Why do you belong at IU?
I belong at IU because I am committed to receiving a quality education in the Kelley School of Business and obtaining the ideal college experience. IU provides the opportunities to make it the right choice for every student. I have participated in many extracurricular activities, become a passionate Hoosier, and made everlasting friendships.
My son recently graduated from Middle School, sort of.
Baseball takes a front seat in our family each spring. My two teenage sons have played on teams since they were little. My husband and I are devoted fans of theirs and we cheer loudly from the stands. When they are not playing baseball themselves, my sons are dedicated to following the stats of their favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. So it was a bit of a conundrum when we learned that Noah, our 8th grader, had a baseball playoff game scheduled at the exact same time of his middle school graduation.
For those of us who spend our professional and often personal lives living and learning among high school students, we understand that hormones are far more powerful than Halakhah. Thus, teaching ethics to high school students is far more about culture and context than about pedagogy or curriculum.
In July 1960, while attending Camp Alonim, I heard Shlomo Bardin talk about his life in Zhitomer, Russia. He told us of a community of Jews within a large city who “cared.” He talked about how the community ensured that everyone who wished to marry was able to do so. He explained how the Jewish burial society (chevrah kadishah) handled each body as a sacred vessel, with dignity, with an understanding that that person had made a contribution to God’s world in some profound way, and how the community could now honor that contribution with the ultimate mitzvah of a dignified burial.
And Bardin told us the words of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis: “To be good Americans, we must be better Jews.”
Ariel Prince (Class of 2011) has been selected by the UC Berkeley Cal Alumni Association to receive The Leadership Award scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year. Ariel will be attending Berkeley in the fall. Applicants must have had a minimum 3.3 unweighted GPA plus demonstrated innovative, motivational leadership impacting academic, work, or community environments. All recipients receive a financial payment and participate in the Leadership Award Scholar Association’s 2011 Induction Banquet to be held in September.
Since 1934, The Leadership Award has recognized and supported Cal student leaders with merit-based scholarships. With more than 15,000 alumni scholars since its inception, The Leadership Award is the largest non-academic merit scholarship on the UC Berkeley campus and one of the most prestigious.
At New Community Jewish High School, Ariel was on Student Council for 4 years; Co-Founded the NCJHS Chapter of National Honor Society; served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper for 3 years; served as a Student Ambassador for 4 years; and delivered speeches to prospective families at annual open houses.
Among her leadership positions in the community during high school, Ariel served on the Teen Activities Council for the City of Calabasas and held the positions of Treasurer and Public Relations Chair; served as the sole Student Commissioner for the City of Calabasas Parks, Recreation and Education Commission; served as a Teen Juror on the Calabasas Teen Court; and served as the sole student member on the Agoura Hills / Calabasas Community Center Board of Directors. She has been recognized by the City of Calabasas City Council and Community Services Department for her distinguished service to the community.
Varsity Dance Team
Jonathan Sanders named “Golfer of the Year” by LA Daily News
Jonathan Sanders (’12), tied for 8th place in the CIF / CGA Boys State High School Championship
Eric Deming (’11) was selected to the Division 7 ALL CIF Baseball Team, and was league MVP
Baseball team – 2011 Omega League Champion and CIF “Sweet Sixteen”
Baseball coach, Jonathan Zoltan, Coach of the Year
Jeremy Sanders (’10), University of Redlands golfer, named “Freshman of the Year” and earned SCIAC honors for his on-course accomplishments
Varsity Dance Team broke many team records with 5 platinum awards and 4 high gold awards at the Hall of Fame Dance Challenge at Pomona College
At the end of Danny Hirsch’s first week at New Community Jewish High School (NCJHS), a fellow freshman tapped him on the shoulder as he sat eating lunch, alone.
Showing genuine concern, the student wanted to know if Danny was mute, since he had yet to speak to another student.
Having his voice heard is no longer a problem for Hirsch.
This week, Hirsch will represent the senior class as a speaker at graduation. And in April he placed second in a statewide debate tournament.
It was announced late Monday that three members of the Redlands men’s golf program earned All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) honors for their on-course accomplishments during the 2011 season. Freshman Jeremy Sanders, a New Community Jewish High School alum, was named the “Ken Sherman Freshman of the Year”.
New Community Jewish High School Students participate in small group activities at the interactive ADL program to prepare them for anti-Israel or anti-Semitic activities on college campuses
The Anti-Defamation League has provided an interactive workshop to the entire senior class at New Community Jewish High School to prepare them to confront anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses. ADL now hopes to bring this program to other Jewish high schools in the Los Angeles area.
ADL’s Pacific Southwest Region adapted its long-standing program, Confronting Anti-Semitism, for Jewish college-bound students. For four days during January 2011, the second half of the senior class of New Community Jewish High School attended this interactive workshop. The first half of the class completed the workshop in November 2010 as part of this pilot program.
Many Jewish high school students who have been raised in a Jewish friendly environment feel unprepared when they encounter anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities on university campuses. In recent ADL Reports, Anti-Israel Activity on Campus: 2009 in Review and Israeli Apartheid Week, it has become evident that the words and tactics used by anti-Zionists on campus are always evolving. The new curriculum is designed to give Jewish students resources and confidence to respond to and confront these issues when they get to college.
Confronting Anti-Semitism participants learn about current anti-Israel rallies, demonstrations and speakers that are taking place on college campuses. The students practice strategies for responding to various scenarios. They participate in interactive activities to prepare them for complex situations they might encounter on campus. They also receive resources that can be useful to them on an ongoing basis, including ADL’s Fighting Back: A Handbook for Responding to Anti-Israel Rallies on College and University Campuses.
Student evaluations from the second installment of the newly designed curriculum indicated that they learned a great deal from the training and particularly enjoyed the interactive activities and practice scenarios.
Comments included the following:
For further information about this program, call ADL at 310-446-4229.
“We now have a ‘makom’ — a sacred space in which to house our values,” said Bruce Powell, head of school at New Community Jewish High School (NCJHS), shortly after the deal was announced that NCJHS may have finally found a permanent home — at the site of its first home.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles announced Dec. 13 that it has agreed to sell the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in West Hills to the school for an undisclosed price. The property, which houses the JCC at Milken, was where NCJHS was founded in 2002.
