If you had not seen the words Hillel Yeshiva on the building when you drove up, you might have thought that you were actually approaching New York Harbor! Fifth grade students and their parents were greeted with Caribbean music. As they entered the building ready for the evening cruise, they were welcomed by the staff of the USS M.A.S.T. (Math and Science Together).
The evening was designed to give 5th grade students and their parents an opportunity to experience hands-on math and science activities. The building was decorated in a nautical theme, with ships, captains wheels, life preservers, palm trees, and shells. Each student was given a passport with his/her picture and an itinerary for the evening. Additionally, students were given a captains hat and a captains wheel necklace listing all the ports that they would be visiting.
The first activity aboard the ship was an orientation about the schedule of events for the evening. Students and parents were to visit a total of seven ports of call. Every 10 minutes, at the sound of the foghorn, they were to move to the next port. At each port, there was a teacher stationed to supervise an activity.
In Jamaica, pulleys were rigged to the ceiling and students learned how to lower and raise heavy loads using simple machines. Mr. Thomas Dowling, a science teacher, even let them lift their parents on the pulleys.
In San Juan, students had to disinfect suitcases by measuring their surface area, with Mrs. Sandi Rosenstein.
Ms. Cobi Cronen, supervised a cafe in Nassua. A beautiful table was set and students and parents had to solve word problems based on the cafs menu.
In the Bahamas, 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Sandra Smith, prepared a Jeopardy style math problem-solving competition. Students used an oar to play shuffleboard, multiplied the numbers that the puck landed on, and then solved the corresponding Jeopardy card.
In St. Thomas, passengers had to follow directions to create and decorate an origami ship with Mrs. Shira Buckwald.
Mr. Michael Novick, a math teacher, prepared a SmartBoard activity, in St. Maartin. Using coordinate planes, passengers had to plot the course of the cruise ship. If they did the coordinate correctly, pictures of the island came up on the SmartBoard. If they were incorrect, they saw a picture of a ship sinking.
The passengers were shipwrecked in Cozumel, with 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Tamara Tallman. Her activity taught them the difference between weight and density, freshwater and saltwater.
The evening ended with a raffle for a ship bell and nautical beach towels. Thank you to Murray Betesh for the delicious fish and chips that were served at the end of the evening.
The event was coordinated by Dr. Katz and Mrs. Rivka Levovitz with the collaboration of the teachers at each port, as well as Rabbi Avi Bodlander, nautical support person for the evening and Mrs. Laura Wolpert. Another thank you to the custodial staff for their help in decorating the building.
As Mrs. Leventer, grandmother of Joseph said, It was smooth sailing!
