Teacher Appreciation at Emanuel Congregation Religious School

Wow! What an amazing school year it has been at ECRS! We just celebrated our closing day yesterday. Of course, there was plenty of celebration including a special teacher appreciation themed t'filah at the beginning of the day and a special teacher appreciation brunch at the end of the day. We played gaga and made cards to say thank you to our teachers. Our biggest highlight was the appearance of a Kona Ice truck that each of the classes got a chance to visit. We are so grateful to Sandy Fernbach, grandmother of two of our fantastic ECRS students, for sponsoring the snow cones!

I want to thank all our teachers. I am so honored to be a part of this talented team! Our faculty have done an incredible job this year making Judaism joyful and engaging. They have been creative and flexible as we have adjusted and readjusted to the current situations we have found ourselves in from this past September through now. They have built meaningful relationships with each of our ECRS students and have taught them a wide variety of content all through the lens of Jewish values and all in life-relevant ways. I am grateful to each of them for their dedication and their true passion for what they do.

In addition to the guidance of our teachers, we have had some wonderful leadership from our 8th graders. In their own words, please see below:

On May 1st, the ECRS 8th Grade class facilitated a day of activities for the entire school, in celebration of Yom Ha’atzma’ut. 8th Grade has been focused this year on leadership skills in Jewish young adulthood, and they were able to put these skills to great use planning this day over the course of several months. Activities included: Gaga, Israeli dance, art-making, trivia, an escape room, Hebrew movement exercises, and more. The day ended with treats for everyone outside the building. The 8th Graders would like to thank the ECRS faculty and the other students for being such great participants.

How fortunate are we to have such a special community? It truly is everyone, from our Emanuel staff, to our teachers, to our parents, to our teens, to our youngest students, who make me excited and inspired to be here each day. Thank you all for a fantastic 2021-2022 school year!

-Mandy Herlich, Director of ECRS