Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Hills, MI

Sunshine All Around!
by Marlene Thav, MA, Director of Early Childhood Education

It’s finally summer! After a very cold, snowy winter and very chilly spring, the sun has finally come out and the children and staff are enjoying some fun in the sun. Camp Beth El began its season Monday, June 16 with about 75 campers and a record number( 25)of parent-tot children. The children come to camp dressed in their bathing suits, smelling of sunscreen and ready for fun. Our campers were excited to be given tickets to choose an ice cream treat from the Good Humor cart on the playground for the first two days of camp. Since then, they have been having a wonderful time running through a variety of sprinklers, blowing lots of bubbles, drawing chalk pictures on our riding track, playing in the sandbox, riding the tire swing and climbing the play structure.

This year themes for camp are: “Hats Off to You”, “Under the Sea with the Fish and Me”, “Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue”, “Oohey, Gooey, and Gobs of Fun”, “Let’s Build It” and “A Hunting We Will Go”. The seven weeks of camp are jam packed with projects to make, friends to play with, special treats and visitors and just plain summer fun. The good thing about living in Michigan is that we really appreciate summer when it finally arrives.
Plans for the 2008-09 school year are now complete. If you have not yet sent in your application please do so as soon as possible. Afternoon Enrichment applications will be mailed out soon, but only to those who have already turned in their applications for school. Enrichment classes are determined on a first come basis and each class is limited in size so please return them as quickly as possible.

We hope you’re having as much fun as we are at Camp Beth El. Enjoy the sunshine outdoors and the sunshine in your children’s faces!
The dedication to bring the best and latest into our classroom is exciting. We also offered a class in mathematics. Debbie Franklin’s “Number Crunchers” was a huge success. Not forgetting pure fun was Jill Gun’s “Imagine” class and the ever popular “Cooking With Debbie”. Josie Najor joined the enrichment class bandwagon this year with an offering of “Leaps & Bounds” and “Twist & Shout”. She did an incredible job showing children how to have fun by doing yoga, running relays and participating in movement in an amazing variety of fun and creative ways. The laughter and shouts coming from her classes each week made me burst with pride in her new found talent!

And let’s not forget our three two-year-old classes. Teachers, Sara Smith. Debbie Franklin and Batia Kritzer took babies, some not yet two, and turned out little toddlers in June who adore school! Gloria Balaj and Sara Allon, along with their fabulous assistants, provided our children with a memorable year. Lisa Kurzmann, a new pre-K teacher this year, did an outstanding job preparing her class for kindergarten. Connie Aidenbaum, our Hebrew immersion teacher, dedicated as always, to teaching the children about their Jewish culture, the land of Israel and a love for Hebrew, certainly rounded out the children’s exposure to all things Jewish. Our music teacher, Collette Rosner, and science teacher, Harriett Hollander, enriched our curriculum with their special talents and love of children. And our thanks to the rabbis, cantor and educator who all contributed to the great success we experienced this year.

What an exceptional year! Thank you to the entire TBE pre-school staff for bringing us to new heights. Here’s to continuing our great success next year!