May 2008 From Martin Levine
General Director
Jewish Community Centers of Chicago I am pleased to bring you this issue of JCC Program and Events, and I hope it comes at a time when you and your family are enjoying the spring months together. The programs included here are only a small sample of all that JCC offers.The bold, creative vision of our agency fosters universal Jewish values in all of our programs which, in turn, strengthen our community through dynamic life-enriching experiences. If you would like any more information about any of the programs mentioned here or any of the programs that go on at JCC everyday, please be sure to visit our website at www.gojcc.org or ask any member of our JCC staff team. Save the DateMAY13 & 20 | "Relating to Aging Parents": 7:30-9:00pm, at the Anita M. Stone JCC. Join others to explore ways of staying close to aging parents and discuss ways and resources for dealing with present and future changes. This is a Life Education Network program sponsored by Jewish Community and Family Services. 17 | Got Shabbat at Anshe Emet (Chicago): 4:00-5:30pm, the last one of the year; X-Games competitor Matt Wilhelm will be our entertainment. 18 | Room to Bloom Celebratory Garden Planting Event: 2:00 pm, Community members will add to the landscape of the Southern Region's Jewish community by planting seeds in the Anita M. Stone JCC Room to Bloom Celebratory Garden. 23-26 | Memorial Day Family Vacation: at Perlstein's Resort & Conference Center is currently sold out, but we are taking names for our waiting list. Adults can enjoy mornings on their own, while kids have a great time in our counselor-led Kid's Club. Day Care (under 3 year olds) is also provided throughout the day. Afternoons are spent as a family enjoying swimming, archery, athletics, arts and crafts workshops, low ropes course, hayrides, BBQ, picnic, bonfire, and more. JUNE8 |Tikkun Leil Shavuot at Anshe Emet: Last year over 350 people attended this all-night community-wide celebration of Shavuot.The City Central Region's planning committee is in full force to make this another memorable night. 8 | Grand Opening of the JCC Elaine Frank Apachi Day Camp in Lake Zurich: 1:00pm. 20-22 | L'dor Va-dor Grandparents Weekend at Perlstein. Only a few spaces remain. The L'dor Va-Dor weekend helps grandchildren and grandparents discover common interests and create a special bond that will nurture their relationship for years to come. It's an inspiring weekend for both grandchildren and grandparents. Events include outstanding workshops led by professional staff, family entertainment, and other activities include sports, hiking, crafts, horseback riding, boating, swimming, rock climbing, story telling, hayrides, music and more! JULY27-31 | New JCC Elderhostel Program: Making Beautiful Music
The Ravinia Festival Experience Featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra AUGUST 3-7 | New JCC Elderhostel Program: Making Beautiful Music
The Ravinia Festival Experience Featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
11-17 or 18-24 | August Family Vacation, at Perlstein: Families will enjoy a full week or half-week vacation at the Perlstein Resort and Conference Center and take advantage of many of the summer activities offered at Camp Chi: waterskiing, rock climbing, high ropes, swimming, horseback riding, archery, sailing and more. The week also includes daily day camp, evening babysitting, activities and entertainment for entire family. Aug 18-24 there will be daily and Shabbat guest-led minyanim and single-gender swimming and yoga. City Central RegionFlorence Heller JCC and Hyde Park JCC Our Sidney N. Shure Kehilla programming has had a busy year of connecting young adults in a variety of programs that celebrate Judaism, learning, and social connections. Kehilla is participating in the Jewish Women International's Flower Project. More details are available at www.jwi.org Kehilla's Makor Shabbat is held the 2nd Friday of every month. Over 100 young adults are placed at other young adults' homes throughout the city to celebrate Shabbat dinner. After dinner, everyone comes together for an oneg Shabbat. Our got Shabbat? program offers a family friendly way to share Shabbat once a month with local synagogues. This wonderful program is supported by a Jewish Federation Priority Grant and has been offered 14 times to date in the city and suburbs. More are planned for the rest of the year. North Central RegionMayer Kaplan Children's Center
and Bernard Horwich JCCThe Bernard Horwich JCC held the Grand Opening of its Separate Gender Workout Rooms* on Sunday February 17th. The day included tours of the facility, fitness workshops, healthy refreshments, and the festive sounds of the Maxwell Street Klezmer trio. Over 200 people registered for a free two-week trial membership over the month of March. The creation of these separate workout facilities for men and women exemplifies our desire to help the Orthodox community lead healthy, active lives in a comfortable, welcoming environment and brings to life the Jewish value of shmirat ha'guf (taking care of the body). Stories about the separate gender workout rooms were featured in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Jewish News, and JUF News. *The Separate Gender Workout Rooms were made possible by a grant from JUF/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. Keshet/BHJCC Partnership for
