College Bulletin

College Bulletin November 2012

Cooking Club 2012

Warriors' Week in Review

Dear Parents,

It has been an exciting week at MDYHS, and it is an honor for me to share some of this week's programs and events with you.

On Tuesday, our wonderful Mandarin Chinese teacher, Ms. Yen, took her class to Baruch College to participate in a conference on entrepreneurial opportunities in China.  Students learned about the Chinese culture as it impacts business practices in Asia, and they absorbed the lesson that knowledge of Chinese language and society affords one a great advantage in conducting business here and across the sea.  During the course of the conference students met with the Consular General of China, as well as with Mr. Fred Tang, the CEO of NewsChina.  (Please see the attached photo of some of our delegation with Mr. Tang).  What a great way for our young entrepreneurs to set foot in the international scene!

While some of our students were polishing their Mandarin skills, others were polishing their Math skills.  Twenty-five MDYHS students from across the grades, under the direction of our superb Math department chairperson, Mr. Alan Rader, convened for the second meeting of our Math Team.  These students participate in the NY Mathematics League Competition and the American Mathematics Competition.  Mr. Rader can't stop speaking about how proud he is of the students' passion and talent for math.

And speaking of passion for studies, 40 members of the MDYHS Book Club, under the supervision of our dedicated librarian, Mrs. Bruchie Weinstein, and headed by students Hannah Cohen and Zachary Mosseri, met on Wednesday to decide on this year's Book Club theme.  Students will be reading works of literature whose focus is dystopian societies, and they selected the book UnWholly by Neal Shusterman as their first assignment.  Students told me after the meeting that they love the atmosphere wherein they discuss literary works that expand their horizons while spending time with students from different classes and enjoying the delicious collation that the club provides.  Our future novelists and literary critics are getting a great foundation in the MDYHS library!

Moving from textbook study to life study - on Tuesday, our creative history teacher Mr. Joe Naftaly took his class on a field trip to Prospect Park.  The objective of the trip was to help students understand how ancient people and societies coped with the harshness of the wilderness, and how they improvised and adapted in order to survive.  Students collected wood and rocks that they were then tasked to fashion into tools, and they built shelters out of materials that would be found in any forest.  (Please see the attached photos from this adventure).  Following the trip, students studied what kinds of tools ancient people actually did fashion, and how they were used.  What a great way to have the past come alive, and to appreciate the benefits of technological advances!

In a combination of academics and aesthetics, on Monday our Art Appreciation club, supervised by Mrs. Natalie Greenberg, visited the Museum of Modern Art.  Students viewed the impressionistic works of Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Monet, followed by the cubism works of Picasso.  The club members were then treated to a rare privilege - getting to see Edvard Munch's painting The Scream, which has never been exhibited before in this country.  (Please see the attached photo from this great visit).

Yesterday was Rosh Hodesh Kislev, and during the year each grade plans and coordinates a different Rosh Hodesh program - yesterday it was the Juniors' turn.  Our amazing 11th grade, under the direction of their wonderful Grade Deans, Rabbi David Elnadav, Mrs. Rebecca Cohen, and Mrs. Aura Sutton, designed an entire program on the theme of Bullying.  The program opened with the message that Kislev is the month we celebrate Hannukah, whose theme is gevurah - strength.  And strength can be used for the positive or for the negative.  The juniors taught the lesson that negative strength - bullying - is harmful to both the victim and to the one who bully.  They filmed their own video - a meaningful lesson on how hurtful bullying can be, and how we should all respect and help each other.  I was moved as I watched the star of the video, Sammy Gabbay, get the message across so poignantly.  Later, during lunch, the 10th grade girls, under the direction of their Grade Dean, Mrs. Esther Muller, along with our Jewish History chairperson Ms. Audrey Nasar, had the privilege of an additional, special program.  Students heard a devar Torah from our Navi Department chairperson, Rabbi Reuven Jacobsohn, and after a delicious pizza lunch, they crafted projects whose theme was Hannukah.  The creativity and enthusiasm were contagious!.  (Please see the attached photo from this joyous program).

