On Friday, December 18, the final day of Chanukah, The Moriah middle school participated in their annual Moriah Reads Day. Being the 10th anniversary of the event, Moriah students revisited the novel “Counting on Grace,” by Elizabeth Winthrop, as it had for its inaugural event. Moriah middle school students dedicated their day to: “The Many Face of Grace,’’ and enjoyed a variety of cross-curricular activities connected to art, photography, history and Judaism. They started their day with Paint with Me! with Nikki Sausen. Delightfully, she engaged the students in painting Vermont, the setting of the book. She infused the idea that even though the lives of the children working in the mill were challenging, the beauty of the world can be seen through a proper lens. This was followed by a fun activity called Let’s Be Lefties where the students had to complete a variety of tasks with their non-dominant hand. This had them simulate the challenges the main character, Grace, had while doffing bobbins in the mill using her left hand. Afterwards children participated in a workshop about the photography of Lewis Hine who created social change with his photography centered around child labor in the early 1900s.

Later in the afternoon, the children were privileged to Zoom with author Elizabeth Winthrop. She engaged the children about the history of child labor in America, inspiration for writing the novel and took questions from the students too. The final element of the Moriah Reads Day was a shiur connecting all of the themes of the novel with the miracle of Chanukah. It was a memorable day for Moriah students and faculty.