7th Grade

The 7th grade program is a combination of classroom-based learning and hands-on volunteer experiences. In the classroom, students will participate in a year-long study of the Holocaust on Monday nights. The curriculum Facing History and Ourselves, is an international, educational program, where students examine important questions of identity: Who am I? How do I fit into my community as well as the larger world? How can I make a difference?  Click here for more information about the curriculum. 

All of these questions will be explored by looking deeply at a historical moment when individuals made decisions about their own lives and the lives of their neighbors. Students will meet with congregants to hear their family’s stories of survival. During this time, students will have the opportunity to ask questions, and make connections throughout the stories they hear. Our culminating project, Monuments and Memorials, students will work with artist-in-residence Audrey Reich to study monuments, and then create their own memorials to showcase their learning of the Holocaust. These monuments will be on display during a student-led gallery walk. 

In addition to our Monday night program, students will participate in the Mitzvah Corps program. They will select one “Mitzvah Major” and three “Mitzvah Minors” during the year.  Six project sites will be offered for the Mitzvah Major: three in the fall (September-January) and three in the spring (February-June). Each project will be coordinated by a parent volunteer serving as a site captain.  Students will sign up for their Mitzvah Major in mid to late August. The Mitzvah Minors (for example: preparing Thanksgiving meals for the needy, assisting with a tot-Shabbat craft, volunteering to help younger students in our Religious School) will be offered throughout the entire year and coordinated by Joni Gehebe Kellogg, our seventh grade coordinator.

The Mitzvah Corps program will fulfill the requirement of the B’nei Mitzvah project. Our students will also participate in a Shabbaton and help to lead services at a Friday night Shabbat Service.
 

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