Volume 27 Issue 3

the

l ion’s tale

Volume 27 • Issue 3 March 2, 2010 • 16 Adar 5770

News

see page 2

Rocking For Charity

Sports

see page 16

Wrestling Plays Rough

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School • 11710 Hunters Lane • Rockville, Maryland • 20852

School takes a backseat to snow ing that it was impossible to hold graduation on that date.

“As of writing this email, Since 1870 the Washington, D.C. area has witnessed a snow storm of over a foot there are 13 senior families only 13 times. This season, three separate who would be unable to atsnowfalls of more than a foot hit the area tend either because they live and affected the entire CESJDS commu- a significant distance from the nity. The most recent snowfall, dubbed nearest plowed street or be“Snowpocalypse” and “Snowmageddon” cause we have not been able

by TV pundits, came in two waves and to contact them because they caused more than a week of cancellations have no power in their homes.

This would mean that these in local schools and businesses.

The blizzard began on the afternoon students would not be able to of Feb. 5 and dumped 30 inches of snow attend their own graduation,” across the area, causing many early clos- the e-mail said. photo courtesy Nate Druckman Graduation was eventually all work, no play? Eighth-grader Hilary Druckings. JDS followed suit, canceling classes at the Upper School outright because held on Sunday, Feb. 17. man shovels snow in her front yard. Students At the same time, the ad- spent their week off shoveling and sleeping. of the already scheduled two and a half hour delay for the Class of 2010’s Siyum ministration was deciding Tuesday and continued throughout the ceremony. Graduation for the Class of what to do about classes over 2010 had been scheduled for the follow- the course of the next week. Eventually, next day, adding another 15 inches to the Montgomery County Public Schools de- already imposing snowbanks. As a result, ing Sunday, Feb. 7.

Graduation was first postponed to the cided to close on Monday, Feb. 8 and Montgomery County closed schools for the rest of the week. JDS did as well, and next day, Monday, Feb. 8. However, con- Tuesday, Feb. 9.

“In general, the school follows the de- President’s Day weekend was added to a ditions on the roadways did not allow for it to proceed. Head of School Jonathan cision of Montgomery County regarding lengthy break from classes that many stuCannon and Dean of Students Roslyn closures or delays. Prior to the snow, Mr. dents characterized as a “second winter Landy sent out an e-mail to parents say- Cannon made the determination along break.”

“It was actually really action-packed. with the rest of the administrative team, that we reserve the right, if I spent a lot of energy moving from my the closure is going to last multi- bed to the kitchen,” junior Dov Block ple days, that after the first day we said. “I’ve always thought that we demight make a decision different than served a week off in February anyway.”

“I sat around and did my homework, Montgomery County,” Director of Judaic Studies Michael Kay said. that I ended up getting more of because “The reason for that is that Mont- all the teachers e-mailed us,” eighthgomery County has a lot of reasons grader Hannah Iskow said.

Once it became clear that classes why they would have to keep school closed...which wouldn’t necessarily would resume on Tuesday, Feb. 16, another problem presented itself. The triapply to this school.”

Over the course of the storms, the mester was nearing its end and losing school ended up following Mont- more than an entire week of classes left photo by Josh Handelman gomery County’s decision. winter wonderland Eighth-grader Ronit see SNOW, page 2 The second wave began late Schwartz walks home amid piles of snow.

by Josh Boxerman

Newspaper controversy sparks school-wide debate

by Danny Schwaber and Adam Weinberger The November 2009 edition of The Lion’s Tale was made available for two days to JDS students before being pulled on Nov. 11, a parent visiting day. The issue was later redistributed to students but was not sent home to parents or put online. Both the administration and the Lion’s Tale staff agree the paper should and will remain a strong and independent voice.

“The decision to remove the paper was just a discussion among the administrative team when we made the decision not to put it out for distribution on the stand [outside the front office] and not to send it out. Parts of those decisions were later reconsidered,” Director of Judaic Studies Michael Kay said.

“When we got to school, we noticed that the newspapers were not on the shelf so my co-editor David and I went to go look around and see if we could figure out where they were, and we basically discovered that the administration had pulled the paper and put it somewhere without telling us,” for-

mer editor-in-chief Valerie Cohen said.

Many of the Lion’s Tale staff members met with the administration on Nov. 11 to discuss the removal of the paper. Among those present were the Lion’s Tale editorial staff, Kay, Academic Dean Dr. David Solomon and Publications Director Samantha Gendler. In the meeting, these administrators and the Lion’s Tale staff discussed the reasons for removing the paper.

“The feeling of the administration on the paper was that the final product did not reflect the high standards of journalistic quality and writing quality that we have come to expect from the paper,” Kay said.

“Initially they only talked about grammar as the reason to pull the papers, but then they admitted what they believed to be a negative tone,” Goldstein said.

The following day, news of the controversy spread among students and teachers. That night, managing editor Benjamin Block, Cohen and Goldstein sent an e-mail to Head of School Jonathan Cannon asking to meet to discuss the issue. The meeting was scheduled for the following week.

Despite returning the papers to the stand,

the administration removed them again Monday Nov. 17, a JPDS visiting day.

Over that weekend senior Ari Blask organized a “censorship protest” for Tuesday Nov. 17 via a Facebook event. The protest was not organized by The Lion’s Tale.

“I think the protest was the right thing done in the right way. They did it respectfully and very clearly helped us to learn,” Cannon said.

“What I was happiest to see about the protest was the dialogue that it sparked.

I remember reading over the Facebook group and reading over some of the 43 wall posts, each were about a paragraph or two long, discussing how students feel about the issue,” Goldstein said.

The morning of the protest, Block, Cohen and Goldstein met with Cannon.

“They talked about how they felt that the grammar was not good in this issue. They felt that there was a misuse of graphics, that there was a negative tone. They described that most of the articles had a zinger, and they also felt that there were some issues of

see LION’S TALE, page 2

Emphasis on respect

by Daniel Liss The faculty is revisiting the subject of respect within the CESJDS community, which encompasses student respect for property and consistent enforcement of school policies by teachers. Assistant Middle School Director Ilana Lipman and Math Department Chair Ethan Merlin facilitated a series of meetings to discuss the state of respect at JDS. Community building and empowering students to encourage respectful behavior have been focal points during these discussions.

“We believe that we have a school that is defined by certain values… and we are very proud that the members of our community live up to those values,” Director of Judaic Studies Michael Kay said.

According to Kay, the values he referred to are v’ahavta l’rayakha camokha, treating your fellow person as yourself, and derekh eretz, which he interprets as holding people accountable for their words and their actions.

“As is the case with any group of people, there are times when people don’t live up to those values. And we want to look together, as a faculty and an administration, at ways as a school community to strengthen the community building process in order to ensure that those values that we represent are embodied even more strongly than they are now,” Kay said.

Both Lipman and Merlin believe that respect is not a problem for the JDS community.

“Generally we have a really positive student body, who does wonderful things for the school,” Lipman said.

“I do not want to imply that there is not respect and that we are going to do something so that there is respect,” Merlin said.

However, both recognize certain incidents may have prompted the current level of discussion regarding the subject.

“Recent events maybe reminded us to keep having that discussion [about respect], although they did not necessarily cause the discussion,” Lipman said.

see RESPECT, page 2

What’s Inside?

News .................................... 2, 4–5 Student Ambassador Program Memorial...................................... 3 Robert H. Smith Remembered Op-ed ...................................... 6–7 Student Respect Feature ................................... 8–9, 11–12 Class of 2010 Graduates Sports ................................. 13–16 Junior wins Athlete of the Year

the

News

2 LION’S TALE, from page 1

bad journalism,” Goldstein said.

Major technical mistakes included repeated paragraphs, misspelled names, unexplained graphs and layout problems.

“I was the person interviewed about the Barack Obama a capella thing, and nothing that was in that article was correct... the reporter took what kids said as fact, wasn’t fact. We were never asked to sing for Obama,” Dean of Students Roslyn Landy said.

After the meeting with Cannon, Goldstein, with help from Cohen and Block, wrote a letter to the administration that was to be sent out to the whole JDS community in an attempt to resolve the controversy.

Both sides could not agree on the content of the letter, and a joint letter was never sent.

In the end, the paper was not sent out to parents, but was made available to JDS students.

March 2, 2010

lion’s tale

“The administration at the end of the day are the publishers of the newspaper. I certainly am not in favor of administrative oversight to the point where there is preapproval of the paper. I think it loses its independence and it loses its magic and loses its excitement for students to work on,” Cannon said. “There will always be topics that a student newspaper will cover that has sensitivities that go beyond the parameters of the article and we need to work to find ways of getting to those sensitivities so that they can happen appropriately in the newspaper and typically it is the administration is the picture of those sensitivities.”

“I think that the relationship at a private school between administration and newspaper is a really tenuous, complicated issue and I really hope the administration will work towards stepping aside and really letting the paper grow because it is really hard to grow as a journalist when you feel like you’re being stifled,” Cohen said.

Valuing philanthropy

by Helene Katz The Class of 2014 presented charities with grants totaling $11,200. The money was raised during the eighth grade’s B’nei Mitzvah Project, during a grade meeting on Dec. 18.

For the previous two months, students researched charities and discussed how they wanted to appropriate the funds.

The B’nei Mitzvah Project was started in 2004 to commemorate Charles E. Smith’s love of philanthropy.

Middle School Director Joan Vander Walde supervised the project and taught students about Smith’s charitable endeavors.

“We’ve always wanted to have a project to help students learn how to apply what they have learned about tzedakah in their classes,” Vander Walde said.

The six charities that received more than $500 were the American Cancer Society ($2,425), American Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces ($1,700), American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee ($850), Partnership for Animal Welfare ($619.44), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ($1,194.44) and the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation ($2,294.44).

While the majority of funds raised for the project were donated to charity, some were used to buy each student a grade sponsored bar/bat mitzvah present: The Historical Atlas of the Jewish People and a check for $75.

“The grant to the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation was meaningful because this is an organization that helped out my family and people that we know,” eighth-grader Daniel Grossman said. Grossman’s brother Matthew (’09) is a brain tumor survivor.

Charity concert benefits Greentree Homeless Shelter

by Jonathan Waksman

photos by F Singelenberg

Battle of the bands Former JDS student Yehudah Abraham plays guitar for Six Minute Window. The concert was attended by 115 students.

RESPECT, from page 1 Lipman recently witnessed an act of vandalism while at the Upper School.

“For the week of Hanukkah, each grade had a spirit day. And, when it was the middle school’s spirit day, the seventh and eighth grade, decorated their hallway.

They did a great job, but within about five minutes after the decoration finished for the eighth grade, a group of high school students tore some things down, which was then followed by a group of eighth grade students which tore down the other eighth grade things,” Lipman said. “The same thing happened later in the seventh grade hallway… it was disappointing.”

In another incident, students tore down Hanukkah decorations from the test make-up board situated outside the office of Marilyn Davis, administrative assistant to the dean of students.

The board was decorated by Davis, using small toys and trinkets purchased with her own funds.

Davis found all of the decorations gone by the first day of Hanukkah.

“During parent teacher conferences… I redressed the board with toys I had left, but they were also gone when the students came back,” Davis said. “I was trying to give them something nice during Hanukkah.”

Student bands Six Minute Window and The Agiles performed at the charity concert hosted by the junior class on Jan. 24.

Members of Six Minute Window include juniors Josh Dalva and Dov Block, Joey Horowitz from Wootton High School, Aaron Zuckerman from Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy and former JDS student Yehudah Abraham who now attends Walter Johnson High School.

The Agiles include guitarist and lead vocalist freshman Yitzi Holton-Hinshaw and band members Gabe Koempel, Conor Donahue and Miles Kelley.

“The concert went really well. Six Minute Window rocked the house and the Agiles did really well too,” Block said.

