Volume 36 Issue 4

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The Lion’s Tale

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Volume 36 Issue 4

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January 25, 2019

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CESJDS

FINDING MIDDLE GROUND

the lion’s tale

A look at the middle school five years after being reimagined (pg. 8-9) Shriver school visits, pg. 03

Senior columns, pg. 05-07

Vignola family roots, pg. 15

news 02

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News Briefs Jan. 28 Professional Day School will be closed for a professional day as teachers finalize semester grades.

Jan. 29-30 A cappella auditions Students will have the opportunity to audition for Shir Madness on Jan. 29. Callbacks will be held on Jan. 30. Students must have participated in the high school chorus or have special permission from vocal music and theater teacher Aaron Dunn in order to try out.

Feb. 8 Siyum Seniors will have their siyum ceremony at B’nai Israel Congregation at 7:45 a.m. The upper school will have a threehour delay.

Feb. 10 Class of 2019 Graduation The Class of 2019 will have their graduation ceremony at Washington Hebrew Congregation at 2 p.m.

Feb. 13 High School Visual Arts Day Each high school grade will participate in a field trip that focuses on visual arts.

compiled by amelia davidson

Follow The Lion’s Tale on Instagram @jdslionstale for exclusive content

hackathon to promote creativity matthew rabinowitz contributing editor After months of coordination and effort, CESJDS’ first hackathon will be held on Jan. 27, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Unlike most hackathons, however, JDS’ hackathon will be based around multiple forms of STEM problem solving.

Traditionally, hackathons are 24 to 48-hour sessions where college students or professionals use their programming skills to solve a set scenario. After being judged by a panel, the top teams can win anything from bragging rights to grants.

During its creation, senior Aliza Rabinovitz and Upper School STEM Coordinator Cassandra Batson decided to take a spin on the session of intensive computer programming by shortening it to 10 hours to accommodate for Shabbat, which had stopped Rabinovitz from participating in Hackathons at other schools.

They also opened up the hackathon to a variety of STEM’s forms, including 3D-printing and engineering.

“What we’re trying to do is embrace all the different skills because

our program is new, and so we’re just kind of focusing on that,” Batson said.

Inspired by the ability to problem solve, Rabinovitz originally approached the JDS administration over the summer with her idea. She attended the summer programming camp Kode With Klossy for multiple years and took computer science at JDS as a freshman.

Batson and Rabinovitz also reached out to many nearby public and private schools in Maryland and Washington, D.C. so that students within the greater Washington area all have a chance to showcase their STEM skills in this rare event.

On the day of the hackathon, Batson and Rabinovitz will announce a set scenario around which all participants will focus their ideas and designs.

A panel of three judges will choose one of the teams of one to four members to win a 100 dollar gift card and will focus more on each project’s general idea rather than the execution of each project due to the short period of time.

STEM and computer science

teacher Rustom Meyer has supported professional and collegiate-level hackathons in the past and believes that they are an effective way to increase STEM fluency and time management skills.

“I guess that my main hope for this hackathon, for the first hackathon, is that we can come into it in a spirit of exploration,” Meyer said.

“Let’s try to make something cool in the time allotted, but, you know, not go nuts on it like it’s a crazy deadline.”

Although unable to participate due to a scheduling conflict, junior Samuel Goldberg views the upcoming hackathon as a unifying event for STEM at JDS as whole, which is currently split into individual classes and clubs.

“The thing about STEM at JDS and STEM in general is that there’s not really a community behind it at JDS. There’s [the] Engineering Club, there are several STEM classes, but there’s no real unifying event that takes place," Goldberg said. "There’s nothing that I see that really goes on and brings everyone together, but with this hackathon, even though

I’m not participating in it personally, I think it’s going to be a really great opportunity for people to come together and pursue their passions together."

Batson looks forward to seeing the creativity and effort put forth by students, as well as finally seeing something that she has spent months scheduling reach fruition.

“You’re excited to stay up. You’re excited to throw in ideas and change things up, and I think I’m most excited to see that in students,” Batson said.

Editor's Note: The Lion's Tale recognizes that senior Aliza Rabinovitz is a member of staff. As she was the only student coordinator of the event, we deemed it necessary to interview her. She was not, however, involved in the writing of this article.

Senior workshops prepare class for future sabrina bramson contributing editor On Tuesday, Jan. 29 and Wednesday, Jan. 30, CESJDS seniors will attend a variety of workshops to prepare them for life after high school.

Although the guidance office has played a major role in the planning process of workshops in the past, Dean of Students Roslyn Landy took charge this year.

According to Landy, the facilitation topics regard drugs, alcohol, vaping, date rape, sex education, finances and the Israel debate on college campuses. Landy is still finalizing the lineup of speakers for each workshop.

There will be four workshops each day. The seniors each selected their top three choices for the workshops and Landy is planning on having them attend their top choices, unless two of them are scheduled for the same time.

The sessions are sexual as-

go off to college, both as a refresher and to cover topics that we might not have covered in high school that are important for their transition to college,” Landy “...[they] allowed us to have a said.

The workface-to-face interaction with shops are held someone who is an expert at between the time that.” when seniors finish - alumna romi nachman ('18) their final exams and they leave for Israel. This scheduling change was cyberbullying and cyber saftey, made four years ago, as the seniors finances, mental health and Isra- had a longer than usual break leadel/Palestinian issues on campus. ing up to their Israel trip.

Alumna Romi Nachman (’18) Speakers include State's attorney Truancy Prevention Program direc- said a workshop that stood out to tor George DeBord and former JDS her was when she heard from a survivor of a drug overdose because it history teacher Marc Dworin.

These topics are meant to edu- was unlike anything she had previcate the seniors beyond the secular ously encountered. Nachman also and Judaic education they receive appreciated the workshops on antisemitism because she has been throughout their JDS experience.

“We always like to do some fi- surrounded by the JDS bubble for nal workshops before the seniors her whole life. sault and dating violence prevention, vaping, alcohol and drug prevention, opioid abuse prevention,

“I think [the workshops were] important because [they] allowed us to really have a face to face interaction with someone who is an expert at that,” Nachman said. “Instead of just hearing about it or even just seeing it on social media or T.V., it was something real.”

Elisa Bauman, mother of junior Ryan Bauman and alumnus Jared Bauman (’17) also views the workshops as a positive addition to the curriculum; however, she believes that the school should notify parents ahead of time about what information the workshops will cover.

“I think in general the school should tell the families what’s going on before it happens instead of after just because we do know our kids a little bit better and maybe there’s a topic or an issue that we would let the guidance counselor know of an issue if it were to arise,” Bauman said.

822 students attend the Shriver School

there are 23 title 1 schools in Montgomery County area

13.2% of children in Md. live below the poverty line

news

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JDS collected over 500 donated toys

statistics courtesy of montgomeryschoolsmd.org and familyleague.org

Just down the road: Students embrace service opportunity daphne kaplan contributing editor In a new opportunity for community service, CESJDS students gathered to assist students at Sargent Shriver Elementary School in their studies, located two miles away from the JDS Upper School campus.

