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From the desk of
Rabbi Perry
Tirschwell
One of the highlights of Monday's
exciting Yeshiva vs. Hebrew Academy game in the
American Airlines Arena was the comradery
between the players and fans of the two teams,
which was a true kiddush Hashem.
In general, our Yeshiva High-lites focuses
on co-curricular Judaic programs and
extracurricular competitions. This week we take a
look
at what's happening in the classroom.
I highly recommend sophomore
Shira Borzak's article "Frum in Florida"(click here to read it) which appears
in this week's New York Jewish Week's Fresh Ink
section this week.
Lastly, in keeping with our theme of developing
student
leadership, two of this week's articles have been
written by students, a trend which will G-d
willing
continue and grow. Shabbat
Shalom
Rabbi Perry Tirschwell
Principal
| A Game We'll Never Forget |
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by junior
Moshe
Genet
With the forty point blowout from last season's
Yeshiva vs. Hebrew Academy game still
fresh in their minds, the Storm team approached
Monday's game ready for battle. In
truth, one of the biggest games Yeshiva will ever
play and the fact that there were 300 fans
and it
was taking place on the Miami Heat's court
only raised the stakes. Due to the extremely
hard
work from coaches Jon Kaweblum and David
Kornbluth, the team felt ready to compete at
such a
high level.
After falling behind early, Daniel Poliak and Jon
Struhl led the counterattack, with Jon scoring 20
points. Dovi Lamet held the
team together at the point guard position. Hillel Wolf
and Jake Singer played hard, hustling for every loose
ball, boxing out on every shot and most importantly
containing the Warriors most potent weapon in the
middle. Daniel Poliak time again and again
attacked the basket fearlessly, sacrificing his body
for the team, as he scored 15 points. Elie Baratz and
Yoni Schiff played strong defense and top notch
basketball. Brian Surasky and Anush Zaghi subbed in
to give the team a jumpstart. All the hours of
practice made a huge difference in the game.
The third quarter belonged to the Storm.
The biggest surprise of this game was Josh Goldberg,
who delivered key baskets late in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors simply could not handle Josh, who in
truth is only 5'10" but plays like he's 7'-0". His
unbelievable save with three seconds was amazing to
watch, as the stadium went silent as he took a
buzzer beating miracle shot, which unfortunately
bounced off the front rim, sending the game into
overtime.
The team experienced quite a turn around from last
year's game, in which the scorekeepers stopped
keeping score. This year the Storm matched the
Warriors basket for basket, sending the game into
overtime at 61-61. Although the
final score
was not
in the Storm's favor, the game showed much
improvement and leadership, and will be forever
remembered as one of the most exciting
basketball games in Yeshiva's history.
In the words of senior Dovi Lamet, "Playing in the
Heat's arena was one of the greatest
experiences in my life."Kudos to
senior
Amanda Schiff and Athletic
Director
Melissa Pereira for organizing this great day,
and to
Program Director Rabbi Josh Spodek for
doing the
play by play and riling up the fans.
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| Experimenting with Genetics |
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Over the course of the last two and a half
months,
the AP Bio class conducted an experiment with
Mendelian Genetics, which deals with dominant and
recessive traits.They first grew plants from
seeds. The plants (Wisconsin quick grow plants)
were under lights in Mrs. Schultz' office 24 hours
a day throughout this time period.Then, the students
cross polinated these
plants (the F1 generation). When seeds formed, the
students collected and germinated them. The
students were amazed that most of the seeds
germinated in one day.
The students created Punnett squares and
compared their experiment's results with the
theoretical ones predicted by the Punnett
squares. The students then used Chi Square
charts to see if their results were within the
appropriate margin of error.
By observing patterns in the different physical
characteristics of the offspring, the students gained
insight into the principles of human heredity and
the differences among parents and the
offspring.
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| Judaic Studies Jumps Off the Page |
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Chumash (Bible) and Gemara (Talmud)
aren't only about Hebrew texts in small print at
WYHS. Students are bringing their studies
alive
through two class projects.
The girls in Rabbi Josh Spodek's gemara shiur
have to chose a sefer (Jewish book) which
they have not previously studied which addresses an
area about which they want to learn more. After
studying it, the students write a 3-5 page paper
about why they picked the book, a summary, and
what lessons they learnt from it. Students
have chosen books such as Strive for Truth,
Biographies of Great Jewish Leaders, Living Inspired,
and Permission to Believe. Senior Debbie Ganz
commented, "this project
gives me an opportunity to improve myself and
my midos".
