Lion's Share - May 2015

LION May 2015 Iyar-Sivan 5775

Curriculum IB Personal Projects

College College Admission Rates

Community From Jerusalem to DC

Juda and Maria Diener Lower School | Samuel and Henrietta Scheck Middle School | Ben Lipson Upper School

LION’S SHARE Welcome to Lion’s Share: Scheck Hillel Community School’s Grade 6-12 bulletin covering news about curriculum, college counseling and our community. Connect with the names, faces and initiatives that make Scheck Hillel a college preparatory school that develops global citizens with enduring Jewish identity and values. For more school information, please visit eHillel.org.

Curriculum

Student Projects Show Spirit of Entrepreneurship, Heart

IB Personal Project exhibit culminates International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme More than 80 Grade 10 students gathered in the Diener Athletic Center at Scheck Hillel’s Athletic Complex on May 11 to present their IB Personal Projects: the culmination of months of self-directed research under the mentorship of faculty supervisors. Craig Carpentieri, Scheck Hillel’s Director of Curriculum & Instruction and IB Program Coordinator, highlighted two trends among this year’s projects: an entrepreneurial angle and a drive to help others through their personal passions. For example: Robert Rogatinsky turned his love of nature into a treecare business; in his “how to” video for customers, we see him, power saw in hand, demonstrating appropriate tree pruning and safety techniques. Justin Moskovitz developed a disposable sleeve for snorkel mouthpieces, hoping to market the product to the water-sports industry.

Avi Bryan channeled painful personal experiences with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents into a website, AlShalom, where individuals of any background can share their perspectives. He hopes his forum can contribute to more balanced reporting on Mid East issues. Natalie Broide challenged herself to build a computer from scratch, inspired by her interest in coding and engineering.

Combining a love of music and a passion for social justice, Abigail Winograd curated a music album that reflects the longings and advocacy of civil rights crusaders through the ages. Kol Hakavod to all participating students and faculty!

Natalie Broide

Avi Bryan

About the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program

The Personal Project is the final requirement of the IB Middle Years Program (MYP), which aims to develop active learners and globally minded young people. The result is students who are creative, critical and reflective thinkers empowered to inquire. All Scheck Hillel students enter the IB MYP program in Grade 6 and complete it in Grade 10.

Robert Rogatinsky

Abigail Winograd

College

Making Sense of College Admission Rates

Scheck Hillel’s Office of College Counseling provides • How many of the admitted students actually enrolled valuable guidance that begins formally in Grade 8 and in the university (a figure also known as yield)? This intensifies during each subsequent year of Upper School. speaks to the school’s desirability and to the availability One set of data with which students and families become of financial aid and scholarships. familiar is admission rates, or the percentage of students • What percentage of students return to the college for who apply to a college and are actually accepted each the second year? year. (See chart on right.)

Scheck Hillel’s Office of College Counseling is available to further discuss these or any other topics related to School selectivity is based on admission rates; the lower college admission. the rate, the more selective the admissions process. To A Sampling of 2015 Admission Rates illustrate, Columbia University received a total of 36,250 Source: College Kickstart applications and accepted 2,228 students this year; the admission rate was 6%. Boston University received Institution Applied Admitted Rate nearly 54,760 applications and sent offers to 32% of the American 16,689 5,864 35% pool (17,522). One reason rates are declining is that more students are applying to more schools than ever before, Boston 54,757 17,522 32% while the number of available spaces has not changed.

University As you look through these numbers, don’t be discouraged.

Admission rates are only one of several criteria students should consider in choosing a college. To broaden the context for decision-making, seek answers to these questions:

Columbia

36,250

2,228

6%

Cornell

41,907

6,234

15%

Emory

20,477

4,796

23%

FSU

29,579

16,803

57%

•

GW

19,780

9,000

46%

MIT

18,306

1,467

8%

NYU

60,322

18,500

31%

Tufts

19,064

3,000

16%

University of Miami

28,902

11,691

40.5%

•

Who are the admitted applicants? For a quick reference, research the average GPA and SAT/ACT scores of admitted students to better understand where you fit.

Are admission rates different for Early Decision applicants?

Community

Sophia Brener ‘13: From Jerusalem to DC When Sophia Brener opted to take a gap year before college, her aim was to learn to live independently, to mature and to get to know herself. She spent that invaluable year at Midreshet Amit, a seminary in Jerusalem.

“The seminary I attended was not typical... although we spent much of our time learning Judaic Studies, we lived in a foster home for disadvantaged youth. Getting the chance to work with these kids was the most amazing experience of my year,” she told Lion’s Share.

Her time abroad gave her a chance to develop enduring life skills and opened her eyes to other cultures. Sophia is now completing her first year at The George

Washington University, where she is majoring in international affairs with a concentration in the Middle East. She was attracted to GW by its politically driven student body and hopes to pursue a career in international relations or business.

Sophia serves as an executive board member of her campus Chabad; she is also involved with Kappa Kappa Gamma and George Washington Students for Israel.

Favorite Scheck Hillel Class: Jewish History with Ms. Benhamou Sophia’s advice to Scheck Hillel Students: “You can never be too involved!”

Last book read: The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner

Share with us! Please email your comments, questions and ideas for future editions of Lion’s Share to news@eHillel.org.