Shriver Elementary School is a Title 1 institution, meaning it receives supplemental funding from the government to educate students from low-income families, who need to make up at least 40 percent of the student body. Shriver’s mission, according to the school’s website, is to provide inspiring lessons that promote “student-driven discover[ies]” for all students.

The partnership began after Stephany Sulbaran, Shriver’s Community Service Coordinator, reached out to Dean of Students Roslyn Landy at the beginning of the 20182019 school year. Landy had no prior knowledge that the institution existed or that it was so close to JDS’ Upper School campus, yet agreed to the partnership after talking to student council. To Landy, the program seemed like an important opportunity to allow JDS students to work with students from different backgrounds.

“He didn’t know many other Landy and Sulbaran discussed potential dates in the fall, focusing Jewish people, so he felt left out,” on days when JDS students would Sexter said. “I talked to him about not miss their own classes. Landy Judaism, since it was right after Hanwrote about the service opportunity nukah, and he said something that in the weekly announcements email, made me feel good. After I said ‘I celwhich sparked student interest. On ebrate the same holiday as you do,’ Nov. 5, the professional day, a group he said we are like cousins. That’s of 13 students went to Shriver to when I knew I was doing something meet the children, help teachers and impactful.” read books to students.

The group returned on Dec. 13 and 14, during parent-teacher confer“We know how privileged our ences. Sexter was among students [at JDS] are, so we the 13 who went. decided to try to help out...”

“I really like helping people; I get a lot of sat- dean of students isfaction out of helping other people, making their rosyln landy day better. I just saw this great opportunity to go help people who are more From the start of the 2018-2019 under privilege than us,” Sexter said. “I also saw it as a chance to see school year, one of Sulbaran’s primahow big of a difference between our ry goals was to provide all of the 822 school and other schools in the area.” students at Shriver with a toy for On each of the three JDS trips to Christmas. According to Sulbaran, Shriver, Sexter assisted first-graders most families at Shriver have Latin their studies, reading them books in American origins, and therefore and participating in a lesson plan observe Christmas, but do not have with students. It was on that trip the financial stability to give gifts. In when Sexter met a first-grade stu- order to mitigate stress from parents dent, one of the only Jewish students and provide a surprise for students, Sulbaran reached out to local instiat Shriver, according to the teacher.

tutions, asking for toy donations for students.

“It is difficult for their parents to make ends meet and some of them come to school with ripped shoes that are taped together.” Landy said.

“We know how privileged our students [at JDS] are, so we decided to try to help out and were successful in collecting close to 1,000 toys.”

The drive instantly became a “passion” for Landy and the delegation of students when they heard about the opportunity, which ultimately inspired them to reach out to the larger JDS community in search of toys to give to students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Shriver.

“See, here were 822 kids who never get a Christmas present. I mean their parents can barely buy shoes. Their shoes are taped together when they are ripped,” Landy said. “We know how much the kids in the school have, so we started collecting, and collected way over 500 toys.”

As an incentive to bring toys, the delegation of students created a raffle, in which anyone who donated a new toy received five tickets and all who donated a gently used toy received three tickets. The winners

of the raffle were drawn at Kabbalat Shabbat on Jan. 18 and received prizes such as airpods, parking spots and homework passes.

Once the drive was over and toys were collected, the delegation returned to help sort the toys. Along with other churches and community centers, JDS was successful in collecting a large number of toys.

“I feel very proud of our community that we came together to help others,” Landy said.

Given that JDS is Shriver’s only school partnership, the Shriver community is appreciative of the work JDS students have done to support them. According to Sulbaran, teachers are particularly grateful for the support, as it allows them to focus on other assignments, or spend time with other students who need extra help. Similarly, Shriver students are appreciative of JDS’ presence and “happy to make a new friend,” Sulbaran said.

“The teachers and the kids do not take it for granted and I feel very honored to be helping them,” Sexter said. “That is sort of what I like most about it, knowing that I do something that most people don’t usually get to do, and other people appreciate it a lot.”

opinion 04

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the

lion’s tale

editors-in-chief kate sosland, aliza rabinovitz managing editor, copy addie bard copy editor alex landy design editor jessie lehman news editors amelia davidson, izzy may opinion editor ben robinson, asst. matthew rabinowitz in-depth editor sara sporkin, asst. oren minsk features editors sabrina bramson, asst. daphne kaplan sports editor devira friedman, asst. sophia miller style editor shira godin, asst. irit skulnik multimedia editor lily daroff editorial cartoonists beyla bass, molly zatman reporters sally rogal, josie stein staff adviser jessica nassau adviser emerita susan zuckerman Editorial and Ethics Policy As the student newspaper of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, The Lion’s Tale is a public forum for student opinion and expression. All content is determined by students. 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.

Signed columns reflect the opinion of the writer; staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of The Lion’s Tale editorial board. The Lion’s Tale staff welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns, all of which must be signed. The staff reserves the right to refuse any material and may edit letters or columns for length, clarity, libel, obscenity and/or disruptiveness.

Discuss organ donation

Nearly 115,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a lifesaving liver, kidney, heart, lung or other organ transplants, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Jewish text teacher Grace McMillan’s husband was one of them, until he received a kidney transplant from his father who has a matching blood type and antigens.

McMillan recognizes that her husband is lucky. Not only did he find a compatible relative, but a kidney, just like a partial liver or intestine, is an organ that only a living donor can provide.

“For many people, the best match can be somebody within their family, but not always,” McMillan said. “So the broader the pool is of available organs, the better chance there is to find a match."

The problem is that the pool is far too small. A person joins the national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes, yet there is a severe lack of donors to meet the growing demand—such a shortage, in fact, that an average of 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant. The wait is often longer for the 2,000 children and teenagers in need of a transplant; in many cases,

Submissions may be emailed to jdslionstale@gmail.com, mailed to The Lion’s Tale or brought to room 320.

The staff will adhere to the ethics policies of The Society of Professional Journalists and the National Scholastic Press Association.

The adviser will be held to the Journalism Education Association’s Adviser Code of Ethics.

to register, teenagers must discuss their donor preferences with their parents or legal guardians. If they don’t, then the burden of that decision would be placed on a teenager’s parents in the event of a tragic accident. And not all hospitals may have personnel trained to have this type of discussion with a grieving parent.

“That’s a horrible decision for parents to have to make,” McMillan said.

Jewish tradition considers saving a human life to be among the highest acts of virtue, equivalent to saving an entire world. But precisely because life is sacred, the practice of taking organs from the dead is fraught with delicate ethical questions and complicated laws surrounding the definition of death. Several traditional requirements—to bury the dead quickly and avoid any defilement—would seem to prohibit taking organs from the dead. However, the lifesaving potential of organ donation is generally regarded as overriding those strictures, according to My Jewish Learning.

No teenager should feel obliged to register as an organ donor, or at

cartoon by molly zatman

least not the moment they turn 16.

It’s a conversation to have with a proper factual basis between teenagers, their parents and possibly a rabbinic authority. But if there’s even a small chance you could save someone’s life—and one donor can save up to eight—then registering is worth it.

