into adulthood.
We grow leaders by giving students a voice.
Each child at our school knows that her or his opinion is valued. As students get older, thoughtful discussions evolve to Socratic dialogue, and students know they have a safe place to share their profound and sophisticated ideas. At Mirowitz, no one thinks it’s “uncool” to be smart.
We grow leaders by creating a model community in which every member is respected.
Our graduates choose their friends carefully. They know what to do when faced with conflict and hurtful words, because the adults at Mirowitz have empowered them to be confident problem solvers.
We grow leaders by instituting leadership opportunities for every child.
In addition to leading Torah, students begin presenting in front of an audience as early as kindergarten. Mirowitz students initiate and plan social action projects and all-school events.
In the coming weeks, 4th graders will lobby elected officials in Jefferson City, and middle schoolers who missed the opportunity to do so in 2020 will also meet with their legislators to share their opinion on bills going through the 2023 general assembly.
We grow leaders by sending this message each and every day: You have the power to make a difference!Use that power in big and small ways.
This Shabbat, discuss as a family some ways that even a child can effect positive change in the world.
March 20:Professional Development - NO SCHOOL
March 21: SPIRIT WEEK: Pajama Day
March 22:SPIRIT WEEK: Dress Up Day
March 23:SPIRIT WEEK: Vacation Day
March 24: Mirowitz Spirit Day (wear a Mirowitz Shirt)
March 30: Parent Israel Education Program
March 30-31: 3rd Grade Prairie Overnight
April 5-16:Passover Break - NO SCHOOL
April 16-May 3: 8th Grade Trip to Israel
April 18: Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
April 20-21: 4th Grade Overnight
April 23: Community Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration (Israel Independence Day)
April 25: Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day)
April 25: Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day)
Please mark your calendar, arrange for a babysitter, and plan to join Morah Raquel for your grade-level meeting.
Kindergarten: Sunday, March 26 @ 7 p.m. at the Levison's
Grade 1: Thursday, May 4 @ 7 p.m.
Grade 2: Thursday, April 27 @ 7 p.m. at the Garland's
Grade 3: Tuesday, May 16 @ 7 p.m.
Grade 5: Wednesday, March 29 @ 7 p.m.
Grade 7: Monday, April 24 @ 7 p.m.
Grade 8: Monday, May 1 @ 7 p.m.
Our fifth graders know that after spending Tuesday in Springfield, Illinois. The field trip kicks off a unit on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.
Stella, Aidan and Aaron shared these memories:
Tuesday, we went to the city where Abraham Lincoln began his political career. We first went to Lincoln's tomb, which has a huge bronze sculpture of his head. The nose is shiny because people rub it for good luck! We rubbed it, too. (We’ll let you know if it works!)
Fun fact: Did you know that Lincoln is buried under 10 feet of concrete to protect his body from thieves.
We then visited the train station where Lincoln gave his farewell speech after he was elected, and after that, the house he lived in as a young lawyer. We saw some of Tad, Robert, Willie and Eddie's toys: chess, checkers, marbles and a view master, which was their version of technology.
They also had chamber pots under their beds. (Fun fact: Did you know they used corn cobs for toilet paper? Ewwww!) We also touched the same banister that was used by President Lincoln. That’s about as close as you can come to shaking his hand.
At the Lincoln Museum, we saw letters and speeches that Lincoln wrote. To see real things in his handwriting makes him seem more like a real person, and not just a legend.
We also went on a fact-finding scavenger hunt in the museum, which included a model of the White House and Lincoln's boyhood log cabin.
It was an awesome day, and a great way to learn about the impact of President Lincoln. He didn’t actually free the slaves, but he pointed history in the direction of freeing the slaves. It reminds us of a game in which a player makes an important point. Lincoln didn’t change history by himself. But he made a point that helped changed history.
The United States has changed a lot since then. If you look at photos of President Lincoln’s cabinet, every member is a white man. It’s pretty cool that now, 150 years later, we’ve had leaders of different races including a Black President and a Black Vice President.
That's what we love about Social Studies. We get to learn about what happened in the past so we can try to be better today.
Pack your bags and plan to join us for a celebratory journey Sunday, May 7, 2023 @ 6 p.m. at The Ritz. We promise it will be something to write home about!
