Think back to your days at school. Did you take notes while your teacher lectured at the front of the room? Was your learning about Martin Luther King limited to reading the "I Have a Dream"  speech? Did you find your science project in a book? Learning at Rashi couldn't be more different.Rashi students learn through real life experiences that complement the studying they do in books and in the classroom. 

Last Thursday night, 41 fifth graders talked animatedly with their science fair mentors. This year, as in past years, mentors include parents, faculty, spouses of faculty, and alumni who are professionals in the field of science. Mentors came for the evening to help students refine research questions, brainstorm resources, and write procedures for their science fair experiments. Our science fair is different from many other schools' as Rashi students aren't exploding volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar or building circuits; rather, they are collecting data to answer a scientific question that requires a controlled experiment. Examples from this year are: what type of solution best preserves a dead fish, does gender affect a person's perception of optical illusions, and which brand of mouthwash actually best eliminates bacteria? Students will keep in touch with their mentors over the next few months. The entire process culminates with a Science Showcase on March 25 when mentors will return to Rashi to view students' projects and display boards.The display will highlight the experiments, results, and conclusions. 

Third graders are taking a leadership role in helping Rashi families learn about Martin Luther King and his mission.  They are helping to organize the first annual MLK Service Day on Monday, January 21. Students have helped to brainstorm the activities and have discussed at length the connections between Dr. King's beliefs and the need to reach out and empower others.The activities that will take place at school are: assembling birthday boxes for local shelters so children can have birthday parties, making scarves for homeless shelters, writing an alphabet book as a sequel to 26 Big Things that Small Hands Can Do, and illustrating for display at Rashi excerpts from the U.N. Declaration of Children's Rights. In the coming week, you will hear more about how families can sign up to come and help out by donating supplies.

Fourth graders are studying Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) and discussing how these pithy yet incredibly powerful sayings are affecting their social and personal lives outside the classroom.  The discussions and effects have been so far reaching that the fourth grade team worked with Stephanie Rotsky to model a family program after these rich lessons. Parents and children came together and studied the text, "If I am not for myself, who will be, but if I am only for myself what am I, and if not now when." (Pirke Avot 1:14) They translated the Hebrew words that they recognized and explored how these ideas are relevant to their lives day to day. 

So, perhaps you recall from your school days asking your teachers, "Why do we need to know this?"  Students at Rashi don't ask this question, because they know that the learning that happens in the classroom every day from 8:00 to 3:00 positively influences their decisions and actions daily.