The event was attended by 115 students from both in and out of school and raised $500 for the Greentree Homeless Shelter.

The students who tore down the decorations on both occasions were never identified.

According to Director of Information Technology David Ritzmann, acts of disrespect at JDS also include students hacking into projectors during class and rearranging the keys on laptops.

“As a teacher, I will open up a cart of tablets and I’ll see that something, like a pen, has been taken from a tablet or something like that. [But,] it’s not like I’m walking down the hallway and I see all these terrible things happening, but every once in a while people forget to think,” Lipman said. “The administration and I agree that this is not a situation where we have [acts of vandalism] happening all the time.”

Lipman and Merlin distributed a survey to the faculty regarding school atmosphere.

Kay hopes that, as a result of the discussions about respect, students will be empowered to encourage respect within the community.

“We want our students leaving the school having experience and confidence in shaping their own communities…this is a chance to give them practice,” Kay said.

“Giving students a feeling of ownership and accountability for the environment in the school is a very positive thing.”

Freshman Hannah Becker would like to see clearer penalties

The eleventh grade government wanted to choose a charity that was close to home, and they also wanted to know exactly how the money raised was going to be spent.

“The two bands filled the theater. Thanks to them we were able to make a sizable donation to Greentree Homeless Shelter,” junior class government spirit officer Danielle Clemons said.

Six Minute Window performed an assortment of covers and original songs such as “What Now.” “It was nice seeing familiar people in the crowd,” Dalva said. “We hope that people will go online and listen to our music and come to our concerts to hear our music.”

Abraham said that he enjoyed the atmosphere of the concert.

“This was a good opportunity to promote our band while simultaneously helping the less fortunate,” Abraham said.

for being disruptive during class.

“When students get in trouble a lot in my classes, the teachers always say, ‘I will send you out next time,’… but these kids know that they will never get sent out,” Becker said. “They are causing so much disruption in class, and there is no real consequence.”

Sophomore Ofer Kimchi feels that issues relating to respect are only minor at JDS, even though students could be more vigilant about respecting property.

He believes that respect should be a priority for the administration.

“I do not really see disrespect from person to person. Rather, I see disrespect through [the destruction of] property,” Kimchi said. “There might be a problem [with vandalism], but it is not as big you would see at public schools.”

Eighth-grader Ayal Subar does not see respect at JDS as an issue.

“Teachers respect us [students], we respect the teachers. I think everyone respects each other,” Subar said.

According to Merlin, the administration will be reviewing the survey results during the upcoming month.

“The administration has heard what the faculty has to say,” Merlin said. “The next step is in the administration’s hands. They will decide what to do based on the discussions we [the faculty] have had.”

photos by Shira Singelenberg

can you feel the beat?

Junior Josh Dalva on the bass play at the 11th grade charity concert. The concert raised $500 for the Greenhouse Homeless Shelter.

SNOW, from page 1 the school with a shortage of school days. Including the storm in December, students missed eight days of classes. According to Kay, the school usually budgets three or four snow days. At least one area school district held classes on Monday, Feb. 15, a scheduled day off for President’s Day. “Since those were planned days off, it’s very possible that families and also faculty members or other employees may have had long standing plans to take vacations or something, so I don’t think it really would have been appropriate to do that,” Kay said.

Instead, classes will be held on Wednesday, March 10 and Thursday, May 6, originally scheduled as professional days.

“That is the only change we’re going to make right now,” Kay said. “But if there are additional weather related cancellations, we may need to revisit that.”

As a result of the cancelled professional days, teachers will no longer be required to write fulllength student reports for all of their students. According to Kay, junior parents will receive full length reports, eighth grade parents will recieve e-mail updates and the option to follow up by phone, and parents with children in grades 7, 9, and 10 will be able to request a five minute telephone

conference with teachers.

In addition, the time off could have an effect in the classroom.

While some courses were not particularly affected, others may have to skim some of the original material or move faster than originally planned.

“The essential things we’re still going to get to, but there have been some things that I would have liked to do that we’re going to have to minimize now,” English teacher Jonathan Fichter said.

“Things are pushed back, so it’s been a little bit of an adjustment for the students,” math teacher Howie Weinstein said. “But it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.”

English teacher Caroline Fitzpatrick used the Internet to communicate with her students over the break.

“Many of my students were able to be online pretty consistently, and so they were able to continue working on their final drafts,” she said.

“Either way we’re not going to have as much class as we initially thought, so there may be some classes that aren’t going to be able to cover everything that they wanted to cover,” Kay said. “What we want to avoid is a situation where teachers are assigning lots of extra work, or extra reading or extra tests because it wouldn’t be fair to the students to have to make up all that work at the same time.”

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Memorial

3

In Memoriam: Robert Hilton Smith z”l

by Ranana Dine and Michael Greenberg “May his memory be for a blessing and may the family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.” With this famous Jewish phrase, Head of School Jonathan Cannon completed his tribute to Robert H. Smith, a major benefactor of CESJDS. Smith, who helped fund the Upper School campus, died of a stroke on Dec. 29, at age 81.

Smith was not only a great force of the JDS community but also had a profound impact on the whole community of Washington, D.C. He is the son of Charles E. Smith, for whom the school is named, and his four grandchildren are alumni or current students: Stacy (’00) and Michael Liss (’04) and junior Alexandra and freshman Max Smith. An Upper School wide memorial service took place on Jan 4.

The Community

“He wanted people to see this great monument to the First Amendment, and to see that it is a living, breathing entity,” said Mary Blake, the senior vice president at the Newseum. Smith saw “how it could help Americans understand the great value we have in the First Amendment as the cornerstone of our freedom.”

Smith used to have tea parties every Sunday with Alexandra when she was little, and more recently he taught her how to drive and gave her college advice.

“He taught us that the most important thing in life is your family, and working hard, and getting a good education. And that you can’t just rely CESJDS on the materialistic things that you have Charles E. Smith was one and that it’s not money of the founding donors of the or objects that make school. Robert Smith conyou who you are,” Altinued in his father’s philexandra said. Smith anthropic footsteps. Along used to teach his grandwith many other monetary children this lesson donations from the Smith with a favorite quote of family, JDS announced a his: “We make a living landmark $15 million gift by what we get, but we from the Smith and Kogod make a life by what we families in January 2006. Of give.” the gift, $10 million went to Max Smith said technical innovations and “He’d make the most integration of the arts into photo courtesy of Blanton Studios horrible situations the JDS curriculum, while $5 SPEAKING TO INSPIRE Robert H. Smith speaks to the Class of ‘09 last seem not so bad … million of the gift went to tuFebruary. At the graduation Smith spoke about the power of failure. and I’ll definitely miss ition assistance. some of the funny “They [Robert and Clarice philanthropists like Mr. Smith who make it times we had because he was definitely a Smith] gave us the anchor gift to build this real.” jokester.”

Upper School campus. He provided a chalSmith interacted with students each year Above all Smith valued his family. lenge grant for a scholarship endowment when he gave his annual graduation speech.

“He will never be forgotten, at least with fund to augment the tuition assistance funds At the Class of 2009’s graduation he chose his family, because he’s instilled so many that help pay tuition for one in three students to speak about the power of failure. words of wisdom,” Alexandra said. in the school. And each year, Smith has pro“I thought, ‘It’s really hard to turn a

vided a large annual gift that was first esspeech about failure into something inspirtablished decades ago by his father, Charles, Memorial Service on the occasion of his birthday,” Assistant ing,’ but he managed to do that so well that Head of School Susan Brinn Siegel said in it really was a really interesting and inspirDuring the Jan. 4 memorial service, facing speech,” JDS alumna Sarah Krame (’09) ulty and staff gathered in the gym to comher memorial speech.

Smith, however, did not give only mon- said. memorate the life of Robert H. Smith.

Smith also connected with students ey.

“It is hard to believe that just last week “Mr. Smith gave so many gifts to the through their compositions and creativity.

I was at his house having dinner, and now “He loved to see examples of student we are all here today,” said Alexandra Smith school in his lifetime,” Brinn Siegel said. work — videos, essays, artwork and pho- tearfully in her memorial tribute. Rather “He has given all that I’ve mentioned, but so tographs — examples of your scholarship, than speaking of his development or philanmuch more. He has shared his wisdom and creativity and resourcefulness. He was de- thropy, Alexandra described the side of him lighted by what you could do which she knew best, the gentle grandfather, with tablet computers and the who once taught her tennis, or have her over other technology resources he at his farm house and tell her to follow her helped provide,” Brinn Sie- dreams. gel said in her speech. “Mr. “I am a horrible public speaker, I hate Smith had a profound respect public speaking in any way, shape and form, for teachers. Although he was but for this day it was different because I a very busy man, he read and thought it was the least I could do to… give re-read the collections of letters my grandpa respect,” Alexandra said. some of you wrote to him.”

Preceding Alexandra at the assembly made possible the dual curriculum movement in the Washington, D.C. area...It’s

The Northern Virginia suburb of Crystal City sprung up from meager beginnings in the 1960s and 1970s due in large part to Robert H. Smith’s vision. He saw that what began as a humble town could be transformed into a bustling community of businesses, homes and shopping centers.

Noticing the proximity to D.C., Smith seized the opportunity that the cheap, yet highly useful land presented. Smith had learned of a planned Metro station in the area, and saw the value of the location, even though most developers saw the automobile as the future for transportation.

He was “a true pioneer in transit-oriented development,” said Stewart Schwartz, the executive director of the Smarter Growth Coalition, which works to ensure environmentally sustainable development in the Washington region.

The thriving community in Crystal City reflects only a small piece of the legacy that Smith left behind in the region. Through development and philanthropy Smith has transformed the lives of many throughout the Washington area.

Smith gave generously to many charities, and also donated to several schools and museums. Smith donated nearly $100 million to his alma mater, the Univerwas a speech by Jonathan Cannon on the sity of Maryland, $60 profound impact that Smith had on many His Personality million of which has throughout the world, including Cannon’s gone to the business own family. The assembly also included the Smith did not affect JDS and school and the perrecitation of Kel Male Rachamim, a prayer the community only through his forming arts center, for the deceased, led by Director of Judaic philanthropy and business but which are named for Studies Michael Kay, and speeches given also through his warm personalhim and his wife Claity and generous advice. by eighth grader S. Kobi Fodor, who spoke rice, respectively.

“When I think of Mr. Smith, about Smith’s philanthropy, and Brinn SieThe Smiths will I don’t just think of someone gel, who spoke about Smith’s impact on also donate their who transformed large instituJDS. Students also watched a video about collection of Italian tions, but as a man who made a Smith’s life work, which included interbronze Renaissance photo courtesy of Alexandra Smith difference in the lives of numerviews with his wife, children and grandchilsculptures, considFAMILY HUG Robert H. Smith hugs grandchildren Max and Alexandra ous individuals and families,” dren. ered one of the finest as they go on a family trip. Smith instilled a love for family and philan- Head of School Jonathan Can“You may not have ever met Mr. Smith, in the world, to the thropy in his grandchildren. non said in the speech that he but he has had a profound impact on your National Gallery of gave at the school-wide memolives,” Brinn Siegel said as a conclusion to Art. Other recipients business acumen.

He gave us the opporturial for Smith. her memorial tribute. “Remember him and of Smith’s charities include The Hebrew nity to dream dreams and to achieve them.”

Smith’s granddaughter, junior Alexanhonor his memory by striving each day to University of Jerusalem, the Jewish FedThough some students and teachers, like dra Smith, said that he was not only a great fulfill the hopes he had for you.” eration of Greater Washington, the Wilmer builder and philanthropist, but he was also Science Chair Nick Miller, never had the Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, Monticello Additional reporting by Scott Goldstein (Thomas Jefferson’s home), and the George chance to meet Mr. Smith, they recognize how an incredible grandfather. he has influenced the school and their lives.