Later in the day, our students wanted to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Israel who are experiencing the horror of terrorist attacks.  Under the guidance of our director of Hessed Programs, Ms. Elyse Nadjar, together with Hebrew Department chairperson Dr. Chagit Hadar, students from our Israel Activism club set up a teleconference hookup with Yoav Belkes, the commander of Gilad Shalit's platoon.  Our students developed a close, warm relationship with the IDF unit when they were at MDYHS for 10 days last month, and they wanted to "be with the soldiers" in their time of need.  Yoav is in Be'er Sheva, and our students saw and spoke with him and his wife, offering messages of strength and hope.  I am so proud of our students for this strong, compassionate display of concern.

Finally, our sports teams continue to climb the ladder of victory.  The Boys Varsity Basketball team, under the great leadership of coach Ikey Dweck, vanquished the team of DRS Yeshiva High School by a score of 51-38.  The high scorers were Morris Dweck with 17 points, and Leon Betesh with 10 points.  And in a very exciting game, our Girls Varsity Basketball team, under the fantastic leadership of coach Barbara Franco (MDYHS alumna 2012), defeated the team of Shalhevet High School by a score of 25-24.  Marilyn Tobias was the high scorer with 18 points.  The Warriors are unstoppable!  Look for all sports scores as well as other breaking news at MDYHS in the latest issue of our student newspaper, The Flame, which just came out today.

As always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Saul Zucker

The Flame: Issue 2

Issue 2

High School Newspaper The Flame: Issue 1

Issue 1-cw (1)

MDY Career Breakfast

Untitled

In case you Missed it...

The Great Debate

October/November 2012

Warriors' Week in Review

Dear Parents,

What an amazing week it has been at MDYHS!  It is a privilege for me to share a glimpse of it with you.

On Monday, in anticipation of Election Day, our students held a “Great Debate” between the candidates for president before an audience of the entire 9th and 10th grades.  Representing Team Obama were Renee Cohen, Albert Hamowy, Nissim Hazkour, Teddy Khafif, and Raquel Salem, while Irving Betesh, Aaron Harari, Chaim Salameh, Orly Yazdi, and Amy Yedid represented Team Romney.  The debate was organized by Social Studies Department Chairperson Ms. Shara Netkin, and was moderated by our own Mr. Joe Naftaly, who posed questions to our young politicians on the subjects of the economy, foreign policy, education, health care and America’s future.  The exchanges were passionate – and at the same time dignified  – a model for the adult candidates to emulate.  (Please see the attached photo from the Great Debate).  Following the debate, on Tuesday, our students voted in iPad  polling stations in the Atrium during their lunch periods.  With a voter turnout of two-thirds of the entire student body, MDYHS elected Mitt Romney over Barack Obama as president by a vote of 90% to 10%.  Perhaps our students know something that the general American electorate doesn’t….?

This past Wednesday saw the launch of this year’s MDYHS Sephardic Heritage Expo program, designed and led by the talented Ms. Audrey Nasar, Chairperson of the Jewish History department.  Students in the 10th grade will be working in cooperative groups, doing research on various aspects of our wonderful community – such as The Aleppo Codex, Immigration in the Early 1900s, Food, The Kitab, Life in Syria during the 20th Century, Pizmonim & Hazzanut, Sephardic Bikur Holim, and Syrian Jews Outside of Brooklyn – with faculty and prominent community members to help in the research.  Students will then craft museum quality exhibits on their topics, and will present the Expo to the entire school and to parents, b’ezrat HaShem, in March 2013.  What a great way to take pride in the greatness of the community and to take the values of the past and – based upon them – chart a wonderful future!

Earlier in the week Ms. Nasar, who also coordinates our Israel Activism programs, heard from AIPAC – for the second year in a row MDYHS has been invited to send a delegate – all expenses paid – to the Saban Leadership Seminar in Washington DC in January.  This prestigious seminar draws college and graduate students from all across the country to be trained in political techniques, Israel advocacy, and strategic leadership.  MDYHS is one of only a handful of high schools across the entire country that were invited to send a delegate to this important seminar.

