Ford, Cohen Hillel receive Zakim award

LYNN – In front of 500 attendees from Lynn, Marblehead and surrounding communities, students from the Ford K-8 in Lynn and Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead accepted the Leonard P. Zakim Humanitarian Award during the Jewish Community Center’s 16th annual Interfaith Seder Tuesday night.With students of all races and religions standing together in the JCC gymnasium, Ford School choir leader Doreen Murray led the group in a rendition of “He Has the Whole World in His Hands” prior to receiving the award, signifying a bond between the two schools and communities.The Ford School and Cohen Hillel Academy have worked in partner for the past 18 years bringing joint programs, activities and tutoring efforts to each school, and teaching students from both communities tolerance and acceptance of other cultures.The Ford School has hosted Cohen Academy students for a wide variety of activities, including dance lessons and rehearsals for holiday musicals. The school has also been a part of Ford’s partnership with NASA as an explorer school that brings educational material and the unique opportunity to downlink with astronauts on NASA missions.Cohen Academy students also host Ford students each year for MCAS tutoring, where they are paired up with students at different skill levels to help with any problems they may be having with the state testing material. As a result, MCAS scores at the Ford are rising year to year.”We have built a bridge to Marblehead,” said Ford Principal Claire Crane, referencing the name of the partnership “Building Bridges.”The theme of the 2008 Seder was freedom, and throughout Rabbi Steven J. Rubenstein’s teachings, the themes of cooperation, tolerance and acceptance were ever-present.Students from both schools participated in the Seder, standing at the microphone reciting Jewish readings in a variety of different languages to show the importance of everyone living together peacefully.”In praying together, reciting words of blessing, we express our hope as a united community that is willing to take a stand on important issues of our day,” Rubenstein said. “No matter what your background is, no matter what age you are, no matter how much knowledge you may have accumulated in life, each of us has a part to play.”Ford students and their families sat among Jewish attendees and celebrated the Seder by following the traditional steps of the celebration as instructed by Rubenstein.