Kulanu is pleased to be participating in the Fairway (Scrip)Gift Card Program. Students will be allowed to purchase Fairway Gift Cards at Kulanu in $50 or $100 increments.  Kulanu will receive a 5% of the purchase. This amount can be placed in a student account to help underwrite the cost of March of the Living, an overnight Kulanu event, or defray the cost of Kulanu for an individual family. If the money is not for a specific student or family the monies will be donated to help with Kulanu scholarships. To sign up, download the gift card form here, and return it to the Kulanu office attention Kulanu Fairway Program along with a check.  Cards will be available for pick up within a week either at the Kulanu office or at Kulanu on Wednesday night.

Join us for the opening evening of Kulanu.  If you haven’t registered for your classes, you will have an opportunity tonight.  Students will also have an opportunity to learn about each of the classes.  Door Prizes will be awarded.

Thanks to all of you who came out to one of our Kulanu open houses or joined us for ice cream. It was a pleasure to meet all of you and get to tell you about Kulanu 2.0. We look forward to meeting more of you this Wednesday September 14th at Temple Sinai for our first official night of Kulanu. On Wednesday, students will have the opportunity to hear about the classes being offered this trimester from the teachers teaching them and to register if they haven’t done so already on-line.

• Since a number of parents have asked for a “Parent Open House”, we will be holding a Kulanu Koffee: Parent Open House -Tuesday morning September 13 at 8:15am in the UJF Boardroom on the second floor of the JCC

We want to thank those parents who have shared their ideas and have given us feedback regarding tuition.  To that end, we would like to remind everyone of the Gift of Kulanu and let everyone know about or Try-It Refund Policy.  As always, please feel free to connect directly with us at elise@ujf.org or dalexander@ujf.org.

1) Gift of Kulanu:

• Any student who is new to Kulanu, and attending all three trimesters will receive a $100 tuition refund which is payable March 30th.

2) Try-It Refund Policy:

• If student or a parent notify Kulanu to withdraw by October 7th, (after 3 classes) family will receive a full refund less $75.
• If student or a parent notify Kulanu to withdraw between Oct. 8 – Dec. 31st, family will receive a $450 refund.

There will be no penalty for registration prior to September 15th

There is a sibling discount of $30 for the 2nd and 3rd student concurrently enrolled from the same family.

Come find out about Kulanu 2.0.  Meet the new director and assistant director, learn about the new developments. This is not the same old Kulanu. First Open House is August 24th 7pm in the UJF Boardroom. The second is August 31st at Temple Beth El, and the third is September 7th at Temple Sinai. New classes are on the website and registration is now open. To meet the new director’s or to get involved on making Kulanu 2.0 great, contact elise@ujf.org or dalexander@ujf.org

Last Wednesday evening was the Kulanu Graduation.  It was a beautiful evening celebrating the Class of 2011 and honoring Kulanu teachers.  We also announced the winners of the Annual Rabbi Goldman Essay Contest. 

Mazal tov to our graduating class:

Daniel H, Jessie H, David K, David K, Zach L, Zachary M, Emily R, Peri S, Mollie S and Morgan T.

And congratulations to the essay contest winners:

1^st  Place – Simon

2^nd Place – Emily

3^rd Place – Mollie

 The essays were so inspiring this year.  Thank you to all the 10^th-12^th graders who participated. 

Kulanu 10^th grader, Joan, just wrote this about Kulanu’s graduation and her first year at Kulanu.  She gave me permission to reprint it here:

I just finished my first year at Kulanu. I originally did this for USY as one of the requirements to run and to be on board is to have to have a certain amount of Jewish education per week. I also joined because my friend Dan said it was an amazing program.

At first, I just went to the same classes as Dan. I was lucky that these two girls, Sophie and Eden, just happened to be in both my classes. We soon became fast friends. Together we learned Hebrew, about the conflict in the Middle East, how evil relates to Judaism, and Israeli cooking.

Last week was Kulanu’s graduation for the senior class. The ceremony was really beautiful. It showcased each senior giving them an opportunity to speak about their Kulanu experiences and write a blurb for the program about what Kualnu has meant to them. I was so impressed by what I heard and look forward to more learning at Kulanu! 

Plus the winners of the Goldman essay contest were announced and wegot to hear excerpts from the essays.  They were so good and I was  honored to get the chance to read the first paragraph of one of the winning essay. What a great way to honor the Kulanu seniors, teachers, and essay winners.