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Black Rock Middle School

Off-Canvas

Black Rock Students Enjoy Hamentashen Baking

Members of Black Rock Middle School's Jewish student affinity group, Kehillah, organized a hamentashen-baking event and invited their classmates to join them in making the yummy treats for the upcoming holiday of Purim. 

The students gathered after school on March 21, 2024, in Black Rock's Family and Consumer Sciences kitchen to make the filled, triangle-shaped cookies that are meant to resemble the hat worn by Haman, the villain in the holiday story.

Purim commemorates the saving of the Persian Jews described in the biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther) in the fourth century B.C.E. During the reign of the Persian king Achashverosh and his Jewish wife Esther, Haman, the king's highest official, planned to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. Esther was able to appeal to the king to save her people and Haman is punished. Purim will be celebrated on March 23-24, 2024.

Students rolled out dough, cut out circles, filled the circles with their choice of chocolate, apply, cherry, raspberry or strawberry filling and then pinched the circles into triangles. Superintendent Dr. Steven M. Yanni stopped by to help, and a videographer from 6abc Action News was there to capture the action.

As the hamentashen were baking, students created colorful masks and made noise with "groggers," which are noisemakers that are used when the Purim story is read to drown out Haman's name when he is mentioned. 

Of course, the best part of the event was when the hamentashen came out of the oven and the students had a chance to savor their tasty treats!

The student-run baking activity allowed Jewish students to share some of their traditions with classmates from a variety of backgrounds. It is an example of how how LMSD celebrates Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to build a sense of Belonging for all students and staff. #LMSDBuildingBelonging.

To see a slide show of all the fun from the baking activity, click through the photos below. 

Students work with their balls of dough
Students roll out their balls of dough
Two students press their dough down on a floured tabletop.
A student in a Black Rock Royals sweatshirt presses his dough with his hand.
Students sit around a table kneading their dough
Dr. Yanni looks on as a table full of students work with their dough
Students work with a rolling pin, dough and flour at a table.
Adult volunteers help the students make hamentashen
Dr. Yanni sits with two students as they roll out dough for hamentashen
Five students at a table working with their dough
A student flattens dough circles on the table.
A videographer from Action News filming the students as they make their treats
A student opens a can of apple filling as the teacher looks on.
Strawberry, cherry and raspberry filling containers on the counter.
Parent volunteers help students at a table.
A shot of the Family and Consumer Sciences kitchen with the students at tables in it.
Students get ready to pass out cups of fillings to their friends.
A dough circle and a filled hamentashen on a table
A student smiles as she shapes a treat she's holding
A student's hands as they shape a chocolate-filled hamentashen
A student in a green shirt fills her dough circles at a table
A student's hands as they work with the dough
A student works with the dough for her hamentashen
Superintendent Dr. Yanni watches students making their treats
Circles of dough with filling before they're shaped into triangles
Principal Ms. Stout smiles with students who are making their hamentashen
Nine hamentashen on a tray
A row of hamentashen on a wooden table top
Two students pinch the corners of their hamentashen on a tray before baking
Students at a table with a tray of hamentashen and hand-shaped noisemakers
One student kneels in front of an oven with a tray of hamentashen as another checks the oven settings
Two students make paper masks
Two students make paper masks
Three students at a table put their hamentashen in bags
A student in a blue shirt checks a tray of hamentashen to see if they are baked enough
A student in a red t-shirt holds a paper plate with four baked hamentashen