-The Lion’s Tale

Competition in the classroom

Some material courtesy of American Society of News Editors/ TNS Campus School Newspaper Service. All other contents copyright of The Lion’s Tale. All rights reserved.

The Lion’s Tale is funded by The Simon Hirshman Endowment for the Upper School Newspaper and The Kuttner-Levenson Endowment for the Upper School Cultural Arts and Student Publications, and community advertisements. The Lion’s Tale reserves the right to refuse advertisement for any reason.

they require donations from another child of a similar age or size.

Teenagers have the opportunity to register as an organ donor when they get their driver's license.

Before doing so, though, teens and their parents should educate themselves on the matter and discuss each other’s preferences Common misunderstandings about medical care, potential suffering and costs related to organ donation may deter parents from letting their teenagers register, according to a C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at the University of Michigan. Just one in four parents who participated in the poll said that their driving-age teen is registered to be an organ donor.

Let’s clarify some misconceptions. According to the University of Michigan, being an organ donor will not affect the medical care a person receives in any way. They would still get all treatment options in a life-threatening situation. Furthermore, a person does not need to be kept alive for a donation and will not experience any additional pain.

There is also never a cost to the donor’s family for an organ donation.

Whether or not they choose

carrie hirsch guest columnist As I open up my planner after a long day of school and extracurriculars, I am astonished by the amount of stress I have experienced in just one school day. Too many tests, too many essays and too many graded assignments. The only thing more stress-inducing than completing these assignments is getting the grade handed back and hearing all the chatter about who in the class got what grade.

A teacher’s perspective on sharing grades differs significantly from a student’s, as teachers

constantly repeat not to share grades after most assignments are returned, while most students share their grades with at least one other classmate.

According to high school guidance counselor Rachel Soifer, sharing grades and peer pressure in a school setting can have both positive and negative effects on those that are falling for it.

“Having peer pressure to study and get good grades and to perform well during high school doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Soifer said. “But it can be too much of a good thing when it becomes such a focus that kids lose sight of other important things or lose their mentality.”

Looking at this topic from a student’s perspective, most of us do not just see our peers’ grades as something that influences us to perform well. While attending a competitive school like CESJDS, it is easy to fall into the trap of

getting extremely stressed over all of one’s grades.

Although parents play a crucial role in our lives by encouraging their children to do well and perform their best in school, they are not the ones who contribute greatly to this grade-induced stress and anxiety. Personally, I believe that my parents are content with my grades as long as I try my hardest.

My classmates, unlike my parents, do not see my performance as stellar unless it is an “A.” Some like to say that they got an “A” without even studying, even while a student who did study received a much lower grade.

Hearing this can often lead to one comparing themselves to others, which could potentially lower their self-esteem. Soifer has noticed that many students, both in and outside of this school, “compare their own insecurities to someone else’s strength[s].”

This problem does not call for a drastic solution, it just needs to be taken into consideration that everyone holds different opinions on this topic. I do believe that sharing grades is okay, as long as it is not too overbearing. It is key for students both in and out of school to acknowledge others' strengths and weaknesses without comparing them to their own.

While one subject may be one’s best, it could be another’s worst. Everyone is an individual with their own unique strengths. If a friend declines a request to share a grade, it should not send off the connotation that they performed poorly on the assignment.

“If you want to work and accomplish things, we have to be strong and build ourselves up and use our energy in a positive way,” Soifer said.

opinion

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All the good and the bad times two

kate sosland outgoing editor-in-chief It was the first day of preschool, and my twin Henry and I were placed in different classes.

While this is typically a heartbreaking goodbye for parents, it was also devastating to be separated from the person I had spent every

moment with up until this point.

As soon as our classes overlapped on the playground for recess, I ran to my twin and hugged him tightly.

While that certainly is not repeated in the halls of high school, Henry will always be my first and forever friend.

Let’s be clear: having a twin is not always easy. We share anything and everything from our birthday to friends to the last cookie on the plate. While in the moment it can be frustrating to always feel like a half, it has taught me to be a considerate and patient person. From the simple tasks of taking turns on the swings to playing with our toys together, I have learned about the importance

of putting others before myself.

As we are the same age, it’s easy for everyone to compare us.

“Kate, are you on student government like Henry?” “Henry, why don’t you have your driver's license like Kate does?” “Are you both looking at the same colleges?” For this reason, we both can agree that being a twin is tiring. Even though we are the same age, we still carry different passions, hobbies and ultimately, identities.

Despite our differences, we share the same values. Not everyone is as fortunate yet as cursed to have a constant companion like Henry.

We always are at the same stage of life, giving us the ability to learn and

confide in one another.

I admire Henry for infinite reasons. For starters, he lights up any room he walks into. He’s compassionate and courageous. And he’s funnier than I will ever be. My unbreakable love for him certainly does not mean we do not fight, constantly. Yet, our twin connection prompts me to always feel close to him.

It’s weird to think that he has known me longer than anyone.

Whether he will admit or not, Henry is one of my biggest supporters. He can always tell when something is on my mind from across the room.

As twins, we have never been far apart; yet as we embark on our sep-

arate college experiences, we will live exactly 970 miles away from each other. This means we won’t blow out the candles together on our birthdays and we won’t lean on each other if we don’t know anyone else in the room. Despite this reality, we won’t stop being twins.

Whether or not you have a twin, saying goodbye to loved ones is always hard. Yet, this time apart will make shorter times together much more meaningful. So, even if you and your sibling are bickering right now, try your best to take in every moment because it won’t last forever.

than ever when I shout encouragement to my teammates from the bench and get caught up in the excitement.

This same love for just watching a game and being part of a team wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t given this time to observe in the middle of the most dramatic rallies.

I have learned enthusiasm. I have never once not felt part of the team.

I’ve benefited from the two-hour a day exercise during practices. The drills have made me stronger and work harder. I can laugh and be serious at the same

moment. All of this happened without me once considering myself actually skilled at the sport.

I’m not promoting joining a team and never working for it.

I’m suggesting you take a sport or any activity at all that you like, but know, seriously know, you’re not the best at and stick with it for a few years. You’ll reap the benefits of the activity and the time that you spend inside your head working at improving will be one of the most worthwhile experiences of your life.

Embrace your weaknesses

aliza rabinovitz outgoing editor-in-chief I’ve played volleyball for the past six years. And for the past six years, I haven’t been rather good.

It’s important to play sports, sure.

But I think it’s even more important to play a sport and be bad at it.

When I first started, I was afraid; it hurts when you first start playing volleyball. Your arms get red and bruised and you’re sore since, at least if you’re me, you don’t have any upper body strength. Also if you’re me, this fear is justified because you won’t go two practices without being severely hit with a volleyball, and then you start to wonder if you’re really cut out for it, given your lack of coordination.

Looking back on my seasons

with the team, though, I don’t think I would have had the same experience if I hadn’t had the same challenges and difficulties. Had it not taken me three years to work my way up to an overhand serve, I probably would have had the chance to play more. But, I also wouldn’t have learned the value of independent and almost monotonous learning, of trying something again and again, even when it feels utterly frustrating.

