Warriors' Week in Review
Dear Parents,
It is a pleasure to greet everyone as we emerge from Pesah - I hope that the holiday was a fulfilling and joyous one for you, with the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Although this school week was an extremely short one due to the holiday, there have been quite a few exciting developments at MDYHS, and it is an privilege to share some of them with you.
In an earlier letter I had written that our 11th grader Yoni Hadar was invited to participate in the annual New York City Science & Engineering Fair, held at the Museum of Natural History. Just as Pesah was to begin, Yoni was informed that his presentation (a highly creative invention, designed to preserve the New York City subways and tunnels from flooding disasters in case of tragedies such as Hurricane Sandy) was awarded Second Place in the entire competition's Engineering Category, in addition to winning the Frank W. and Jane J. Stahl Memorial Award for Technical Excellence as well as the National Society of Professional Engineers' Innovative Engineering Award!! One award would have been amazing - three awards are absolutely incredible! We are so proud of Yoni's outstanding accomplishments! (Please see the attached photos from this special event). And in a related note, 10th grader Elliot Shrem was named a Semi-Finalist (1 of only 17) in the 2013 American Museum of Natural History's Young Naturalist Awards, for his project Evidence for Ice Age Rebound at Gerritsen Beach. Both Yoni and Elliot, along with many of our students, have worked countless hours with Mr. Steven Kaye, Director of the Intel Science Talent Search at MDYHS, and their achievements reflect their own talent and devotion along with Mr. Kaye's dedication and careful nurturing. Our young scientists and future engineers are flourishing at MDYHS!
Our students are not the only award winners at MDYHS - we were also thrilled to learn just before Pesah that Rabbi Michael Bitton, Director of Educational Technology at MDYHS, was named the winner of The Jewish Education Project (formerly the BJE of Greater NY) Young Pioneer Award for 2013 in the category of Day School Education. This prestigious award seeks innovative educators from the entire greater NY area who have displayed a professional commitment to innovation, a proven use of educational technology, a history of motivating others to embrace new ideas, and a track record in designing educational initiatives. There are five categories for this award - Early Childhood, Teen Education, Congregational Schools, Informal Education, and Day Schools - with one winner for each category. This means that Rabbi Bitton has been uniquely recognized from among all of the yeshivah day school teachers in the entire NY area - for his outstanding work at MDYHS. In addition to a grant as part of the award, Rabbi Bitton will be highlighted at a special reception on June 4th at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Of course, the ultimate beneficiaries of Rabbi Bitton's unparalleled talent and dedication are our own students and staff.
And while still on the topic of awards, recognition for outstanding work at MDYHS is not limited only to particular students and particular teachers - the school as a whole has been awarded the Legacy Heritage Foundation Challenge Grant. In the notification we received over Pesah, we were told that "The Foundation was very impressed with the MDYHS application and we look forward to working with you..." Part of the application for this grant included a video that 3 of our students, Leon Betesh, Jennifer Jemal, and Marc Sayegh, designed, produced, and starred in - about EdTech at MDYHS. I am so proud of their wonderful achievement!
And speaking of pride in students' achievements, it continues to be an honor and a joy to extend warm wishes ofMabrouk to our students for their college admissions and merit-based scholarship awards. We are so proud of you!
Nancy Anteby - Pratt Institute, with a Merit Scholarship of $11,000 per year for four years, for a total of $44,000
Eli Azrak - Yeshiva University
Marlene Braha - Pratt Institute, with a Merit Scholarship of $17,000 per year for four years for a total of $68,000, New York Institute of Technology, with a Merit Scholarship of $15,000 per year for four years, for a total of $60,000
Yvette Chaya - FIT, Brooklyn College, Hunter College
Esther Cohen - Brooklyn College
Rachel Cohen - Brooklyn College, Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Alicen Franco - FIT, Brooklyn College, Hunter College
Gary Guindi - Brooklyn College, College of Staten Island
Lisa Jrada - NYU, with a Steinhardt Scholarship of $26,780 per year for four years, for a total of $107,120
David Maleh - Brooklyn College, Hunter College, City College, College of Staten Island
Carole Mizrahi - Baruch College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College
Laurie Mosseri - FIT, New York City College of Technology
Marc Saadia - Boston University School of Management, Northeastern University, SUNY Binghamton
David Sabbagh - Brooklyn College, Hunter College
Frieda Sabbagh - FIT, with a Presidential Scholarship of $500 per year for four years, for a total of $2,000, Baruch College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Hunter College
Mosie Schrem - Cooper Union School of Civil Engineering
Sally Shrem - New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn College, City College
Linda Shamula - Brooklyn College
Sarah Srour - Brooklyn College
Abraham Tobias - Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
David Zami - New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn College, City College
And all of the results are not yet in - students are still receiving notifications, and I look forward to letting you know about the continued success of our young scholars over the next few weeks as well.
The continued success of our students extends beyond college admissions and merit-based awards - it goes to the heart of career pathways as well. Today, a delegation of our juniors joined a group of Dr. Abe Tawil's Baruch College undergraduate class to visit AOL Headquarters in New York City. Our students, along with Entrepreneurship teacher Mr. Joe Naftaly, were given a special tour of the executive offices, discussed the overall AOL business model with the company's leadership, and explored internship opportunities with AOL directors. (Please see the attached photos from this exciting trip).
And on the theme of career pathways, our seniors are beginning their Internship Program, a crown jewel in the MDYHS program under the supervision of Mrs. Sabrina Maleh. Yesterday and today, the formal orientation for our 12th graders began - in preparation for Monday, when 113 seniors in 45 different areas of interest begin their actual internship jobs, under the direction of 80 different employers. The Orientation Sessions included presentations by Mrs. Maleh, Dr. Abe Tawil, Mr. Daniel Zide, and Mrs. Laurie Michaels on practical topics such asdeveloping a personal goal statement, writing an "Elevator Speech," what to expect on the first day, updating the resume, employer evaluations, and securing letters of recommendation. Mr. David Loranger, the Director of Bergdorf Goodman's Menswear Division, spoke to the students about Dressing for Success at the Job, a seminar presentation that he delivers across the country at various college campuses. Our young professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, and communal leaders are eager and prepared to tackle the world! I look forward to sharing some of their wonderful experiences and triumphs with you over the next few weeks.
As we face the week ahead, please note that the MDYHS SAT Workshop - under the supervision of expert SAT coach Mrs. Sara Haleva - free to MDYHS students - continues its sessions this Tuesday evening, starting at 5:45 pm at the MDY elementary school with Math: Functions, Patterns & Combinations, and Critical Reading: Reading Comprehension Long Passages. Take advantage of these fantastic coaching sessions for higher scores on the SAT!
Finally, I would like to share a brief story with you. As I began writing this letter, one of the faculty members stopped by to ask what could I possibly be writing about - there were only one and a half days of school this week!? When I responded by saying, "Well... there's Yoni Hadar's triple NYC science award, Rabbi Bitton's metro-NY-area educators' award, the Legacy Heritage Award to the school, the continuing outstanding college admissions and merit-based scholarships of our seniors, our students' trip to AOL headquarters, the Senior Internship Program...and more...," the faculty member paused for a second and then said, "Wow...MDYHS is such an awesome place!" And she is so right - MDYHS is indeed so awesome!
As always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Saul Zucker
