All around the building at JKHA, students marked Tu B’Shevat with programming that shed light on and added meaning to the new year for the trees.

Early childhood and lower school students sampled a number of fruits and vegetables from Israel, both from ancient and modern times. Coupled with a focus on the laws of brachot, second and third grade students contrasted characteristics of the old and new and learned how new technologies have introduced modern farming into the State of Israel. First through third grades are also learning about Tu B’Shevat and its relationship with life science. They utilized the books “The Giving Tree” and “Be a Friend to Trees” to learn important lessons. They integrated their unit on Tu B’Shevat with science to create a cross-curricular connection, creating 4-dimensional trees depicting the seven species of the Land of Israel in Judaic Studies. They then connected the cycle of man to a cycle of a seed and learned the significance of each part of a tree and their functions in science class.

Middle school students took part in an interactive Tu B’Shevat program that taught them about the importance of preserving the environment. They began with learning about the source of Tu B’Shevat in the Mishna and why we celebrate the day. They applied the learning to improving the environment and understanding their footprint on the earth. Students then moved onto an Escape Room challenge using Israel as an example of different ways they can preserve the environment. They learned about drip irrigation, the Kinneret as the water source of Israel, SodaStream and lessons for recycling, and the National Water Carrier that transfers water from the north of the country to the highly populated center and arid south. At each station they needed to complete a related activity to get the code to unlock the box of puzzle pieces and complete the puzzle to escape.