Washington University.

Recently, Smith became one of the 15 “Although I didn’t know him personally, The Lion’s Tale joins the CESJDS community in mourning founding partners of the Newseum and in he had an impact on me and everyone else in an indirect way,” Miller said.

“His char2007 donated $5 million to the museum. the death of Robert H. Smith z”l. ity enabled us to [have more] technology, it

News

4

Newsbriefs Hanukkah spirit

The Student Council organized a spirit week for the Upper School to celebrate Hanukkah from Dec. 14-18.

The council members hoped to get students excited about the holiday.

Each grade sponsored a day and many students dressed up in accordance with daily themes.

The themes this year included a freshman sponsored superhero day, a middle school sponsored blackout day, a junior sponsored twin day, a sophomore sponsored international day and a senior sponsored toga day.

Domestic abuse awarness Sophomores attended a seminar about healthy and unhealthy relationships during the week of Dec. 7.

The seminar was led by Elissa Malter Schwartz, the Executive Director of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA).

Schwartz was speaking on behalf of the young adult segment of JCADA called Adolescents Working for Awesome Relationship Experiences (AWARE).

Sophomores participated in

simulations, discussions and activities where they learned the meanings and differences between healthy, dysfunctional and abusive relationships.

This was the first time that AWARE was selected to facilitate the annual assembly. After the assembly, sophomores were asked to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the program.

According to guidance counselor Rachel Soifer, the general consensus of sophomores was that the program was beneficial.

Rally STANDs up for Darfur Several high school students participated in the Darfur Rally in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 9.

Sophomore Jamie Stassman, a member of the students against genocide club STAND, said this rally gave students an opportunity to act on the issues discussed in their club.

Strassman said the rally was focused on convincing congressman to use their connections to act against genocide.

Some madness for improv The senior class saw Shear Madness at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 15.

the

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newsbriefs compiled by Shira Becker, Brooke Friedman, Nathan Forman, and Adam Weinberger Shear Madness is an improvisational comedy show, in which the actors interact with the audience.

“The actors made jokes about us and with us, they were really funny and everyone loved it. The best part of the play though was not the concept or the plot, it was the actors. They were really nice and interacted a lot with [the audience],” senior Adina Klingman said.

“Improvisational theater teaches students to take healthy risks, to think outside the box and to be comfortable thinking in the moment,” Academic Dean Dr. David Solomon sanh-id.

Eighth grade has science fair The annual eighth grade Weinberg Family Science Fair was held after school on Feb. 18. It was originally scheduled for Feb. 10, but was pushed back a week due to snow.

“The snow was actually good in some respects, because it let some kids who couldn’t make the original date make the now date and it gave them more time to prepare,” eighth grade science teacher Carrie Michelson said.

According to science fair judge and department chair Nick Miller the most interesting projects included the affect of gender in the

game rock, paper, scissors, how well solar powered cars work in climates with less sunshine and a project about bridge strength.

As in past years, winners were chosen in different scientific disciplines.

Eighth-grader Daniel Thorne, who did a project about the affect of pH and liquid on the dissolution of Alka-Seltzer, had mixed feelings about the presentations.

“I thought it was really fun.

You got to hang out with all your friends. It was just a fun experience…at some points it was very overwhelming having everyone there. It was very crowded,” he said..

“I think the winners really deserved it. And I thought a lot of people really deserved it. And it was a great overall experience,” Thorne said.

Theater trip to the Fantasticks The eighth grade watched the Fantasticks, a comedy about love and mischief, at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 2. “[The trip] was planned so that students could experience a live theater performance. We also wanted to enhance the students’ formal study of Romeo and Juliet, which is part of their English curriculum,” Assistant Middle School

Director Ilana Lipman said. She coordinated the trip.

Art history trip On Jan. 6, history teacher Carleton Cunningham’s Art History class visited The Phillips Collection and The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The trip allowed the class to explore the various artistic styles that they had learned about in class.

“There is a difference between seeing a painting on a computer screen and seeing a painting in person,” said senior Samantha Bressman. “Viewing the textures and colors gives you the opportunity to interpret paintings creatively and put yourself in the artists’ shoes.”

Sophomores enjoy Shabbaton Sophomores attended a grade wide shabbaton at Capital Camps and Retreat Center in Pennsylvania on Dec. 5-6.

“They gave us alternate options and let us choose what kind of services we wanted to participate in. For example, I went to meditation,” sophomore Sarah Rubinstein said.

The shabbaton had the largest ever percentage of student participation this year.

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News

Senior class graduates with a prank

by Josh Boxerman The graduating senior class carried out the tradition of pranking the underclassmen on their last day of classes, Jan. 22.

This year’s prank had two parts, one specifically targeted the junior class, while another was directed at the entire school.

In their first prank, the seniors filled the junior alcove with reminders of various disputes between the two classes, including bits of cotton to symbolize Powder Puff football and a paper red carpet, reminiscent of a controversy during last year’s Zimriah.

Additionally, torn up pieces of SAT tests reminded the juniors that they were in the midst of the college process which the seniors had mostly completed.

Juniors had mixed opinions.

“It was a pretty good prank, they got our whole alcove pretty much completely covered in various pieces of trash and they were floating around,” junior David Greenberg said. “It was a good prank, but I would really like to out-do their prank next year.”

“I thought it was kind of fun. You know, there’s all this stuff flying around, and we

got to play in it,” junior Aaron Cohen said.

“I didn’t mind, and the thing is, we got it cleaned up. So it’s like, they gave us a place to play and then they cleaned it up for us.”

The second part of the prank, directed at the entire school, involved alarm clocks being put inside the ceiling of every classroom, set to go off at certain times during the day.

Senior and organizer Alexander Orenstein viewed this part of the prank as a definite and complete success.

“I laughed really hard when I saw a bunch of kids standing on the table marking the spot on the ceiling with a marker with the substitute teacher on the phone to the front office,” Orenstein said.

However, not all students shared Orenstein’s opinion.

“It was like 30 seconds of quiet, quiet beeping, like almost nonexistent, and then it just went away, so it’s like you know, not really a prank, just a slight annoyance,” Cohen said.

However, senior Jeremy Halpern viewed the prank as a bonding experience for the class.

“We stayed after the Winter Concert,

photo by Josh Handelman

Pranking with pride The senior class leaves their mark in the junior alcove. They covered the alcove with balloons, streamers and SAT practice pages in addition to hiding alarms in classrooms. blew up balloons...and then in the morning, we all came early in the morning, so it was a pretty unifying experience. I’m not sure I

would have chosen it but it was still a great experience,” Halpern said.

by Maya Felman

common than I’d realized,” senior Michelle Kerbel said.

During their second meeting, the JDS students described prayer in the various Jewish movements and the significance of rituals such as bar and bat mitzvahs.

The Good Counsel students showed JDS students their school chapel and explained Catholic rituals surrounding prayer, such as communion and transubstantiation, the belief that the bread and wine of the communion become the body and blood of Christ.

“Our visit to Good Counsel was enlightening. Not only did we get a sense of the Catholic religion, we also got a sense of what it is like to be a Catholic teenager growing up in an increasingly secular world,” junior Asher Mayerson said.

Students from both schools have expressed interest in continuing this program.

Interfaith exchange with Good Counsel School

photo by Nicole Nabatkhorian

Seniors Emma Rodwin, Chanel Richmond from Good Counsel, Maya Felman, and Nana Tufuoh from Good Counsel talk about Judaism and Christianity. Good Counsel and JDS visited each other’s schools to discuss their religions. divine discussions

Junior class goes to New York City for Shabbaton

by Daniele Marx Following JDS tradition, the Class of 2011 ventured to New York for their Shabbaton, and stayed there for two nights and three days.

That weekend, Nov. 13-15, students were given the freedom to experience the city more independently than in previous years.

Both Friday night and Saturday morning, the juniors were given various options for attending services at nearby synagogues.

“It was nice to get to know the different synagogues and communities of the Upper West Side,” junior Melina Misri said.

On Saturday night, they went to see “Shrek the Musical” and then walked back to the hotel through Times Square.

During free time on Saturday afternoon, students were allowed to walk around for three hours. During this time, five students went to a private residence within the boundaries and three of the students engaged in alcohol consumption.

One student became ill as a result of drinking alcohol and was medically treated

at a nearby hospital.

Students who are involved in the consumption of alcohol during school activities are subject to suspension. The specific circumstances of each person differed, but as a consequence three students were suspended from school.

According to the Student Handbook, suspension is viewed as an unexcused absence and carries with it a three percent grade deduction.

“To the credit of the whole class I think that episode did not in any way diminish the overall excitement of the whole Shabbaton experience, which I think is very important,” said Director of Judaic Studies Dr. Michael Kay. “Even that night when we all found out we all sat in a circle singing songs and we tried to not let that drama get to everybody,” junior Adina Heckelman said. “Of course we felt bad and of course it was still in the back of our minds. But there was nothing we could do about it then, so a lot of us tried our hardest just to continue with the Shabbaton and the activities.”

Juniors and seniors in the Church-Jewish Relations elective participated in an interfaith dialogue with a religion class from the Catholic Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (OLGC).

The classes met at JDS on Dec. 1, and again at Good Counsel in Olney on Jan. 12.

Jewish History teacher Cynthia Peterman, who teaches Church-Jewish Relations, organized the visit in conjunction with Karen Egan, a religion teacher at OLGC. The first visit was structured around comparisons of the significance of items used in both Catholic and Jewish traditions, such as eggs, candles, palm branches, wine and bread.

“It was a unique experience. I learned that Jews and Catholics have a lot more in

New program for PR

by Daniel Liss “In this market you have to think outside the box when you brainstorm about recruitment, and retention,” Director of Upper School Admissions Robin Shapiro said.

In a fledging initiative geared towards admissions, a group of 27 students were invited to pilot the Student Ambassadors program.

The program is headed by Shapiro and Dean of Students Roslyn Landy. Its goal is to provide a presence of JDS students at community events, and to talk to prospective parents about their experiences at the school.

“We realized that our best PR are our students. They’re better than any advertisement that we can do, or any program.

Who our students are, what they do, speaks for itself,” Shapiro said. “Parents meeting these kids will just say, ‘I want my child to be like them.’”

Student Ambassadors, as students in the program are called, attended a brief training in October, where they discussed how they felt about various aspects of JDS. Students also practiced answering

questions commonly asked by prospective parents.

“The program is [about] spreading interest for prospective parents,” junior Michael Schoenfeld said. “[Parents] want to interact with the students and hear what the students have to say, whether negative or positive.”

Honesty is emphasized in every training session and program meeting.

“They [Shapiro and Landy] want us to be honest,” Schoenfeld said. “But we also all understand that we shouldn’t talk badly about the school.

“Someone in the community might ask…‘Do you like JDS’” Shapiro said.

“The normal answer for most students is, ‘Yes, I really like it.’ But we want the ambassadors to go that next step. Explain why you like it. Give a story. Think about what JDS means to you, so you can quickly give a [more complete] answer.”

Shapiro is very optimistic about the program’s future and believes that it has been successful so far.

“They [parents] have been raving about our kids. It is what we wanted to happen, and knew would happen,” Shapiro said.

6

the

Opinion

March 2, 2010

lion’s tale

Editorial

Students should remember responsibility and Derekh Eretz When deciding whether or not to break a rule, too often the only question students ask themselves is, “Can I get away with this?” This mindset has manifested itself recently in incidents of student disrespect, ranging from pulling down bulletin boards to switching keys on tablet computers. We believe that the responsibility to stop these incidents lies not with the school, but with the student body.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines education as “the act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills.”

While this narrow definition may hold true at other schools, JDS has always been unique. At JDS, it is believed that education goes beyond the facts, figures, and information given and received in the classroom.

