For the finale, kindergartners invited the audience to join them in singing traditional Shabbat songs. The children crooned about peace in Hebrew before launching into a song about the evolution of the Jewish sabbath.
“There were no stars. There was no sun. There were no animals or people ... There was just nothing, nothing at all,” they sang while outlining the water, sky, and people’s debut during six days of creation. “On the seventh day he told us to rest. He knew for us it would be best.”
Kindergarten teacher Dorit Niven led the class in lighting the candles, blessing the bread and juice, and smelling the spice box with their parents.
Kinneret kindergartners put on a show about American heroes every winter, which inspired the school to celebrate its last Shabbat honoring Jewish leaders, according to Ms. Niven.
“They got to pick who they were and I gave them the words. They learned a lot because they did research on the heroes who are more recent. We’ve spent a lot of time on the more biblical people. Then there were the songs and the dances and the costumes that went with it,” she said.
Bronx salutes LGBT leaders
Students at two local high schools were among seven honored at Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s annual LGBT Pride Month celebration on June 14.
Stephanie Zapata, a member of the Hispanic AIDS Forum and the leader of Lehman College’s Rainbow Student Alliance, and Teddy Reyes, the head of the DeWitt Clinton High School’s Gay Straight Alliance, were recognized with the youth award.
Mr. Diaz’s office said the two “influential young adults” stood out for helping spread acceptance in their respective schools.
New cyberbullying data
A nine-month “cyberbullying census” released on June 13 found that 68 percent of students surveyed had experienced or witnessed cyberbullying.
Fewer than one in five of these students reported the inappropriate or offensive online activity to an adult. According to the census, most said they were too scared, embarrassed or intimidated to discuss the matter with an adult.
