Jonathan Ben-Asher It’s time for school, and the view from THA is tremendously exciting! At the eagle’s perspective, you’ll see our beautiful building (designed like a tallit, or prayer shawl) and grounds, ready to embrace teaching and learning every day; our wonderful, engaged, energized community of students, parents, teachers and staff… Read more »
At Hezekiah’s Tunnel in the City of David, from left: Yuval Barel, Ronnie Berkej, Maia Winsberg, Hayden Estrella, Marlee Dell, Hayley Yalen, Danielle Schwartz, Mallory Hulsey, Emberly Davis, Sheina Lewkowicz, Eva Lanoue, Rebecca Dubin, Corey Karp, Maya Levy, Aliya Markowitz
The Tucson Hebrew Academy 2015 trip to Israel marked the 13th such trip for the school, bringing the total of THA students who have visited Israel with their eighth grade classmates to 300. This year, 15 students along with Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz, the school’s director of Judaics/Hebrew studies, and… Read more »
Participants at Tucson Hebrew Academy’s STEM festival on Sunday, May 3 can drive award-winning robots, investigate a mock crime scene or play a giant video game with their feet. Presented by THA’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program, the family-oriented festival will run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.… Read more »
Tucson Hebrew Academy fourth-grader Dahlia Tolby and art teacher Amy Pozez add tiles to the students’ peace wall mosaic.
Tucson Hebrew Academy students consistently learn how Jewish values help them make a difference in the world, and at the 8th annual Passport to Peace day on Jan. 28, everyone participated. THA students spent the afternoon visiting booths in the school courtyard to learn about a variety of service… Read more »
Ray Carroll On Sunday, Nov. 2, at 5:30 p.m., Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll at its annual Tikkun Olam event. “Ray Carroll served as a hardworking and much beloved trustee on the Tucson Hebrew Academy board for many years, and has truly become an honorary member… Read more »
Tucson Hebrew Academy eighth grade students partcipate in a team-building activity on the beach in the Hof Ashkelon region, recording their thoughts on the trip. Back, (L-R): Rafe Centuori, Jacob Anderson, Max Silverman, Adrian Lehrman, Benjamin Manninen, Avin Kreisler (obscured); front: Rochelle Felix, Dreo Polonski, Sapir Curiel, Alexis McKinstry, Emily Youngerman, Heidi Sexton, Alyssa Lee (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy) When Tucson Hebrew Academy eighth graders Emily Youngerman and Alyssa Lee first spotted the Western Wall in Jerusalem, they squealed to each other, “Look! It isn’t just a picture anymore!” While most Tucson eighth graders finished up their year with paperwork and exams, the THA eighth grade class spent… Read more »
(L-R) Front kneeling: Adrian Lehrman; front row: Rachel Badalov, Alyssa Lee, Rochelle Felix, Dreo Polonski, Or Shenkar, Sapir Curiel, Rebecka Sokoloff, Heidi Saxton, Emily Youngerman, Lola Maas, Rivkah Selmon, Alexis McKinstry; back row: Noah Meyer, Avin Kreisler, Rafe Centuori, Benjamin Manninen, Jacob Anderson Tucson Hebrew Academy graduation Tucson Hebrew Academy held its eighth grade graduation on Thursday, May 8. Based on their academic achievements, the graduates had a variety of high school options from which to choose. This year’s graduates will move on to University High School, St. Gregory College Preparatory School,… Read more »
Jon Ben-Asher, Tucson Hebrew Academy’s new interim head of school, is off and running. He attended THA in the late 1970s and early ’80s and recalls being assigned to watch Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” as homework. “Cosmos” is back on TV, modernized and even more spectacular. So is Ben-Asher’s view… Read more »
Jonathan Ben-Asher The Tucson Hebrew Academy board of trustees has appointed Jonathan Ben-Asher as interim head of school. To establish a strong transition, Ben-Asher started last week and will assume full leadership of the school in July. Arthur Yavelberg, the current head of school, is leaving to take a position in… Read more »
Anna Greenberg Tucson Hebrew Academy will celebrate its 40th anniversary at the Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) dinner on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The annual event will honor the memory of Anna Greenberg with the 2013 Tikkun Olam Award. Greenberg, a… Read more »
Seth Pope is a fifth-grader at the Lippman School in Akron, Ohio, which began admitting non-Jewish students in response to declining enrollment. (Uriel Heilman) AKRON, Ohio (JTA) — During a High Holidays discussion about repentance in Sarah Greenblatt’s Jewish values class, not all the students are listening. One girl stares out the window at the azure sky. Another sits in the back doodling. But a boy in the front row wearing a creased… Read more »
Joel Chasnoff Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Tom Warne with its 2012 Tikkun Olam Award at a gala dinner featuring entertainment by comedian Joel Chasnoff on Oct. 28. Warne is known in the Jewish community as a lay leader and philanthropist. He is chair of the Tucson Jewish Community Center board… Read more »
When the school year starts at Tucson Hebrew Academy on Aug. 16, every middle school student will have a laptop computer that they can take with them from class to class — and home with them at night. Lesson plans will be designed around this technology, which will… Read more »
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (P.K.Weis/southwest photobank.com) Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with its 2011 Tikkun Olam Award on Sunday, Nov. 6. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world) is a call for all to do their part to make the world a better place, both through public service and by… Read more »
Food allergies among children have become more commonplace in recent years, and Tucson’s Jewish schools are paying attention. “Not only has there been an increase in allergies, but there’s been an increase in the severity” of allergies among students at Tucson Hebrew Academy, says Ronnie Sebold, the school’s… Read more »
Ben Louchheim (Photos courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy) At Tucson Hebrew Academy parents sometimes say “you keep them in a cocoon,” says Ronnie Sebold, director of admissions. But this cocoon also nurtures THA students as they embark on their high school years. “They get a lot of comfort here, learn skills and are academically so prepared and… Read more »
Learning to read is part of any school curriculum but loving to read is another story. For the past two years, Tucson Hebrew Academy has been using the Great Books Foundation K-12 program from the University of Chicago, an established literature curriculum that promotes outstanding reading choices and shared-inquiry… Read more »
A photographic exhibit by Tucson Hebrew Academy, “The Art of Making a Difference,” is on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Fine Art Gallery through the end of the month. Established for THA’s Tikkun Olam event on Oct. 24 honoring Tucson’s rabbis, the exhibit “is a celebration of… Read more »
Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Yehuda enlightened Tucson Hebrew Academy middle school students about the origins of modern spoken Hebrew in a lecture at the school on Monday, Oct. 4. “My grandfather wanted to teach Hebrew as a living language so you could go to the store and buy a Coke,” Ben-Yehuda,… Read more »
Many schools have eliminated informal programs, leaving only classes characterized by high student/teacher ratios, rote memorization and drill exercises. But in designing programs at Tucson Hebrew Academy, the social and high-energy needs of young teens have not been tossed out, says Arthur Yavelberg, THA interim head of school. Take… Read more »