This can be seen in the school’s mission statement itself: Under the pillar of V’ahavta L’rayacha, love thy neighbor, it states a crucial part of the purpose of the school is “to create a caring, moral

community based upon the concepts of B’tzelem Elokim (each individual is created in the image of God) and Derekh Eretz (ethical decency) in which members respect each other’s uniqueness and preciousness and are responsible for each other and the community.” JDS has always prided itself as being a place where responsible individuals were created, not just GPAs. It is this emphasis on holistic education that makes the recent incidents of student disrespect so troubling to the Lion’s Tale editorial board.

Tearing down bulletin boards and rearranging the keys on a tablet certainly violate the key precept of derekh eretz.

This is not to say that we believe that JDS students have a respect problem-- to the contrary, the vast majority of students in the vast majority of situations follow the code of conduct perfectly.

In fact, it speaks volumes about the success the school has had in promoting the value of derekh eretz that these acts of minor vandalism have qual-

ified as front page news, while at another school with more discipline issues they might have been a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, while we certainly commend the efforts of math teacher Ethan Merlin and Assistant Middle School Director Ilana Lipman to start conversations about respect amongst the faculty and administration, we believe the onus in this situation lies with the student body.

We encourage students to go beyond what is required of them; to realize that while they can sometimes act without being caught, in doing so they undermine the culture of respect that the rest of the members of the school community have worked so hard to build.

We believe that if, instead, students ask themselves “Is this the right thing to do?” we will all benefit from a more considerate learning environment.

Our parents and teachers have taught us all we need to know. We just need to use that knowledge.

Danny Schwaber

You Can’t Stump The Schwab Entering a dying breed

N

ewspapers are closing at an astounding rate. Journalists are losing their jobs left and right and the culture of our society leans more towards The Jersey Shore, Sporcle.com and 24 rather than the Nightly News or the Washington Post. So why in the world would I want to enter a dying art form as an editor-in-chief of The Lion’s Tale?

Newspapers provide a depth and breadth not found in other forms of media. Art Buchwald, the late columnist said it best: “Television has a real problem.

They have no page two.”

I watch the news every night and can’t believe how little time the war in Afghanistan gets. As

for breadth, many web sites, TV shows, and magazines have a single focus– ESPN.com covers sports; Access Hollywood covers entertainment; Good Housekeeping covers…well, I’m not sure.

Newspapers have the space to cover much more of what goes on in a city, town or community.

In The Lion’s Tale, we cover news, Israel, features and sports and serve as a public forum for opinion. n addition, newspapers give context and relevance to the subjects we learn each day in school. Without being informed about the world around there is no point in learning the history, English and math we learn

I

because there is no way to apply what we’ve learned in school to real life.

When I write “informed,” I don’t mean knowing the latest gossip from Hollywood or what happened on American Idol (although those plotlines are riveting); I mean what truly is happening in the world around us and the differing opinions about those events.

Newspapers inform us, and give us the tools we need to be successful and intelligent people.

To be informed is not only a gift but a responsibility of everyone.

Finally, newspapers protect our First Amendment rights and guarantee our right to free expression.

It is not only the information they provide that explains newspapers relevance but also what they represent. hey represent a gift that should not and cannot be taken advantage of. They represent the gift of the First Amendment. They are the true canvas for the art of free speech. Newspapers allow us to practice this art and, within reason, say what we believe.

That is something that cannot be taken for granted. Newspapers let us challenge the status quo. Our own school newspaper experienced this issue earlier this year. The Lion’s Tale saga ended up as a forum for important and

T

fascinating discussions and debates about the First Amendment, editorial discretion, newspaper quality and censorship. s I watched the debate unfold, I felt a range of emotions about what happened, most of all, I felt excited by the opportunity to be the editor of our paper.

So why do I want to be editorin-chief of The Lion’s Tale? I want to be a part of the interaction, communication and discussion about issues, triumphs and concerns- all the ins and outs of our community. And I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

A

Adam Weinberger

The Objective “I” Critiquing The Critics I

f it bleeds it leads– so goes the wellknown journalistic saying. It means exactly what it says: anything involving violence and crime goes on the front page or leads the newscast, because it sells papers.

Around 1900, when newspaper circulation topped one million, many publishers and editors used a style called sensationalism, which essentially involved stretching the facts and focusing on more exceptional stories. The front pages painted a picture of crime, sex and scandal, whether or not it was accurate.

The Lion’s Tale has not used sensationalism to sell papers, even though we have covered crime, sex and scandal. In fact, we

don’t even sell papers. However, the Lion’s Tale staff, who are also young consumers of mass media, has often been influenced by a culture of negative media and fringe journalism.

This culture of negativity was part of the reason that our last issue was pulled. The administration has cited the negative tone as a justification for pulling the previous issue. Although I disagree with this decision and do not think our paper was even close to being so negative that it should have been pulled, the insight I take from it is that journalists, especially the Lion’s Tale staff, can be influenced by this negativity and let it seep onto the page.

This effect has taken place in our

opinion pages as well. I have noticed that a disproportionately large number of our editorials and columns are negative and often directed at the administration. Since August 2009, there have been 21 staff editorials and editor columns: 11 have criticized the administration, and 17 have been critical in general. None of them have been positive. es, I understand that the editorial page is a place for opinions, and yes, I understand that it may seem easier to change something that is bad than commend something that is good. But I still have to believe that in the past year and a half there has been at least one positive event or accomplishment that The Lion’s Tale should have recognized.

Y

T

he fine line we have to walk as student journalists in a private schools is to keep the administration honest while not going overboard. And last issue, although it was not our best effort, we did not go overboard.

As editor-in-chief I will do the best I can to make sure that the op-ed pages and the whole papers, report the good as well as the bad, and give credit where credit is due.

We are not here to make the school look good, but we are also not here to make the school look bad. Our role is to inform the JDS community on goings on in our school.

I would say we are off to a good start: this is the only critical column.

March 2, 2010

the

lion’s tale

7

Opinion

Noah Zweben the

lion’s tale Editors-in-Chief Danny Schwaber Adam Weinberger Managing Editor Josh Boxerman Copy Editor Jacob Schaperow ass’t: Jonathan Waksman News Editors Daniel Liss Daniele Marx ass’t: Nathan Forman, Brooke Friedman Israel Editors Briana Felsen Eitan Sayag ass’t: Elana Leone, Arielle Panitch Feature Editors Haley Cohen Meryl Kravitz ass’t: Samantha Weiner, Elana Schrager

Letters

In-Depth Editors Ranana Dine Michael Greenberg ass’t: Emily Dworkin, Scott Goldstein

Need for increased context for guest speakers

A few months ago the eleventh grade was privileged to be visited by Uzi Dayan, the nephew of one of Israel’s most famous military leaders, Moshe Dayan. His life and experiences are very relevant to our study of modern Israel, and it was an honor to meet him.

Sadly, we feel that our experience with him had the potential to be much more engaging than it was. We feel that if we had been given background information about Uzi Dayan’s accomplishments before his speech and time afterwards for discussion

and debate, the assembly would have become a more comprehensive and enriching experience.

A speech is a teaching tool, just like a movie or a book read in class, not just a time-filler. It is JDS’s responsibility to turn speakers and assemblies into opportunities for broadening students’ perspectives and horizons and should do so by facilitating discussions about the topics presented.

When assemblies touch on subject matter that relates to our curriculum, each class should allot time for pre-assembly briefings

AP courses should be offered I am currently a freshman at the University of Michigan. As a high school student I remember always hearing “college is a breeze after JDS!” Although JDS definitely provided me with a rigorous, challenging education, which has been very helpful in my adjustment to college, there is one area in which I feel my JDS education put me at a disadvantage: the lack of AP courses.

Our college counselors and teachers always assured us that the lack of APs will not affect our college admissions process, and it doesn’t. However, once you get here it poses major problems.

When it comes to registering for classes, priority is based on how many credits you have. Because I came in without AP credits, I have a late registration date and am being closed out of classes that I want.

College is the time to find out what you are interested in, which requires taking classes that intrest you. By not being offered AP classes in high school, I am being denied this.

I know certain teachers offer lunch time prep sessions for APs, but with everything else going on, like balancing school work and extracurricular activities, it is not always convenient and sometimes impossible to do.

Regardless, if a class is going to somewhat prepare you for an AP test, it should fully prepare you and you should not have to attend extra review sessions.

I think that for the sake of future JDS graduates’ college success, AP courses should be offered in high school. JDS raises and teaches us to excel, and in order for this to be possible, the school needs to provide all the resources for us to do so.

I am sitting at the edge of my seat, stressing, waiting for courses to open up. Wish me luck!

Emily Meister Class of 2009

The Lion’s Tale joins the CESJDS community in mourning the death of Lower School Principal and former ESS Director

Sandy Rolef z”l.

and post-assembly follow-up. We at JDS are very lucky in that we meet and hear from many accomplished and unique speakers, but if their coming is treated as an isolated incident, their words lose their power.

The wealth of speakers that JDS attracts can and should serve as opportunities to breed critical thinking and for students to develop new opinions and ideas about current issues.

Dina Lamdany Miriam Duffy juniors

Recognizing JDS alums in the IDF I am writing as a JDS alumnus expressing interest in having The Lion’s Tale write an article about the JDS alumni serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. In my opinion the alumni who have served in the IDF are fulfilling the concept of Kiddush Hashem.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the greater JDS community is not as Zionistic and is not living up to the JDS mission statement of Ahavat Yisrael as it should, so I think that the inspirational stories of JDS alumni who dropped everything to serve the Jewish people in combat units would be an inspiring article.

I hope my suggestion is taken into consideration. I believe JDS and The Lion’s Tale could do a great thing by inspiring students and community members alike with stories of brave American JDS alumni fighting for Israel and against the enemies of the Jewish people.

Michael Morgenstern Class of 2007

Do you have a question, comment or opinion?

Write to The Lion’s Tale at: jdslionstale@gmail.com

Sports Editors David Weinberg Zachary Wexler ass’t: Jonathan Kader, Joshua Singer Imaging Editors Rebecca Rubin Noah Zweben Photgraphy Editor Joshua Handelman ass’t: Alex Zissman Web Editor Shira Becker

Reporters Jonathan Block, Naomi Brooks, Jacob Dorn, Felman, Helene Katz, Jeremy Lynn, Alexander Tritell, Joshua Walfish, Devin Yolles Photographers Rebecca Fradkin, Joshua Handelman, David Herman, Matan Kline, Nicole Nabatkhorian, Shira Singelenberg Business Manager Michael Weinberg ass’t: Josh Rosenberg Faculty Adviser Samantha Gendler Adviser Emerita Susan Zuckerman Member: Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Maryland Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll Recipient: CSPA Silver Crown, Gold Medalist Award; MSPA Marylander Award; Quill and Scroll George H. Gallup Award The Lion’s Tale is a forum for student expression.

Its purpose is to inform the CESJDS community and to express the views of its staff and readers.

The staff has made every effort to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of its news.

Editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the LT board. The Lion’s Tale encour­ages its readers to write letters to the editor and reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. All letters must be typed and signed. Letters may be e-mailed to jdslionstale@gmail.com.

Published by the students of the Upper School Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Annette M. & Theodore N. Lerner Family Upper School Campus 11710 Hunters Lane Rockville, MD 20852 phone: 301.881.1404 fax: 301.230.1986 www.lionstale.org

the

8

lion’s tale

Special F

The Treasu Start

of

Siyum

by Haley Cohen and Meryl Kravitz The tight-knit senior Class of 2010 gathered with their families at B’nai Israel to celebrate the completion of their studies at JDS, also known as a siyum on Friday, Feb. 5.

The Siyum was the last time the grade would be together before graduation. The celebration began with a morning Shacharit prayer service, and was followed with speeches by Rabbi Reuvane Slater, the senior-elected faculty speaker and Director of Judaic Studies Dr. Michael Kay. Following the speeches, awards were given to students who have shown excep-

tional work in various fields.

