Hello family and friends... :)
Much has happened between Winter Break 1 and Winter Break 2... and unfortunately I don't even remember half of it.
I do remember that we had 2 different types of Shabbatons. One Menorah Academy did for its 5th and 7th grade girls at Mrs. Segal's house. The theme was Kavod Chavercha and we learned about Friendship. We did a lot of activities in teaching how to be a good friend, how to solve friendship problems, and a bunch of fun games.
One of the activities we did beforehand was that each girl painted a jewelry box for another girl [it was a secret who they were doing it for] and then we had breads to make bracelets where each color bead corresponded to a different character trait. We had each girl choose 4 beads for each girl depending on what nice character traits they thought she had the strongest. With the beads chosen we made each girl a bracelet and placed it in her special surprise jewelry box with a color/trait guide which was given to them when they arrived at the shabbaton on Friday.
A different Shabbaton I attended but didn't attend was the Chabad shabbaton for which I was babysitting a baby in someones house the whole shabbos while they were at the shabbaton. [There is no carrying here... so since the meals were in the shul, nobody could bring their babies...]
We also had a Tu Beshvat Shuk in the school. Each class had to make an informative and interactive display on a different city in Israel. It's mention in Tanach, it's history and what it is in modern times. I chose Benei Brak for my class because I was so moved by the shabbaton I experienced there in Israel and the visits I had with Rebetzin Kaniefsky.
Rabbi Draiman wanted a scavenger hunt done so that each kid is motivated to look at each display and learn about it. I made the scavenger hunt. Each class had 10 minutes to look at the displays and take notes. then they were divided into 3 groups and each given clue 1 for their color. When they figured out the object it was talking about and the city it comes from they got a check and the location of their next clue. The clues were hidden throughout the building. They would come running back with clue 2 to look for the answer before heading out again for clue 3... and etc.
My classes clue was a Streimel because our display was giant 'Tish' with a Rebbe and giant kugel and everything... [no the kugel was not real... although some of the boys really wished it was :) ].
At the end they had to find a secret code phrase that was hidden with numbers among the clues and cities on their sheet once it was filled out.
Everyone liked the scavenger hunt but i'm sure they also liked the special 'shkalim' that they got as a prize for finishing the scavenger hunt- which they were able to use in the shuk for lunch. The shuk was very cool. It was run by all Israelis and it had all kinds of Israeli things like falafel, Israeli fruits, nuts, and candies.
We also have been having much nicer weather lately. It's about 30-32 degrees Fahrenheit. So I haven't used a real coat in a while. Coats are for 0 degrees... lol
The other day I got to go ice skating on an outdoor rink a few blocks away in the park. It was a gorgeous day with sun and everything. I loved it.
Tuesday was another PD day and report cards are coming up. I'm glad that I have this break now to work on things, though I'm mostly relaxing. I'll write all about my Winter Break 2 on my next post.
Can't wait to come home for Pesach!!! Counting down the days!
Love,
Shayna
