July 2018 Av 5778

Volume 16

OROT’s Chronicle

FROM THE DESK OF THE EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR

BEVERLY BERNSTEIN

“There are 2 ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it” Edith Wharton

OROT has been fortunate to be the candle that lights the way for diverse learners in Philly’s Jewish day schools. This, howev-er, was not just happenstance. It took years of hard work by parents, OROT personnel and host school administrators and teachers for OROT to become part of the fabric of the host schools. Dedication, hard work and belief in their students make OROT teachers outstanding educators. The words “can not” will never be found in their lexicon, because they always find a way. Parents are always commenting on the caring, kind-ness and consideration shown by the OROT teachers to their students. Parents, too, have been helping the candle burn brighter for OROT. They have be-come valuable team members when planning the educational path for their child. They are volunteers and have helped in our fundraising endeavors. They have come to realize they have to partner with OROT to keep the candle burning for those children whose learning challenges can only be met by OROT. It is my hope that OROT’s candle keeps burning brighter and brighter in the years to come to enable diverse learners to access a Jewish day school education.

FROM THE DEST OF THE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

MARISA COHEN 2017-2018 was a very successful fundraising year for OROT. To kickoff this success was OROT’s first ever 24 hour online giving campaign through Cha-ridy.org. On December 3, 2017, over 30 volunteers gathered at the offices of Premier Brokerage Ser-vices. Throughout the day beginning at 10am, every-one worked tirelessly calling, texting, emailing and posting to social media to raise $141,000 for OROT

to close out our end of year. In addition to the funds raised, it was a day of fun and festivities with many of our students and families participating in a day of giving.

Continued on 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Saying good bye to Cathy Snyder............. 2

OROT Cafe ................................................. 2

OROT at Caskey Torah Academy............. 3

Our Tech savvy students are producers! . 3

OROT at Caskey Torah Academy............. 3

You will be missed! ................................... 4

From the desk of the Director of Develop-ment ........................................................... 4

The new leadership at OROT ................... 5

Photos from the Annual Event ................. 7

Annual Candle Sale Order Form ............ 8

You will be missed .................................... 9

“Her students find her strict but loving, firm but caring, and exacting but flexible.”

On Friday, June 15th the OROT/Politz class had their first OROT café. Parents and grandparents were invited to attend to hear the students read various selections from their writing portfolios. Under the guidance of Mrs. Gail Twersky the students spent the year compiling their portfolios on topics which ranged from real-istic fiction to interviews to biographies. Using a combination of Writing A-Z and Writers’ Workshop the students wrote up to five paragraphs on a topic and learned how to edit their rough drafts into good copies. The room was set up as a French café with small table groupings for the students, seating for the guests and a “breakfast” buffet for all! The students willingly and happily shared their writing portfolio pieces and everyone felt a sense of pride in their accom-plishments.

SAYING GOOD BYE TO CATHY SNYDER

OROT CAFE

It is always difficult to say good bye to

an OROT teacher and it is especially

difficult to say good bye to Cathy

Snyder, one of the OROT teachers at

Politz Hebrew Academy. Cathy has

taught for OROT/Politz for over 15

years honing her skills each year to

meet the different challenges present-

ed to her. Her students find her strict

but loving, firm but caring, and exact-

ing but flexible. She is a master

teacher who knows precisely what

each of her students need academi-

cally, behaviorally and socially and

customizes a program where they

meet with success!

Whether it is a new common core

math program or an intense social

skills program Cathy was always will-

ing to go the extra mile for her stu-

dents. It was a joy to walk into her

classroom where children worked on

different skills in a variety of modali-

ties. She was always calm and fo-

cused and inspired her students to

grow and reach new heights.

Cathy, we wish you good luck in this next phase of your life! Enjoy!!!

2

OROT AT CASKEY TORAH ACADEMY

The middle school OROT students at Caskey Torah Academy, taught by Miss Spohia Genkin, had a lot of fun creating a video about OROT at CTA for the OROT Event honor-ing Omri Dorani, up and coming film director. The students first held a brainstorming session until an idea was created. A script was written and the idea was thought out in topics. During lunch, recess and other breaks throughout the day the students took their iPads into the younger OROT class to film. The final step was to edit which was the highlight of the video production process. Students each put together a section regarding a specific idea topic. Together the stu-dents created transitions, found music and placed subtitles to create the finished product. The students were delighted when they saw the video on the big screen.

The video created by the students of Caskey Torah Academy being viewed at OROT’s Annual Event, May 16th.

