As we finish the 2025-2026 school year, Parshat Korach arrives at the perfect time to remind us that each of us has a unique role to play in the world and unique gifts to contribute to our families, our school, and to klal Yisrael.
Korach rebelled against the leadership of Moshe and Aharon, fueled by a desire for status and recognition. He challenged them, arguing that everyone is holy and questioning why some people held leadership roles. The Torah teaches that while every person has inherent worth and is designed in the image of Hashem, not everyone has the same role. Each of us is here to fulfill a different, unique, and important purpose in life. Success in school and in life comes not from seeking honor, but from fulfilling the special mission God has given us.
As a growth-mindset school, rather than comparing ourselves to others, we celebrate the ways in which each of us has grown and contributed to the OCA community. Over the course of the year, every student has matured in different ways, developed different strengths, and contributed something unique to the school community.
This philosophy underlies one of the hallmarks of our 8th grade graduation, in which each of our graduates is honored by a teacher with whom they have a particularly close relationship. Rather than rank or highlight some students over others, our teachers share from the podium just what makes each graduate unique, valued, and memorable. With such a personal send-off in true OCA style, we know that every student knows they are genuinely loved, respected, and appreciated for who they are. Gd willing, like Aharon’s staff that blossomed, we daven that the work we’ve invested year over year will produce growth that will continue to bear fruit in the years ahead.
As the year concludes, now is the time to reflect on how each of us used our strengths and developed our interests this year and what goals we wish to set for ourselves in the year ahead. If we take the time to appreciate all that we accomplished as individuals and as a school, we will be able to see many of the ways in which we took some small steps and big leaps toward our future, not the least of which was the purpose of a new, permanent home for OCA! May Hashem continue to bless us with continued growth and success in the year ahead!
Shabbat Shalom! Have a wonderful summer vacation!