Triumphing Over Tough Times: A Perspective From a New Principal By Judie Jacobson | February 18, 2021
In July 2019, Rabbi Shimmy Trencher arrived in Stamford, Connecticut, to take up his new post as principal of Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Upper School (BCHA).
Little did he know that less than a year later in March 2019 he would undergo a “trial by fire” of sorts, as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered Connecticut schools and took learning online…putting his extensive experience, and his skills and talents as an educator and administrator, to an ultimate and unprecedented test.
Now, a year and half since he took over as head of BCHA Upper School, and almost a year since the entire pre-k through grade 12 school closed its doors (having subsequently re-opened), Rabbi Trencher looks back with pride at the success with which the school has weathered the storm, and looks ahead to a future that is increasingly bright.
Jewish Ledger
Stamford students become a voice for Holocaust survivors
S
iegmund Listwa had a lot to teach Julianne Katz and, admits Julianne, “I had a lot to learn.”
And learn she did recently, when the Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Upper School junior participated in the school’s new Holocaust Fellowship program. Presented in conjunction with the Anachnu Holocaust Survivor program of the Schoke Jewish Family Service of Fairfield County, the Holocaust Fellowship program partners students at the Stamford school with survivors to record the survivors’ stories, followed by a school presentation.
“In March 2020, Schoke JFS and BCHA launched a program through which students were trained in Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed (PCTI) practices prior to interviewing survivors with whom they were partnered, with the goal of creating a live history theater,” explains Rebekah Kanefsky, Schoke JFS Director of Case Management and Family Life Education Coordina
Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Upper School Raises Mental Health Awareness
By Judie Jacobson
STAMFORD – Life isn’t always easy. But getting through life as a teenager – dealing with the emotional challenges of transitioning between childhood and adulthood – can be especially difficult, even in the best of times. Add to that the stresses created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the level of angst and anxiety among teens is amped up even further.
Well aware that many teens were struggling with mental health issues and, moreover, that they did not feel comfortable sharing their experiences with others, BCHA Upper School principal Rabbi Shimmy Trencher, school counselor Angela Wilson, and special programs coordinator Ilana Bauman put their heads together and came up with an idea to give a voice to these students – and others like them – by bringing mental health awareness to the entire student body.