Last week, the Cosmetic Chemistry elective learned how acid/base chemistry is used to make various cosmetic products. They then combined a weak acid and a weak base to make bath bombs they can use at home!

♟ Heilicher has some chess champions! ♟ A couple weeks ago some of our students participated in the seven-round School Chess Association Primary Statewide Tournament — and won! The Heilicher primary team scored a total of 16 wins — a 4.5-point lead over the 2nd-place team. ♟ Congratulations to the primary team players: Nate K., 5th place with 5 wins; Alon L., 10th place with 4 wins (in his first tournament!); Matan S., 14th place with 4 wins; and Naor F., 3 wins. ♟ The elementary team also played great — they are three third graders and a fourth grader, and they played teams with fifth graders and placed 7th! Shoutout to Ben H., 4 points; Elliot R., 4 points; Lev R., 3.5 points; and Huckleberry S. (first tournament!), 2.5 points. ♟ Mazal tov to all the Heilicher players, and kol hakavod (good job/all honor) to Ben for earning 💯 merit points and Elliot for earning a gold medal🏅!

Throughout the year, K-4 students studied works of art from Minneapolis Institute of Art, and today they got to see those works and more at the museum! 🖼

Out of about 1,300 teams, two groups of Heilicher third graders advanced to the final round of the Minnesota Zoo’s ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge and presented their enrichment designs for the zoo’s white-cheeked gibbons to zoo officials. 🐒 One group — Elly K., Maya R., and Noa S. — earned third place overall for enrichment design! Kol hakavod (good job/all honor) to Elly, Maya, and Noa; Saul H., Ari S., and Harrison W.; AND Ms. Vlodaver!

Our seventh graders are now back from the U.S. capital, and just before their trip they, along with the rest of the middle school, visited our state capital. 🏛 First, middle schoolers explored Minnesota's past by visiting the many interesting hands-on exhibits at the Minnesota History Center. Then they visited the Minnesota State Capitol for a tour and met St. Louis Park State Representative Larry Kraft in the rotunda where he answered student questions about government.

We are immensely proud of the Heilicher eighth graders who presented a culmination of many weeks of hard work, including mentor meetings and research, at Capstone Evening. Each student chose a social justice issue and presented their newfound knowledge and suggestions to their peers, teachers, and families. We love to see eloquent and passionate soon-to-be Heilicher graduates excited about creating change and ready to go on to high school and beyond!

While seventh grade is in the U.S. capital, we're also thinking about the happenings at our state capital. At Heilicher we pride ourselves on cultivating leaders committed to both the Jewish and global community, and Director of General Studies Jackie Smith and Head of School Dr. Dan Ahlstrom lead by example. In February, Ms. Smith testified in front of the Minnesota Senate Education Finance Committee in support of resources for independent schools. In April, Dr. Dan testified. “In a time where everything feels partisan, this is a point that is really just about the health and well-being of Minnesota children,” Ms. Smith said. A message from Dr. Dan: ”If you share our belief that all Minnesota students should have access to essential educational services, I encourage you to reach out to your elected officials. Your voice can help ensure that students at Heilicher — and at nonpublic schools across the state — continue to receive the support they need to thrive.” Thank you, Ms. Smith and Dr. Dan for showing us Democracy in action and advocating for all students!

It was a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! 🍪 Thank you to the PTO for all the great treats! The teachers and staff got to fill "snackle boxes," enjoy baked goods and a Chef Liz breakfast, and take home fresh challah and Shabbat kits. We have a community of fantastic bakers! 🍎 And THANK YOU TO THE TEACHERS for everything you do!

🍦 On their way to 💲30,000, Heilicher students met their first fundraising goal of 💲18,000 and earned a visit from an ice cream truck! They have since surpassed 💲18,000 and are getting closer to their end goal but still need your help to reach 💲$30,000. 🍦 Donate now to support the Heilicher Color Run student-led fundraiser, and get your gift matched by the Mike and Linda Fiterman Family Foundation! 🍦 Give at app.99pledges.com/fund/heilicher3/donate

Seventh grade is in Washington, D.C., learning about about everything from Indigenous history to how to ride the Metro! So far they have visited the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Gallery of Art, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Roosevelt, King, and Jefferson memorials.

Happy Yom ha-Atzmaut! Today we rejoiced and 🇮🇱 Remembered history, 📘 Davened t'filot, 🎶 Sang songs, 💃 Danced dances, and 🧑‍🏫 Learned from Aliyah Chet students’ first-hand experience in Israel.

Today the seventh-grade class led a beautiful program with songs and prayers to observe Yom haZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and commemorate Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror.

Heilicher commemorated Yom haShoah with three programs last week: 1. Gloria Fredkove, age 81, shared her family story and how she survived the Shoah with Grades 5-8. 2. The entire school gathered for a short memorial ceremony led by the sixth-grade students. 3. Seventh- and eighth-grade students then directed age-appropriate short activities/lessons based on children’s books about the Holocaust to the K-4 students. Heilicher’s Yom haShoah program empowers the middle school students to accept their responsibility to preserve the memory of the Shoah and to pass that memory on to the next generation. It also allows the younger students to learn about the importance of remembering from a trusted older student in a safe and supportive environment. We aim to establish an age-appropriate foundation to support the harder conversations that come in later years.

Our lower school families came together last week for Family Math Night! They participated in a variety of fun and interactive games that gave students a chance to practice and show off their math skills while parents learned more about our elementary math curriculum.

The Heilicher choir had the wonderful opportunity to go out into the community and perform for our seniors at Sholom. This was an engaging way to practice gemilut chasidim, acts of loving kindness. 🎶

“Us being there was so important and meaningful to us. But I can't imagine how meaningful it was to the people that live there and to the people that saw us visiting.” 🇮🇱 Read TC Jewfolk's article about Heilicher's first-ever Aliyah Chet! 🇮🇱 https://tcjewfolk.com/2025/04/11/hmjds-eighth-graders-reflect-on-schools-first-israel-experience/

🌏🌎🌍 Kindergarten learned about various countries and in addition to making reports, they presented K World Fest, songs from around the world in celebration of cultural diversity. 🌏🌎🌍

Are you ready for Passover? Our fifth graders are! They made clay Pesach ritual items, from matzah platters to salt water bowls. Chag Pesach sameach!

Fifth grade ventured into nature to build a village! It was a fun lesson in team building and problem-solving right on our campus.

Alumni parent and local author 📘 @doriweinstein 📘 visited third and fourth grade this week. She shared her journey to becoming an author, specifically of Jewish children’s chapter books with her series 📙 Yaya & Yoyo. 📙 See Dori at Yom Dor l'Dor tomorrow! She will be selling her books.