I’ve also learned to be a team player. While I may not get to run onto the court often, I’m louder

To uphold pluralism, let females lead services

addie bard outgoing managing editor, copy Last year, my younger sister signed up to lead Kabbalat Shabbat at her eighth grade Shabbaton.

When the leader was announced, though, a male's name was read instead. My sister wondered what she had done wrong. Was it her singing

voice? Her religious beliefs? A few phone calls with the administration later, it became crystal clear that she was not permitted to lead because she was a female. In Orthodox communities, females typically cannot lead services. But JDS isn’t Orthodox; it claims to be pluralistic.

I explored this issue in my Rendering Legal Decisions Jewish text class last year. It turns out that there is nothing halachically wrong with a woman leading the Kabbalat Shabbat service because it does not contain any Diveri Kedusha, or elements of a service that require a minyan. Because Kabbalat Shabbat does not have these elements and thus does not require a minyan,

there is no legal reason a man would need to lead it. JDS is not Orthodox, yet it enforces a practice that is more extreme than the Talmud mandates.

In the hopes of solving this issue, Director of Jewish Life Stephanie Hoffman met with each grade and discussed it with them before their Shabbaton, this year. Each grade then voted on whether they wanted to stay together for Friday night services with a male leader or split up into Egalitarian and Orthodox services, allowing a woman to lead the Egalitarian one.

To me, this “solution” was methodically the wrong way to solve the problem and did not reflect the

pluralism JDS preaches. According to the JDS website, pluralism is defined as “a principled commitment to the diversity of Jewish backgrounds, beliefs, and practices of our community of students, teachers, and parents.” By pointblank prohibiting females from leading the grade-wide Kabbalat Shabbat service, however, the school is failing to commit to the diversity it strives for.

When the Shabbaton student leadership form found its way to my inbox, I proudly checked that I wanted to lead Kabbalat Shabbat, despite the disclaimer that only a man would be chosen. I did this as a protest: a protest against the blatant

sexism JDS was perpetuating and a protest against JDS’ flawed implementation of pluralism. Despite Jewish law being on my side, I, like my sister, was denied this opportunity.

During Kabbalat Shabbat at my Shabbaton, I practically screamed the prayers, singing so loudly, hoping to show, somehow, someway, that my female voice had a place in our “pluralistic” community.

The conversations and votes held this year are far from over, and I look forward to JDS revisiting this issue with an open mind, a mind that envisions our pluralism as a more open and welcoming place for female students.

senior columns 06

the lion’s tale

An open love letter to JDS

jessie lehman outgoing design editor If you ask anyone in the Class of 2019 who loves you, JDS, the most, they would most likely say me. Well, it would be a tough choice between me and Maya Cohen-Shields, but it would be close.

Our relationship started like many romantic relationships do, with a friendship. However, I didn’t realize you were more than just a school until junior year. Surprising, right? Junior year, the notoriously worst year of high school, was when we took our relationship to the next level.

Even though I had known you for so long, I wasn’t sure if we were ready to label it. I can’t put my finger on the exact moment that I knew it was love; It was a build-up of moments and experiences.

First, the people you brought into my life helped me see my love for you. You provided me with

teachers like Ms. Wassner, Ms. Bergstein and Mrs. Levitan, who taught me when and how to participate in a discussion. You gave me the most fabulous Dean of Students, Mrs. Landy, whom I never see without hugging. You introduced me to Ms. Luther, the person that I run to with good news. And, most importantly, you connected me to the most wonderful friends.

My passions, including volleyball, a capella, dance, volunteering and design are all a product of the opportunity you provided me and the encouragement you never failed to give. I can honestly say that I am the person I am today because

of what you taught me. In stressing empathy, I learned leadership skills I use every day. In providing academic support, I found new ways to engage myself in material.

In providing community service opportunities, I became absorbed in working with others to better my surroundings.

Like any other relationship, it was hard at first to recognize everything you have taught me. I was blinded by the challenges you brought me in workload. However, you were there for me at my worst and at my best, helping me to grow over time. It’s not that all of a sudden last fall you shaped me into

who I am. It was a long process that began 13 years ago when my little feet stumbled into Morah Rhonda and Morah Sarah’s classroom.

Inevitably, we now have to part.

We knew this would happen one day, although it came fast. As I walk through your halls, I have so many memories attached to every inch of your building. You were my first love. And you know what they say about first loves? They are the ones you will never forget.

nies in the 2014 Fortune 500 list attended Ivy League universities or other institutions that are classified as highly selective.

Professors at Brigham Young and San Diego State Universities published a study in 2015 where they compared the earnings of students who attended schools with three varying difficulties of admission. Ten years following graduation, the median wages of students who earned diplomas in STEM and humanity fields, among others, varied little among the top two categories of selectivity.

Most employers care more about the skills that a worker provides their company than the college they attended. Fortunately,

most non-elite universities offer superb educations that adequately teach these skills.

This is not to say that there are no advantages to attending a top school. Prestigious institutions can make it easier to create networks among experts and employers in a certain field. Additionally, elite schools consistently attract high-quality professors. This difference can be overcome, though, with hard work and a commitment to success.

I do not mean to say that you should stop trying in school. You should keep working as hard as possible. But make decisions based off of what you enjoy, not what you think colleges would like.

Chill out about college, for god's sake

ben robinson outgoing opinion editor Parents tell their children that they can accomplish anything in life with enough hard work.

It seems to many high school students, however, that the college they attend dictates how much success they will enjoy in adulthood.

They are under the impression that

going to a top-notch school is the key to success, while an “average” school means a mediocre life.

This pressure is healthy when it motivates students in academics, but it becomes toxic when a pressure to appeal to colleges shapes their electives, extracurriculars and free time. This causes students to overwork themselves or subject themselves to activities they do not enjoy, thus losing room for their actual interests. Many, including myself, have taken on the burden of electives or clubs which they do not care about only to make their resumes more glamorous.

What most people fail to understand, however, is that the colleges they attend as undergrad-

uates matter little towards their future success. Rather, what they make of their college educational experience counts much more. One can be extraordinarily successful at a moderately-selective school but fail at an elite institution, depending on how they apply themselves and take advantage of opportunities.

Take the U.S. House of Representatives, where less than 30 percent of the 435 members from 2015 to 2017 earned their undergraduate degrees at top 100 schools from College Raptor’s 2015 overall rankings. The median college ranking was 197. Moreover, only 30 of the American-born chief executives of the top 100 compa-

Cheerleading taught me more than I would have expected

shira godin outgoing style editor Growing up, I loved to dance, do gymnastics, swim and play volleyball, yet I never stayed with a sport for more than a few years.

That was, until I participated in JDS’ Cubs Club, which introduced me to a sport I had never tried out: cheerleading. The summer before second

grade, I participated in a two-week cheerleading day camp at a local gym and completely fell in love.

I participated in competitive all-star cheerleading for the next nine years and moved between three different gyms in that time.

Each taught me about myself and life in general.

The first gym where I cheered was the gym where I had attended summer camp, and it taught me how to work in a team.