Programs to Persons with Disabilities.This program is funded by the Jewish Federation and enables the JCC to provide services to individuals with disabilities in collaborative efforts with Keshet. This is accomplished through camping and children's activities at the Bernard Horwich and Mayer Kaplan sites. The funding provides for staff support in camp swim programs, for children to participate in vacation days, and for scholarship assistance so children can utilize the Bernard Horwich pool during open swim times. The funds also enable us to provide information to the general parent population about the inclusion of children with disabilities, and to market and survey parents of children with special needs to investigate new programming ideas. Young Actors Ensemble at MKJCC's Children's CenterThis winter 64 children participated in the production of two very different Young Actors Ensemble presentations: a musical version of Charlotte's Web, featuring 8-13 year old performers on our beautiful Elaine & Zollie Frank Theater and the courtroom drama 12 Angry Jurors, performed "in the round" by a dozen of our teen actors in the MKJCC dance studio. The ensemble is currently producing Schoolhouse Rock Live, a lively stage adaptation of the Emmy-award winning Saturday morning cartoon series that ran from 1973-1985. Forty young cast and crew members from Morton Grove to Glencoe will shine on stage and backstage May 7, 11, 15, and 18 at the Elaine & Zollie Frank Theatre at MKJCC. Two of our most active JCC Theatre participants have made recent professional debuts: Rayna Ben-Zeev performed in last year's Timeline Theatre production of The Children's Hour and Ellie Schnittman is currently performing as young Cosette in Les Miserables at the Marriott Theatre. An article featuring Ellie Schnittman in the April 25 edition of Chicago Jewish News, "A Jewish Star is Born," discusses her involvement with JCC theatre and gives a great overview of our program. Northern RegionBernard Weinger JCC and
Jacob Duman JCC at Woodland CommonsJCC's got Shabbat? grew to 14 programs this winter at synagogues in the city and suburbs. With the opening this summer of JCC Elaine Frank Apachi Day Camp in Lake Zurich, special attention was made to acquaint synagogues in the northwest suburbs with JCC and the many benefits of got Shabbat? Programs were held at Am Echod in Gurnee, Or Tikvah in Grayslake, and Beth Am in Buffalo Grove. For women 45 and older, Inspired Directions continued to grow and expand its audience. It held a February program in the comfortable setting of a Highland Park home. Deanna Drucker, businesswoman, entrepreneur and community leader presented a program "Bringing Prosperity and Abundance Into Our Lives." The program was not about money, but rather about lifestyle and looking beyond ourselves for personal growth and satisfaction. In early April, an outstanding program "BFF: Best Friends Forever" attracted a record breaking 75 attendees with Mendy Hart, MSW, as the presenter. Inspired Directions also led to the development of interest groups for dining, movies, and books. These three self-directed groups meet and plan their own events continuing the camaraderie and spirit of the program. JCC has been awarded a 2008 Priority Grant* for Jewish community building through expanded services in the Northwest suburbs. A staff team has created 5 distinct programs as part of the grant including a family event GotCamp? at the Jacob Duman JCC that attracted over 200 families on April 13th, Yom Ha'atzmaut dinner and entertainment targeted at Soviet families with young children at Duman, Family Fun day at JCC Elaine Frank Apachi Day Camp in the summer, Sukkot got Shabbat? at "EFA," and a Hanukkah family event in a public space in the Northwest community. JCC staff is partnering with the Jewish Federation outreach staff in ensuring that these programs have the widest reach in the Northwest suburbs. *This grant is sponsored by the Jewish Federation Priority Grant (supported by the Fel-Pro/Mecklenburger Supporting Fund, and the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago) Southern RegionAnita M. Stone JCC Mother's CircleMother's Circle is a facilitated educational course for women who were not born Jewish, but are raising Jewish children. It includes monthly meetings that introduces Jewish ritual, ethics, and the "how to's" of creating a Jewish home. Mothers are looking forward to their second meeting in May. In cooperation with the Jewish Outreach Institute, Mother's Circle is funded by JCC of Chicago and a grant from Circle of Service. We are hoping to secure funding next year that will allow us to expand this program to other JCC sites. JCC's Pritzker Center
for Jewish Education
JCC has submitted a grant proposal for special programming with our Partnership 2000 city Kiryat Gat and the Shafir/Lakish region in Israel. This proposal outlines our goal to foster a partnership with the Shafir JCC, through a program for their early childhood schools and our 4 and 5 year old children in early childhood. We would use the Hebrew program Otiyot Chayot which will connect us through digital/computer technology. Plans for Israel @ 60 are progressing and the first "signs" should soon be evident in some of our parking lots. Special banners are being created to commemorate JCC of Chicago's celebration of Israel's 60th year of independence. The first programs to be rolled out will be "Taste of Israel," an opportunity for our staff and members to experience Israeli culture, and "Swim Israel," the JCC aquatics program that will introduce our campers to Israeli geography.PCJE is creating the "take-home" material for each of these programs. JCC's Ruach (spirit) Committee is organizing participation in the Hatikvah Project by JCC of Chicago staff and members. This unique project is aimed at introducing Israel's national anthem to Jews all over the world, and on May 7th, the Hatikvah Project will be broadcasting live from different locations around the world as people gather to sing (perhaps for a Guinness World Record!). Rabbi Mizrahi continues to teach numerous adult education and staff learning classes. In addition, she is pleased to announce the training of more people to lead Shabbat and holiday services at the Great Lakes Naval Training Base. We are also partnering with the Jewish National Fund on "Greening Your JCC." Perlstein Resort
