Reminders:
Thursday, August 18 at 7pm is Parent Orientation in the Gan at Home Zoom Room. To join just go to www.gansinai.org/zoom
Friday, August 19 is Back to School Day!
TGS: 9am-10am
PK2: 10am-11am
PK3: 11am-12pm
PK4: 12:30pm-1:30pm
Please make sure all of your forms are signed and uploaded in the Playground app under "Documents"
There are lots of sign ups available (hot lunch, enrichment, challah, birthdays, etc.) Check www.gansinai.org/backtoschool for all the details and links.
Monday, August 22 is our first day of school!
Get all the latest info and links at www.gansinai.org/greatthings.
Find quick links and easy-to-access information at www.gansinai.org/families.
From Rabbi David
This week has been a week of cleaning. A couple of our classrooms switched and the building needed to be turned over from camp. And I loved every minute of it.
I love cleaning. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that I love throwing things away. There's something so empowering about being able to start fresh with a clean slate and re-create a space.
The new school year is a fresh start; an opportunity to take a look at the world from a different perspective. We are not who we were last year when we cleaned house. We are a year wiser - we've grown and learned. Things we thought we needed to hold onto are now in the donate pile while other things have become more dear to us. And even those things that are familiar and nostalgic bring out different emotions in us because of our growth.
Just like we get our building ready and fresh for the start of school, we also seek to see each child with new eyes. Of course we remember how they've grown and want to build on that but we also want to give them each a chance to re-create themselves in a new environment and with new friends. I want them to feel the same liberation that I felt as I swept out all of those dusty corners from our building's history.
My prayer for this year is that we all bring a fresh set of eyes to our world - that we look more deeply, see more compassionately, explore more boldly and examine (ourselves) more carefully.