Tu B'Shvat--Holiday of the Trees
Every year Beth Tfiloh celebrates a Jewish holiday called Tu B'shvat. Like a Jewish Arbor Day, Tu B'shvat is the Birthday of the Trees. Students learn about trees, why they are useful, what benefits they have, and why we need to care for them. There is also a meal that is conducted using seven fruit, grain, and nut species native to Israel (figs, dates, wheat, barley, pomegranates, olives, and grapes). This is a huge celebration in the school and celebrates the food that plants give to us and why we should care for the environment. Click here to read more about celebrating this holiday at Beth Tfiloh.
Preschool celebrated this holiday with a party for the trees and then they went outside to read a story and sing songs.
Kindergarten had a Tu B'shvat seder, or meal where they celebrated by eating the seven species and learning about the plants that they each came from.
Third Grade had many activities related to the holiday. On February 3, a guest parent came to the class and discussed with the children the beauty of the land and the trees and the fruits that grow from it. She had printed out many different pictures of the trees and she had them take pastels and draw their interpretation onto white and black paper. We discussed how to take care of the environment and appreciate the nature around us. She is also making their art work into a matching game and bringing it to Israel to children who are in need of games.
The High School Environmental Club ran an assembly for the whole high school about the Holiday of Tu B'shevat and the connection to conservation and preserving our natural resources. They explained the single stream recycling system to the students and conducted a Jeopardy game about environmental issues.
Bulletin Boards & Digital Kiosks
The Environmental Club maintains a number of bulletin boards around the school. Also, we publicize information on the digital kiosks found in each division. Below are the slides currently displayed in the digital kiosks around the school.
Publicizing Our Progress
Through this website, now available to the school community, and the Beth Tfiloh Environmental Club webpage hosted on the Beth Tfiloh website (http://bethtfiloh.com/environmentalclub), we are recognizing the achievement we have already made while promoting new events and initiatives.
The Environmental Club has also presented at various High School assemblies, explaining our next steps and the progress we have made. Below are sample of these PowerPoints.
Below is displayed a PowerPoint presented more recently, on March 7, 2014.
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Download the presentations below.
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