3

OROT Tribute Cards When you acknowledge the

milestones of family and friends! Minimum contribution for 1 card is $18.

Packs of 5 blank cards for $50.

Three convenient ways to order!

Call 215.935.0020

Email: info@orotkids.org

Visit our website: www.orotkids.org

7601 Old York Road Melrose Park, PA 19027

OUR TECH SAVVY STUDENTS ARE PRODUCERS!

Our PJDS Forman OROT class, taught by Mrs. Jamie Alter, was asked to create a video for the OROT event in May. As a teacher, my initial reaction was one of trepidation as I assumed that there would need to be multiple lessons on videography, editing, voice overs and general direction. Boy was I wrong! My students, who all come to me with various learning differences, came up with brilliant ideas and editing capabil-ities beyond my scope of techno-logical knowhow, and with short notice, produced a masterpiece! Each student exhibited his or her

strength by contributing to the best of their abilities. One student became the cameraman while an-other wrote the script. Another student edited with features em-bedded in iMovie that are now class project staples. We had an announcer, a director, and a prop designer. While I knew that my students had many talents, I was amazed how much technology plays a crucial role in their learn-ing process. As such, more OROT productions will be available for your viewing pleasure in the com-ing school year!

4

The Charidy campaign would not have been successful without our generous matching donors. Thank you for your generosity in support-ing this campaign:

The Saligman Family Foundation

The Sandy and Steven Cozen Foundation

Janice and Arthur Block

The Collis Family

Bryna and Josh Landes

Vicki and Gary Erlbaum

Stacey and Amir Goldman

Meredith and Jonathan Hoffman

Margie and Jeffrey Honickman

Robin and Steven Katz

Tracey and Shanin Specter

Anonymous

From there, on April 10th, for the second time ever, OROT hosted a donor appreciation dinner for donors who contributed $1,800 or more towards the 2018 Annual Event. This dinner was generously spon-sored by Janice and Arthur Block and held at their lovely home in Cen-ter City, Philadelphia. What a beautiful evening with a heartfelt speech by Torah Academy student Tali Erlbaum, recognizing the work of OROT and the significant impact our donors have on our students. Thank you again to Janice and Arthur Block for such a lovely evening.

Continued on page 6

FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

THE NEW LEADERSHIP AT OROT

Hap

py H

anukkah!

It’s never to late to start thinking about the holidays!

Hanukkah candle sale begins October 11th

Order your newly designed candles now!

Each box contains 45 beautiful candles made in Israel

cost: $18 per box

Orders can be made on the OROT website:

www.orotkids.org

Or by phone:

215.935.0020

Steven Katz and Joe Carver have been guiding OROT for many years . We are eternal-ly grateful for their time and service to OROT . As they step down from the driver’s seat we asked Steven Katz about is time as co-chair of OROT he said:

“What an honor, a pleasure and a hum-bling experience it has been! Watching and helping OROT help change the trajectory of so many children over the last several years has been an incredible experience. I'd like to publicly thank my partner in crime, Dr. Joe Carver for his wisdom, friendship and guidance. In addition, to Gail and Elliott and Beverly for their never-ending words of wisdom and com-mitment. I've learned so much from our incredible staff and es-

pecially our phenomenal teachers. Lastly, thank you to our children. You have taught me more than you'll ever know! Joe and I leave our roles as co-chairs in very good hands. We are looking forward to continue our sup-port of this awesome organization. L'hitraot!”

The 2018-2019 school year will be a year of change for OROT… We have new co-chairs Chavi Schwarzbaum and Todd Lieberman.

When we asked Chavi about her accepting the role of co-chair she had this to say, “I accept-ed the position because I wanted to give back to OROT in any way I can. I believe in its mis-sion and it’s value. I hope to help get more parents involved in OROT and be a support for parents and a means of reaching out and connecting the parents and the organization. “

We will be looking to our new leaders to be our light so we can continue to be the light for so many children in our community.

6

Finally onto the Annual Event, honoring OROT alumnus and up and coming filmmaker Omri Dorani. On May 16th, 200 people gath-ered at the home of Michie and Skip

Pasternak to celebrate another successful year of OROT and honor Omri and his achievements. While the weather did not cooperate for the event to be outside, OROT volunteers were at the Pasternak home all night and day moving furniture, building tents and making the event abso-lutely seamless. Omri was honored with loving words from Beverly Bernstein, Nancy Glass and his loving grandmother Connie

Smukler. Omri spoke with such grace about his time in OROT and how it has impact-ed who he has become today. A number of current OROT students made their own “movie” to share with Omri, and were present at the event to hear

his OROT story. The evening ended with a fabulous auction raising over $25,000 for OROT!

