JKHA students roll out the welcome mat for Friendship Circle.
Eighth-graders at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston welcomed children from Friendship Circle into their school for Friendship Day on December 24, and turned an ordinary morning into a dancing, clapping, laughing, running, jumping and smiling day of fun.
“Your goal for the day is to make friends and build on that friendship throughout the day,” said Rabbi Adam Hertzberg, the JKHA middle school director of student activities, before the program began.
And build friendships they did.
The students were paired up with youngsters with whom they were to spend the day, and then it was off to the activities. The eighth graders were determined not let anything stand in the way of the kids having a good time. Some students went so far as to find a special snack for a youngster with food allergies, while others searched high and low just to find the right color chalk for an art project.
“What’s your favorite color?” one of the students asked as he and his friend-for-the-day walked down the hall.
“Blue,” responded the youngster.
“Blue is my favorite color, too. So what are you into? Sports, video games …” the conversation went on as the boys continued on their way.
The key to a successful day, may, in fact, be finding common ground to build on. And as eight grader Jessica Serviss said, “Everyone has something in common.”
Friendship Circle participant Dina Kaufman paused in the midst of drawing a snowscape with her Kushner friend, eighth grader Hannah Ginsberg, to share her impression of the morning. Her rating? A total thumbs-up. And when a musician started performing for the group, Dina’s smile grew as she was drawn into an impromptu dancing circle with many of the other girls.
“This is a special day,” Hannah told Dina when they were back in their seats. “I always get to see you at Friendship Circle, but this time you’re at my school.”
That earned another thumbs up from Dina, along with a huge smile.
In addition to building friendship and fun, the morning activities provided much needed respite for the parents whose children with special needs were on winter break.
As one parent noted in a message to the school later that day, “It’s always a challenge filling [my son’s] time on days off, so we are very grateful for the Friendship Circle programs and were particularly glad that they offered the extra program at Kushner today. Thank you for hosting.”
“This was just an amazing morning,” said Friendship Circle Executive Director Tova Grossbaum. “The Kushner students really opened their school and their hearts to our children and made them feel so special. To see the smiles on the children’s faces was so inspiring. We could not have asked for a better morning.”
Ava Minsky, 7, whose older sisters are JHKA students, got to spend the morning in school with them and hanging out with their friends as part of Friendship Day. She summed up the day saying, “Today was best day ever!”