The planning of the Siyum was and done completely by a group of seniors who volunteered their time to be on a siyum committee. As a grade, they focused their studies on Chazak Ve’Amatz which means strength and courage. Talia Evans, who contributed a large part of her time to making sure everything went smoothly, was pleased with how well the grade was unified to plan this event.

“We all had to work together and listen to each others ideas when it came to planning the actual event. We also took on individual responsibilities and shared them with the Siyum committee,” said Evans.

20

Looki

by David Goldstein When I started working on The Lion’s Tale, I asked a former editor about how one could manage the newspaper, keep up with school work, and still get some sleep. Her advice was simple--when exhausted after school, immediately sleep and wake up at 3:00 a.m. to work.

Armed with this important advice, Sam Greenberg’s (‘09) staff manual, and journalism training, I felt prepared to lead the newspaper. Little did I know that I would investigate whether teacher layoffs were necessary in my first year and face a censorship controversy in my second.

During my tenure, I’ve developed the confidence to take on authority in a respectful way, and I appreciate the dialogue that The Lion’s Tale has sparked.

While writing for The Lion’s Tale, I’ve been able to go “behind the scenes at JDS.” I’ve enjoyed covering events ranging from student athletic events to guest lectures.

Inside the newspaper of-

Feature

9

March 2, 2010

sured Class

f

Graduation

by Scott Goldstein Graduation for the Class of 2010 was finally held on Feb. 21 at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C. While Siyum went ahead as planned, the graduation was postponed twice due to snow.

Ora Rosenfeld, parent of Adam Rosenfeld, was disappointed with the date change. “It was difficult to have these two major life events on one day and in a span of only a few hours. It was very sad that all the family that had planned to be at this graduation were not able to be there because of the change of date. In addition, sending our first child off to Poland and Israel was very exciting but also very emotional for all of us.”

The graduation began with a speech from school president Danny Krifcher. He spoke about the class’s theme of Chazak

010

Ve’Amatz, strength and courage, and how JDS is a close community.

This year’s graduation featured participation from the students themselves. They read speeches about their experiences at JDS. The class prepared a short slideshow to the R. Kelly song “The World’s Greatest,” portraying their many talents and achievements.

Following her yearly tradition of naming the grade, Dean of Students Roslyn Landy declared the Class of 2010 “The Treasured Class.” Landy spoke about how the senior class is full of talented students such as AP scholars and a nationally ranked tennis player.

The senior class chose to donate a portion of their class money to relief efforts in Haiti as well as sponsoring a teacher dress down day. They also gave funds to build a lion head statue to bring good luck to students in future years.

ing Back on Lion’s Tale... fice, my editors and I have formed a great community.

In between editing articles and working on In-Design, we’ve stopped to blast music and have a great time.

But considering all the hours we’ve worked, I wish we could have had some more school-funded pizza. Thanks to my time on The Lion’s Tale, I’ve really gotten to know my fellow staffers and I value the friendships that I’ve formed.

While leading the newspaper, I’ve also learned the important lesson of forgiveness. In order to be an effective leader, one must learn to forgive both yourself and those around you for mistakes. Together we’ve come to learn to forgive each other while constantly striving to learn from our mistakes.

I’d like to thank my coeditor Valerie Cohen and my fellow staff members for their words of wisdom. I’ll miss late night conference calls and I know that I’ll miss The Lion’s Tale.

by Kyle Hardgrave My career with The Lion’s Tale was born out of a combination of spinelessness and coercion. As a young and naïve sophomore, I was somehow roped into writing a 500-word article, which at the time seemd like a lot.

I hated my first piece with a passion: I stressed most of the night before and then when I submitted it, my editor hacked away at my literary masterpiece till it was nothing but a shadow of its former self. I swore I’d never do it again.

But then I did. Ms. McMillan, then the adviser, let me kill time in the newsroom, helping sort interviews, sitting and letting the witty chatter of upperclassmen wash over me. I loved the buzz and the feel that I was part of something bigger than me, that I was an insider.

And before I knew it, I had another article. Then another.

And then Sam Greenberg, that incomparable editor-in-

chief, told me I was applying for a staff position. Not having a spine that day was easily one of the best non-decisions of the past four years.

The Lion’s Tale taught me skills that I will use for the rest of my life: how to conduct an interview, think on the fly and ask questions that get to the meat of an issue. I learned humility from brutal editors who never laughed at my jokes, dedication from staying late at school to finish a spread and ton of useful facts about newspapers and how they’re written. Most of all—and here comes the cliché—The Lion’s Tale gave me an appreciation for just how much work goes into maintaining the freedom of information that we often take for granted. But seriously. It’s a lot of work.

by Valerie Cohen It is hard to believe that, at the time I am penning this column, my time at JDS and with the school newspaper is almost over. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I would like to tell the school in the final column I will ever pen as editor-inchief of the newspaper. In the end, I think the biggest message that I have learned as a student and journalist at JDS is the importance of free press in the JDS community.

America has always had a legacy of newspapers that inspire change. While it is the paper’s responsibility to be responsible in what we write and how we present our work, it is really important that the school community respect the paper.

Covering news in a small, tight-knit community is hard and it is even more impossible when as journalists we feel stifled. I really hope that everyone in the community at large realizes

the importance of The Lion’s Tale and how it can help the community grow and stay informed.

It is incredibly hard to practice proper journalism, when one feels as though his or her responsibility as a journalist has been taken away. I hope that in the future the school will strengthen the rights of student journalists.

End

10

Israel

the

March 2, 2010

lion’s tale

Technology bridges classes to Israel

by Naomi Brooks On Feb. 1, two eighth grade classes planned on participating in a Skype video conference with students at Har-Tuv Regional High School in Be’er Sheva, Israel.

The actual Skyping session did not happen and was cancelled because of the snow days.

In lieu of using Skype to communicate with the Israeli students, the eighth graders in Rabbi Janet Ozur-Bass’s Toshba class and Kelly Enochson’s English class uploaded their personal Midrashim and artwork using Ning, a social networking platform designed for sharing and discussing multimedia online.

The virtual exchange program was arranged by Gesher Chai.

“The idea of participating in this program is to begin incorporating more learning beyond the classroom,” Senior Associ-

ate of Israel Engagement Initiatives Aileen Goldstein said.

From June 28 to July 7 of this past summer, Goldstein, Ozur-Bass and Enochson visited Har-Tuv Regional High School.

The program came into effect around Sukkot of this school year.

Gesher Chai, which means “living bridges” in Hebrew, strives to bring groups of fifth to eighth grade students from different Jewish communities together from all over the world.

The photo journals created on the Ning enabled the students from Har-Tuv to comment and to discuss the similarities and differences between themselves.

Ultimately, the two schools plan to have two more exchanges before the school year ends.

The larger goal of the school’s participation in different Israeli connections programs is to develop Zionism into a consis-

tent part of the atmosphere.

“There are big holes in the Israel program [at JDS] and there is work to be done,” Goldstein said.

Six Day War in their Modern Israel course at the time. The Six Day War was Dayan’s Uzi Dayan, a former major general of the first as a soldier. Dayan is also the nephew Israel Defense Forces, spoke to the junior of Moshe Dayan, Israel’s Defense Minister class on Dec. 9 about during the Six Day War. modern day issues Junior Sarah Dicker facing Israel and his felt that hearing Dayan experience in the Six talk about the fourth Day War. Dayan was Arab-Israeli war “shed visiting Washington, light on how people D.C. with the Jewish personally felt on the IsNational Fund, which raeli side.” contacted Senior AssoDayan also spoke ciate of Israel Engageabout the contemporary ment Initiatives Aileen issues facing Israel, Goldstein about speakincluding the demoing at CESJDS. graphic threat. He spoke “I think that it was about his position as an an incredibly empowadviser to former Prime photo by Matan Kline ering experience to be Minister Ariel Sharon able to bring someone A personal side Major General Uzi prior to Israel’s unilaterof Uzi Dayan’s stat- Dayan speaks to the juniors about al disengagement from ure into the school and his experiences as a soldier and po- the Gaza Strip. have the opportunity litical adviser. “[My favorite part of to be able to have that his speech was] the curdirect contact with someone who is so high rent issues and the demographics,” junior in Israeli society and to have him speak, I Kevin Brooks said. “It just gave you a better thought, very candidly about the issues was view of what Israel is actually about.” fascinating,” Goldstein said.

“Meeting people your age and sharing The junior class had been studying the the same values and maybe the same dreams

Art auction raises money for IDF a charity that supports orphaned and disadvantaged girls.

Students showcased their artwork to “We got a lot more money than we exCESJDS parents and used their love for ex- pected, and I think it really generated an appression through art, sculpture and photog- parition and an awareness of what we were raphy to raise money for Israel during par- doing, especially with the parents,” said ent-teacher conferences on Dec. 10 through junior Miriam Duffy, who ran the program 11. with Avigan and Felman.

Club Israel members Club Israel adviser and junior Laura Avigan and Senior Associate of Israel senior Maya Felman came Engagement Initiatives up with the idea of selling Aileen Goldstein said that student artwork in a silent they achieved their goals auction to raise money for although, “some parents two Israeli organizations. took it one way and some Students and faculty parents took it the other, donated approximately 30 there were a lot of matepieces of artwork and 30 rials and visuals,” Goldpieces of photography to stein said. “The informabe auctioned off. tion about the tzedakot Club Israel received a that the students chose photo courtesy of Aileen Goldstein total of more than $1500 bookended the student Art for the heart A leopard to donate to two Israeli artwork, but since it was bowl, made by sophomore organizations: Nahal 932, an auction of the art, a lot Naomi Eyob, is auctioned off. the unit of a CESJDS of people spent a lot more The auction raised over $1500 alumni, and Lev La Lev, time looking at the art.” for two Israeli organizations.

by Devin Yolles

Feb. 15- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrives in Russia to discuss imposing sanctions that “bite” on Iran.

Jan. 26- Israeli government destroys synagogue in Shomron-Binyamin.

Jan. 26- Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, refuses Israeli military protection on Eastern border of Palestine.

Jan. 25- Knesset votes on stricter punishments for transporting illegal immigrants into Israel.

Jan. 24- Signs of oil are reported in the Negev.

photo courtesy of Joan Vander Walde

Meet my family Har-Tuv Regional High School student Keli Hoffman shares her family pictures with JDS students. The classes used Ning to share their lives.

IDF Major General speaks with juniors

by Eitan Sayag

Israel update box

and hopes is actually what makes Israel in the long run so strong,” Dayan said to the juniors at the conclusion of his speech. “So for everything that you are doing now, and everything that you will do in the future for Israel, just two words in Hebrew, it’s a very short language: todah rabbah.”

Jan. 22- Israel launches first fully electric car company in the world.

Jan. 17- Elite IDF team arrests three Arabs who were planning a terrorist attack. The terrorists were suspected to be with Fatah.

Jan. 15- Israeli aid delegation sets up in Haitian Airport where they perform over 250 surgeries.

Nov. 18-Female rabbis are arrested for reading Torah in the wrong location at the Western Wall.

Compiled by Arielle Panitch

Class of 2010 going to Israel

by Briana Felsen On Feb. 21, after their graduation ceremony, the Class of 2010 boarded the plane for their long awaited trip to Europe and Israel. Their first stop will be Poland, followed by Prague.

They will then leave for the Israel part of the trip on March 1.

“I’ve never been to Israel, or anywhere outside of the continental U.S. for that matter, so that probably ties into what I’m most looking forward to. I’m so excited to get a look outside of the U.S. and [to live] in another country for a long period of time,” senior Emily Balbier said.

In Israel, the graduates will participate in the Alexander Muss Israel program with The Weber School, a Jewish day school in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I am really excited to meet all the Weber

kids,” senior Elaine Prigal said.

