More than 600 parents and educators have joined Hidden Sparks’ monthly virtual seminar series focusing on how to combat the emotional impact that COVID-19 has had on the lives of students across the globe. The organization is a nonprofit focused on providing teachers and parents with the tools to support struggling students in mainstream Jewish…
By Associated Press, Wire Service Content Natural underground caverns on the moon could be used to store frozen samples of Earth’s species in order to protect biodiversity in the event of global catastrophe, according to a University of Arizona scientist and his students. Jekan Thanga, a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, and five of…
Valley Beit Midrash is partnering with Arizona State University for the annual Judaism, Science & Medicine Group conference. This all-day seminar on Feb. 28 will feature 13 presentations by noted academics and rabbis on the topic of Judaism and Climate Change: Science, Theology and Ethics. The panelists for the conference will be Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Rabbi…
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a negative toll on so many aspects of everyday life, including the ongoing anxiety of students and teachers in the classrooms. Hidden Sparks, a nonprofit focusing on training teachers and providing them with the tools to support struggling students in mainstream Jewish day schools, recently convened a virtual conference to…
There’s no doubt that next to frontline workers, teachers have had the most challenging year of their professional lives, having to shift from in-person to online learning in the blink of an eye. Still, teachers being the optimists they often are, rolled up their sleeves and soldiered on. We posed some questions to Valley teachers…
The Arizona State Board of Education voted at the end of October 2020 to make learning about the Holocaust and other genocides a requirement for middle and high school students across the state. The Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation has created a curriculum project based on a memoir by local Holocaust survivor Oskar Knoblauch that…
It looks like distance learning is here to stay for a while longer – be it through hybrid instruction, cohorts of students divided into small groups, or a completely off-campus learning experience for kids. Parents and caregivers have many questions about how to make sure students are engaged and benefiting their learning experiences, no matter…
Online learning has been a challenge for many students, but those challenges become magnified if a child has special needs or learning differences. Fortunately, Gesher Disability Resources’ student support specialists are there to help students with learning challenges through their tutoring services. “Our team has worked hard over the summer, and we have learned how…
Photo: Janette Silverman, Laura Geller, LaNitra Berger and David Singer will all be speakers at Limmud AZ Virtual Day of Jewish Learning. “Just because we can’t gather in person doesn’t mean we can’t learn together!” is the opening line on Limmud AZ’s event information page. The annual day-long event of Jewish learning usually attracts hundreds…
Photo: JSU club members find ways to still be engaged during the pandemic. Like many other aspects of student life in 2020, at-school clubs also had to go virtual when the pandemic hit. Jewish Student Union (JSU) clubs were no exception to this change. West Coast NCSY runs more than 67 JSU clubs – on…
