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Gray Academy’s mandatory vaccination policy for high school students receives overwhelmingly positive response from parents
By BERNIE BELLAN In our September 1 issue we reported that Gray Academy had become the first school in Manitoba that would be requiring all high school students age 12 and up to be vaccinated in order to attend school this year.
At the time that we reported that decision, which had been made by the board of the school and which had just been publicly announced on August 24, Head of School Lori Binder said that she had received a number of inquiries from parents who were unhappy with the decision to require that all high school students be vaccinated, but she added that it would take some time to assess the full reaction among parents.
We can now report that only 4% of students – a total of 20 out of 485 who had previously been registered to attend Gray Academy this year, have left the school as a result of the mandatory vaccination policy. As well, to this point five new students have been registered in the school following the announcement. Finally, three students who had previously been registered in the school will now be home schooled instead, Lori noted. (Five students who had attended Gray Academy in 2019 were home schooled last year, she added.)
In discussing the ramifications of the new vaccination requirement, Lori explained that “we spent a good week and a half speaking with a number of families” about the new policy. In all, she said, “twelve families departed out of the more than 300 families altogether” who send their children to Gray Academy. Health and safety were our foremost concerns,” Lori noted.
But, when I asked her whether there was any one particular concern brought up by parents who objected to the new policy, Lori answered that “there was a spectrum of concerns.”
She also demurred from answering the question “out of respect for the privacy of the families involved” when I asked her whether the families that were opposed to having their children vaccinated came from a particularly identifiable component of the Jewish community. (To be clear, we have received reports that objections to vaccinations run especially strong within certain members of newly arrived immigrants to Winnipeg.)
“It was very important to speak to these families, hear their concerns, to explain how the decision was made and to support them in all ways possible,” Lori said, adding that “never before has the board had to make a late decision such as this one, but we are in a pandemic and are centering the health and safety of the entire school community”.
While 12 families did decide to withdraw their children from Gray Academy, other families “that had shared concerns about the decision did decide to stay,” Lori also noted.
In terms of total number of students, enrolment at the school this year compares favourably with previous years. There are 76 new students in the school, compared with 58 new students last year.
Perhaps of greater concern to the Jewish community might be the fact that the families of 20 different students have left Winnipeg since the end of the school year last June. (Until we see the results of this year’s census, however, we still will not have a clear idea what the size of Winnipeg’s Jewish population really is.)
Other information reported by Lori Binder during our conversation is that 33 students graduated from Gray Academy in June, and there are 25 students in the graduating class this year.
When you factor out the students who have left Winnipeg, Gray Academy has a “94% retention rate,” Lori said, not including the students whose parents pulled them out of the school because of the mandatory vaccination policy.
Altogether, there are 458 students registered at Gray Academy this school year, which compares with 481 last year (2020), 492 in 2019, 469 in 2018, and 2017, Lori reported.
As far as class sizes go, the two-meter separation between students in grades one to six still remains in place (as it does in all elementary schools in Manitoba), but as a result of having all Gray Academy students in grades seven to twelve now vaccinated , Lori explained that there is more flexibility as to class sizes in the high school.
While still maintaining a meter-and-a-half separation between students in the high school, spaces such as the Multipurpose room can now be used as classrooms that can accommodate far more students with two meters distance, which is the distance maintained in the elementary school.
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Talented Winnipeg composer Sara Kreindler teams up with her mother Reena Kreindler to create new satirical show to premiere here in May
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been many years since I’ve heard from Sara Kreindler. Sara’s name first appeared in The Jewish Post & News in 2002 when a satirical musical titled “A Touch of Class” was reviewed by the late Arnold Ross. That particular production featured songs from popular Broadway shows that touched upon themes such as “greed, poverty, oppression, and social unrest.”
When she appeared in that show, Ross noted, Kreindler had just recently returned to Winnipeg from England, where she had obtained a doctorate in Social Psychology from Oxford University.
While at Oxford, Kreindler found time to compose a satirical musical titled “Charity,” which played to rave reviews there, and was performed five times.
Continuing in the theme of writing satirical musicals, Sara has now teamed up with her mother, Reena, to write a new musical titled “A Perfect Man,” which is set to run at the Gargoyle Theatre from May 6-17.
According to a press release we received, “A Perfect Man” is “a satirical musical, set on a fictional analogue of ‘The Bachelor’.
