[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 7, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING DONNA SALAMON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 7, 2017

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a member of the SAR 
team who has utilized her time and talents to transform the academy 
through the arts, Ms. Donna Salamon.
  Donna is a uniquely talented artist who has spent countless hours 
over the last 12 years transforming the Academy's open spaces into 
gallery walls and museum-worthy displays. She has a passion to elevate 
Jewish education. With her strong connection to Eretz Israel, she has 
created projects that incorporate science, literature, history, and 
most importantly, Jewish values, through art. Her portfolio includes 
the design and production of a 720-square-foot mosaic mural, ``Do What 
is Right and Good,'' depicting the core elements of the SAR experience 
on the Academy field wall. The mural was a 10-month project featuring 
75,000 tiles, 12 iconic images, signatures from every child (804) in 
the Academy, and the work of more than 1,000 volunteers.
  Donna makes SAR celebrations come alive--life-size educational games 
based on history curricula for Yom Yerushalayim, a year-long ``Science 
is the Story,'' science, history and art program, including life-size 
dioramas and culminating in a Riverdale restaurant gallery showing. She 
also makes props for the Celebrate Israel Parade, banners for `theme of 
the year,' stunning alphabet/middot paintings for the graduation 
ceremony produced by art elective students she leads, backdrops for 
such milestone events as the Siddur and Chumash plays, and sets for 
drama productions.
  When not working to improve SAR, Donna loves spending time with her 
family. She and her husband, David, live in Riverdale with their three 
beautiful children, Yedidya, Yonatan, and Yaakov.
  Congratulations to Donna on being this year's SAR Michael Schreck 
Memorial Community Service Award honoree.

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