Herzl Hadassah to hold Chanukah program Dec. 10
A festive Chanukah program led by the talented duo Miriam Creemer and Mimi Guten will highlight the Wednesday, Dec. 10 meeting of Herzl Hadassah at the Aaron Family JCC. The festivities start at 10:15 a.m. in the Senior Assembly Room and all are welcome. Coffee and dessert will be served. BYO sandwich and join your friends for a shmooze.
At this time, Herzl will also collect for its annual canned food drive for the Jewish Family Service Food Pantry. Members are asked to bring a donation of one or several cans for the Food Drive.
Levine Academy fifth- and seventh-grade students identified for Duke TIP
Ann and Nate Levine Academy is pleased to announce that 15 Levine Academy fifth- and seventh-grade students have qualified for the 2008 Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP). To qualify, fifth- and seventh-grade students must have scored at the 95th percentile or higher on the verbal or math sections on the standardized achievement test taken last year.
The Duke TIP, the largest program of its kind in the nation, was founded in 1980. The talent search helps gifted students and their families find out how advanced the students’ abilities truly are. According to Duke TIP, traditional testing often fails to measure the variations among many gifted students who reach the upper limits of scoring on grade-level exams. By taking advanced above-level (at least two years above a student’s current grade placement) testing through Duke TIP’s talent searches, gifted students and their families gain a far better understanding of where the student stands in relation to his/her gifted peers and what level of educational challenge is appropriate.
The identified seventh-graders are invited to take either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT Assessment college entrance exam with high school juniors and seniors. Students performing at a certain level on the SAT or ACT receive national recognition for their outstanding achievements and are invited to participate in a variety of summer academic college-based programs throughout their high school years. The Fifth Grade Talent Search gives students the opportunity to take the EXPLORE test which was developed by ACT for eighth-graders to evaluate their academic development. In addition, the fifth-grade students receive a variety of academic resource materials, academic courses they can do at home and the opportunity to participate in the Talent Search Writing Contest. “We are so proud that we consi

stently have a strong percentage of our seventh-grade students, and now our fifth-grade students, who qualify for TIP,” K-8 Principal Dr. Susie ­Wolbe said. “We attribute this not only to their natural abilities, but also to the strong curricular base the school provides. We never teach to the test. We simply stress the skills required for a student to be successful. This is why our students excel again and again.”
Congratulations to the following students qualifying for the seventh-grade TIP: Danielle Berg, Ben Calmenson, Michala Collis, Nathan Jajan, Riley Lelah, Sylvan Perlmutter, Chelsea Raffkind, Shai Weinstein and Rosie Zander.
Congratulations to the following students qualifying for the fifth-grade TIP: Jonas Frenkel, Samantha Galardi, Eylon Kidron, Elena Okowita, Molly Paley and Carolyn Perlmutter.

Lecture on ‘The Global Credit Crisis and Risk Management’
The Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce, The Israel-Texas Science and Education Foundation and Euler Hermes Group cordially invite friends and interested people to a professional presentation on “The Global Credit Crisis and Risk Management.” Among the topics to be discussed are: understanding corporate credit insurance, bad debt insurance, selling receivables, accounts receivable insurance and how to protect yourself if you fear a customer won’t be able to pay you!
The practical discussion will be led by Rob Ferguson of Euler Hermes Group, the largest credit insurer in the world.
The gathering, with a light breakfast, will take place on Dec. 9 from 7:30 to 8:50 a.m. in the reception room (bottom floor) of the Euler Hermes office building location, 15301 Dallas Pkwy., Addison.
Greg Yavner, president and CEO, hopes to see a large group at what is certain to be an informative and stimulating event, as well as an excellent introduction to the activities of the Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
RSVPs should be made to Rob Ferguson, vice president of Euler Hermes, at rob.ferguson@eulerhermes.com or 972-581-0513.