While MDYHS hosts a group of YACHAD developmentally disabled students every other week for a Lunch & Learn, this past week our students greeted the YACHAD students and together they sorted the materials from generous donations sent by MDYHS families to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Our MDYHS-YACHAD team packed and labeled coats, blankets, food, and clothing for distribution to those in need.  (Please see the attached photo from this beautiful event).  The glowing smiles on the faces of the YACHAD students as they were guided by our own students lit up the entire building!

As our students progress in their Torah studies by acquiring the skills sets that are fundamental to education at MDYHS, a number of our boys have taken upon themselves the added, admirable goal of finishing the entire masekhta (tractate) that they are learning in Talmud.  Fifty students, under the direction of Rabbi Joey Haber and Rabbi Michael Bitton are spending time during lunch and on Thursday evenings to complete the entire gemara (either Makkot or Megillah) by the end of the year.  The students’ love of Torah study and values is a joy to behold!

Finally, in the area of sports, I am pleased to extend  warm congratulations to our Varsity Boys Basketball team under the talented direction of coach Ikey Dweck, for their victory in the season opener over the team of Yeshivat Simhat Hayim by a score of 80-44.  Morris Dweck and Jeffrey Pardo were the high scorers  with 16 and 14 points respectively.  And Kudos to our Junior Varsity Boys Basketball team, under the superb leadership of coach Aaron Shasha, for their exciting win over the team of YDE by a score of 54-40.  The high scorers were Joe Grazi and Leo Esses with 13 and 12 points respectively.  Go Warriors!

As always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Saul Zucker

MDY Invites you to our Open House November 13th

Rosh Yeshivah and Rabbi Haber Speak about Hurricane Sandy

Regarding SATs this Weekend...

SAT Test Center Closings

The College Board is deeply concerned about all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. At this time, our main concern is for the safety of our student test-takers, their families and the educators and staff who help administer the SAT. We are in the process of trying to reach test centers affected by the storms that hit the east coast of the United States. We will be posting information about SAT test center closings for November 2012 as it becomes available.

In the event that we are unable to contact a test center, students and parents should assume that if the school is closed on Friday, November 2 for reasons related to Hurricane Sandy, it will not be administering the SAT this weekend. Students can also contact SAT customer service at             866-756-7346       to check on the status of their test center.

Students for whom the SAT is cancelled on this weekend will receive notification of a makeup date via email as soon as we are able to schedule it. Alternatively, they may choose to transfer their registration to another national administration at no charge.

To the best of their ability in current conditions, SAT Test Center Supervisors are asked to notify local media outlets if their centers are unable to open due to effects of Hurricane Sandy. In addition to the list of closings below, the College Board will distribute a list of test center closings to local media outlets on Friday afternoon.

Students whose test centers are closed should not try to test elsewhere on test day — supervisors cannot admit standbys or walk-ins.

For areas not affected by Hurricane Sandy, normal test center closing procedures apply:

SAT Test Center Supervisors are instructed to notify local media outlets when their centers are unable to open due to inclement weather, natural disaster, power failure, or other problems. Please check your local media for test center closings in your area.

If your center is listed as closed:

A new center may appear in the listing. In this case, access your online account and print a new, updated ticket with the new center information noted on it. You must bring your updated ticket with you on test day to the reassigned center.
If no new center appears, please be patient while we work to arrange a makeup date — you will be contacted as soon as a makeup is scheduled. Remember: don't try to test elsewhere on test day — supervisors cannot admit standbys or walk-ins.

Warriors' Week in Review

Dear Parents,

I hope this finds everyone well - safe and warm in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  The hurricane has produced stories of tragedy and loss, but also stories of hope and inspiration.  I have heard of numerous occurrences of MDYHS students coming to the rescue - stories like that of Albert Mizrahi, who - right after all the electricity had gone off - went in the dark to his grandmother's apartment to get her out of the house, to safety.  And stories like that of Elliot Shrem, who provided physical support in helping to clear debris and damage from houses on his block, and provided emotional support in the form of encouragement to the families.  These stories, which are examples of many, give hope for the future - and they are a wonderful testament to the middot of our students.

