Students getting ready to strut

MICHELLE DODEK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Models, young and old, will have a chance to strut their stuff at the Richmond Jewish Day School's (RJDS) second annual Mother's Day fashion show. The show will feature boys and girls from the school, along with their mothers and bubbes. The event will showcase summer fashions with models parading down a T-shaped runway. Chairs will be set up along the runway, just like a fashion show in New York City, according to fashion show co-chair Toby Rubin.

Organizers are currently soliciting students at RJDS to participate in modelling this summer's fashions from Old Navy and After Five. Fashions for the adults will be provided by Current on No. 2 Road and Blundell.

Many children already have experience walking down the fashion runway; while the others are excited to be modelling clothing for the first time.

Melanie Friedman, from Grade 6, is one of the repeat models. She, her sister and her mother are all in the show for a second year.

"It's fun and a good way to express yourself," said Melanie.

Another family that is participating in the show is the Sommer family. Daisy, a yoga instructor and mother of twins in Grade 6, will be participating for the first time. Her son, Ran, is excited to model fashions for his peers "so people can know what they should wear in the summer." His twin sister, Natacha, thought that when she was young that she would be a model, but now she aspires to be a primary teacher or an architect and will act as a model in the fashion show just for fun.

Students in grades 5 and 6 concurred that a fashion show is a very appropriate event for a school with a dress code. The girls are interested in clothing and shopping even though they all wear a uniform at school. The boys think the fashion show is simply a nice change of pace.

Organizers are hoping to attract even more than the 120 people they hosted last year. This event, which costs $18 and $5 for children under 12, is just one of the fund-raisers the RJDS Parent Association is holding. The kick-off event for this year's fund-raising drive to support school activities was Latin Night, a South American Fiesta on Feb. 22. Future events include a 10th anniversary party on March 26, an Art Knapp spring shopping evening and a groundbreaking golf tournament. In the latter event, for the first time, Vancouver Talmud Torah and RJDS are co-operating to promote awareness of Jewish education, as well as to raise funds for capital and operating costs. The tournament, dubbed the Educational Invitational, is scheduled for May 26 at the Richmond Country Club.

The Mother's Day fashion show takes place on Sunday, May 4, 1-3 p.m. For more information, contact RJDS at 604-275-3393.

Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.

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