My Jewish Journey
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky, Director of Jewish Life and Learning, shares insights on lessons from the Torah, Jewish customs and traditions and inspirational thoughts for personal growth.
Parashat Tzav – Holiness in the Mundane
Many, many years ago, my husband and I would host the first Seder for our family in our apartment and then walk to Cooki’s house the next day to spend the second Seder with her family. Cooki’s husband Barry was my PhD supervisor and my husband and I spent many...
Parashat Vayikra
This week's D'var Torah is brought to us by Deborah Gettes, a consultant for special needs education for the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education of Greater Philadelphia. Understanding the concept of korbanot gives us concrete ways to live our lives. To the...
Parashat Va-Yakhel-Pekudei – the Blessing of Shabbat
This week’s parshah begins with the first gathering of the nation before Moses since the sin of the golden calf, its repercussions and ultimately, God’s forgiveness. The first thing Moses says to them is: For a period of six days work may be done, but the seventh day...
Parashat Ki Tisa
This week, I'd like to share a D'var Torah from Kveller.com: What my daughter's favourite stuffed animal has to do with the golden calf Shabbat Shalom! Debbie
Parashat Teruma – Medals of Metal
With the start of the Olympics this week, there is a lot of talk about GOLD. Sure, winning silver and bronze is better than no medal at all, but GOLD is the ultimate triumph. In this week’s parashah, Terumah, the Israelites are commanded to donate the materials for...
Parashat Mishpatim – guest bloggers Dr. Barry Levy and Judah Levy
This week we have two very special guest bloggers, Dr. Barry Levy and his grandson, Judah Levy. Shabbat Shalom! Parashat Mishpatim contains one of the Torah's central legal texts. It is neither the first such text, nor the last, but several essential classes of law...
Parashat Yitro – Questions for Discussion
In this week’s parshah, the Israelites travel through the desert towards Mount Sinai. There they prepare themselves to receive God’s Torah. Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro, brings Moses’ wife and children to meet up with him, and he offers Moses the valuable advice of...
Parshat Beshalach – by guest blogger, Carrie Mazoff
Carrie Mazoff Akiva parent and almuna Shortly after Am Israel leaves Egypt, Pharaoh changes his mind and chases after them. Of course, the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s men and the red sea. When G‑d instructs Moses to raise his staff over the...
Parashat Beshallach – The challenges of dependence
My daughter cut herself slicing a bagel the other morning. “Ah! I cut myself! What should I do?” My back was to her, so I turned briefly to look at her, and instinct told me this was more of a nick than a cut. With every ounce of restraint I could muster, I turned...
Parashat Bo – The Necessity of Asking
This week, I'd like to share a D'var Torah from Rabbi Sacks on Parashat Bo: The Necessity of Asking Questions By Rabbi Sacks Shabbat Shalom, Debbie
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Passover Message – A Time for New Beginnings
In the summer before my first year at Akiva, I called my friend, mentor, and predecessor Cooki Levy, z’’l, to ask her if she knew why our founder, Rabbi David Hartman, z’’l, had chosen to name our school Akiva. I had known Cooki at that point for over 20 years, and,...
Bravo to PD Volunteers!
A special thank you to both the Google Team (Cyndi Fiata, Cyndi Ross, David Creti, Omry Atar, and Robin Kravitz) and the Seesaw Team (Shanit Bouzaglio, Amelie Côte, Myriam Desgroseilliers, Samantha Kravitz, and Nick Roussos). The two teams developed and presented...
Akiva Innovators
Isabelle Silva, member of the STEAM team, introduces everyone to the "pocket document camera ". A 3D-printed device equipped with a mirror which allows staff to share writing to students while on zoom meetings.
Collaboration Virtuelle – Amélie et Myriam
Vendredi le 27 novembre, nous avons assisté au Colloque virtuel de l'Association d'Éducation Préscolaire du Québec. Les conférences et ateliers portaient sur les défis de l'éducation préscolaire, les jeux symboliques pour développer les habiletés sociales, et aussi...
The Science of Camouflage
Grade 1 wraps up their investigation of animal camouflage by creating their own classroom-camouflaged moths. Students learned about colour, pattern, and blending to keep their moths hidden in plain sight.
Center of Gravity
Grade 2 gets hands on with the concepts of balance and an object's center of gravity. The students explore how a plumb bob can help them find the center of gravity for different objects and built their own acrobatic self-balancing paper robot.
Let the Games Begin!
Grade 5 works on designing their sumo wrestling robots. The physical design of the robot is just as important as the code that decides how the robot behaves. A low center of mass and a well programmed light sensor helps the robots stay in the ring and win the...
Bridging the Digital Divide
Grade 6 learns how to bridge the gap between digital and physical objects. The MakeyMakey teaches the basics of circuits and allows students to use their coding knowledge to create unique and interactive projects.
The Atmosphere
Under the unit of Earth & Space, Grade 6 students learn about gravity, and pressure within the different atmospheric layers. They also learn to relate to different objects that could be found travelling through these atmospheric layers.
Energy & Sound Waves
As part of the topic of energy, Grade 5 students represent their understanding of the fundamental properties of sound waves. They also experiment with how sound propagates through a variety of different materials.