And speaking of the middot and hessed of our students, I was so proud to hear that three of our juniors, under the great guidance of our Director of Hessed Programs, Ms. Elyse Nadjar, have mobilized the MDYHS community to help others recover from the hurricane.  Dennis Dweck, Julia Greenstein, and Ikey Shuster, through social media, are seeking those who needs assistance with moving, clean-up, and material goods, and are organizing student groups to help in each of these endeavors.  (Please see the attached photo of these great student leaders).  In addition, our students will be collecting blankets, clothing, and canned goods to distribute to various agencies for delivery to those in need.  This is the heart and soul of MDYHS!

While our school week was significantly shortened due to the storm, there still were a host of activities at MDYHS over the past two days, and I am privileged to share a glimpse of some of them with you.  Yesterday, I had the extreme pleasure of visiting one of our wonderful elective classes - Forensic Sciences, taught by the talented Ms. Laura Pritchard.  The class, who had already learned about physical evidence, classifying and formulating theories from clues, and processing crime scenes, were shown clips of Hurricane Sandy, and were then tasked with determining why the electrical power was lost in certain areas, based upon clues they could observe in the video clips.  After our scholarly sleuths analyzed the evidence, they turned to a clip of a Sherlock Holmes film, and dissected the evidence and the crime scene.  Stephanie Laoui, a member of the class, summed up the experience very succinctly - "This class is awesome!"  Our future CSI experts are well on their way!

Today, the first edition of our student newspaper, The Flame, was published and distributed, under the supervision of our wonderful English Department Chairperson, Mrs. Rachel Harari.  Led by senior editor-in-chief Abraham Tobias and junior editor-in-chief Paulette Gindi, the newspaper staff have put together a fantastic inaugural issue.  The 8 page edition features editorials, a "Student of the Week" column, a student point-counterpoint debate, humor, fashion, sports, advertisements, and an advice column.  I was particularly moved and inspired by the words of Paulette - in analyzing the name of all of the MDYHS teams, the Warriors, she wrote, "A warrior isn't one who fights because he hates the people in front of him; it is one who fights because he loves those behind him."  Paulette's words are inspiring, and reflect a maturity well beyond her years!

I had the chance to meet this morning with Rabbi Michael Bitton, our creative Director of Educational Technology.  Rabbi Bitton told me that the word of MDYHS's EdTech program has spread throughout the network of yeshivah day schools in the greater metropolitan area.  Our curricula utilizing podcasts and webinars, blended classroom instructional models, and flipped classroom formats - all designed by Rabbi Bitton (who is training the faculty in these exciting developments) is serving as a model for other schools.  Rabbi Bitton has been invited by other yeshivot to present the MDYHS paradigm for these other schools to emulate.

And in another example of MDYHS taking a leadership role in the community of schools, the first meeting of the inter-yeshivah college guidance counselors association this year will be hosted by our school.  The college guidance counselors of 20 different yeshivot will be gathering at MDYHS next month to share best practices and news regarding this year's college application procedures.  Kudos to our Director of College Guidance & Career Counseling Services, Mrs. Debbie Solomon, for coordinating this important event.

This past weekend, three of our students participated in the YACHAD Leadership Shabbaton.  Alison Cohen, Janice Mizrahi, and Michelle Wahba were joined by MDYHS alumna Joyce Mosery in Stamford, CT - where they participated, along with students from many schools in the NY - NJ area, in sessions on how to help one's self and how to help others.  They joined the developmentally disabled youth of YACHAD, singing and dancing with them over Shabbat.  The students told me that they received so much more from the experience than anything that they could possibly have provided to others.  (Please see the attached photos from this meaningful event).

As we begin the return to "normal" after the storm, it was heartwarming to receive numerous messages from Gilad Shalit's army unit, with whom MDYHS has established a special, close relationship - they had seen footage of the hurricane, and told us that now it was our turn to be gibborim.  It is these relationships - with each other and with communities across the globe that help to make MDYHS such a special place.  Please continue to stay safe and warm, and as always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!


Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Saul Zucker

College Bowl Tryouts

Try outs for College Bowl will be in the first 15 minutes of Monday's (November 5th) lunch in room 215. 

Try out....you may win a spot on TV's "Its Academic"!