By Sharon Wisch-Ray
It’s hard to believe that the school year is behind us and the next week or so will be filled with graduation ceremonies at our local Jewish schools as well as area public and private schools.
Next week’s TJP will have a nice graduation section. If you’d like your child’s name included, please e-mail me at sharonw@texasjewishpost.com by Sunday, June 3. Please be sure to include: the child’s name, parents’ names, school, plans for next year and a photo in jpeg format if you wish.
Mazel tov in advance to all of you on your accomplishments and I hope to see you next week in the TJP.
STARS make a difference
Shir Tikvah of Frisco’s STARS religious school program celebrated a year of success helping various agencies in the city, according to its leaders.
“We wanted to make our inaugural year one that would set an amazing standard for truly living a beautiful Jewish life each and every day,” religious school director Misty Lewin said. “We designed our entire school year based on the premise of making a difference in our hometown and the lives of families within it.”
The STARS program kicked off the year with “Blast Into Summer,” in which families donated water toys, sunscreen, and bubble items to the Frisco Family Services Center. The STARS then united with Cornerstone Community Church for the Centennial Mitzvah Day project and collected hundreds of clothing items for the Frisco Resale Store.
The students and their families baked homemade treats for the “Hometown Heroes” project and delivered the desserts to the police headquarters. The STARS then traveled to the Frisco Cares Clinic, which provides medical care to those who cannot afford it, and planted beautiful flowers in hand-painted pots for this cause on Tu B’Shevat.
The students were so inspired by the Frisco Cares Clinic that the b’nai mitzvah class took it upon themselves to begin the “Bears 4 Cares” project, in which students collected an amazing array of stuffed animals for the clinic to pass out to its youngest patients.
The inaugural year for the STARS ended by touching so many lives. Each class adopted a cause and donated the year’s tzedakah money to making the world a better place donating hundreds of dollars to benefit such causes as Operation Kindness, Race for the Cure and the Frisco Cares Clinic.
“The religious school is dedicated to making each learning experience tactile and meaningful,” Stephanie Lambert, STARS curriculum coordinator, said. “We want our kids to experience first-hand what it means to live a Jewish life and we want them to be inspired through art, through music, and by putting what they’ve learned into action in the community.”
For more information on Shir Tikvah of Frisco and the STARS program, visit their website at www.shirtikvahfrisco.org.
Herzl installation
Rose Biderman tells us that the Installation of the 2012-2013 officers and chair persons of Herzl Hadassah will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, June 4, at the conference room at the Aaron Family Jewish Community Center, 7900 Northaven Road.
Installing officer will be the immediate past chapter president Barbara Moses.
Grocery script and greeting cards will be available for purchase, and plans will be announced for the coming chapter year.
After a two-month summer hiatus, the next chapter meeting will be on Sept. 10.
All members and guests are welcome to this closing meeting. Coffee and cake will be served.
New Allen Mondell film will have world premiere June 21
Dallas filmmaker Allen Mondell’s latest project “Waging Peace: The Peace Corps Experience” will have its world premiere at 6:15 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at the James E Collins Center Crum Auditorium on the campus of SMU, 3150 Binkley Ave.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked a generation of Americans to volunteer and make a difference on a global scale. Since then, more than 200,000 volunteers have answered his call.
“Waging Peace” weaves the personal letters, journals, emails and blogs written by Peace Corps volunteers with profiles of four returned volunteers showing the enduring impact of these experiences on their own lives and the lives of others.
The evening will begin with a wine, cheese and dessert reception. The screening will begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion.
The evening is co-presented by The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza, The North Texas Peace Corps Association and SMU’s Office of the Provost.
Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased at http://wagingpeacefilm-es2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=2, or by sending a check to Media Projects, Inc., 5215 Homer St., Dallas, TX 75206.
For information contact Mondell at mail@mediaprojects.org, 214-826-3863 or visit www.mediaprojects.org.
Mondell is well-known to the Dallas Jewish community. He has worked in films and television as a writer, producer and director for 40 years. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Baltimore in the mid-1960s and went to work in 1968 for WJZ-TV in Baltimore, first as a writer for a magazine program and then as a writer/director of documentary films about urban and social issues.
Moving on to KERA-TV in Dallas, he spent five years as a writer, producer and director of documentaries and special programs.
Allen taught in the Peace Corps in West Africa after graduating from Williams College with a B.A. in American History and Literature. He serves on the boards of the Dallas Producers Association, the Texas Jewish Historical Society and 3 Stars Cinema.
Together, Cynthia and Allen have been making award-winning docudramas and documentary films and videos for over 30 years. Their work explores a wide range of subjects but always with the goal of personalizing often complex social problems.