Welcome to Kitah Vav (Grade 6): Meet your teacher and learn about your curriculum!
Andrea Kamens (she/her)
Kitah Vav (6th Grade)
Andrea is excited to return to a former role as Kitah Vav lead teacher on Sundays, bringing her passion for ethical, complex, beautiful Torah and her deep respect for middle schoolers. This is Andrea’s 9th year at CDT. She also teaches 2nd and 3rd grade and middle grade Hebrew at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham. Andrea is a storyteller and teaching artist specializing in inclusion. She’s the founding director of Youth Standing Strong Camp, a global online storytelling camp matching mentors with youth across all borders. She and her husband have been Boston residents for over 30 years, and have five kids, two cats, and a grand-dog. She never misses a chance to jump in the ocean!
Curriculum Overview
2022-2023, Siddur Creation Project: This year in Kitah Vav students will shift from learning about Torah stories to contributing to the community by creating a Friday Evening siddur that will be used at Dorshei Tzedek for years to come. The current All Ages Shabbat siddur is in need of repair, many copies are coming apart, the font is not accessible, and it could use an update. Students will evaluate the current siddur and ask, what would be included in a siddur that reflected our values and community? Students will learn about Jewish artists and styles as they each create work to go into a Friday evening siddur. Students will deepen their connection with Shabbat and prayer as they work on their pieces.
2021-2022, Introduction to Prophets and Rabbis: Picking up at the end of the Torah, this class introduces students to a selection of stories from the Prophets with a view towards perspectives on leadership and justice. The fall focuses on the Israelite experience entering the land of Israel, including pictures of centralized religious life at the Temple. In the spring, the class is introduced to rabbinic figures and the transformation of Jewish spiritual orientation in the rabbinic period post-Temple. Following the theme of leadership, Kitah Vav students and their grown ups will have family programming with Earnest and Rabbi Toba about the B’nei Mitzvah process.