The celebration is on at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy as the school will be hosting its annual Dinner gala on Sunday, February 5, at 5:30 p.m. This year, as the date coincides with the holiday of Tu B’Shevat (known as “Rosh Hashanah for trees”), the festive event will incorporate a Tu B’Shevat Seder for all guests and participants.
This year’s event, celebrating “a tree of many roots,” will take place at the Italian Center of Stamford and will raise funds for scholarships and celebrate the success of BCHA as a pre-eminent place of learning in the Greater Fairfield, Westchester and New Haven counties.
“Each of our honorees this year has served our school with great distinction,” said Rabbi Tzvi Bernstein, head of the school at BCHA. “Their commitment to our school’s success and their actions pursuant to that commitment make them very worthy recipients of their respective awards at this year’s dinner. We are so pleased they are giving us the opportunity to thank and honor them for all they have and continue to do for Jewish education at BCHA.”
During the event, BCHA will be honoring several people for their outstanding contributions to the school.
Eleanor & Mort Lowenthal will be the Celebration Dinner’s Guests of Honor. In addition to their foundational support of the former Jewish High School of Connecticut, now the BCHA Upper School, Mort and Ele have been making Stamford and the surrounding areas a better place to live for more than half a century. In addition to being founders of the Jewish High School, which is now the BCHA Upper School, they have been involved with many other Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Broadcasting Service, National Hillel, American Jewish Committee, Hebrew College of Massachusetts, and Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces Westchester / Connecticut Chapter.
Shira and Marc Nerenberg are being honored with BCHA’s Community Service Award for their superlative contributions to Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy and the greater Stamford Jewish community. In addition to serving as this year’s PTA co-president, Shira has been involved with BCHA’s holiday card fundraisers, auction planning, and dinner committees.
Shira continues to serve and participate in activities all around town, whether at the United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, Jewish Family Service, various synagogues, the JCC Maccabee games, hosting a summer shliach and being the Chair of the Chesed Committee at Agudath Sholom. Marc volunteers with his team at GenRe,shaving his head to raise money for childhood cancer research, cleaning up Mill River Park, packing bags for Filling in the Blanks and participating in DEI&B initiatives.
This year’s Young Leadership Award will be presented to Shira Gilboa. Since officially joining the BCHA community in the Fall of 2020, Shira has become involved with the school in several critical ways. She has helped with countless events, shared valuable feedback about processes and lent considerable time and skills to implementing our school’s website. This school year, Shira joined the Board of Trustees and serves on both the Finance Committee and the Marketing Committee.
Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy lower and middle school English and mathematics teacher Laura Miller is this year’s recipient of the Walter Shuchatowitz Award for Excellence in Education. Laura has been a team leader and mentor teacher to new middle school staff, as well as a student advisor and support specialist. Building positive relationships with students is the cornerstone of Laura’s classroom. She believes that children will work to their fullest potential when they know that you’re on their team and cheering them on.
If you would like to join us in what promises to be a truly memorable event, please RSVP before the January 16 deadline at http://www.bcha-ct.org/celebration.
By Paul Silverfarb
