{"id":21536,"date":"2016-10-14T00:33:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T07:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=21536"},"modified":"2016-10-13T10:07:57","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T17:07:57","slug":"vtt-campus-officially-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/10\/14\/vtt-campus-officially-opens\/","title":{"rendered":"VTT campus officially opens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vancouver Talmud Torah head of school Cathy Lowenstein at the Sept. 25 ceremony that officially opened the school\u2019s new building. (photo by Lara Shecter)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vancouver Talmud Torah recently completed a comprehensive redevelopment and renovation of its campus and, on Sept. 25, a ceremony was held in the new double gymnasium of the school to officially open the new building.<\/p>\n

Members from all parts of the community came out to see the space the school has been touting as embodying \u201cthe concepts of 21st-century learning.\u201d The event included an introduction by Cathy Lowenstein, head of school, as well as words from the campaign chairs, Dan Pekarsky and Alan Shuster. While thrilled at having reached the goal of $20 million in their first campaign, they hope that enthusiasm for the new school will spur the community to give additional financial support.<\/p>\n

Lowenstein clarified the need for a second fundraising campaign in an email interview. \u201cTwenty million dollars was the amount we knew we would need to be able to finish any project we started, including the underground parkade,\u201d she explained. \u201cBy proceeding when we did, we were able to develop the parkade jointly with the BI [Congregation Beth Israel]. That saved us over $2 million and the disruption of excavating beneath the school that we would have faced if we had waited. In the meantime, we completed the final program design, engineering and budgeting for the new school and, once we had that information, set a final budget and campaign goal of $27.5 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Vancouver Talmud Torah Rabbi Marc Kasten looks on as Gordon and Leslie Diamond, lead donors, affix a mezuzah to the school. (photo by Lara Shecter)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those present at the opening event were impressed by the beauty, modernity and scope of the new campus. In addition, Andrew Merkur, a parent with two children currently attending VTT, was awed by the spirit of generosity and community. \u201cI\u2019m kvelling inside!\u201d he said. \u201cThere are so many people who don\u2019t even have children here and they still give of their time and money. It\u2019s so wonderful to see how multi-generational the caring for the kids is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowenstein acknowledged two audience members from the first graduating class of VTT in 1954, who now have grandchildren in the school. And Marcy Schwartzman and Larry Vinegar arrived with their children, who are in their 20s. \u201cI\u2019m a VTT grad and both of my kids went here,\u201d said Schwartzman. \u201cWe all wanted to see what the building is like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rose and Fred Mikelberg came to scout the space with their 2-year-old granddaughter. \u201cShe\u2019ll be here next year. It\u2019s exciting and such a beautiful building,\u201d said Rose Mikelberg.<\/p>\n

One of the hallmarks of this modern building is the flexibility of space both for school purposes and potential rental. The spacious common areas, flooded with natural light, include a dining area adjacent to the kosher kitchen. It overlooks the gym and can be used as a viewing area for sports events or as a secondary area if someone wanted to host a large party. Open spaces between classroom \u201cpods\u201d (age-related clusters of rooms) serve as informal meeting places for students as well as places to engage in class group work.<\/p>\n

The synagogue area is called a \u201csanctified space and multi-purpose room.\u201d It bears the following inscription: \u201cRobert and Marilyn Krell and Family \u2013 Dedicated to Robert\u2019s Christian family, Albert and Violette Munnik, and their daughter, Nora, whose lives defined righteousness, having risked their lives to save his during the Holocaust in the Hague.\u201d Pekarsky said, \u201cThe school community will be reminded of the heroism of this family and this story will continue to inspire VTT for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Keren Katz, class of 2016 graduate and one of the Hallelujah Singers, points to the mezuzah she made as part of a class project to leave a legacy to the school. The project, facilitated by VTT parent and artist Dina Sacks, will continue with future graduating classes to fill the Glassman Gallery with original, student-created mezuzot containing a special Jewish-themed wish. (photo by Jennifer Shecter-Balin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJudaic offerings is an area that we know we must improve,\u201d acknowledged Lowenstein, saying that having a new school rabbi, Rabbi Marc Kasten is a step in that direction. A trip that Grade 7 students will take to the Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg for the first time this year is another. \u201cWe are the first elementary school in Canada to do a trip like this and we\u2019re very grateful to the Asper Foundation, Diamond Foundation and Federation for their financial support, without which it wouldn\u2019t be possible,\u201d said Lowenstein.<\/p>\n

Other new programs the expanded school will be able to support include after-school basketball, floor gymnastics, musical theatre, mixed media art, hip-hop and jazz for girls, floor hockey, badminton, field hockey and STEM Lego robotics. All of these programs are offered at market cost to students interested in these extracurricular activities. The learning commons area is open after school until 4:30 p.m. for what Lowenstein described as parents needing after-school options at low or zero cost.<\/p>\n

The new school can accommodate up to 650 students. Although exact numbers were not available about current enrolment, Lowenstein said \u201cenrolment is up slightly\u201d and reported growth in the early years programming, which serves as a feeder for the regular school. \u201cEarly years enrolment is really thriving!\u201d she said. \u201cOf the 70 students in preschool (age 3) and junior kindergarten (age 4), 35 students are in the full-day licensed programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new classrooms are enormous, with some of the latest educational technology. Students have access not only to two full-sized gyms but also a turf-covered playing field that covers the entire roof of the new building.<\/p>\n

Shuster said, \u201cVTT is poised and ready to embrace the next chapter in its story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Dodek<\/strong> is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vancouver Talmud Torah head of school Cathy Lowenstein at the Sept. 25 ceremony that officially opened the school\u2019s new building. (photo by Lara Shecter) Vancouver Talmud Torah recently completed a comprehensive redevelopment and renovation of its campus and, on Sept. 25, a ceremony was held in the new double gymnasium of the school to officially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6468,6467],"class_list":["post-21536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-jewish-education","tag-schools"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}