From Promise to Legacy
L'dor v'dor, generation to generation.

"A respected writer wrote the well-known adage “The more things change, the more they remain the same”, and while the author’s words may have had more satirical intentions, when these two concepts result in an experience which is truly the best of everything, then this saying represents our Davis family journey.

Our grandson Asher is a rising second grader at Davis, and as his brother Ari joins him in the Mechina program this fall, the two brothers represent the second generation of our family to make their mark on this amazing Jewish Day School. They also continue the multi-generational journey that we embarked on with our children over thirty-three years ago. As well, our family, our children and our grandchildren, and most directly through our children Corinne and Russell Falkenstein and their siblings, embody the foundation of our Jewish faith, L’dor V’dor.

More than thirty years ago, we were faced with the arduous task of choosing the best school for Russell. We believed strongly in a Jewish-centric element to his primary school experience, but the choices available were limited with elements of uncertainty. The Davis Academy was only a year old, with a few classrooms in the basement of the Junior Achievement building off Abernathy Road. To choose Davis for Russell would mean accepting some uncertainty, many promises of what was yet to come, with current compromises accepted in terms of school longevity and in-school resources. However, we embraced the school’s leadership, its founders, and most importantly the idea that this little school filled a void in our community, offering the best balance of an educational and cultural Jewish experience for our adorable little five-year-old, and we believed.

We remember our first Shabbat Friday, sitting on the floor with our son in our lap, our hearts melted and the uncertainty, the worry, the anxiety about our decision melted away as well. That Friday Shabbat, set in motion what has become a lifetime bond between our family and that little fledgling Jewish Day School, as all four of our children would attend and walk through the doors of the Davis Academy, covering more than two decades, and now that timeline extends with our grandchildren.

The changes over the years have been profound and inspiring, and we have been blessed to have provided a front-row seat to watch those big dreams become reality. We became a walking, talking, charitable-giving “testimonial” for The Davis Academy, serving on the Board of the school, PTO, leading and participating in each capital campaign, programs, golf tournaments, and other events. However, the most magical and magnificent part of our Davis journey has been watching what was once a little Jewish Day School “rise-up” to become a model to our community and to a nation of how to embrace and transfer modern Jewish ideals into an exceptional education for our children. Our resources today are best-in-class: facilities, programming, our staff, and our leadership.

Today our son Russell serves on the Board at Davis as we did many years before, and our daughter-in-law, Corinne devotes her time and her creative abilities to so many Davis programs initiatives. As we sat with our grandson Asher on our lap at Shabbat a few months ago, we realized that we were indeed reliving the same experience from thirty years before; young voices filled the air, laughing, singing songs, Hebrew prayers, this time by the hundreds, but the beautiful sound was the same. Yes, indeed the more things change, the more they remain the same, L’Dor V’Dor."
 

—David & Ruth Falkenstein, Davis Grandparents