In this Newsletter:
- Happy Chanukah from PJA and Welcome
- Alumni Profiles: Talia Goldberg + Zevi Alter
- PJA Family Giving Circle
- Auction News
- MJCC Business Breakfast #2
- Dor L'Dor Society
- Making Mensches
Upcoming PJA Events:
- PJA Kindergarten Round Up
Thursday, January 4, 6-7 pm at PJA - All School Open House
Thursday, January 18, 10 am at PJA - Behind the Scenes at OJMCHE
Sunday, January 21, 5-7 pm
Tickets at www.pjaproud.org - Mainstage Drama: West Side Story
Wednesday, January 24 at 7 pm
Tickets on sale in January.
| |
Happy Chanukah from PJA and welcome to our Second Alumni E-Newsletter!
We appreciate you taking a bit of time out of your Chanukah celebrations to catch up with PJA alumni and happenings here at school! Community grows and strengthens when we all participate. Please share your story with us! Share this email with other alumni and their families! We want to celebrate and learn from our alumni, of whom we are all so proud.
This month, we are going to catch up with two PJA alumni.
| |
Alumni Profile: Talia Goldberg
PJA Class of 2005
Alumni Profile: Zevi Alter
PJA Class of 2015
Although we haven't had the opportunity to personally catch up with Talia, fortunately for us, her professional career is being well-documented!
Talia was just named in Forbes Magazine as one of the "30 Under 30 Venture Capital Class of 2018!"
From Forbes magazine:
"The 30 Under 30 Venture Capital class of 2018 is led by Talia Goldberg, the youngest-ever vice president at America's oldest VC firm, Bessemer Venture Partners. A former liberal arts student who worked stints at Foursquare and Simple Finance before trying her hand at her own startup, Goldberg signed on with Bessemer for what she expected would be a two-year stint. Five years later, she's a rising star at the firm at age 26, having co-led the firm's investments into Korean payments company Toss and shipping startup Shippo in 2017, and working with portfolio company Pinterest to identify startups for the the social networking company valued at $12.3 billion to partner with or acquire."
Click here to read more and watch a short video about Talia.
We recently caught up with Zevi, a junior at Grant High School.
1) How do you like high school?
I like the freedom of high school, in that I get to choose all of the classes I take. Currently, my favorite class is Sports/ Entertainment Marketing. In and out of the class, we organize and promote the varsity sports games throughout the year. I am on the social media committee, meaning that I help create and post videos, photos, and the "Athlete of the Week" on one of Grant's Instagram and Twitter accounts. I like this class because it is the second tier class of Marketing/Entrepreneurship, which I took last year and it helps develop my creativity. The transition from PJA to Grant was a little hard at first for a couple reasons. I didn't really know anyone for the first couple months and it was the first time in 10 years that I had gone to a new school.
2) What are your interests?
Some of my interests and passions include soccer, marketing, graphic design, and volunteering as an Outdoor School Student Leader. Being surrounded by supportive and caring friends inspires me to mirror how they treat me not only to them, but to everyone I meet.
3) What are your thoughts for the upcoming years?
After high school I hope to follow in similar footsteps as my brother, who graduated high school a semester early and went to Central and South America for three months. Afterwards, whether or not I do travel abroad, I plan to attend the University of Oregon to study Marketing/Sports Marketing.
4) Can you share with us how your PJA education shaped you into the person you are today?
PJA helped me a lot with my confidence in asking clarifying questions and wanting to understand all the information taught. The Jewish middot have taught me how to care for other people and myself. The learning environment at PJA made me more self confident and comfortable with who I am and how I make my decisions.
We miss this guy at PJA, as well as his older brother, Matan!
| |
PJA Family Giving Circle pools philanthropy to help garden program grow.
Giving circles are made up of individuals who pool their resources and then decide together where these should be distributed. They also include social, educational, and engagement components to engage participants in their communities and increase members' understanding of philanthropy and community issues. PJA partnered with Amplifier on developing our PJA Family Giving Circle. Amplifier is a network of giving circles motivated by Jewish values and inspired by changemakers making a difference around the world.
Current parents Carol Richmond and Rob La Forte chaired the PJA Family Giving Circle, and helped recruit our first cohort. Seven families each made gifts of $360, which pooled together provided $2520 of funding for PJA. The families discussed philanthropic values, compared those values to the PJA Middot, and decided upon a mission to help make decisions regarding what to fund. "The PJA Family Giving Circle funds experiential, differentiating projects within PJA based on the Middot (values) emphasizing Limmud (Study), Kehilla (Community), and Achrayut (Responsibility)." Carol Richmond remarked "The PJA Family Giving Circle allowed a group of parents to gather and delve into Jewish values, while deciding where to focus our pooled funds in order to enhance students PJA experience! It has been a fun and meaningful experience! "
The PJA Family Giving Circle met three times over the spring, and in the end decided to fund a new Greenhouse for the Garden Program at PJA. Shahar Eden, director of the garden program said "We hope to turn the garden project into a horticulture department in the future, and to do so we are looking to create a program that studies the whole life-cycle of a plant, from seed to harvest and onto the plate in the PJA cooking class. Because we have cold winters with lots of rainy days and nights, a greenhouse will offer a place to grow our plant starts, an outdoor classroom, and a step forward towards teaching about how we can make the world a better place through our garden.
By pooling philanthropy, the PJA Family Giving Circle is really helping the garden program to grow.
| |
PJA Auction News!
We are happy to say that once again, our wonderful and dedicated auction staff, volunteers, faculty, and amazingly supportive PJA community put together a totally rad (80's theme!) auction! Held on December 10th in our new Learning Commons and the MJCC Ballroom, over 340 members of PJA's family celebrated in 80's style, complete with big hair, flipped collars, shoulder pads, leg warmers and shocking pink accessories. We are fortunate that once again, the Zidell and Lippman/Rosenberg families matched our Mitzvah Moment donations and sponsorships, raising $825,000 for the school! These funds will be used to support Tuition Assistance, Educational Development and build the school's endowment. It was a totally tubular evening, and we could not be more grateful.
| |
MJCC Business Breakfast #2
"Building Bridges Between Oregon and Israel"
Wednesday, January 24 | 7:15 - 9:15 am
at Sentinel Hotel
614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205
Dan Schoenbaum, CEO of Cooladata, and Skip Newberry of Technology Association of Oregon will discuss "Building Bridges Between Oregon and Israel". Steve "Rosy" Rosenberg will act as moderator.
Registration + Details: oregonjcc.org/pdxbiz
| |
Become a Member of PJA's Dor L'Dor Society
Please remember PJA in your will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance policy. Supporting Portland Jewish Academy through a bequest or other planned gift entitles you to become a member of our Planned Giving or Dor l'Dor Society.
PJA is one of eleven organizations in Oregon participating in Oregon Jewish Community Foundation's Life & Legacy program, funded by the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
| |
Making Mensches
We are making menches at PJA and you can help by making a donation, in any size, to the PJA Annual Fund. The Annual Fund is how we fill the gap between tuition and the full cost of providing each student an education at PJA. Your tax-deductible gift supports support everything that happens at PJA including field trips, Makerspace supplies, professional development and tuition assistance.
Please consider a gift of $18 or more to support the PJA you know and love.
Portland Jewish Academy is a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and is proud of our partnership with them in strengthening our local Jewish community as well as the global community.
Portland Jewish Academy
6651 SW Capitol Hwy | Portland, OR 97219 | P 503.244.0126 | F 503.452.7001