Every year, HANC Plainview Elementary School celebrates The Shabbat Project as a grandparent and special someone engagement program. Though COVID-19 prevented visitors to the campus this year, that did not stop us from celebrating remotely! The theme of this year’s event was “A Taste of a HANC Plainview Shabbos.”
On Wednesday night, there was a Grandparent-Parent-Child Shabbos Dessert bake via Zoom and had over 65 participants making Cinnamon-Chocolate Chip Mandelbread together, led by the Director of Admissions and founder of the HANC Plainview Culinary Club, Francie Goldberg. Those who were fortunate to have grandparents in their homes baked together, while many students were surprised to see their grandparents logging on from all over the country.
The second half of the program continued on Friday morning, where over 125 participants gathered on Zoom to watch a video presentation of all the students in kindergarten through the sixth grade sharing what their favorite part of the Shabbos meal is. Those presentations were placed between montages of the students cooking, cleaning, setting the table, and getting their homes ready for Shabbos. Set to a great soundtrack, the students really enjoyed watching themselves and the grandparents and special someones get a “taste” of what our classrooms are looking like this year.
The most significant part of the program was the end, when we spotlighted each grandparent or special someone to wish their grandchildren a Shabbat Shalom and say a special brachah or something personal. Students were so happy to see their grandparents and relatives whom they haven’t seen in months, and it was a truly beautiful and emotional morning. Each class was given a special Shabbos treat: black-and-white cookies from the local bakery ZuckerBakers. It was a small taste of HANC Plainview, but left a big impression. Each grandparent and special someone will be gifted “A Taste of HANC Plainview – The Cookbook” as a gift for attending the program.