local
Perelman Jewish Day School and
Kaiserman JCC Open Garden Space
for Students
I n Genesis, Jews are taught to be stew-
ards of the Earth, explains Emily Cook,
the principal of the Stern Center at the
Perelman Jewish Day School. We must
learn to plant roots, tend the soil and
grow our food. And we must do so for the
next generation.

A new hoop house, or a covered green-
house with heat inside, at the Kaiserman
JCC in Wynnewood, will help Perelman
students learn that valuable lesson.

Th e 24-foot-by-20-foot space made pos-
sible by a $30,000 grant from the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia opened
on Oct. 30. Kids, parents and adult JCC
members came together to celebrate what
Kaiserman CEO Alan Scher describes as
“a vibrant tool for our students to bring
science and other associated endeavors to
life, but also to bring Jewish values to life.”
Th e Jewish day school and community
center share a property.

Students from Perelman and from
the JCC’s Robert J. Wilf Preschool and
Kindergarten as well as its summer
camp, Camp Kef, will use the space for
hands-on sessions about planting and
the growing cycle, according to Cook.

Since the hoop house is covered, classes
can grow plants there year-round. Th is is
an extension of lessons that students are
already learning in the classroom. It’s just
a practical application of them.

“It makes the learning that much more
impactful,” Cook said. “It embeds it in
their minds.”
She believes that students must
understand how things grow. Th ey need
to see the fruits of their labor and what
works and what doesn’t work. And
then they get to taste it, she said. Even
if it’s just a bite of lettuce, it becomes
real. Th at is why it’s vital for kids to
be outside and to play in the dirt. Th ey
take that bite of lettuce and they want
another one, so they learn to grow the
lettuce. Th ey grow to understand how
to do things independently.

Mitch Daar, Perelman’s head of school,
did not start in his position until July.

But he said one thing he learned from
his predecessor, Judy Groner, was the
value of balancing screen time with time
in-person and outdoors. During COVID,
Perelman kept students in school and
added more outdoor sessions to its cur-
riculum. Now, it intends to maintain
both priorities, and the hoop house is an
extension of that eff ort.

“We learned a lot about teaching and
The hoop house at the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood
8 DECEMBER 1, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
learning in those years,” Daar said. “And
the importance of being in person.”
As Cook explained, Perelman wants to
be more than just a place where students
come to study. It is trying to be a place
of action.

“We’re planting strong roots in the
ground,” she said.

Kaiserman is too, according to Scher. Th e
JCC’s CEO shares Cook’s belief that young
people learn by getting outside and putting
their hands in the dirt. Preschoolers and
campers build critical life and scientifi c
skills by getting their hands dirty. Adults
can also learn that way, which is why Scher
envisions them working alongside younger
people to cultivate the garden.

Eventually, the Perelman-Kaiserman
Hoop House may become like the one
at KleinLife in Northeast Philadelphia.

KleinLife’s garden helps stock local food
banks. Scher said the hoop house will
not grow enough food this winter to do
the same, but it will in the long run if
Kaiserman and Perelman “get the best
out of our space.”
Both institutions are committed to
doing so. Cook said they were trying
to fi nd ways to collaborate even before
this opportunity. But then Scher heard
about the grant and approached her. She
immediately said “yes.” Th en she put
the word out to her teachers and several
stepped forward to volunteer.

“Part of JCC’s strategic plan is to
continue to invest in this campus,”
Scher said. “Th rough Emily’s wonder-
ful leadership, she has recruited a team
of teachers at Perelman invested in
thinking about the curriculum and
how we can build out that Hoop House
classroom.” Perelman and Kaiserman share
responsibility for the hoop house. Th ey
are still building the inside and meeting
regularly to fi nish the process. Perelman’s
fi ft h-grade classes are assisting with the
design. In the next two weeks, leaders at
the school and community center hope
to start planting vegetables.

Student responsibilities may include
taking the temperature of the soil and
covering plants if it gets too cold outside.

Th ey will learn how to garden, but they
will also absorb that lesson from Genesis:
Th at we must take care of the Earth. And
that this, according to Cook, is one way
of doing it responsibly.

“We’ve really begun already,” she
said. JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of the Perelman Jewish Day School
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer



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