While in Israel, the class will learn how to live as Israelis. “I’m really nervous about fitting into society there. Since I have never left the country, I really don’t know what to expect,” Balbier said Class of 2010 students will participate in Gadna, a military program designed to give high school students a taste of the IDF. “I’m really excited for the army training.

It sounds like it’ll be an amazing experience even though it will be challenging,” Balbier said.

The graduates will also be touring around Israel to see the sights and history that they learned about during their time at CESJDS. “Every grade before us said it was the most life changing and rewarding trip, I am just really looking forward to bonding with my grade in the holy land,” senior David Steren said.

Yom Ha’atzmaut schedule changes

by Elana Leone Club Israel and the junior class have been working on planning this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut festivities. This year, they hope to spend the entire day focused on Israel.

This special day will begin in minyan, where there will be a focus on Israel specific to each minyan. Special programming in place of regular classes will follow this. Middle school and high school will have separate Israel programs; they will each consist of one large program and two workshop programs. The organizers believe that these programs will be an effective way to study Israel.

“The goal of the workshop programs is to add content and study and deepen exploration of Israel,” Club Israel adviser Aileen Goldstein said.

Club Israel and the junior class hope to offer students a variety of activities from hummus making to Israel centered discussions.

Although similar activities have been offered in previous years, this year’s programming will be different.

“This year we are taking a much more student led approach,” junior and Club Israel member Josh Dalva said.

In fact, over half of the junior class volunteered to either plan or organize a program.

Programming will continue throughout the morning leading to Zimriah. Club Israel members hope to commemorate Israel’s Independence Day in an educational and fun way that everyone can enjoy.

“It’s going to be a great event that everyone will love and remember,” Dalva said.

March 2, 2010

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Winter Musical: Oh the thinks you can think! members could be heard humming as they walked out to their cars, included “Oh, The Thinks You Can Think,” “All On Thursday evening Jan. 14, For You,” “Alone in the Universe,” and the CESJDS auditorium stage, “How Lucky You Are.” dressed with simple scenery, was The Cat in the Hat, junior Laura brought to life to the delight of Citren was perfectly cast as the exa capacity audience, who were tremely confident and charismatic fetreated to 90 minutes of Seussical, line. Citren showed her exceptional the musical interpretation of an singing, dancing and acting talents as anthology of the world’s favorite she effortlessly guided the audience children’s author, Dr. Seuss. through Seuss’s magical world. Danny The play is drawn from Dr. Schwaber’s charming performance Seuss classics and is centered as Horton captured the essence of the around three main characters: innocent, sincere, yet relentless Good Horton the Elephant (junior Samaritan in Horton the Elephant. CosDanny Schwaber), Gertrude Mctumed simply with a scarf for a trunk, Fuzz (freshman Ilanna Starr) and Danny’s sweet voice and strong acting Mayzie Labird (junior Galit Krifskills brought out his inner pachyderm cher). Horton’s mission is to save in an earnest and heartfelt performance.

Whoville while Gertrude McFuzz Freshman Ilanna Starr gave a stand is trying desperately to gain his atout performance as Gertrude McFuzz. tention. Meanwhile, Mayzie Lanes Starr showed her exceptional vocal leaves her egg with Horton while skills and her natural stage presence as she vacations in Palm Beach.

Gertrude portraying the innocence of The story also features a host the young shy bird. Starr’s understated of other Seuss characters includperformance could not mask her exing Yertle the Turtle (sophomore traordinary vocal talents as she belted Tamar Gasko), the Wickersham “Notice Me Horton!”

Monkeys (sophomore Zachary Galit Krifcher exploded onto the Pinkham and junior Avi Silverstage as a truly amazing Mayzie, a role metz) and Sour Kangaroo (sophothat showcased not only her vocal talmore Noam Schildhaus). Directed ent, but also here comedic acting abiliphoto by Danny Krifcher

by Jane Chirstenson, the production focused on the strength of the anything’s possible Freshman Ilana Starr, junior Laura Citren, junior Mira Fein, sophomore Arielle ties of she strutted her wings across the stage to the pleasure of the packed enthusiastic cast, who were poised Greene and sophomore Eden Katz act out a scene using their imagination instead of props. house. Strong performances by the and well rehearsed, and clearly that “anything is possible.” Conveying the ence believe that they were watching and other cast members and a chorus that having a lot of fun. belief that even the simplest things can be listening to singing elephants, birds, mon- exuded a contagious enthusiasm made for a The clever use of minimal scenery retransformed like magic, the cast succeeded keys, cats and kangaroos. memorable evening for all. inforced the message throughout the play with simple costumes in having the audiThe memorable music, which audience

by Samantha Weiner

Students deliver meals as a Christmas mitzvah

by Elana Schrager While many students were sleeping in or traveling to far off lands during winter break, 11 CESJDS students were delivering Christmas meals early Friday morning on Dec. 25 to those unable to afford food in the Washington D.C. metro area The food delivery service was organized by combined efforts of organizations such as Food and Friends and Meals on Wheels.

Food and Friends is an organization that makes meals and provides groceries as well as nutritional counseling for people with life-threatening illnesses like HIV/ AIDS and cancer. It provides three free nutritious meals a day that

meet each qualifying client’s specific health needs.

Meals on Wheels delivers low cost lunches and dinners to needy seniors. Both organizations rely heavily on volunteers to deliver the food.

The volunteers got to their respective distribution centers and a box of a food and a list of about four destinations that the groups would deliver to.

“It was really fun,” seventh grader Aaron Handelman said.

“We got the directions and we got a little bit of information about the people we were delivering food to, and we just knocked on the door.”

“Seeing the people and seeing how happy they were re-

ally made me happy inside,” sophomore Sarah Rubinstein said.

The Christmas volunteers felt that it was important to help out on Christmas Day because they were enabling people who celebrate Christmas to spend time with their families.

They also wanted to provide food to needy people on one of the most important days of the Christian calendar.

“I expected that people would be really secretive and that they really wouldn’t want the rest of the family to know that we were there and giving them food, but the people were really welcoming to us. One lady talked about her granddaughter and was asking us about our lives. She really enjoyed talking to us and I think we really made her day better,” Rubinstein said.

The students picked up food from organizations such as Food and Friends and Meals on Wheels. Together with lending a hand Sophomore Sarah Rubenstein volunteers at Food and their family and friends, Friends by making and delivering they delivered the bagged food. sandwiches on Christmas day. photo by Rebecca Rubin

Seniors celebrate with dinner, dancing and an all-nighter

by Brooke Friedman The Class of 2010’s prom took place at Midtown Lounge in Washington, D.C from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 27-28.

Before prom, students had dinner together.

Dean of Students Roslyn Landy said, “I have always hoped that the senior class would plan a dinner before prom where everyone could dine together. I think having a grade dinner is more inclusive and more fun. It also avoids the drama of who goes to which restaurant and who goes with whom and how many couples can go in

each limo. With this plan, everyone was able to eat together and travel to prom together.”

Senior Jillian Racoosin, who helped to chair the Prom Committee, said that everyone in her grade had a great time at pre-prom, which took place at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville.

“It was just a really nice way to be together,” Racoosin said.

According to senior Jonathan Iskow, there was bus transportation provided to take seniors from the pre-prom dinner to prom.

“My group of friends and I got a Hummer limo [to get to Woodmont] which was quite nice. And then to get from Woodmont to

Midtown Lounge, we took some party buses that played really loud music and everyone got up and danced,” Iskow said.

“The party bus was the best part of prom, it was really cool to be get up and dance even though we fell down a few times,” junior Stephanie Prigal said.

Class of 2010 Adviser Victoria Ball said that prom had a good spirit because everyone was dancing with everyone else and that the venue chosen allowed for a more “lively” dance party.

“Mr. Webner and I like to go out dancing and it was really fun to do that with the whole grade,” Ball said. “I felt that we really let

loose. We were up in the middle of everything, just really going to town. It was really, really fun.”

When prom ended at 12:30 a.m., students went on to afterprom, which took place at the Potomac Community Center in Potomac.

Senior Joseph Klein said he was surprised by the uniqueness of after-prom.

“Many parents took time to set it up. There was a moon-bounce, blackjack and there was music. I really can’t even describe it because any description does not quite encapsulate the surprise of seeing after-prom,” Klein said.

Math teacher Howie Weinstein,

a chaperone, said he enjoyed the games at after-prom.

“I got to crush the self-esteem of the graduated seniors as I beat them in the obstacle course,” Weinstein said.

Math teacher Reuben Silberman, another chaperone, said karaoke was a new activity at after-prom this year. He liked how after-prom was planned and thought it went well.

“I am really glad I went. I really enjoyed the opportunity to be with the kids. I think it was worth it even though I went to school the next day and taught,” Silberman said.

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March 2, 2010

lion’s tale

Living with POTS, a disease nobody has heard of

by Meryl Kravitz and Haley Cohen “You never know how important something is until you don’t have it,” said junior Adam Hammerman. He is not referring to a new iPod or a fancy vacation, he is talking about his memory. Hammerman has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) which affects his ability to remember. POTS also causes an irregular heart rate, low blood pressure, dizziness and fainting.

“In May, I was out sick for a week because I was tired and dizzy. I was asking people for the homework I missed and they were like ‘Adam this is the third time you’ve asked me.’ So, I told that to my mom, and she realized that something was wrong with my memory. It would be natural for me to have been scared, but I have no memory of how I felt at the time,” Hammerman said.

According to Hammerman’s mother, Karen Hammerman, “he went to about a dozen doctors, and it took six months before he was diagnosed with POTS.” Because this disease is rare and few doctors have heard of it, it was difficult to find a doctor who could diagnose Hammerman.

According to Karen Hammerman, some doctors and students thought Hammerman was making up symptoms.

“I know he wouldn’t do that. Why would he have wanted to spend his summer going to doctor appointments?” she said.

Since being diagnosed, Hammerman has had to make changes in order to adapt to having POTS. “I get really tired easily, which makes it hard to come to school. I need to eat more salt, drink more water, exercise and sleep more,” he said.

Hammerman also must take three pills a day, which he said are making his memory “less foggy.”

In addition to following a recovery plan consisting of medication, exercise and dietary changes, Hammerman’s relationships have changed as well.

“Some people treat me differently now like, ‘let’s be extra careful around Adam, he

might faint.’ Or ‘there’s the kid who doesn’t have to do as much school work, let’s not talk to him.’”

Simple tasks such as getting ready for school in the morning take more effort and consideration for someone like Hammerman.

schoolwork,” said Hammerman.

“Adam’s ability to stay in school, attend classes, and keep up with his work while dealing with POTS is remarkable,” said Zuckerman. “He is fortunate to have the assistance of extraordinary peer-notetakers.

Juniors Sarah Dicker, Alexandra Smith and Jenna Jach also have acted as his guardian angels.”

One teacher in particular who has been a help to Hammerman is science teacher Kimberly Agzigian. “In the beginning it was senseless [to even try to get him to use his memory] I have him do things that aren’t required for him to use his memory like current events and outlines.”

Hammerman’s English teacher Dr. Tom Worden has also been very accomodating of his needs. “I’ve had a few moments were I’ve gone the extra step for him where I may not photo by Joshua Handelman Drawing it up Junior Adam Hammerman draws a have gone for another student. diagram to explain tachychardia to his peers so that I’ve just gone with his sense they will have a better understanding of the symp- of humor and tried be helpful, understanding and compassiontoms he experiences. ate,” said Worden.

Worden has also noticed that “When I wake up, I know what I need to Hammerman’s classmates are interested in do, but I can’t remember to do it all in the helping him. short time that I have.”

