Maccabi Academy to Partner with Students from Micronesia

The students in the Children First/Communities in Schools Project MARCH Learning Center at Dearview are excited to participate in Maccabi Academy Principal Kate Donaldson’s presentation.

By Marilynne Herbert

Chances are, the dozen students at the Deaverview Learning Center (DLC) whose families are from the Micronesian Islands had never met a Jewish child before moving to Asheville. Then again, the 19 students at Maccabi Academy, Asheville’s Jewish Day School, have likely never met a child from Micronesia. So when the two educational programs come together this year for some joint programming and activities, expect a few initial quizzical looks followed by a lot of questions and learning.

The Micronesian Islands are a chain of small atoll islands located just north of the Equator in the central Pacific Ocean. The vast majority of the 62,000 residents are practicing Protestant Christians. At the Project MARCH Learning Center at Deaverview, children of Micronesian immigrants account for 60 percent of the school’s 20 students.

The unique collaborative experience is being facilitated by Children
First / Communities In Schools, which partners with Maccabi Academy
through the Hands of Hope project, and supports the Project MARCH
Learning Center at Deaverview Apts.

Project MARCH Coordinator Barbara Norton brought the two programs
together earlier this year when she brought a Micronesian parent,
Karleen Mataky and one of the Deaverview site leaders and their Parent
Coordinator, Crystal Davis to Maccabi Academy. 
The visitors showed the Maccabi students island-made crafts, taught them
some basic Micronesian vocabulary, gave students a taste of coconut,
and helped them find the Micronesian Islands and the Republic of The
Marshall Islands on the globe.

A few weeks later, Maccabi Academy Principal and K-2 teacher Kate
Donaldson reciprocated, paying a visit to the Learning Center at
Deaverview. She showed them a Shofar, the ceremonial ram’s horn blown on
the Jewish High Holy Days; gave them a taste of Challah, the
traditional bread; brought pictures from Israel; and taught the children
a Hebrew song as well as a few basic Hebrew words.

A student in the Children First/Communities in Schools Project MARCH Learning Center claps his hands to a traditional welcoming song taught by Maccabi Academy Principal Kate Donaldson.

From there, the relationship has quickly grown. On November 18,
the two schools will come together for an afternoon of arts and crafts,
soccer, games, and singing, and students will then be pen pals
throughout the year. Just prior to Thanksgiving, the Maccabi students
will be collecting food in order to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving
feast for the Deaverview Learning Center children.

Many of the DLC children will also get to experience their first
Chanukkah on December 9 as they will be special guests at Maccabi’s
annual Chanukah celebration and performance. All the children will come
together for fun activities on March 24 to exchange handmade gifts and
to see their pen pals once again.