Week in Review

Dear Parents,

The classrooms are mostly quiet, and the hallways are rather still - classes at MDYHS for the current year are over, and the students now arrive at school for just part of the day to take their final exams - and soon, to take their Regents exams.  And yet, despite the change of pace, there are still quite a few things I would like to share with you about recent days at MDYHS - things of which we should be so proud.

Just before classes were over, our 9th grade girls hosted Minhah Moments: Memories.  An exuberant committee of young ladies - Esty Ammach, Aliza Elias, Jennifer Tricot, and Claudette Yedid, under the talented supervision Mrs. Beth Goldberg - designed this inspirational program.  The girls sent beautiful invitations to the entire class, and produced a colorful banner for the event.  Mr. Jeff Bieder spoke to the class about the true power of tefillah in the context of the miraculous recovery of his son-in-law.  The girls then heard from Mrs. Annie Savdie who spoke of the origins of the minhah prayer and the special place it has in our day.  Each student received a beautiful minhah siddur inscribed with the words "Our Minhah Moments - Class of 2015" after which everyone partook of delicious ice cream with all the toppings.  What a sweet way to look back at the year of prayers that our students experienced and enjoyed!  (Please see the attached photo from this great program).

Now that the school is in "finals mode" the teachers have been reflecting upon the students' accomplishments over the course of the year.  I had the extreme pleasure of hearing from one of our great math teachers, Mr. Alan Arbisfeld, that on the very last day of class, as he was reviewing the final geometry lesson, Jake Sutton came up with a novel and creative approach to solve one of the problems that the teacher had given the class.  Mr. Arbisfeld took great pride in telling me about "Jake's Theorem."  That evening, Mr. Arbisfeld researched Jake's Theorem further, and found that another great mathematicians had indeed suggested it as well.  Congratulations to Jake on his sharp insight, and to Mr. Arbisfeld for nurturing and encouraging this wonderful creativity in our students!

And speaking of nurturing and encouraging, I am pleased to announce that next year, b'ezrat HaShem, we are planning a Peer Tutoring Drop-In Center for students, during all of the lunch periods each day.  Students who have expertise in a given subject area will sign on in advance as Peer Tutors - they will be trained in a special seminar focusing on how to tutor effectively, and then any student who needs help in any area will be able to avail themselves of our team of student experts throughout the year.  This is a wonderful addition designed to ensure the academic success of all of our students.  I am very excited about this new program - both from the perspective of those being tutored and from the perspective of the tutors.  Look for details about this program in the beginning of the coming year.

Last Sunday, we had the joy of proudly marching in the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City.  Our students and faculty - under the wonderful supervision of our own Mrs. Esther Tokayer ably assisted by Ms. Maggi Eida, Dr. Chagit Hadar, Ms. Audrey Nasar, and Mr. David Shamah - had a beautiful and colorful display, representing the theme 'Olam Hessed Yibaneh - all of the wonderful acts of hessed that Israel does for the world, from providing medical relief to countries that suffer crises, to sharing technology with nations that benefit from Israel's expertise.  The colorful T-shirts that we all wore, as well as the beautiful, meaningful banner that we carried, were designed by eleventh grader Alicen Franco, under the guidance of our Art teacher Mrs. Barbara Dweck, and the spirited "dance routine" of our march was choreographed by our students Adina Ben-Shlomo, Lisa Chakkalo, Jennifer Harari, Danielle Maleh and Esti Sardar.  (Please see the attached photo from the parade).  What a great, creative way for our students to show their devotion to and pride in our beloved Israel.  I have heard from quite a number of people that our students marched so nicely - it is no wonder that WOR-TV chose MDYHS's march to air Sunday night on their news broadcast of the parade!

Finally, the newly elected SGO administration has planned its first event - only a week after coming into office!  The students, led by Renee Cohen, Yoni Hadar, Rosie Mosseri, and Zachary Mosseri, are hosting a "Roast" - presented by students and teachers - where pizza and refreshments will be served.  The warm camaraderie between students and teachers is a great way to help end the year on a wonderful high note.  We look forward to an enjoyable and memorable program at MDY elementary school on Sunday night from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

Next week, in the final MDYHS School-Home Partnership email for the current academic year, I hope to look back on the wonderful year that we have had at MDYHS, and to share a vision for the coming year.  Until then, as always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!

School Newspaper

The school newspaper was published under the guidance of students Amy Shrem and Linda Maleh.
Articles include:

-Missing Music

-Soundless Sleeping

-My Heritage Experience

-Interview with the Mitzvah Man

-Book Review: The Hunger Games

-School News

-Mr. Sackville’s Departing

Pick up your copy today!

MDY Marches in the Israeli Day Parade

Week in Review

Dear Parents,

I hope this finds you and your family well after a joyous Shavuot.  We have had a wonderful event-filled week at MDYHS, and it is an honor and privilege to share some of the programs and activities with you.

As today is the last day of classes for the 2011-2012 school year, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight once again the three pillars upon which education at MDYHS stands - Excellence, Wisdom, & Warmth.  I am proud to share some notable examples of each pillar - examples that truly reflect what we are all about.

