Dear Levey Day School,
My name is Rafaella Zabot-Hall, and I graduated from Levey Day School 7 years ago. I will be graduating from high school in a few weeks, and one of my last assignments is to write a letter to someone who has influenced my academic life. After reflecting over the past 12 years of my academic career, I have discovered that Levey Day school has really influenced the person I am today, and what I want for my future.
My first year at Levey is one of the easiest to remember. Morah Leslie was my teacher, and after coming from a school that I didn’t enjoy, having a teacher like her was great. It was also during that year that I met my best-friend, someone who I am still friends with 11 years later. During that year, Morah Camille was my Hebrew teacher, and that was the class where my passion for Jewish history, and history in general grew. During the next few years I had many great experiences with teachers including Morah Debbie, Morah Kristin, Morah Kerry, and the principal at the time Morah Ellie. Morah Debbie was the one who, the summer before second grade, taught me Hebrew so that I would know as much as the incoming second grade class. Morah Kristin was always the teacher who would make learning fun by making jokes. Morah Kerry, my teacher in fifth grade, had someone read a poem every day of the year and took us camping at the end of the year. Morah Ellie, as the principal at the time, set the tone for the school; she made it a very welcoming, atmosphere, and encouraged learning. All the teachers at the school made me and everyone else feel welcomed and comfortable, no matter what our background was.
In the fall of this year, I will be attending Brandeis University. One of the reasons I chose Brandeis was that it has the same kind of atmosphere that Levey does. The Jewish community at both schools are welcoming, and the teachers encourage learning and discussion. At Brandeis I want to study Political Science, and I later hope to go to law school and become a lawyer. My time at Levey has influenced my plans for the future. Being at Levey, I learned to question ideas, and policies, and I learned the difference from right and wrong. As a lawyer, I want to help people, and the skills I learned at Levey Day school will definitely help in my future career plans.
I would like to thank Levey for all that it has taught me. At Levey I learned more about Judaism, I learned how to read Hebrew, and I learned more about the world than other elementary school students would have. I am glad that I made the decision to attend Levey; this school inspired me to be the interested learner that I am today.
Sincerely, Rafaella Zabot-Hall