Friday December 16, 2011
20 Kislev, 5772

Parashat Vayeishev
Candle Lighting at 5:13 PM

  

An Excellent Education

Last year, the senior administration grappled with the question, "What is the WYHS Way?" We sought to spell out what we are really trying to accomplish at this school.


It was a valuable experience, and it led me to ponder a broader, related question: What constitutes an excellent education?

At WYHS, we regularly discuss the balance between the Judaic and College Prep components of our curriculum. The whole world of higher education debates the value of Liberal Arts vs. "STEM" courses, courses oriented toward Science, Technology, Engineering and Math ("where the jobs" are in the 21st century).

But while acknowledging that content lies at the heart of learning, we also need to address the issue of essential skills.

Our teachers implicitly understand that they need to impart much more than facts, especially in an age when factual information is only a click-of-a-button away! What are the capabilities students actually need so that they - and all of us involved in the process - will conclude that they have received an excellent education?

Below is my own attempt at a brief guide, relevant to the study of all subject areas - Judaic and College Prep, Liberal Arts and STEM. I believe that an excellent education is one which enables students to develop the following:
1.    The ability to listen and process
2.    The ability to read with understanding
3.    The ability to write clearly and persuasively
4.    The ability to talk in an articulate and engaging way
5.    The skills to tackle and solve a wide range of problems
6.    The capacity to manage multiple tasks within limited time
7.    Respect for the acquisition of knowledge and skills, and for those who have acquired them
8.    Acceptance of constructive criticism of one's own ideas, along with tolerance for others'
9.    Appreciation and understanding of one's religious, cultural, national and intellectual heritage
10.  Appreciation for the beauty and the complexity of G-d's world
11.  The confidence and the desire to develop one's personal potential
12.  The skills and the desire to help bring out the best in others

We have wonderful human resources at WYHS: administration, faculty, parents, students.  I would like to see everyone associated with our school engage in regular self-examination, because we need to know what we are (or are not) achieving. Working together, our outcome can and must be an excellent education which will enable our graduates to experience success in college, in the workplace and in the community while living lives of religious and personal fulfillment.

Shabbat Shalom
,

Dr. Laura Becker
Director, College Preparatory Studies


Coming Attractions

Sun. Dec. 18 
SSAT Exam
for 8th Graders
8:00am-12:30pm
@ WYHS


Mon. Dec.19
Blood Drive

Demystifying PSATs

for 9& 10th Grade Parents
@ YIH 8:00pm

Dec. 21-28

Chanukah

  

Mon. Dec. 26  

No School  

 

Thurs. Dec. 29

The Fantastiks 

Crest Theatre  

Delray Beach 7:30pm     

Good and Welfare 

Mazel Tov

Our Seniors on their College Acceptances!

 

Daniel Poliak ('06), the 1st WYHS Grad to publish an article in Tradition

Condolences

Shari Geller on the of her mother
Lillian Markowitz

Feature Story
Graphic By Josh Firestone ('13)
Written By Isaac Kurtz ('14)

Although the Storm athletic program has been around since the school's inception, this year's program is like no other before it. The coaches and players have committed themselves to creating a new Storm culture in the school supported by all the players, parents, and faculty of the WYHS family. The building blocks for this mission were on display Saturday night with the first Storm Madness event of the year.

As students and parents slowly filed in to the Hillel gymnasium, enthusiastic Storm members dressed in "Storm Madness" apparel greeted them. Each guest was handed a t-shirt and glow stick to help them cheer on the Storm. While all the fans donned their shirts and cracked their glow sticks, the lights in the gym were shut off and the name of each player on the Girls Varsity and Boys JV and Varsity basketball teams was announced.  The athletes ran out through billowing smoke into the gym where they were cheered on by their ecstatic fans.

Then the main event began as the JV took the court to play against their faculty. Rabbi Josh Grajower dominated the first the quarter, scoring 9 points before he took a hard hit to the ankle that sidelined him for the remainder of the game. In the second quarter Varsity took the floor and easily picked apart the Rabbi's zone, leading to commanding Storm lead going into halftime. The Girl's Varsity team took over the court for halftime entertainment, competing in a three-point contest where star freshman Laura Betesh  trounced the competition.