and Conference CenterOver President's Day weekend, February 15-17, 2008, 24 families from the Northern Region participated in our JCC Family Weekend Getaway (a project of Outreach to Israeli families). With 24 families in attendance, it was nearly a 50/50 split of Israeli/non-Israeli families.Families celebrated Shabbat together, took advantage of the facilities at Perlstein and Camp Chi, enjoyed the Wisconsin Dells, spent time with friends and made new friends. The impact of this weekend is already being felt, as many families from that weekend have signed up for our Memorial Day Family Vacation.Staff for the weekend included Adina Torchman (Director, Northern Region), Abby Ashkenazi (Pritzker), Mo Ormiston (Bernard Weinger), Michael Muslin (Central), Corinne Busser (Camp Chi-Summer), and Lawrence LeVine (Perlstein). What started as the Florence G. Heller JCC Family Weekend Retreat on March 28-30, 2008, also changed, as we invited families from Hyde Park JCC and the Anita M. Stone JCC. Nineteen families enjoyed an escape from the city life (literally) and a chance to enjoy the woods of south central Wisconsin. Most of the participants had never been to or heard of Perlstein until this weekend, and left as extended Perlstein family. The weekend provided a way for families to spend quality time getting to know each other, participating in Shabbat services, enjoying meals, and becoming a kehilla (community). We also participated in the world-wide Earth Hour, by not turning the lights back on in the Pavillion after Havdallah. Staffing the weekend were Laurie Goldberg (Director, City Central), Katie Rich (Director Heller ECS), Marni Katz (Assistant Director JCC Apachi Chicago Day Camp, Director of Children's Services), Lawrence LeVine (Perlstein), Rachel Ritter (Marketing), Ashley Korda (Heller ECS) and her two brothers, Derek and Jeff.
JCC Early Childhood ServicesThe Early Childhood department loves bringing Jewish values to life! In our daily activities and holiday celebrations there are elements of community building, intergenerational connectedness, as well as mitzvoth, tzedakah, and tikkun olam (repairing the world). All of our sites celebrated Purim with parades, stories and songs. In addition to the family fun, children learned about helping each other and sharingwith those in need. Classes decorated boxes to fill with food for the local food pantry. One site started a new chesed project with Chai Lifeline. Each class had a description of a family served by Chai Lifeline. The children brought in gifts and food for shalach manos. Each class decorated their basket and enclosed a Purim card. All 6 classes and the after school recreation department participated in this mitzvah of mishloach manot. The Bernard Horwich JCC and the Mayer Kaplan JCC's Children's Center are excited to announce that they are joining together to offer Horwich preschool at the Kaplan site. Skokie families looking for a preschool experience that will prepare their children for day school will now have an opportunity to be taught by teachers from the Horwich community. They will follow the same curriculum and observe the same calendar that Horwich does. The program will be jointly administered by the directors of both schools. During our spring vacation days, Early Childhood went "Green"! All art activities, science experiments, music and literature taught the importance of caring about our environment and tikkun olam (repairing the world). In May, the children all begin their learning units on Israel just in time for the Walk for Israel. At the end of May, 4 year-olds and kindergarteners will have their end of the year celebrations that includes singing for their parents and grandparents. The younger children will have end-of-the year picnics. Preschool For All, the 2 1/2 hour, 5 day program funded by a block grant from the Illinois Board of Education, was launched the last week of March for the 3 and 4 year old full day childcare classes at our Mayer Kaplan site. Our own JCC teachers, who meet the state certification requirements, are leading the classes. They are using the results of individual child-screenings that were administered by our Social Service team to create a skill-building program based on the children's specific learning needs. The Early Childhood membership promotion culminated in a fabulous day at the Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview on Sunday, January 27th. Over 200 parents and children explored the interactive museum exhibits. Each school donated a wonderful theme basket for a silent auction that was also a big success. JCC Early Childhood Services
received a number of grants including:
The Illinois State Board of Education Grant for Preschool for All
JCC is the first Jewish school in Illinois to receive this grant to make voluntary preschool available to all 3 and 4 year olds.
