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The Yeshiva of Central Queens gratefully acknowledges the Names, Not Numbers© program that has taught our students about the Holocaust through the accounts of eyewitnesses, provided them with interviewing, filming, and editing skills, and, most importantly, enabled meaningful relationships to be forged between the survivors and our students.

Shevach High School has been moving forward consistently with remote learning and even enrichment during these trying times. Under the leadership of Shevach principal Rebbetzin Rochelle Hirtz and her dedicated staff, the students were logging on to their classes, with almost perfect attendance, immediately after schools closed in the New York area. Teachers went beyond their responsibilities to reach each and every student at the right time and guarantee that her learning would go on uninterrupted.

Yeshivos and day schools are being so creative to make students feel connected to school. On Rosh Chodesh Sivan, thanks to the PA, Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens girls were treated to boxes of mini-doughnuts. The girls ventured to the closest pick-up point, any one of nine homes throughout the Queens and Long Island communities.

Congratulations to SKA student Alyssa Dachs on receiving an award for outstanding school achievement in high school chemistry from the American Chemical Society! Special thanks to SKA Science Department Head Dr. Chana Glatt for her support.

At the Bnos Malka Academy, we value the experience of each and every student – whether in the school building, at home, or in virtual reality. The 7^th and 8^th grade students were scheduled to have their Philadelphia and Washington trips last week – a little inconvenience like lockdown was not going to prevent them from having fun! On Sunday, May 17, the students came to Bnos Malka to pick up boxes that were prepared with all of the supplies necessary for their “trips.”

On Thursday, May 21, the YCQ Parent Teacher Organization sponsored a meet-the-author day with author and illustrator Kathleen Bart. She met with students in the second, third, and fourth grades for special readings from a few of her books and activities. With the second grade, she read and discussed her book A Tale of Two Teddies. Students learned the history of the Teddy bear, they saw samples of original toy bears, and how they morphed from wood to metal and eventually the soft cuddly cute bears we know and love today. Ms. Bart discussed the debate over whether America or Germany created the first Teddy bear and the naming of the Teddy bear after then President Theodore Roosevelt. She is also the illustrator of her books and designer of the Ralph Lauren Polo bear. After the discussion, she guided the students in sketching their own teddy bears that looked just like their librarian Mrs. Etta on a trip to Hawaii.