The event was a huge hit raising over $175,000 for OROT. The hard work put in by this year’s Ad Journal Chairs, Judy and Morris Jutcovich, along with Event Co Chairs Cindy Smukler and Francine Lipstein, and Honorary Co Chairs Connie Smukler and Nancy

Glass significantly contributed to the huge success of the event. Yasher Koach to all!

After five and a half years as the Director of Development for OROT, I will be stepping down from my role this sum-mer. It has been such a pleasure working for an organiza-tion that does such impactful work in the lives of children and their families. Seeing how OROT changes children’s lives has been the most rewarding part of my time at OROT. Thank you to Beverly Bernstein, Jill Rosen, Steve Katz, Joe Carver and Gail and Elliot Norry for granting me this opportunity in 2013 and to all of you for your continued support.

Have a wonderful summer and 2018-19 school

Page 8

Support OROT, the special needs initiative in

Philadelphia’s Jewish day schools

Annual Hanukkah Candle Sale! Each box of 45 beautiful Israeli-manufactured newly designed

candles is $18 a box

Candles can be purchased by credit card, check or cash

Fill out the form below and send it to school with your child

or mail to the OROT Office:

7601 Old York Road, Melrose Park, PA 19027

Candles can also be purchased on our website at

www.orotkids.org or by calling our office 215.935.0020

Questions? Email Hilary – info@orotkids.org

Family Name:

Phone Number:

School:

Child(s) Name:

Child(s) Grade and Teacher’s Name:

Quantity (number of boxes):

Total Cost:

Credit Card Number:

Exp. Date: SEC:

Name of it appears on Credit Card:

Make checks payable to: OROT

Return orders no later than Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Candles can be picked up at school

(PJDS Stern and Forman , Politz, TA, JBHA) beginning:

Monday, November 26, 2018

Hap

py H

anukkah!

OROT is an organization which

supports special education in Jewish

day schools for those children whose

needs cannot be met by a resource

room. In conjunction with host

schools OROT sets policy, creates and

supervises programs, provides finan-

cial support and advocates for the

services provided to children with

diverse learning needs. OROT seeks to

provide the best possible individual-

ized Jewish, secular and social curricu-

lum, instruction and environment.

OROT m akes it possible for all

children to receive a Jewish day school

education. OROT’s philosophy is to

build our educational program to meet

the needs of the individual child. Most

of the OROT classes integrate concepts

of self-contained academic curricula

with inclusion into mainstream classes

for social interaction. OROT teachers

forge bonds with mainstream teachers

to help maximize the potential of each

OROT student. Typical children

and those with diverse learning needs

playing together has fostered a feeling

of mutual respect.

OROT 7601 Old York Road Melrose, PA 19027

Phone: 215.932.0020

E-mail: info@orotkids.org

OROT Administration

Beverly Bernstein—Educational Director

Hilary Cummings—Office Manager

Meet our staff

for the

2018-2109

School Year Politz Hebrew Academy

215.969.5960

KB Beshansky

Chevi Kaplan

Gail Twersky

Susie Wohlgelernter

PJDS

Forman Center

215.635.3130

Jaime Alter

Stern Center

610.658.2518

Shayna Flink

Michal Reiss-Yovel

Caskey Torah Academy

610.642.7870

Dale Dunoff

Khana Globman

Shayna M. Zeffern

YOU WILL BE MISSED!

Can you imagine working with a colleague who comes to work every day in a happy state of mind that is infectious? Can you imagine working with a colleague who is so “in sync” with your own methods that discussions can be kept to a mini-mum? Can you imagine working with a colleague who is both a friend and a mentor? Well, we can because this describes Cathy Snyder, our OROT colleague at Politz/OROT. Cathy is a master teacher who runs her OROT classroom with just the right amount of love and enthusiasm to earn her students’ trust and to see them be successful academically and behav-iorally. She is a master at teaching and rein-forcing

behavioral strategies both in the OROT and main-stream environments. Cathy is a strong part of our collaborative team offering “spot on” insights and understanding on each of her students. She is professional, caring and dedicated to her students. Cathy, we wish you much joy and happiness as you enter a new phase of life. We will miss you dearly. You will forever be part of the OROT/Politz family. Gail Twersky Susie Wohlgelernter