King David High School

KDHS gala coming soon

King David High School Golden Thread Gala co-chairs Heidi Seidman, left, and Sherri Wise. (photo from KDHS)

Heidi Seidman and Sherri Wise are excited to be back as co-chairs of the gala, which this year takes place May 18, 6:30 p.m., at Congregation Beth Israel. Having a combined three kids at the school, they recognize that Jewish high schools provide a unique environment for students to learn about their Jewish identity, while receiving an amazing education. An emphasis on values such as tikkun olam (repairing the world), social justice, community service, instilling a sense of responsibility and commitment to making a positive impact on the world, are just a few of the amazing things students learn.

This year, the annual Golden Thread Gala fundraiser celebrates 18 years of the school on Willow Street. For 18 years, the halls of KDHS have been filled with immersive Jewish and academic learning. This education is the golden thread that weaves the past and present together, shaping the next generation of students and alumni.

The gala evening includes dinner, entertainment, photo booth, silent auction, wine wall and raffle. For tickets, visit goldenthreadgala.com.

– Courtesy King David High School

Fostering literacy, education

Aaron Friedland will be the keynote speaker at this year’s King David High School Golden Thread Gala. (photo from goldenthreadgala.com)

King David High School’s Second Annual Golden Thread Gala takes place May 12. For an event that celebrates the story of KDHS, who better to represent King David’s success than one of its alumni. The night’s keynote speaker will be Aaron Friedland, Class of 2010.

Friedland is a National Geographic Explorer, a sustainable development practitioner and a PhD candidate.

In 2010, while Friedland was attending King David High School, he and his family visited Uganda’s Abayudaya Jewish community on a voluntourism project that would change his life and inspire the Walking School Bus. The Walking School Bus’s mission is to enhance access to education in low-income communities globally.

His research in the field of econometrics is focused on the intersection of economics and education, and his research-based interventions have helped more than 35,000 learners in Uganda and India improve their literacy – and literacy is the number one predictor of academic success.

Friedland also founded Simbi Foundation, an organization that creates solar-powered learning labs from shipping containers, in Uganda and India, providing access to quality educational tools in low-resource communities and UNHCR refugee settlements. His foundation was also the winner of the MBR Prosperity Grant to build BrightBox solar-power classrooms. Each BrightBox includes a shipping container with solar panels, laptops, projectors and digital aids, as well as all the installation costs at its destination. In 2016, Friedland received the Next Einstein Award for his work in furthering access to education.

This year’s Golden Thread Gala committee is co-chaired by Heidi Seidman and Sherri Wise; sponsorship chair is Brett Sandler. Committee members are Cyndi Ankenman, Dalia Bressler, Chana Charach, Nicole Ginsberg, Alain Guez and Margaret Hemingson. The development team is comprised of Esther Mogyoros, Justine Folk and Michele Zychlinski.

The event, which will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, will be emceed by KDHS head of school Russ Klein and Howard Blank will be the auctioneer. There will be a live and silent auction, as well as dinner and entertainment, a portraiture studio and more.

For tickets and other information, visit goldenthreadgala.com.

– Courtesy King David High School

Little Shop fills the Rothstein

The full cast of King David Players’ Little Shop of Horrors. (all photos from King David High School)

On March 16 and 17, the Rothstein Theatre was alive with music and a giant flesh-eating plant, as the King David Players presented this year’s theatre production, Little Shop of Horrors. Featuring a cast of students from every grade, the actors and musicians brought to life the dark comedy/musical. They played to full houses both nights.

Teachers Aron Rosenberg, Johnny Seguin and Anna-Mae Wiesenthal created the production, which involved 50 students, as well as other staff, parents and community supporters.

“When deciding what play to explore this year, we were looking for a musical that was light and fun and that was not too heavily based around social commentary (as is my usual inclination),” said Rosenberg in his director’s note. “I looked through a list of musicals and, remembering childhood evenings watching Little Shop of Horrors with Rick Moranis, Steve Martin and Bill Murray, I sent an e-mail to the administration ensuring it would be an appropriate choice.”

On closer look, the musical wasn’t that light.

“Three of the most problematic characters are Mushnik – the caricature of a greedy Jewish merchant – Audrey – the caricature of a helpless victim in an abusive relationship – and Orin – Audrey’s abusive boyfriend, and a caricature of a dentist with a self-acknowledged appetite for causing pain,” noted Rosenberg. “Perhaps this play’s innocuous reputation comes from an outdated attitude that treated ethnic stereotypes as playful, sexual violence as bland and dentists as inevitably painful. However, in 2016, our modern sensibilities force this play to take on a new life. The dark and irreverent humor of the play remains but, along with it, our cast has worked to uncover a respectful and critical look at the struggles of ethnic shop-owners in low-income neighborhoods, the horrors of domestic abuse and the ridiculousness of gender-inequity in relationships (not to mention the reality that dentists are no longer painful … usually).

“With all the creative commitment and hard work from our cast, crew and community, we are left with something not unlike our original goal…. The plot may not be light but the musical numbers are. And, as for social commentary and all this hullabaloo about the self-destructiveness of greed and power, you can take it or leave it. However, if you leave it, don’t be surprised when a giant human-eating plant comes a-knocking….”