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!
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