The second gym I joined taught me discipline and work ethic. Making mistakes was very discouraged and I was penalized for making them. During my four years at this gym, I became obsessed with winning, which I later learned wasn’t a

healthy mindset. Yes, it is important to push yourself, however, there are times when you can take breaks.

The third gym I joined was the complete opposite of the second gym: It was very laid-back. My team did not win often, which was something I personally had to work on being O.K. with. I was finally given the chance of cheerleading without the added stress of being perfect.

Yet, now that the coaches weren’t the ones putting the pressure on me, I was the one putting it on myself. In my mind, nothing I did was good enough. Every practice I would run myself ragged doing skills that I failed to land, over and over again.

During my fourth year at the third gym, the owner of the gym

pushed me to become more competitive, which meant harder practices and stricter coaching. The pressure I put on myself shot to extreme levels.

I began to mess up simple skills that I knew I could do, and little by little I fell behind my teammates.

Eventually, I was replaced by a more skillful athlete. At that point, I knew it was time to end my cheerleading career.

Cheerleading taught things ranging from work ethic to self-discipline. Yet the most important lesson I learned from cheerleading didn’t actually come from my time in the sport. Today, almost a year after quitting, I’m beginning to realize the true talent that I had as a cheerleader. I regret not congrat-

ulating myself more on the amazing skills I could perform. Cheerleading taught me that my thoughts should not always be focused on critiques.

Instead, I should praise myself for even the smallest accomplishments.

You don’t always have to strive for perfection. Most of the time, you are perfect just the way you are.

senior columns

. the lion’s tale

07

My list of generic (but important) advice

amelia davidson outgoing news editor From the first moment of high school, I’ve constantly been told what to do to make the most out of my JDS experience. I might as well have been wearing a sign saying “please, impart your wisdom on me, oh glorious upperclassmen”—

that’s how much anyone and everyone threw generic advice my way.

I think it was around the fourth time that I was told to take Arab-Israeli conflict (you should, but that’s beside the point,) that my ninth-grade self, always so proud of her cynicism, decided to dismiss such advice as unnecessary and cliche. But four years later, I must admit that a lot of the advice was, annoyingly, useful. So I decided to use this column to compile the top hits so that others can mock it and then grudgingly use it to make their high school experience better.

1. Branch out! I know that’s one of the most annoying things to hear, but for real, do it. When

I moved into the alcove halfway through junior year, I probably consistently talked to only about a quarter of my grade. But with the new communal space, I made the conscious decision to sit down next to new people during lunch, or when taking a quick break from class (sorry teachers), and just start a conversation. I’ve made so many new friends that way.

2. Experiment with what classes you take. A lot of people—myself included—have ideas of a certain “correct” curriculum that they must follow throughout high school. But the best learning experiences I’ve had have come in the form of classes I didn’t expect

to take. My favorite class of high school has been Contemporary American Jewish Society, which I only took because it was the only Jewish history class that fit in my schedule. And if I hadn’t taken Journalism on a whim, you guys wouldn’t be reading through this annoying advice list. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you should embrace unexpected classes: They can be amazing and really affect your high school experience.

3. And for my last piece of generic advice: Chill out. This is ironic coming from me, because for a lot of high school, I was anything but chill. I spent the beginning of my high school career constantly

comparing my academic accomplishments to others. It turned me into a terrible ball of stress, and also really not a tolerable person (I sincerely apologize to anyone who had to deal with me during that time). Now, finishing high school, it’s not like I’ve reached peak chill.

But at least somewhere along the way, I’ve learned that it makes absolutely no sense to compare myself to others academically, and sometimes it’s okay to slow down for a second and make space for yourself outside of all the stress.

3. The furniture. The oddlyshaped tables in this building provide fun brain teasers for students and teachers alike to solve every time they need to rearrange a classroom. Additionally, the chairs here are not comfortable, but after years of sitting in them, there is no other shape into which my spine will fit.

4. The clocks. Although the JDS clocks do not look special, their image is seared into my mind. I have spent so many hours of my life staring at them. These clocks eliminate the need to visit an art museum; on long Fridays, they sometimes ooze into Daliesque forms hanging on the walls.

5. The bells. Bells at JDS are

a treat because they rarely occur when they are supposed to; It’s always a pleasant surprise to hear them. Like the tables, the bells also serve as team-building exercises for classes and their teachers to figure out which ones actually matter.

6. Google Forms. From surveys for classes to surveys about Shabbatons to surveys about grade spirit, it feels like I am sent hundreds of Google Forms each week. What would I do without them? I might have an empty inbox for once.

7. The community. The JDS community is incredibly tight-knit.

I am especially reminded of this every flu season when everyone is so generous in sharing their

germs.

In all seriousness, I am very grateful for my JDS experience and know that it has prepared me well for the next chapter of my life. At the very least, it has given me a lot of comedic material about which my friends and I can reminisce once we finally recover from high school.

What I'll miss about JDS

sara sporkin outgoing in-depth editor After spending close to 13 years at CESJDS, there are a number of aspects of my educational experience that I will miss after I walk across the stage at graduation. Here they are in list form: 1. Waking up at 6:45 a.m.

every day. Waking up this early gives me more hours in the day.

That’s more time to spend productively trying not to fall asleep due to exhaustion. On a related note, I will also miss staying up late at night and into the early morning to work on homework. Fortunately, I’ve been told that this will be a significant part of college life as well.

2. Being exposed to different subject areas. While I am looking forward to having more freedom to choose classes in college, I am still appreciative of JDS for introducing me to a wide range of subjects.

Chemistry will be especially helpful if I ever hit my head really hard and decide to be a chemist.

Focus on improvement; a single failure doesn't matter

devira friedman outgoing sports editor The first month of ninth grade World History I was a breeze.

Between the endless series of Jewish holidays, the days dedicated to reviewing the syllabus and the continuous stream of school assemblies and grade advisories,

the class didn’t get underway for some time. As a result, I didn’t have that many assignments; then came the first essay.

The task didn’t seem that daunting at first. I simply had to write an essay comparing and contrasting ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia. Without really knowing how to write a thesis or to incorporate analysis, I set off to write the worst essay I’ve ever written.

In my essay, I went on tangents about Pharaoh, made insightful comments such as “the first similarity between the two ancient civilizations was the time period in which they existed” and

used far too many semicolons. But yes, at the time, I thought it was pretty good.

So, you could imagine my shock when Mr. Atwood returned my essay and gave me a C. At the time, I handled this news the way any freshman would. I panicked.

My first instinct was to drop from the advanced level (which I didn’t do). If I wasn’t earning high grades on the first assignment, how would I survive the whole year?

In ninth grade, I didn’t understand the value in this experience, that making these mistakes was critical to my growth as a student.

I also didn’t understand how insignificant one bad grade would be in

the long run. I’m happy to say that one low grade didn’t interfere with my ability to pass the class, graduate ninth grade or even get into college. So, those of you worrying about that now can take a sigh of relief.

After this assignment, I went on to write many more essays.

With each one, I like to think that I improved a little bit. Now, as a senior who just submitted her ISearch, I can confidently say that this long process, ripe with failures and successes, has paid off.

