The Phoenix 2019-2020 Issue 1

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A Student Publication of the Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School • 1609 Avenue J, Brooklyn, New York • Vol 54, Issue 1 • September 2019 / 5779

YOF community reacts to Skolnick arrest By Jayne Haddad Managing Editor

A tidal wave of horror, misery, and disbelief crashed on the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School last Monday night as the Flatbush community learned that former Talmud teacher, Soccer coach, and Grade Advisor Jonathan Skolnick was arrested on several charges related to child pornography. The news of Skolnick’s arrest circulated rapidly and flooded group chats immediately after SAR Academy, his most recent employer, alerted their parent body of the situation via e-mail. Instantly, disillusion swept the entire school, shat-

tering the image of Skolnick as “a man that kids loved,” as Rabbi Prag said. Some of the alumni and current students who came forward as part of the hauntingly high number of Skolnick’s victims shared that they felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal, disturbance, and anger. Even students who didn’t fall for Skolnick’s fake persona still felt incredibly victimized by his intrusive texts and violated by his inappropriate pursuit. Faculty were hit hard as well. Rabbi Kramer, a Talmud teacher who sometimes relied on Skolnick for advice on how to deal with students, expressed, “I literally feel like the person I knew is no longer in this world. There is no person

APs take a different course By Terri Elmann Junior Editor

The College Board recently announced changes to the guidelines and curricula for some of its Advanced Placement classes for several the 2019–2020 school year, as well as changes to the registration process and fees. The first change is the way that students and teachers register for the AP exams in May. Registration will now be online; teachers receive a code for their course and are able to send it to their students, who sign up on their own. After the students register, they have access to some sample AP questions. Students now have to register earlier than previous years, and now the sign-up and fees are due in October. The new procedure has been unpopular with students and teachers accustomed to the old method. “This advanced way of registering is cumbersome and not intuitive,” said Mr. Rothbort, the chair of the History department. The second major change is the new frequency of some of the classes. Previously, classes such as AP U.S. History and AP World History were independent studies. A student would be take the class approximately once a week, parallel to his regular class in that subject. However, this year the system has changed. Those AP classes have become mainstream and students can now take them instead of the regular courses. “This is an opportunity for the students to focus more on the AP courses and have more of a chance

In This Issue

School News: Why are there so many freshmen? Page 3

Jonathan Skolnick that I used to know. The only person that exists right now is this horrible monster.” Rabbi Blumenthal, who worked closely with Skolnick and had even extended an invitation to his Shabbat table, shared that when he found out he “almost collapsed on the floor” and was “shaking for three hours.” In addition to shock and disgust, many faculty members expressed a sense of guilt for not having seen Skolnick as the predator he turned out to be. In an open-to-all meeting for parents and alumni at school last Thursday night, Rabbi Beyda acknowledged, “we feel we failed on this,” despite FBI reassurance there was nothing different the Yeshivah could have done. Although the school did not start conducting criminal background checks

on new employees until three years after Skolnick was hired, FBI agent Aaron Spievak confirmed that Skolnick had no criminal history, so a background check would

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of receiving the college credits they deserve,” said Mr. Rothbort, who teaches the AP World class. Not only has there been a change in the class times but also in the curricula. For example, the course material for AP World had previously begun at the year 5000 B.C.E.; now it begins at 1200 C.E. The College Board explained the change by saying it wanted to make the material more modern and relevant. There are some minor changes in the AP Language and Composition curriculum as well. There will be fewer multiple choice questions on the exam, and the reading passages are shorter. The College Board has also created a new rubric for the free response portion of the exam; the rubric uses the same scores but a very different method of tallying them from the previous one. The AP 2D Design course also saw some variation. Instead of an exam, Design students submit a portfolio of their work, along with written explanations, to the College Board to be graded. The number of pieces submitted by students has been reduced drastically this year, from 24 to 15. The Breadth section of the portfolio has been eliminated, leaving only the Sustained Investigation portion. “They [the College Board] are expecting the students to develop their portfolio through the investigation of materials, processes, and ideas, making our formerly graphic-design-heavy portfolio a more mixed-media portfolio,” explained Ms. Cohen, who teaches the course.

“Inquiry Beit Midrash” program gives seniors independence

Entertainment: Is TikTok taking over? Page 5

Fashion: The real cost of looking good at Flatbush Page 7

By Jennifer Salzman Junior Editor

A new optional Judaic Studies learning program has been created for the senior grade. The Inquiry Beit Midrash (IBM) Program allows seniors to learn Judaic subjects including Tanakh, Talmud, Halakha, and Philosophy with a partner, or chavruta, instead of learning in a standard classroom under a predetermined curriculum. The program is headed by Mr. Engel and Ms. Zaltzman. Mr. Engel explained that IBM was designed to provide a “more hands-on approach to learning where the students are part of the learning process.” One of the goals of implementing this new approach is to prepare students for life after graduation by giving them the skills needed to be able to learn on their own or with a partner. This is why senior Ricky Sasson expressed that “the program’s intentions are amazing.” There are faculty mentors who supervise the groups to assure that the students are learning to their potential. They answer questions and bring new explanations that the students might not have seen before. The program was introduced to every senior in May, and 59 out of approxi-

mately 130 seniors joined, with a roughly equal number of honors and nonhonors students. Danielle Tawil exclaimed that she loves the program because it’s very independent, “it gives each person one on one [time] with teachers, and students are able to go into depth with each subject.” Ikey Dweck said that he likes “that we get to choose what we learn and who we learn with.” For some seniors this style of learning is extremely new, and requires adjustment. Because of this, the program began with everyone learning the same topic so that everyone could slowly ease into this new way of learning. Seniors seem to be liking the sense of independence in learning; however, there are concerns that some of them may see this double period as a time to “chill” instead of a time to learn and grow. To hold students accountable, at the end of each day the students submit a Google form where they log what they have learned that day. The IBM program is still in its infancy, and Ms. Zaltzman sees it as a “positive experience so far” and said she is interested in seeing what will happen next.

Sports: New soccer coach is a real pro Page 8 www.theflatbushphoenix.com | 1


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