The faculty almost engineered a comeback against JV in the third quarter only to be put away by Varsity in the fourth. Toward the end of the game, there was even a thundering "we want Tirshwell" chant. Complying with the fans, Head of School Rabbi Perry Tirschwell entered the game for a few glorious seconds. However, it was after the third quarter that one of the most anticipated events of the evening occurred, specifically the raffle to win a Dwayne Wade autographed basketball. The players had been working for the entire week to sell raffle tickets to help raise money for the sports programs. Their selling paid off with a whopping 150 tickets sold and 3000 dollars pooled for the program! Congratulations to Alana Reichenberg ('13) on winning the prize.

Overall, it was an exciting night for all the participants in the event. Co-captain of the JV basketball team Ari Clements commented how "everyone felt the excitement in the building, from the cheers of defense on the bench to the passionate screams from the fans. It was an incredible night and a great step forward for the sports program." The basketball teams would like to thank Athletics Director Rachel Yudewitz, as well as Coaches Yogev Berdugo ('01) and Uri Yudewitz, for planning and engineering the electrifying and memorable night for Storm Basketball. 

Click here to view the Storm Madness gallery. 

Featurette

Graphic By Jonah Stein ('13) 
Featurette 
   
 
Graphic By Jonathan Razon ('13) 
Interview Dept

Graphic By Amir Tsarfati ('13)
Interview By Jessica Hopen ('13)

 
Yogev Berdugo ('01) is the skilled basketball coach of the Storm Boys Varsity team in addition to being a former WYHS varsity star himself. His continuous devotion and commitment to WYHS basketball is seen through the players' efforts and love of the game they espouse, as well as his outstanding involvement with the WYHS conditioning program. I sat down with Yogev to hear more about the team's success and accomplishments so far this year. 
 

Jessica Hopen: Do you think the implementation of Storm Madness broadened the spirit of WYHS students and helped boost the team's confidence in their game? 
Yogev Berdugo: I think that the implementation of Storm Madness undoubtedly raised the spirit of all of the athletes in the program as well as all the fans and supporters who came out to cheer us on. As far as an event like this adding confidence on the court, I definitely think that over time the more each athlete feels a sense of belonging and ownership, the more he or she will play in a more relaxed fashion because they will realize that there is an entire program behind them.  
 
 
JH: How do you feel about the team's successes and accomplishments so far this season? 
YB: I am pleasantly surprised at how willing all the players have been in buying into the new culture at WYHS. It's important to note that when making so many fundamental changes at once, from a new style of offense to changing defenses to a new coaching style, there are going to be growing pains. As long as everyone associated trusts the process and stays the course, we are sure to be successful. 
 
 
JH: What plans do you have for improving boys basketball in our school for this year and coming years? 
YB: As far as improving boys basketball at WYHS this season and for many years to come there is a certain game plan that must be followed. The first step was to have everyone on board, from the administration to the parents to the players. Once we made a conscious decision that we wanted to build a top notch basketball program at WYHS, we drew up a game plan. An 8 week preseason training regimen was implemented to prepare the players for the physical and mental rigors of the season. We also managed to increase practice time in season wherever we were able fit it in.  
The vision is to build a program in which both the JV and Varsity teams use the same terminology, run the same plays and play under coaches who share a common vision for the program. This will help players grow into the program rather than spending each off season relearning everything. We have also begun to instill certain values which will serve as the foundation of the program, namely purpose, passion and poise. 
 
 
JH: Do you feel your past experience as a WYHS student has helped your coaching, and ability to understand changes necessary to improve WYHS basketball? 
YB: I certainly think that being a former student of WYHS has helped me in coaching and mapping out a game plan that fits the program. I was once one of them and to get the chance to teach these students the game of basketball and give them a high school basketball experience that I had is truly a blessing. 


Ashreinu  

 

 Click on the image above to view 

this week's Ashreinu.

 

Picture of the Week  



 

    

The Yeshiva Highlites Staff

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