So, my advice to those of you who find yourself in a similar position—whether it be a low grade, a bad basketball game or anything

else that isn’t going your way—is to focus on how to improve, how to go to others for help and how to not panic. You will become better because of it and you'll maybe make some new friends along the way.

in-depth 08

the lion’s tale

Finding mid

disciplinary learning and Social and Emotional Learning.

The Collaborative for AcademFrom multiple bell sounds ic, Social and Emotional Learning to academic philosophy, the mid- defines SEL as “the process through dle school has had its fair share of which children and adults underchange over the past five years. With stand and manage emotions, set and only three years to complete a grant achieve positive goals, feel and show with high expectations for a develop- empathy for others, establish and mentally-appropriate middle school, maintain positive relationships and it was a struggle to determine how make responsible decisions.” best to change CESJDS. Sixth-graders JDS parent Natalie Billington joined the Upper School, construc- supports the introduction of SEL tion physically separated the two di- and said it is the “most important visions, schedules were switched up information you can learn in midand classes were added to the mid- dle school.” According to Billington, dle school schedule. these skills set up children for the rest of their lives in terms of deterBeginning the change mining who they are and how they “[Middle school is] very cha- function as part of a community. otic but valuable,” seventh-grader While Billington emphasizes SEL at Hannah May said. “They don’t really home as well, she believes it is highly have a firm structure as of now so it’s effective in school. kind of all over the place in terms of “I would say that both [my] chilacademics, but it’s also valuable be- dren, in sixth and eighth grade, feel cause most of the skills that we learn confident in themselves and in their in middle school and the lessons that friendships, and that is a testament are packed into each class can be to both home life and school policy,” used in later life, but right now we Billington said. don’t fully understand that.”

SEL skills, like how to work As one of the students fully in groups, learned in periods such transitioning through the developing as Humanities, Rikuz—an advisomiddle school, May has experienced ry period focused on SEL, mental firsthand the effects of a $270,000 health and supplements to core lesLegacy Heritage Headway Enrich- sons—and Experience, often apply ment Grant. to paired work in Jewish text classes, The three-year grant covered Jewish text teacher Aviva Gershman all expenses needed for the rede- said. Other lessons she sees come sign of the middle school. The ad- into play are character development ministration began the process by and organization. researching what middle school stuDean of Academics Aileen Golddents need developmentally, the ed- stein said a schedule change was ucational structures of other schools also essential for middle schoolers, and the strengths and weaknesses of as they were not “set up for success” the current program. Former middle following the high school school principal Rebecca Weisman, structure of almost who served from 2014 to 2017, said one-hour classes. the “beacons” of the anticipated ini- The new schedtiative were teacher training, inter- ule replaced this aliza rabinovitz & kate sosland editors-in-chief

with classes ranging from 39 to 54 el. It’s harder for me personally to dependently when you get to high minutes, depending on the day of translate my knowledge to a middle school,” Gershman said. school level.” the week.

Like Gill, Gershman was attract- Applications in the classroom “If we are really true to our misWhile JDS has received mostsion of this being an age-appropri- ed to JDS because of the chance to ate-developmentally middle school, teach a broad age range of students. ly positive feedback about changes, that is something we are going to From her perspective, it is also “re- such as bringing the sixth grade to constantly be working on,” Goldstein warding” to see how students’ mid- the Upper School, Goldstein said that dle school learning translates to high the negative feedback from the midsaid. dle school changes was often about However, this drastic schedule school.

“On some level I miss that and the academics. In terms of educachange was initially hard to achieve because faculty overlapped the divi- the way that working in both divi- tion, Goldstein said that the topics sions. While Goldstein realized many sions kind of informs what you do in taught in middle school are essenfaculty members were drawn to JDS the other,” Gershman said. “I’m lucky tially repeated in later grades, so the for the unique opportunity to teach that I was here before we split the emphasis is more on the process of learning. both, they had “We have realized not only in to separate [speech] but in practice that midthe roles for dle school is not about the conlogistical rea“In a nutshell, you can say that middle tent,” Goldstein said. “Content is sons. school is much more focused on building critical and important but the stuThis polthe foundational skills which then we dents are going to spiral through icy change the content again [in high school caused forexpect you to put to use independently and beyond]. It’s about ‘how do I mer science when you get to high school.” approach [the learning], how do I teacher Ra- jewish text teacher gain interest in it and excitement chel Gill to around it.’” leave her fullAviva Gershman Billington agrees with this time teaching philosophy and said that while job at JDS. Pripreparing for high school is one or to the shift, she taught both middle and high divisions; I have the benefit of seeing aspect of middle school, adolescence school students. Her passion was both of those and what we do with is a difficult time for everyone, and therefore it is important to “look at to teach high schoolers, and when each because it’s an asset to me.”

In its new plan, the administra- the child as a whole,” which the redethe school fully split, there was only a position available for her in the tion sought to clarify that high school sign has greater emphasized.

According to English teacher middle school. Gill was prompted and middle teachers have different to attend graduate school while still demands as educators. While mid- Nancy Wassner, middle school priremaining connected with the JDS dle school teachers tend to spend oritizes “executive function skills,” community as a part-time substitute more time building engaging lesson which include following directions, plans and providing learning skills, formatting and turning assignments teacher.

“I wasn’t comfortable compro- high school teachers structure their in on time. While Wassner said the mising what my goal for teaching expectations more based on grading feedback teachers give in both divisions of the school is similar, the was. My goal for teaching is to help and analysis. expectations vary, such as with “In a nutshell, you can say that high school students and improve a strong paragraph topic the skills that they have,” middle school is much more sentence.

Gill said. “It’s … easi- focused on building the “It goes from skills er to translate my foundational The new middle being ‘is it there’ knowledge to a which then we expect concrete to high school lev- you to put to use inschool now focuses

on Social and Emotional learning, according to former middle school principal Rebecca Weisman.

in-depth

the lion’s tale

d l e g ro u n d qualitative ‘how is it doing the work that it needs to do,’” Wassner said.

Goldstein said SEL is often underestimated compared to content-based academics in her view.

“The sense that middle school doesn’t matter is a misconception I wish we could change ... [Middle school] matters,” Goldstein said. “It matters the way people don’t think it matters.”

One cornerstone of SEL, according to middle school principal Dr. Eliana Lipsky, is collaborative problem solving. Lipsky said it maintains “when something isn’t working well, there’s a reason” and that “anyone does well if they can,” meaning that if a student is not performing their best, there is an outside explanation.

Lipsky described collaborative problem solving as an additional tool for teachers. While they have previously considered student perspectives, they now have a new method for understanding “what [students] think is going on for them,” Lipsky said. Afterward, in a partnership, the student and teacher will determine how to move forward in a way that benefits both.

While middle school teacher Brenda* believes that this overall change was necessary and effective, she sees a greater need for middle school students to develop as leaders. Brenda still views middle school as a place to support and guide the students; however, she thinks the students can be pushed to take initiative more often within the curriculum.

