Dear Parents,
What an outstanding week it has been at MDYHS! I am privileged to share a glimpse of some of our programs and events with you.
As our Senior Internship Program comes to a close, I would like to highlight two stories that truly reflect what the entire program is all about. Margo Harary is doing her work at Maimonides Hospital. Not content to do the office filing that she was assigned at the beginning of her internship, Margo pleaded with one of the physicians to allow her to go with him on his rounds in the hospital. The doctor asked Margo some medical questions about a case that he was treating, and Margo responded with her diagnosis. When asked to justify her response, Margo did so with clear logical deduction and detailed precision, and the doctor was amazed at the accuracy of her assessment! He invited Margo to go on his rounds with him at the hospital, and began explaining a host of medical issues to her. In fact, as this letter is being sent, Margo is observing a series of surgeries at Maimonides - the invitation to do so was a gift that the hospital gave Margo as she concludes her internship. At the Internship Banquet on Wednesday night (more about that in a couple of minutes...) Margo's supervisor said to me, "Rabbi, this young lady was born to be a physician!" (Please see the attached photo of Margo at last week's Brooklyn College Science Research Day). The medical world awaits one of its future superstars from MDYHS!Over Hol HaMoed Pesah Eddie Dweck was seeking an internship position in the area of finance. With training by the Internship Team in the art and science of the business interview, and with copies of the resume he had crafted as part of our program, Eddie met with a few potential employers. Ultimately, Eddie secured a position at a wealth management firm - a company that works with high net-worth individuals on estate planning, tax strategies, and investments. Eddie's job was to build efficient frontiers for a portfolio of equities. In addition, he sat in on conference calls with Deutsche Bank, taking notes and presenting summaries of the calls to the Head Analyst at the firm. This past Monday, Eddie received a call from one of the other employers who had seen his resume over Pesah. The employer interviewed Eddie over the phone, and was so impressed with Eddie's knowledge and insight - gained from the internship experience - that this coming Monday, b'ezrat HaShem, he will be meeting with Eddie to discuss details of a summer job offer! From there, Eddie goes on to NYU Stern to major in finance. The financial world awaits one of its future superstars from MDYHS!
Who would have believed that these stories - and countless others like them - would be occurring to high school students?! The answer is... about 500 people - the students, their families, their internship employers, and the MDYHS staff, who all gathered together on Wednesday evening for the lavish Banquet Program - to celebrate the amazing successes of all of our students. Led by our own Mrs. Sabrina Maleh, the architect and supervisor of the entire Internship Program, with the great assistance of the Internship Team, the audience was treated to a retrospective of the program and its wonderful highlights. These highlights were captured in a moving video, produced by Mr. Daniel Kamelhar and Mr. Daniel Zide who carefully helped in guiding the students through their work experiences. The emotionally charged evening and dinner program was filled with enthusiastic testimonials by students and employers. Congratulations to our Employer of the Year, Mr. Al Falack, and to our Student Internship Award recipients Sarah Harari, Shirley Harari, and Meyer Safdieh! We have already begun planning the details of next year's exciting Internship Program.
Yesterday, Dr. Abe Tawil and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with the Deputy Director of CUNY's University Application Processing Center - the single gateway of all college applications to all of the CUNY and Macaulay Honors colleges. The deputy director shared with us her insights as to what CUNY looks for in the application process, and as a result of that meeting, MDYHS will be redesigning our transcript format to present our students in a way that will even further enhance their profile to the greatest advantage in their college admissions process. And in a related note, Mrs. Debbie Solomon and Mr. Steve Harris, from our department of College Guidance & Career Counseling Services, recently attended a SUNY conference hosted by FIT (where 9 MDYHS students have been accepted into 6 different programs for the fall, including the highly selective Fashion Merchandising and Management program). The conference dealt with admissions strategies for SUNY applications. And today, Mrs. Solomon is attending another admissions conference where representatives of Harvard, Georgetown, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford are giving valuable advice to college guidance counselors. This networking and sharing of information is critical to successful college and career guidance, and our staff are in the forefront of these events!
On Tuesday, 23 MDYHS students in the 10th and 11th grades had the rare opportunity to attend the Baruch College conference on Sephardic American Jewry: Communities and Contributions. Our students, led by Ms. Audrey Nasar and Mrs. Shara Netkin, attended symposiums about our own beloved community and its unique ability to maintain a distinct Syrian identity despite the challenges of assimilation, and about the early years of the Sephardic immigration to the United States. What a great way to instill pride in the community, its values and heritage! Uptown, Mr. Joe Naftaly's ninth grade history class, as well as the Art Appreciation Club led by Mrs. Natalie Greenberg, visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The history class visited the Greek and Roman galleries, and viewed some of the Renaissance works as well. They also saw the Arms and Armor exhibit, where they were taught about the evolution of warfare. Students commented on how great it was to see first hand what they have been studying. The Art Club viewed Impressionistic and post-Impressionistic artwork - particularly that of Monet and Van Gogh, where they received an up-close lesson on the development of artistic genres.
As always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Saul Zucker