EXCELLENCE - Mabrouk to our tenth grader Albert Antar, upon his acceptance to Harvard University's Summer Program.  This highly selective program (57,000 students applied and only 2,000 were accepted) has students enrolled in actual Harvard courses, earning college credit.  This rare and precious privilege is a great testament to Albert's fantastic talents!

Congratulations to our eleventh grader Mosie Schrem who earned a perfect score on his SAT II exam in Algebra & Geometry, a perfect score on his SAT II exam in Trigonometry & Pre-Calculus, and a near perfect score in his SAT II exam in Chemistry.  What an absolutely amazing accomplishment!

And kudos to our twelfth grader Shaya Chabot who has earned a Scholar's Award at Baruch College (full scholarship for four years).  The halls of Baruch will undoubtedly be enhanced by Shaya's insight!

The prestigious, wonderful achievements earned by these MDYHS superstars reflect what talent and hard work can produce - an outstanding example of the hallmark and value of excellence!

WISDOM - Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Fifth Annual Entrepreneurship Dinner at MDYHS,  At the dinner, students in Mr. Joe Naftaly's and Mr. Daniel Kamelhar's Entrepreneurship classes presented their creative business plans, working models of products to be market,ed and strategic analyses for different types of financial enterprises.  (Please see the attached photos from this wonderful program).  Congratulations to Zachary Mosseri (1st place for his product, The Energy Bicycle), Albert Antar & Max Dweck (2nd place for their product, Heat Retention Solutions), and Jeffrey Tawil (3rd place for his product, Shark Beat) for their outstanding presentations at the dinner program, and to Daniel Sasson on being named Entrepreneur of the Year.

And speaking of creativity, I had the honor of joining Mrs. Frieda Cattan's ninth grade Jewish History class, where the students presented a beautiful project they had made.  Mrs. Cattan divided the 1,000 years of Jewish History that the girls had studied into different units, and each student created a "scrapbook page" to represent an assigned unit - using scholarly sources, artwork, and other related materials.  The result was a clear, concise, and beautiful summary of Jewish History from 500 BCE to 500 CE.  The students presented their bound volume as a gift to future classes of MDYHS - to be housed in the school library.  (Please see the attached photo of two of the scrapbook pages created by Sharon Anobian and Mary Chalouh).

Both of these programs highlight the fact that knowledge is just the beginning of education - taking what one has learned and using it creatively, to help others, that is the hallmark and value of wisdom!

WARMTH -  On Wednesday evening, some spirited MDYHS faculty, under the direction of our own Rabbi Benzion Scheinfeld, challenged the great boys varsity team in the First Annual Faculty-Student Basketball Game.  The faculty took an early but oh-so-brief lead, until the Warriors applied a full-court press, and the result was a final score of 62-44 with the Warriors walking away with the glorious victory.  (The faculty walked away with oxygen tanks).  As you read these words, the faculty are planning their strategy to break the Warrior's full-court press next year.  (Please see the attached photo from the game).  I heard from faculty and students alike that the game was a fantastic opportunity to bond with each other.

And in a related note, during my lunch meetings with groups of tenth grade students this week, I was so happy to hear the following spontaneous, unsolicited comment from Marilyn Tobias: "The relationships between teachers and students here are like family.  Our teachers are so amazing - we can really talk to them and get their help on so many things."  Well said Marilyn!

These great relationships - ones that will last well past high school - are the hallmark and value of warmth!

As we look ahead toward next year, I am pleased to report that the academic schedule for 2012-2013 is near completion - and that it has a wonderful feature for the benefit of all MDYHS students.  Classes in each subject area are assigned slots independent of other classes.  This means that students can have customized schedules - a student can be placed in an Honors class for Torah, a mid-level class for English, a regular level class for Math, an advanced level class for Science, an Honors level class for History, etc. - or any different combination thereof.  Students will be educated based upon their own unique level and skills in each subject area.

And further on the issue of next year, I had the privilege of having an extensive meeting with the new Associate Provost of Brooklyn College on Tuesday afternoon.  At that meeting, Mrs. Sabrina Maleh, Dr. Abe Tawil, and I had the opportunity to introduce the world of MDYHS to the new Associate Provost, and to continue the wonderful relationship that we have with the college and with CUNY in general.  These relationships are a critical piece in helping to successfully guide our students toward their scholarly pursuits in college and beyond.

Finally, it is my pleasure to congratulate the following students who were elected by their peers to serve as Student Government Organization (SGO) and Senior Council (SC) officers for the coming school year: Yoni Hadar - SGO President; Rosie Mosseri - SGO Vice President; Renee Cohen - SGO Secretary; Zachary Mosseri - SGO Treasurer; and Helen Esses - SC President; Matthew Cohen - SC Vice President; Eli Azrak - SC Treasurer.  The campaign was an exciting one with students having expressed their platforms eloquently, and having produced wonderful "commercials" asking the electorate for their votes.  (Please see the complete platforms and commercials at mdysouth.blogspot.com).  I eagerly anticipate working closely with the student leaders over the coming year!

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, b'ezrat HaShem, as MDYHS marches proudly up Fifth Avenue in the Celebrate Israel Parade, and I wish all of our students the greatest success in their upcoming finals, Regents Exams, and SATs - I know you will do wonderfully!  As always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Saul Zucker