“We’re hand holding them, and we should be working on giving them a structure to develop their leadership skills and to learn to become respon-

sible,” Brenda said.

Similar to Brenda, May sees flaws in the middle school curriculum. She believes that new SEL classes are not cohesive and structured.

(The Lion’s Tale article “Funky Friday: Middle school develops experiential learning program” explored the skill-building blocks added for middle schoolers.)

“We don’t really know how to describe Humanities because it’s so all over the place,” May said. “Every week we have a different lesson ... none of them connect. We had a lesson on vaping and then we had a lesson on bar and bat mitzvah common courtesy.”

Seventh-grader Lena Nadaner values certain lessons from Humanities or Rikuz, but she feels that because of the reduced academic rigor compared to core classes, it is not taken seriously by herself and her classmates.

“I feel like the stuff we’re learning, it’s not pointless, it should just be put into social studies class,” Nadaner said. “We would definitely put more effort in and probably even understand it more.”

Moving forward Although the initial goals of the new middle school have remained, not all of the initial programs from the grant worked as anticipated.

Council in Schools, a program that involves “learning and speaking from the heart,” was initially met with resistance but is now “a part of the fabric in a natural way,” Goldstein said, but Kesher Tefillin, a project in which students create their own tefillin, did not fit well with the school community.

Looking forward, the administration also hopes to in-

09

clude more recess time for middle school students. While Head of School Rabbi Mitchel Malkus thinks high school students are “not expected to have that free time in the same way,” middle schoolers, especially sixth graders, “need more time to run around and get their energy out.”

According to Lipsky, the current middle school schedule does not include much downtime for students.

In fact, unlike how high school students have Community Time almost every day, middle school students only have their version of it, Lion Time, on Fridays.

“I’d like to see a little bit more photo by oren minsk of that throughout the week so that Middle school students work on their art projects in Art and Design, one of their our students have a space to just be,” six elective options.

Lipsky said. “That’s important.”

Billington supports introducAs the middle school has the middle school’s initiatives from ing more recess time in the middle school. From her perspective, even formed into a distinct academic en- the redesign, he did not think all of though middle school students are tity, it causes the jump to high school the new classes were necessary; required to take physical education to be greater, Goldstein said. In order however, he found great value from classes, recess time is still import- to smooth the transition, the admin- the lessons in Experience.

“Experience was actually helpant since it is a different type of istration is working to incorporate downtime. She said that in the Unit- gradual policy shifts per grade that ful because it taught us some things about how to budget money and ed Kingdom, she had three recess meet their mental growth.

“We are trying to gradually in- how to use your time well,” Afterbreaks a day until she graduated at 18, and in that time she “learned to crease the rigor and expectations good said. “That actually helped.”

Although there is still work to with coaching along the way,” Goldbe a part of the community.” be done, Goldstein is overall satisfied Nadaner also feels that a por- stein said.

To Malkus, the emotional and with the progress of the change and tion of the reason why SEL classes are not taken seriously is because academic skills solidified in the new its optimistic about its future.

“The value of middle school is they are seen as a break by students, middle school structure have preleading to more behavioral issues in pared the students to adapt to high learning how to be,” Goldstein said.

“How to go through this adolescence them than in core classes. Nadaner school.

“If anything, they’re going to and come out solid, confident, conwould love to see recess incorporated into the middle school schedule have an easier transition,” Malkus scientious, able to ask good questions, able interact with other ages and feels it would help alleviate the said.

Freshman Lincoln Aftergood in different settings, learning how to problems. had an overall smooth transi- do these things and be this confident “Some people in our grade tion to high school as he individual is what qualifies success they definitely need to get feels both eighth and for me.” there energy out and if ninth grade have not, they get it out in Middle school similar work- *Name has been changed to protect classes,” Nadaner classes are now loads. In terms of teacher's privacy. said.

shorter in order to fit the attention spans of middle school students, according to Dean of Academics Aileen Goldstein.

photos by jessie lehman

features 10

the lion’s tale

DOUBLING DOWN ON SCIENCE sally rogal reporter After taking biology her freshman year, sophomore Jane Trainor realized that she loved studying science and wanted to spend her elective slots learning a subject that interests her. When it came down to the time to select courses for sophomore year, Trainor decided to double in science, and Genetics and Biotechnology I became the clear choice for her science elective slot.

Starting sophomore year, students have the opportunity to double in science, meaning that they take Chemistry and a second science in their elective slot. The options for science classes depends on their grade and math level. In order to take Physics I advanced sophomore year, students must be in the highest math level, while there is no math requirement for genetics.

Trainor fulfills the advanced math requirement that would allow her to take Physics I, since she is also taking pre-calculus; yet, Trainor decided to take genetics because that was a class she was truly passionate

“I am afraid that some students about.

CESJDS decided to implement take it because they think it will be the opportunity for students to dou- impressive on their transcript and ble in science in response to stu- look good for college,” Landy said.

According to Director of College dents leaving the school to attend Counseling Sue Rexford, when colscience magnet schools.

Science Department Chair and teacher Kimberly Agzigian thinks that students “It's for people who are double in science based on their educational passionate about science...” and career goals. If stu- science department dents are interested in going into STEM fields, chair and teacher kimbrly doubling in science can agzigian allow them to stand out on their resumes and get internships.

“It’s for people who are passion- leges look at students' transcripts, ate about science, who want to major they look at the rigor of curriculum in science and have a career in sci- and want to see that students are ence, people who just love studying challenging themselves and getting good grades in those classes. and learning science,” Agzigian said.

Rexford recognizes that some Dean of Students Roslyn Landy believes that students double in sci- students double in science because ence because they are passionate they think it will look good on their about the subject but the workload resumes. She believes there can be is at times too much, especially if problems if students cannot mainstudents are filling all nine slots with tain the increased workload.

“Some students will double up academic classes.

in something or more than one thing because they feel that it is the right thing for them to do,” Rexford said.

“As a result, it can sometimes water down all of their academics because they don’t have enough time that they can budget it well enough so that they can do well in every subject.”

Trainor has been able to manage her work and find time to get her homework done.

“Doubling science is not that much of a burden on the workload,” Trainor said. “[In] Genetics typically, you get flashcards and current events, but [it’s] usually more inclass assessments, so that is really helpful.”

Along with offering students the chance to double in science, JDS has a similar system of doubling courses for both English and History.

“I think [doubling in English and History] is not as popular not because students like science more than they like the humanities, but that they think it will look better on their transcripts because STEM is very popular now,” Landy said. “We definitely have many students who

new environmental initiatives.

Chief Financial Officer Julie Hoover noted that while there is not a sizeable budget for environmental ventures due to keeping tuition costs as low as possible, the school has taken action in efforts to go green.

Recently, all lights on both campuses were replaced with LED bulbs.

According to Hoover, this update, coupled with asking teachers to turn off the lights when not in class, saved JDS over $30,000 in just one year.

“There are so many things we can do to help the environment that don’t even cost money,” Hoover said.

Members of the environmental protection club, disappointed by the omission, met with High School Principal and Associate Head of School Dr. Marc Lindner to discuss their hopes for the future.

