intro+letter

Hello 8th grade families,

I am very excited to be sharing with you information about our upcoming New York trip.

We have put together an educationally rich and valuable experiential learning experience that will also be a lot of fun. As you will see from the attached itinerary, we are covering a lot of ground. The primary focus of this trip is immigration. This builds on our yearlong learning around the question "Who Belongs?" Students have analyzed this question as it was answered in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, in historic and contemporary responses to immigration, and in Nazi Germany. In New York City, we will be using this lens when visiting museums and other sites of interest. One new addition to the itinerary that I am especially excited about this year is volunteering at the Hebrew Union College Soup Kitchen in Washington Square.

This trip is the result of contributions from many people. A trip at the end of eighth grade to both celebrate and deepen learning about the American Immigrant experience was originally envisioned and enacted by Shira Deener when she was the JCDS Middle School History teacher. I inherited the itinerary developed by my immediate predecessor Eliana Lipsky, with great assistance from annual chaperones Dorit Zmiri and Gary Alpert. I have been working on this program since last summer: looking at maps, speaking with contacts in New York City and making reservations. Dorit and Gary continued to be invaluable members of the New York trip team, as trip consultants and will be chaperones again for us this year.

As I’m sure you are aware, New York City is not a cheap place to visit. This year we are faced with significant increases in both transportation and accommodation expenses. The rise in fuel costs led to a rate increase from the charter bus company. The hotel that we previously used in Lower Manhattan is under new management and refused to honor the reservation that we made earlier in the year. After a heroic effort by Gary, another hotel was located at a reasonable rate for Manhattan accommodations, yet still at a higher rate than previous years. **Families’ obligation for this year’s trip is $525**. This is less than the actual cost of the trip. The price has been reduced significantly due to the eighth grade fundraising efforts and support from the school. Please send payment made out to //Jewish Community Day School// directly to Ed Black to pay for the trip. If this expense creates financial hardship for your family or if you would prefer to work out a multiple-payment plan, please contact Ed (edb@jcdsboston.org). It is important that no student miss this opportunity due to financial difficulties.

While we have not yet concluded our fundraising efforts, I do want to take this opportunity to thank Shoshana Jacobs and Shira Lion for their leadership all year with this important task. I also want to thank Sandy Tall who will be helping out as an additional parent chaperone.

I have created a 'wiki' with information about the trip, including all the forms that you need to download and complete. You can access it here: http://jcds-8thgrade-nyc.wikispaces.com/ There you will find the permission form and participant contract. I am asking each student to read and sign the contract with a parent, to encourage a discussion about expectations for the trip.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

I am looking forward to taking your children on this wonderful adventure!

Jared