“The story follows an anthropologist who arrives to research TV’s hottest reality-dating show — only to discover she’s been made a contestant, and the bachelor is her high school crush. Past and present collide against an exuberant pastiche score that uses vintage musical styles to highlight modern absurdities.”
“Praised as ‘a musician [who] can make biofuels funny’ (CBC), Sara is known for whip-smart satire on a panoply of topics. Her digital musical, ‘Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System, created during her former life as an academic, has garnered over 84,000 YouTube views. Naturally, she had a field day with the subject of reality dating.
“The topic just begs for campy zaniness, which I think we all need in these times — but also for a more cerebral critique of what these shows say about the culture that spawned them,” says Kreindler. And thanks to the romance context, the satire is woven into a deeper, more personal story. “It’s satire with a heart.”
Here is some more information about Sara Kreindler, taken from a 2009 article I wrote about her:
“Born in Israel, Sara’s precocious talent was nurtured by her mother, Reena, whose own particular talent is literary, not musical. According to Reena, however, Sara was singing from the time she was a baby, and she began to study piano at the age of four.
“As a young girl, Sara began writing her own songs and poems, along with the “occasional musical”, notes Reena. Yet, Sara’s rare talent put her at odds with the typical interests of other children her own age, on top of which she attended a school to which she was exposed to a fair degree of antisemtism.
“As a result, Sara says, being bullied was a common aspect of her childhood. On one occasion, when she was nine, she notes, Sara fought back against one particular bully by reciting the following little ditty:
“I write so many epigrams to you that all the people laugh.
I’m tired of writing epigrams.
I want to write your epitaph!”
“Sara went on to compose a musical titled ‘Flutesong’ while she was a student at Vincent Massey Collegiate, she says. After doing her undergraduate work at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Psychology, Sara won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University.
“Sara eventually earned a doctorate in Social Psychology and returned to Winnipeg, where she began teaching at the University of Manitoba, but she said she didn’t enjoy the “mass production” style of teaching upwards of 300 students at a time, so she switched careers and began doing health research for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.”
All the while Sara has been continuing to compose and perform her own songs, often teaming up with her mother, as she has for “A Perfect Man.”
Showtimes and ticket information for The Perfect Man are available at:
http://www.thegargoyletheatre.com/upcoming-events/the-perfect-man
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Rabbi Kliel Rose to leave Congregation Etz Chayim for new post in Ottawa
The following email from Congregation Etz Chayim Executive Director Morissa Granove was sent to members of the congregation on Friday, April 10:
“Dear Members and Friends,
“As we know, Rabbi Kliel recently spent a weekend with Kehilllat Beth Israel where he has since been offered a position. After much thought and consideration, he has made the decision to sign a contract in Ottawa. He will continue to lead our congregation through Yom Kippur.
“This news marks a significant ending for our Etz Chayim community, and at the same time with change comes opportunity. Congregation Etz Chayim will soon embark on our own Rabbinical search with excitement as we look for our perfect candidates and explore the new possibilities that will help us to continue to shape a strong future for our synagogue and members.”
Kliel Rose took up the position of rabbi at Etz Chayim in August, 2018.
In an article announcing his appointment to the position in the June 6, 2018 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love wrote:
The congregation has been without a permanent rabbi since last summer when Rabbi Larry Lander chose to retire – after ten years here – and relocate to Toronto.
Kliel Rose is already a well-seasoned rabbi. He was ordained in 2004 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
He previously served as spiritual leader at the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Temple Enamu-El in Miami Beach. His current posting is Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton.
Following the example of his parents, Kliel Rose has been active in interfaith dialogue and human rights work for which he was honoured in 2014 with the Human Rights Hero Award by Truah: The Rabbibic Call for Human Rights.
He has also participated in the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program at Northwestern University and was most recently chosen to be among 20 rabbis from different denominations chosen to train in the Clergy leadership Incubator – a two-year program, under the leadership of Ranni Sidney Schwarz, intended to educate younger rabbis in innovative thinking, change management and institutional transformation.
In Edmonton, Rose also served as Jewish chaplain at the University of Alberta and took the lead on a program called “Faith and Inclusion”, whose mandate was to support individuals with cognitive and physical learning challenges to feel more welcome within various faith communities.