Quality Counts Child Care Program
The grant, administered by Child Care Resources and Referral, covers such things as facility improvement, equipment and materials, and professional and family resources. The Jewish Federation Fund for Innovations in Health
This is part of a two-year grant that supports the JCC's pilot program "Making Healthy Choices." The project addresses the prevention of childhood obesity and the fostering of healthy dietary and physical activity choices for young children. The WuzzleburgPreschoolGarden Grant
This grant provides JCC with garden tools and garden and nature teaching materials that help our children develop a connection to the natural world around them.
Day CampJCC Day camps have received a grant to participate in the Jewish Community Center's Association (JCCA) week of Caring and Sharing. We are "going green" this year by selling 100% recycled lunch bags for campers.All proceeds will go to stock the Dina & EliFieldEzraMulti-ServiceCenterfood pantry.The campers will also be involved in working with a budget and shopping for healthy menu items. Our newest camp, JCC Elaine Frank Apachi Day Camp in LakeZurich, will be opening this summer.In promoting the camp, we have met with rabbis from the surrounding communities and established productive working relationships that will serve the community for years to come. We have also met with hundreds of families who previously knew little about JCC and who now see what we have to offer at the new camp, but also the early childhood and family programs offered year-round. On April 13th, we held a Got Camp? event at the Jacob Duman JCC to offer families a preview of camp and the other programs that will be held on the site throughout the year. More than 200 families attended the event that featured a variety of family and children's activities and entertainment. All of our day camps have special projects beyond the every day fun in order for children to learn about mitzvoth, tzedakah and other Jewish values. For example, on July 18th, campers at JCC "Z" Frank Apachi will be making and displaying "Pinwheels for Peace" as part of the camp's Israel Week. On September 21, campers, their families and the community will be invited to "ZFA" to view the pinwheels and participate in an International Peace Day program. JCC’s Camp Chi
JCC's Camp Chi has been named a recipient of the Foundation for Jewish Camping's Camper-Centric Challenge Grant. This matching grant will allow Camp Chi to implement facility and program enhancements that reinforce a message of healthy living and encourage campers to embrace an active lifestyle. Specifically the grant will fund outdoor lights for Chi's athletic fields and outdoor sports courts, a new state-of-the-art, free-form climbing tower, a series of fitness programs and a staff training initiative. The Foundation for Jewish Camp also awarded Camp Chi the Cornerstone Grant. Third year cabin counselors are selected to be leadership fellow to infuse Jewish learning throughout camp. The Fellows participate in a 4 day pre-camp seminar to prepare for their role as Jewish leaders in the camp setting. Chi has received this grant for the past 3 years. Camp Chi is also the recipient of the Chizuk Grant from JCC Association and the Avi Chai Foundation towards the hiring of a Jewish Programming Educator to strengthen Chi's Jewish program efforts and help fulfill our mission of bringing Jewish values to life. Camp Chi has also been awarded a JCC Association/Legacy Heritage Fund Days of Caring and Sharing Grant. The grant provides Jewish summer campers with opportunities to help their communities through service activities that contribute to the welfare of the community. Camp Chi will use the funds to create three summer-long projects which will highlight the Jewish values of hachnasat orchim (welcoming others), gemilut hasadim (acts of loving kindness), and shalom (peace). Grant recipients are selected based on submissions of original community-service project proposals.
| 