We'll be honoring Sanford "Buddy" Lebman with the
Meyer and Marcelle Kranzberg Visionary Award and Rabbi Susan Talve and Rabbi James Stone Goodman with the
Community Service Award.
See you there,
Jada and Brett Fox
Gala Co-Chairs
P.S. Visit www.mirowitz.org/galato purchase tickets, make a tribute or pre-bid your fund-the-need gift.
Each year, Arleen and Dr. Phillip Korenblatt present Mirowitz 5th graders with a science book to get them excited about the exciting science curriculum that awaits them at Mirowitz Middle School. We are grateful to them for their investment in our students.
Join us for a discussion about the emerging challenges that characterize this time in Israel's history:
Thursday, March 30 at 7 p.m.
at Mirowitz
Alex Lederman, the Policy and Communications Associate at Israel Policy Forum, will share some insights, and we will then have an opportunity for discussion.
This program is co-sponsored by JCRC. Please RSVP to Becky.
Need childcare for our March 20th Professional Development Day? The JCC is offering a vacation day that even includes swimming! Learn more here.
Sunday, April 2 @ 9:30 a.m.
Bring your preschool-aged child (ages 3-5) for hands-on discovery stations that will activate critical thinking skills and add meaning to your holiday.
• Engineer a basket for baby Moses and see if it floats. • Awaken your Passover taste buds.
• Be like Miriam and make your own timbrel.
• Dance your best Dayenu and celebrate our freedom!
Free PJ Library book to the first 50 families to RSVP.
Love, Laughter and Legacy: the wisdom you impart to your grandchildren
Monday, April 17
10 a.m. @ Mirowitz
This program will be facilitated by Roberta Scharf, parent of our head of school, Raquel Scharf-Anderson, and grandmother to Sam, Tzipporah, Cricket and Joshua.
You are such a great buddy! I like when you draw me pictures. I hope you have a fantastic birthday!
Love, Noah
In Honor of
Gracie L.
Happy 9th Birthday to our sweetest girl! Wishing you the best year ahead. We love you!
Love, Mom, Dad, Rosie and Lola
In Honor of
Ethan M.
Happy 6th birthday!
We love you and are so proud of you.
Love, Eboo, G-Pops, Brumby, and Moxie!
In Honor of
Aidan J.
Happy 11th birthday to you. We love you and are so proud of the young man you are! We look forward to many more years watching you grow!
Love, Mom, Grandma and PopPop
Do you have a simcha to celebrate or a person you would like to honor? A birthday, a first lost tooth, an academic accomplishment, a Torah chanting... any occasion will do!
$18 supports the PTO Challah Fund and your honoree will be announced at Kabbalat Shabbat and recognized in Mah Chadash. Orders placed by noon Thursday will be recognized the next day.
The Admissions Office has been BUSY! Last week, parent volunteers delivered yard signs and welcome packages to our newest class of incoming kindergarteners! We cannot wait to welcome them.
We are so proud of Laya who donated her hair to Maggie’s Wigs for Kids.
We are all celebrating Risa Shyres, our OT who received the JPro St. Louis Chesed Award, and Mirowitz mom Jen Bernstein who received the JPro Pillar Award. (JPro is an initiative of Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
It was a zoo around here last week, and everyone was acting like animals!
Actually...it was Purim! Kol Hakavod to the Middle School students whose Purim Shpiel and carnival delighted us all.
Watch the Purim Shpiel ⬆️.
Thanks to everyone who came to Mirowitz Night at the Blues Game!
Next up...Mirowitz Night at the Cardinal's Game! Save the date:
Wed., May 17
Cards vs Brewers (Section 265)
6:45pm
$21.75 per ticket
Tickets are limited, so reserve yours today! Questions?
Thanks to all of the parents who participated in the Mishloach Manot project! You not only helped to fund the 8th grade trip to Israel...but you made the teachers and staff feel love!
Our next book club will meet Monday,
March 21 at
Lauren Abraham's house. We'll be reading Norah Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan.
Our Parent In Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the start of the flowering of our redemption. Shield it with Your love. Spread over it the shelter of Your peace, Guide its leaders and advisors with Your light and Your truth. Establish for them Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of the defenders of our Holy Land. Cause them to inherit, our God, deliverance. Place the crown of victory upon them. Give the land peace and everlasting joy to its inhabitants.
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