“My students are very accommodating to School work, among other things, be- him. Students take him to the nurse when he came more difficult for Hammerman. needs to go, and they were very helpful in “I would do work in school, then go into the early stages,” he said. school the next day and have no memory Worden claims he has seen improvement what we learned the day before. I would in Adam’s schoolwork. “He’s now writlove to be able to do school work the way I ing an essay on the Great Gatsby which he used to,” he said. wouldn’t have been capable of doing at the However, Hammerman is aware of the beginning of the year. He’s gone from not fact that his teachers are doing what they being able to write a paragraph to now writcan to help him out. According to Hammer- ing full paragraphs,” Worden said. man, ESS Chair Susan Zuckerman “has also As of now, Hammerman is unsure of been a huge help.” whether or not POTS will have long lasting “If kids are teasing me about the dis- effects. ease she’ll go have a little chat with them.

“Most people grow out of this disease, She also talks to my teachers about missed but it’s a very long process. It’s really too

early to tell if I will,” he said. However, it is clear that Hammerman is progressing in his recovery.

Not only has POTS changed Hammerman’s academics but it has also affected his social life.

According to Hammerman, one of the most frustrating things about the disease is that because it does not affect his physical appearance, people often think he’s exaggerating or making up the symptoms just to get attention.

While some of Hammerman’s friendships have been strained as a result of the disease, some friendships have gotten closer.

One of these people is senior Jonathan Iskow. Earlier in the year, Iskow and Hammerman were walking in back of the school during lunch when Hammerman became dizzy and fainted. “I was pretty nervous,” Iskow said.

“Mrs. Landy has gone up to my parents a few times telling them how nice I am [for taking care of Adam], but really I do it only because I like helping him,” said Iskow.

Aside from having friends like Iskow to help him, “Facebook and texting have really helped Adam remember, since he can look back at what he wrote to friends,” said Hammerman’s mother.

Hammerman is also very appreciative of all his family is doing to help him. “My parents have changed their own lives to help me get better,” he said.

Other than Iskow, electronics, and his family, Adam has the entire CESJDS community by his side.

“He had trouble remembering work and going from one class to the next. In every class there were students who were just wonderful who became helpers to him, and they volunteered and didn’t have to be asked,” said Karen Hammerman. “There are just too many to name−in every class there was someone. I just know that the community at school was amazing, and he wouldn’t be where he is today without them.”

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March 2, 2010

Sneak peek preview at girls field hockey

by Jacob Dorn Searching for a new way to earn P.E. credit, sophomores Rebecca Rubin and Nicole Nabatkhorian decided against the routes normally followed by female students, like after school P.E. and sports like track and softball.

Rubin and Nabatkhorian took it upon themselves to start an entirely new team in a sport that has never been played at CESJDS: field hockey.

Rubin and Nabatkhorian gauged student interest in the new sport, which is popular at most public schools, by handing out surveys in .

They chose to do it in science classes because both of the advi-

sors for their grade teach science.

While the results are not yet finalized, Nabatkhorian said that it seemed that sophomores and juniors are interested, rather than eight and ninth graders.

While they have not yet discussed specifics, the girls have a good prognosis for the team’s future.

“A lot of people are excited and since we sent out the surveys, everything’s been going smoothly,” Nabatkhorian said.

Nabatkhorian cautioned that nothing is set in stone, because a team can not be legitimized until it has 15 players.

“However, we’re really excited and want people to join. Everyone’s invited,” Nabatkhorian said.

All eyes on Laura Citren

by David Weinberg

because I persevered through the week and did not complain to anyone,” Citren said.

photo by Rebecca Fradkin

For many athletes, a sprained ankle during the summer can mean an end to their activities, but for junior Laura Citren, it just meant more motivaThis tion to work harder. was the juCitren was awarded “Athlete nior’s first year of the Year” by the JCC for her participating dance performances at in Maccabi , the JCC Maccabi this and she will past summer. not be able Two days before she was set to do it next to perform Citren fell and was year behurt. She sprained her ankle, and cause of the was not sure if she would be able age cutoff. to recuperate in time.

Citren “I had to choose whether I said that it could compete or not, and it was was nice a tough decision,” Citren said. to be acShe has competed in MidknowlWestchester, New York. She edged for won three gold medals and one h e r silver for solo tap, group work.

Israeli, group hip-hop dancing to gold Junior Laura Citren competes with the Greater and trio jazz.

“My coach told me Washington dance team, during that I won the award the JCC Maccabi games.

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Hockey club fights to the finish but loses in state playoffs

by Jeremy Lynn Almost one year ago, the CESJDS hockey club played their final playoff game of the season in front of many of their classmates, parents and teachers.

While some of the players on that team may have changed, the support for the team has not died down.

The team, only two years old, quickly started the season off with a 6-4 record after starting with a 3-2 loss against Mount St. Josephs Gaels.

Overall, the team has outscored their opponents 30-8 over the first six games, but despite this streak, the team lost in the playoffs to Landon 3-1.

The team has attributed a lot of their success to their strong fan base at both their home and away games.

“They [the fans] make it a pleasure for us to play and make us look forward to scoring and celebrating with them,” senior Jared Lese said.

“The student support definitely gives us more energy and pride in what we do on the ice,” junior Jonathan Reich said.

With the loss of four of the seniors, and one other player from last year, the team has not been able to repeat their undefeated record last year.

The three new freshman additions were Ethan Blank, Noah Miller and Johnny Sherman.

“Last year we relied on our seniors, especially on the power play, but after our loss in the first game, we have been able to play to our full potential,” junior Matthew Blank said.

The game that caused the most uproar was the hockey team’s final game in this season.

If there was more of a fight, like helmets came off and someone was seriuosly injured, then it

photo by David Herman skating for grins Junior Joshua Lerner skates towards the puck during a hockey game. The Lions had an impressive season that ended in a disappointing loss in the quarterfinals. At the end of the season, two students were suspended for one game.

would have been fair for the school to have their own punihsment, but given what actually happened, the leauge’s punishment was all that was necessary,” said junior Brandon Varone.

Right after the whistle was blown by the referee to signal the end of their last game for the season, a game that they lost, a fight broke out between a few Landon players and two JDS players, junior Brandon Varone and sophomore Zachary Oring.

These two students were suspended for one game by the league.

This punishment will carry over for next season, whether it be this spring or next winter.

“After Zach was hit. I jumped in and that prompted the rest of the team to join in. I was suspended because I was the third man in, and Zach was suspended because he was the one who was hit,” Varone.

Despite the outcome of the final playoff game, the team hopes that the fans’ support will continue to be dedicated next season.

In addition, the team is hopeful about next season, whether it takes place next fall, or in the spring.

They think their skill can carry them to another Capital League Championship and a deep run into the Maryland state playoffs.

They shoot, they score; MSB continues to learn

by Alexander Tritell Basketball in the Upper School can be very helpful to students in various ways.

Middle school basketball not only offers a chance for young students to increase their skill and prepare for the high school teams, it also serves as a way for kids to meet and socialize with other students.

Despite the decrease in size in the usually large team, the girls were excited about the season, and did not let this factor affect there time on the court.

Their first loss came from their game against The McLean School team.

This year’s coach, Jay Matula, had not only focused on uniting the team,

but also on individual skill.

According to Matula, while it is a team effort to bring the ball near the hoop, the actual shot comes down to one girl.

“The main difference from the Lower School was that this was real basketball not just shooting around in gym class,” said seventh-grader Madeleine Dworkin. “It is also a learning process to get ready for the dephoto by David Herman mands of varsity.” ferocity on the court Eighth-grader AlexanThe team and the coach dra Lustig gives it her all as she dribbles towere both optimistic about the wards the hoop. season. strong year.

“The team is looking strong, and The team started off undefeated we are expecting to make a big push for many of the boys, they were at the end of the season tournament,” about to enter their first playoff Matula said. round in the PVAC. The boys team is also having a “We have a good team this year

and everyone is happy and is playing well together,” eighth grader Jacob Weinberger said.

In preparation for upcoming games, the team focused on it’s offensive man-to-man plays and strategies to improve.

“The coach pushes us hard in practice, but it pays off in the games,” said Weinberger.

Weinberger thinks that the team has a very good chance at going very far, and even winning the tournament.

Australian eighth grader David Kaplan had never played basketball before coming to America.

“I have improved a lot at basketball by playing on a team. And it was a great way to meet other students,” Kaplan said.

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BJVB continues streak

by Jonathan Kader The junior varsity boys basketball has completed their regular season undefeated in conference.

Although the team started the season strongly, keeping a large gap between their number of points and their opponent’s, recently, the team’s score has been closer to their opponent’s.

“Our season is going great. We are undefeated so far. Recently we have not been playing so well, but we have been winning, which is a nice sign,” said junior Adam Goldfarb. “There is a lot of room to improve. Before winter break we were playing much better, but we’re still doing really well so far.”

Because of this inconsistency in scores, the coach, Vernon Buckle, is trying to work the team harder during practice.

“If the coach doesn’t like how we’re playing, we’ll run a lot, and we run a lot,” said freshman Jonathan Galitzer.

Buckle said, “I want the team to play well, look like a team and win, not play badly and win, which is what’s happening this year.”

This year the team has more juniors than usual, which may put them at an advantage against other PVAC teams who have younger and less experienced players.

“It’s not fair at all that we have this many juniors on the team, but it works, and it’s not technically against PVAC rules, so it’s allowed,” junior Max Kershner said.

Having an older and more experienced team might make it easier for the team to win games even if they do not play to their potential.

“We have a unique situation because we have a lot of seniors and juniors on varsity.

March 2, 2010

lion’s tale

GJVB stays optimistic

by Jonathan Block

photo by Shira Singelenberg

Freshman Michael Gould looks for an open player on his team to pass the ball to during the second half of the Saint Anselm’s Abbey School. eyeing

the

court

So we have to cater to our school. You can’t blame us for having so many players. We can’t cut them because they’re in the program. In a way it helps other schools get better because you get better when you have better competition,” Buckle said.

Some lowerclassmen have criticized this system because they are allotted less playing time because there are more juniors.

“By having juniors on the team, it cuts off some of the playing time for the lowerclassmen, but our team is great, we still get our playing time, and next year they will all be seniors so it will open up new opportunities for the lowerclassmen,” said Galitzer.

The junior varsity team fell to Stoneridge 43-31.

As the season gets closer to the playoffs, the team feels optimistic about their potential.

“Our goal for the season is to work together and grow as a team,” said Schoenburg.

Hoping to win their third straight championship this year, the girls junior varsity basketball team kicked off their season with 8-3 record.

Despite out of league losses, Head Coach Patrick Dudash feels confident in the team’s play.

“Our losses were against teams of high caliber such as Good Counsel, Covenant Life, and Stoneridge.

Our man-to-man defense has improved every day and our intensity has increased in each and every game,” Dudash said.

The return of four players from last year’s championship team has been a factor in the team’s success. Sophomores Ari Schoenburg, Jamie Strassman, Aviva Weinstein and Rachel Cotton have all played important roles this season.

Schoenburg said that the returning players have benefited from great chemistry.

“It’s nice because we already know how to play together and are able to take the positions of last year’s sophomores,” she said.

One of the team’s major goals for the season has been to play consistently every game.

“While we won all games [in the league], it was not our best play as we seemed to play down to the level of our opponents,” said Duphoto by Shira Singelenberg dash. “Our best overall and consisleave in on the court Sophomore Aviva Weinstein tent game was at Stoneridge, even steals the ball from her opponent and dribbles to though it was a loss.” the hoop.

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March 2, 2010

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BVB ends one game short of PVAC championship

by Joshua Singer

photo by David Herman

Getchya’ head in the game Junior Barry Shapiro looks for a teammate on the court.

The boys varsity basketball team, led by Coach Matthew Feldman, had set its sights on a new championship banner this season.

After victories over the rival Hebrew Academy Cougars and the Churchill Bulldogs 52-50, the Lions were hungry for more. The lions made it to the PVAC playoffs, but lost.