In Rabbi Chaim Lanner's freshman/sophomore boys
Chumash shiur, students had to choose a
mitzvah which they are not covering in
class in the book that they are studying, Sefer
D'varim (Deuteronomy). The teacher gives them
a list of sources on the mitzvah, which the student
learns on his own and can add to.
Before midterm exams, they have to submit a 4-5
page paper on the mitzvah, identifying 5
basic questions they had about the
mitzvah. During the second semester,
each student has to make a creative
presentation to the class, addressing the 5
basic issues about the mitzvah. Last year,
students created videos, posters, games and even
edible tzitzis.
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| The Race To Winter Vacation |
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This Sunday at 3:00 p.m., the
Girls
Varsity Basketball team will play a scrimage
against the Hillel Day School of Boca Raton
Middle
School team at the Levis JCC in Boca.On
Monday, Dr. Norman
Blumenthal, a nationally-recognized adolescent
psychologist, will be giving WYHS' third parent
education seminar this year. His topic will
be "Discussing Without
Blushing- Talking about Drugs, Sex, Death and Other
Taboo Subjects with Your Teen". The workshop will
take place at the school at 8:00 p.m. Throughout
the course of the day, Dr. Blumenthal will be meeting
with different groups of students and faculty
members.
This Tuesday
our students will
begin raising money for a Tsunami Relief
Fund in solidarity with the hundreds of
thousands whose lives have been altered by this
incomprehensible natural disaster.
Next shabbat the North Miami Beach
Family Shabbat will take place at Congregation
Shaaray Tefilah. On the weekend of January 7-8, our
Judaic faculty will spend shabbat with the
families of WYHS students from North Miami Beach.
NMB families should please click here
to tell
Shimmie Kaminetsky how many members of their
families will be attending.
Two Midterm Exams will take place on each
day, Monday-
Wednesday, January 17-19. School starts at 8:00
a.m. and students can leave when they are done
with their second exam (some time between 12:30
p.m. and 1:45 p.m.). The well deserved Winter
vacation begins after the second final on
Wednesday. School resumes on Monday, January
31.
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Student Committees Transform WYHS |
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by junior Daniel Poliak
Even before the last final exam was completed last
year, Rabbis Tirschwell and
Spodek decided to make increasing student
involvement in all aspects of the school a
priority in the coming year. This goal has been
realized by the student council and a group of
qualified seniors who have established new and
improved committees.
On the first day of school, students could sign up
for any of the 10 committees at WYHS. The one
to two dozen students in each committee are drawn
from all four grades, enabling students to get to
know older and younger peers. Each committee is
headed by one student council member and one
senior, who work closely with Rabbi Spodek.
Some examples of committee accomplishments
are;
There are a number of committees whose mission
centers around a particular special program
or series of programs.Planning, buying
materials,
decorating rooms, and
running special functions such as Rosh
Chodesh, Chanukah and Purim
chagigot, helps students' truly
appreciate our school's great programs. Hours are
spent deliberating over each chagiga's theme, menu
and special speakers. The effort spent preparing
teaches students the importance of
conscientiousness, cooperation and fiscal
responsibility.
Plans are already underway for poignant
Yom
Hashoa and Yom HaZikaron productions,
as well as an exciting Yom Haatzmaut chagiga.
The Committee for Israel Action (CIA)
has
imbued our hallway with a feel for Israel by routinely
posting current event updates, and is in the process
of installing a Wall Street style ticker, reporting the
latest Israeli news.
Thanks to a group of dedicated individuals in the
Publicity Committee, our halls are always
decorated with collages of stunning pictures which
they take at school functions.
Lastly, the Chesed Committee has
been
another popular committee this year. Following the
PSAT exam in October, the Chesed committee
organized a school wide chesed afternoon, where
students amongst other things cheered up lonely,
elderly patients, cleaned up a park following a slew of
hurricanes, and tutored underprivileged
children.
Additionally, the committee has been meeting on a
monthly basis on Sundays in Hollywood, where we
feed the homeless in conjunction with the
Broward
Outreach Center.
The student committees have afforded the students
the opportunity to learn outside the classroom, and
be active participants and leaders who
shape the
future and direction of our school.
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GOOD and WELFARE
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| Mazel tov to Deborah Fein, '02, on her engagement to David Pearlman (of Chevra) |
| Mazel tov to Assistant Principal Mrs. Ora Lee Kanner on the birth of a grandson |
| Refuah Shleima to board member Bernie Oppenheim |
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