The Charlotte Jewish News - June-July 2015 - Page 14
Twenty-Seven Teens Named to Teen Rosenwald Movie
Board for Shalom Park Freedom School Fundraiser Supports the
The Shalom Park Freedom
Sehool reeently seleeted 27 teens
for its Teen Board, whieh will
serve the 2015 summer literaey-
based eamp at Shalom Park. Teen
board members volunteer as
sehool assistants for at least two
weeks during the summer and
work with CMS lst-5th graders to
boost their literaey skills and en-
rieh their eultural experienees.
They learn about how the Free
dom Sehool program helps to
elose the aeademie aehievement
gap for low-ineome students, as
sist with and lead fun aetivities,
and develop meaningful relation
ships with Freedom Sehool sehol-
ars and staff. These rising
10th-12th graders also help with
fundraising for the sehool, plan
ning a book drive and raising
funds for Challah for Seholars.
The Shalom Park Freedom
Shalom Park
Freedom
School Teen
Board
Members
for 2015.
Sehool will be held June 18-July
29. The Shalom Park Freedom
Sehool has expanded to serve 80
seholars this summer, up from 50.
These seholars are seleeted from
Fluntingtowne Farms and Ster
ling, the elementary sehools in
faith-based partnerships with
Temple Israel and Temple Beth
El.
The 2015 Teen Board mem
bers inelude:
* MacKenzie Albert * Jack
Baron* Ian Bodenheimer*
Kaylie Brooks* Sarah Choffin*
Anna Ditesheim* Anna Doline*
Tommy Ecker* Anna Farrell*
Kate Frankenberg* Sam
Gordon* David Gordon* Lanie
Hitt* Amanda Knrtz* Rachel
Mnsa* Victoria Newman* Sam
Nenmann* Leah Porter*
Lindsay Rosenzweig* Max
Rosewater* Max Schoenbrnn*
Siena Serrano* Dana
Sheinhans* Alana Stilitano*
M.E. Snris* Ramona Snris*
Marissa Uri ^
Growth of Shalom Park
Freedom School
By Amy Lefkof
With 200 people in attendanee,
Shalom Park Freedom Sehool’s
4th annual movie fundraiser, on
April 30 at the Sam Lemer Center
for Cultural Arts, featured the doe-
umentary Rosenwald, the remark
able story of Jewish philanthropist
Julius Rosenwald, President and
Chairman of Sears from 1908-
1932. Despite not having gradu
ated from high sehool or eollege,
Rosenwald partnered with Booker
T. Washington from the 1910s into
the early 1930s to build over
5,000 sehools in Afriean-Ameri-
ean eommunities in the rural
South.
The doeumentary also showed
Rosenwalds’ other major philan-
thropie aeeomplishments: the
building of blaek YMCAs, fund
ing upeoming Afriean-Ameriean
artists, painters and performers.
Held on May 17 at Foundation
For The Carolinas and attended
by more than 150 legacy donors
and community leaders
FCjfc
FOUNDATION forth.
charlotte JE WISH
COMMUNITY
Additional pictures from the
event can be found at
WWW,charlottejewishfoundation.org
sueh as Ralph Ellison, Langston
Hughes, and Marian Anderson,
and funding future seientists and
doetors, sueh as Afriean-Ameri
ean Dr. Charles Drew whose re-
seareh on the preservation of
blood plasma saved the lives of
thousands of GIs.
What drove Rosenwald to help
the Afriean Ameriean eommu-
nity? One faetor was that he saw
the parallels in the fear of threats
and violenee eonfronting both
Jews and Blaeks: the KKK and
Jim Crow threatened blaek peo
ple, and Russia was oppressing
Jews with pogroms and diserimi-
natory laws. Another faetor was
that after an eye opening visit to
the Tuskegee Institute, Rosenwald
was informed by Booker T. Wash
ington that what was needed most
in the rural south were sehools for
blaek ehildren, who were other
wise eonsigned to menial field
work. The Rosenwald sehools be-
eame the rallying ery for eduea-
tion, the heart of these
eommunities.
Emily Zimmern, President of
the Levine Museum of the New
South, introdueed the Rosenwald
doeumentary and made palpable
the link between Rosenwald’s phi
losophy of tikkun olam, and
Shalom Park Freedom Sehool —
where our Jewish eommunity has
joined with the eommunities of
Huntingtowne Elementary and
Sterling Elementary to prevent
summer learning loss by provid
ing a six-week, literaey-based
summer program for 80 eeonomi-
eally disadvantaged seholars for
the last five summers.
If the Shalom Park eommunity
ean eontinue to provide an enrieh-
ing literaey-based summer pro
gram for low-ineome Afriean
Ameriean and Hispanie seholars,
then perhaps these ehildren will
grow up to beeome the next Ralph
Ellison, Marian Anderson, or dis-
eoverer of a life-saving medieine
or medieal proeedure. This
thought was eehoed by another
speaker that evening. Dr. Moniea
Rabinovieh, Chemistry Professor
at UNCC and member of Temple
Beth El, who spoke about her ex-
perienee helping the young sehol
ars ereate “slimy goop” during the
six-week summer program. Rabi
novieh eneouraged others in the
audienee to donate their time or
make finaneial pledges to Shalom
Park Freedom Sehool.
At the fundraising event, the
audienee was asked by Shalom
Park Freedom Sehool Co-Chairs
Lisa Garfinkle, Mareia Stem, and
Eileen Davis, to make a pledge in
support of Shalom Park Freedom
Sehool, sinee the wish of many
publie sehool ehildren attending
Sterling Elementary and Hunting
towne Farms Elementary is to at
tend a six-week literaey based
summer program here at Shalom
Park.
For more information on how
to get involved or make a eontri-
bution in support of SPFS, please
visit the website at spfreedom-
sehool.org. ^