With the loss of player Eitan Chemerinski (‘09) there was much more than just a loss of height on the Lions. Last season, Chemerinski was an important part of the Lions’ defense. Without the 6 foot 8 center, the Lions had been working hard on adapting their defense to new players.

“This year’s team had to rely on themselves instead of relying on Eitan

to block shots. The total focus was on defense,” Feldman said. “Last year our defensive philosophy was to funnel the other team into him [Chemerinski]. This year’s defensive philosophy was to completely stop all drives . . . so each player is responsible for his own defensive assignment.”

After playing and having practices during the summer and fall, the overall sense of the team was that the defense is where it needs to be for the season.

“We focus on a one-gamea-day philosophy,” said Feldman.

Another large reason for the boys’ success was their team chemistry. Most of the players, with the exception of two, had played together before, and not just at JDS. Many of the players participate in a summer and fall league, which helps them prepare for the winter. And their preparation seemed to show,

as they went undefeated in the regular season, winning all 12 games for the second year in a row.

“Not only are we teammates on the court but we’re all friends off the court. We try and hang out after games and practices, and you can really see that translate onto the court,” senior Thomas Gutterman said.

Despite their efforts and fortification of their defense, a semifinal loss to the Covenant Life Cougars ended the Lions run.

The entire game was very close and there were often lead changes, which made it hard for spectators to predict the outcome of the game.

In the last four seconds of the game, Covenant Life was up by two points. The Lions inbounded the ball to senior Jacob Akman, who then took a quick last second shot. His choice was to either make a lay-up to tie the game, or take

a three pointer to win. He was closer to the basket than to the three point line, and so Akman took the lay-up.

Much to the crowd’s disappointment, he missed. The game ended with the final score of 55-53.

“I thought the entire season was a tremendous success.

We had met almost all of our goals this year. The last game was a tough game, we faced a team that was very eager to play, however we played extremely well. We played a team, who outplayed us on that day,” said Feldman said.

“Surprisingly I was not that disappointed when we lost, because I know we had given it our all. I was disappointed that our players lost an opportunity to play in another championship. But I still kept telling them how hard it is to win 12 games in a regular season, and they should definitely be themselves with themselves for doing that.”

Ardor and eagerness apparent at alumni game

by Zachary Wexler Boys varsity basketball hit the court running, but this time it was less tense and a lot more fun. The boys varsity basketball team played JDS alumni in a friendly, but competitive game on Nov. 25.

“I love coming back to JDS. It always brings back great memories, especially of my time playing sports. Sports were a huge part of my life at JDS, and basketball especially taught me a lot. It’s always fun to be able to come back and play on the same court and see the banners I’ve been a part of as well as see the new talent we have that

will continue the Lions tradition of dominating the PVAC,” Eran Friedman (’08) said. Friedman played on varsity during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

For some of the players on the alumni team, it was a family dual: brother versus brother.

“I always enjoy playing with or against my brother. The alumni game gives me some sort of legitimacy to our friendly competition. This past alumni game was even more meaningful to me since my brother is graduating this year. This will be the last time we compete against each other, but I look forward to playing alongside him as

my teammate in next year’s annual game,” said Saul Krosnick (’07), whose brother Samuel Krosnick (’10) plays on varsity.

The alumni game also is a chance for the graduates to re-connect and reunite with their high school friends.

“Playing with former teammates is by far the best part of the game. Most of us go to different universities and don’t get a chance to see each other too often. It brings back awesome memories, and it’s especially fun to joke around and reminisce our time spent bonding, whether on the bench or on the court,” Friedman said.

For varsity players, c “this game was a

practice for us. We wanted to incorporate all of the aspects of our practices into this game. Our practices mainly consist of drills, running plays, and scrimmaging” junior Barry Shapiro said. “Our coach definitely wanted us to relax and take it easy during this game, but he also mentioned that this would be a good opportunity to practice our plays.”

The game allows alumni and members of the varsity basketball team to play again on their home court at JDS. “It’s a great event, and needs to be continued for years to come. It’s always a close battle,” said Krosnick.

Varsity lady lions plagued by season long injury bug

by Joshua Walfish While the girls varsity basketball started off with a strong lead in 90-10 season, The biggest issue that faced the team was the

photo by David Herman

injuries.

Seniors Gabrielle Charnoff and Donielle Cohen went down with injuries in a Nov. 17 scrimmage against the Holy Child Tigers.

The second half of the game had just started and the Lions took possession of the ball.

Before any shots had been taken, Charnoff, a starting player, was knocked to the ground.

Farther into the half, Cohen joined Charnoff on the sidelines.

Charnoff hurt her knee and is out for the season. She is expected to have surgery after the Israel trip.

Cohen was out for just over a month with an ankle injury.

Senior Gabrielle Cohen missed two weeks with a concussion. Junior Emily Griminger, followed in Cohens path, missed two games with a concussion.

The injuries have been a Heading for the hoop Junior Tamar Bardin goes for the layup during a girls varsity basketball game. It is Bardin’s second year on the Girl’s varsity team.

curse and a blessing in disguise for the girls.

“I think it has taught a lot of younger kids to take control and take responsibility.”

“It has kept us from getting a little bit more unity,” Charnoff said However, the team started with a winning record this season of 8-5.

They have hard practices, but it definitely shows in their games, regardless of who is

injured and who remains to stay healthy.

However, the girls are not discouraged by the injuries and are using them to learn to play tougher and more aggressively.

“I think it has been pretty good for our team. We just had to learn to be a little tougher on the court. We still play fairly, but we watch out for ourselves.” Richardson said.

March 2, 2010

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Wrestling team aims to take it up a notch

by Jonathan Kader

become more of a sport instead of a bunch of guys getting together and wrestling,” sophomore Henry Baron said.

JDS coaches believe that strength is not the most important element of wrestling and that technique is crucial, so the JDS team puts a huge emphasis on repeatedly practicing technique.

“In practice we learn new moves and keep trying them so we can get used to them, and be able to do them easily in matches,” junior Nathan Ahzdam said.

However, wrestling requires a lot of sacrifice from those who participate. Many of

Wrestling is a difficult sport to learn. It can take years of practice and match experience to improve.

The wrestling team at CESJDS started four years ago, and according to Assistant Coach Ian Kolmaister (’09), the program is starting to see the results of their hard work.

Although the team had a record of 4-3, the team feels they are doing pretty well this season.

According to the team, they have not been hampered by the quality of the wrestlers, but the quantity.

At every match, the team is required to fill all of wrestling’s 14 weight classes.

Whenever a team does not have someone to fill a weight class they are forced to forfeit that match, losing six points before the meet even starts.

The 10-person JDS team has had to forfeit at least four photo by Shira Singelenberg matches at every pinned down Sophomore Scott Levengard pins Maxwell meet.

Hughes to the ground during a wrestling practice. During a “I think we’re do- practice, it is not mandatory for students to wear safety gear, ing really well. If our however they are encouraged to. team was bigger we would have won most of our matches,” said sophomore Scott Le- the wrestlers on the team admit that there vengard. “The majority of the team always is pressure to make a certain weight class, wins; we just have to forfeit a lot of matches known as “making the cut.”

Making the cut means weighing the right because we don’t have enough people to fill amount for the weight class you would like the weight classes.”

With a bigger team some wrestlers think to wrestle in.

Most wrestlers try to wrestle at the top of that there will be a greater sense of unity and their weight class. Staying at the maximum team pride.

“If more people join the team we would weight of a certain range, because it gives have more people to wrestle, and it would them an advantage, and to do this many

wrestlers try to cut weight on the day of the match.

There are many ways JDS wrestlers cut weight, but most of the time they try to lose water weight.

According to Henry Baron, some wrestlers sleep in sweats, or they might spit in bottles all day, so they can lose water weight.

“The pressure is on you to lose weight because if you don’t make your weight class there is a chance you won’t wrestle,” Baron said.

Eighth-grader Samuel Felson said that he lost 10 pounds before his first match.

He did this by eating soup for almost every meal, working out every photo by Joshua Handelman day and wearing sweatgiving the cold shoulder Sophomore Samuel Cohen pants to lose water weight. grabs junior Nathaniel Azhdam during a wrestling pracEven though that is one tice. The wrestling team practices in the cafeteria using of the more drastic exam- portable mats. ples of weight cutting at JDS, many wrestlers lose There are also wrestlers that have not two to three pounds before matches to make needed to cut weight. the cut.

Freshman Max Smith wrestles in the 125 According to the American College of pound weight class and has weighed around Sports Medicine cutting too much weight 123 pounds all year, so he has never needed can lead to volume depletion, dehydration, to take more extreme measures like Felson. loss of consciousness and death.

However, most JDS wrestlers say that At the beginning of the season, every there is a joint pressure to lose weight. wrestler was weighed to make sure that they “Your coach might not let you wrestle would not cut a dangerously large amount if you don’t make weight, or he might only of weight. let you wrestle an exhibition match that “I understand that some kids do lose wouldn’t count,” said Baron. “There is also weight before weigh-ins, but I try to keep a a team pressure because you don’t want to close eye on it. Our student athletes’ health let your team down. The pressure is really will always come first,” Head Coach Jeff on you, though. If you want to wrestle you Rose said. have to make your weight class.”

Disciplinary action for inappropriate behavior at athletic events: point counter-point David Weinberg Yes. If CESJDS deems a student’s actions during an athletic game inappropriate, regardless of whether or not the referee or even the league has issued its own punishment, the school should still mandate its own punishment.

This issue stems from the recent actions of two JDS hockey players who were suspended from one game by the hockey league for fighting with players from the opposing team.

The hockey players involved in the fight, who were disciplined by the league, should be disciplined

by JDS as well. I understand that hockey is a physical game and certainly, I love to watch the Caps and scream for a good fight as much as anybody. But Ovie doesn’t go

to JDS. And that’s really where the difference starts. JDS has its own set of rules and values different from the PVAC or the MCHL (Montgomery County Hockey League).

In the school’s mission statement, one of the values, V’ahavta L’Rayakha, is featured. This is defined as creating “a moral community based upon the concepts of B’tzelem Elokim (each individual is created in the image of God) and Derekh Eretz (ethical decency) in which members respect each other’s uniqueness and preciousness and are responsible for each other and the community.”

These values that the school has taught to each student have a common theme of treating each and every person fairly and respectfully, even if we do not know him/her.

So, despite the fact that the

other students provoked our team, we still cannot follow “an eye for an eye.”

On another level, we all know that we represent JDS at all times.

We have heard this from the day we came into the school.

We all know that whatever we do anywhere reflects both on the school and on the Jewish people.

We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard because of this.

If a prospective parent had been at that game, they might have assumed that JDS students tend to be rowdy and aggressive, which is not an image that we have nor is it an image we want to portray.

If the school does not take a stand during incidents like these, then they could become recurring issues, as they would have no reason not to fight.

Zachary Wexler No. As a result of a fight during CESJDS’s final game against The Landon School, the league decided to suspend members of the JDS hockey club from the first two games of next season.

These members did not, and should not, receive a separate punishment from the school.

Hockey is extremely physical and is a high contact sport.

Fights happen all the time. It’s part of the game.

Although the students used poor judgment and acted in an unsportsmanlike manner, they should not receive additional consequences because it is not a matter requiring school action.

The sport is governed by league rules and should not be subject to the school’s jurisdiction. Even though the students represent JDS while playing, the hockey program is a club and is not a school sponsored team.

In hockey, fights tend to fire up the crowd and get all of the fans talking and involved in the game.

The JDS students who were involved in the fight were defending other members of their team and their friends, as were the Landon students.

Although this behavior should not be a recurring theme, the JDS administration should not be involved in giving punishment when the league is ultimately responsible for handling such actions.

Spring sports tryouts begin Tuesday, March 2