first grade teacher Joyce Ben-Kiki, helped the children understand the importance of respecting differences and identify the qualities that make a hero.

What makes a hero? First graders at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford found out when they spent several months researching some of their own…and preparing to present them on stage. The experience, says the West Hartford day school’s first grade teacher Joyce Ben-Kiki, helped the children understand the importance of respecting differences and identify the qualities that make a hero. The project culminated in “The Hero Show,” in which the students demonstrated how their personal heroes – including Sandy Kofax, Rosa Parks, Steve Jobs and others — have impacted the world.
“I chose Dr. Jonas Salk because he discovered a cure for a disease and I am hoping that my doctor will discover a cure for mine”, said Alyssa Temkin, who suffers from a rare genetic disease called Glycogen Storage Disease type 1a. Her doctor, Dr. David Weinstein, who is on the verge of finding a cure, attended the show.