During this meeting, the club leaders proposed measures ranging from automatic hand dryers in the bathrooms to solar panels on the roof. They were told that the school did not have the budget to implement major changes, but the administration is willing to hear more

cost-effective plans.

One idea Lindner believes that JDS could accommodate is a compost system. He noted that the school has already approved composting in a community garden near the Rocking Horse Center, where the school holds its evacuation drills. Lindner explained that it is just a matter of logistics and organization that dictate when the school actually begins composting there.

“With the composting, this predates my time at JDS, I understand now that this has been something that has been raised and been discussed before I arrived here,” Lindner said. “Composting is definitely not a closed issue. The latest consideration was the community garden that is close by … the challenge with that is just getting compost from here to there on a regular basis.”

While Lindner says he is open to having discussions with students about possible plans for the future, many students believe that the school has a responsibility to initiate some action and show commitment towards implementing their ideas.

graphic by sabrina bramson

are passionate about the humanities but they don’t tend to double [in] English or History frequently.”

Like Rexford and Landy, Agzigian notes the benefits of doubling in subjects because the purpose of electives is for students to choose what they are most interested in.

“I think that it is great that [JDS] offer[s] the opportunity for students to pursue their interests, regardless of whether it be science or the arts or language, [and] that we have those opportunities for our students to really go deep into what they love,” Agzigian said.

Environmental protection club heats up josie stein reporter In a time where teens often hear news detailing the environment and its ever-changing state, a group of students have taken it upon themselves to spread awareness of these topics at CESJDS by participating in the environmental protection club, otherwise known as the green team.

Over the past two years, with help from the club, the JDS administration has made several significant changes in effort to make more environmentally-conscious decisions.

Two automatic water bottle filling stations have been added in the school, saving thousands of plastic water bottles to date. New recycling bins have also been introduced, encouraging students to think carefully before discarding their waste.

The environmental protection club has steadily gained popularity at JDS since its inception, with approximately 10 members participating in each meeting. Founded by seniors Addie Bard and Dora Mendelson at the start of the 2017-2018

school year, the club meets on Tuesdays during lunch and works toward bringing school-wide awareness to issues affecting the environment.

Club members held a week-long social media conservation contest during the week of Dec. 17-21 where participants completed challenges throughout the day that encouraged them to be more environmentally conscious. Freshman Talia Jacobson, for example, took photos and videos of what she did to produce less waste, and was voted the winner by leaders of the environmental protection club.

“Winning the contest was a big accomplishment for me and it encouraged me to try to keep this up in the future,” Jacobson said.

While the club is trying to educate the student body on environmental issues, the administration has not created a specific action plan to address the concern.

On Oct. 9, the JDS administration released a strategic plan detailing the school’s basic financial outline for the future. The document did not address any plans to implement

Even though budgeting may be one of the most significant barriers to overcome, Lindner encourages students to think outside the box and take on the responsibility of making the community a better place. Lindner added that there is not a large budget available for student clubs and that the environmental protection club could help develop ideas that “overlap” with already existing school initiatives.

With such an active and passionate student body, Lindner believes that students will easily be able to dream up and spread new ideas in order to make JDS a greener place.

“I do think it’s reality that sometimes it’s difficult to get things off the ground, but I certainly want to keep on talking about it,” Lindner said.

“Sometimes it’s just that persistence that’s needed to make something happen.”

A day in the life of Dr. Lindner

11

5:00 a.m. Alarm goes off. Sometimes I wake up earlier. OK, most of the time I wake up earlier.

5:10 a.m. Reply to emails/send emails.

6:30 a.m. Chat with my family and feed the dog (his name is Oliver, but we call him Gail).

6:45 a.m. Walk out to my car, take a moment to look at the sky and trees, drive to school.

7:00 a.m. Arrive at school, drink coffee, print schedule for the day, make sure I’m prepared for meetings and classes.

7:30 a.m. Stand at the front of the school to greet everyone coming in.

8:00 a.m. Walk around to see what’s happening in Z’man Kodesh or meet with teachers or administrators.

9:33 a.m. Teach Algebra II. Factoring bliss.

10:32 a.m. Community Time - meet with a club or individual students or be interviewed by The Lion’s Tale!

11:05 a.m. Chat with parents, work on a survey for alumni, take a moment to be grateful that this is what I do for my work.

1:06 p.m. Get lunch in the cafeteria.

Try to avoid cheese and usually fail.

1:49 p.m. Teach Geometry. A plethora of polygons.

2:47 p.m. Teach Statistics. It’s not Pi in the sky.

4:00 p.m. Attend meeting with Lower School and Upper School administrators.

5:30 p.m. Finish up at school, drive home, have dinner with my family.

6:30 p.m. Take Gail for a walk. If it’s raining, it takes some convincing.

7:00 p.m. Catch up on news, including sports, especially if it’s college football season.

7:30 p.m. Chat some more with my family.

8:00 p.m. Reply to emails/send emails, if I can keep my eyes open.

9:00 p.m. Preferred time for lights out.

9:30 p.m. Figure out why Gail is barking. He gets the most worked up when there are deer around the house.

sometimes it “got out of hand.”

Although Landy has frequently vetoed students’ ideas in the past, she said that this year’s airport-themed prank was not difficult to agree upon.

“They set [the prank] up easily and it did not cause any mess,” Landy said. “They were cooperative and they cleaned it up immediately.”

According to Landy, usually only 20 students show up the night before the prank to set up. However, this year almost four times that number came to school and helped prepare.

“This class really came out, they worked together, they had a lot of fun and they had ice cream,” Landy said.

This year was easier to plan and execute than in years past, and this year’s class was mostly in agreement on deciding their prank. Although there were some conflicts in the town hall, once they spoke with Landy, “everyone was pretty much on board,” Gershengorn said.

This was a change from years past. According to Landy, previously, pranks had been a lot more “destructive.”

“In the past years what [the seniors] have done is they cut up all the SAT booklets and threw them all over the place,” Landy said. “They make a mess, and it’s kind of silly.”

Junior Zach Gross said that it is a good idea to keep up with the tradition of a senior prank despite the

planning process being strenuous and disagreements within the junior class over the prank.

“From a student’s perspective, [the prank is] really annoying, but if I was a senior I’d be laughing,” Gross said.

Though the prank varies from year to year, one constant throughout the process is the grade’s cooperation. The senior class has the opportunity to plan something unique and enjoyable for the whole school before they graduate.

“It was fun, I had a good time setting up," Stravitz said. “It was cool to see it all come together.”

marc lindner high school principal and associate head of school

photo by sabrina bramson

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PROCESS BEHIND PRANKS izzy may contributing editor The senior prank has been a long-standing tradition for as long as Dean of Students Roslyn Landy has worked at the school: over 41 years.

Seniors prepare the logistics weeks in advance and come into school the night before the prank to set everything up. However, the process of planning the prank is more elaborate than believed to be.

Earlier this year, the class of 2019 presidents, Max Stravitz and Ari Gershengorn, sent out a form to their grade asking them to submit ideas for the prank. After collecting the responses, they invited the grade to a town hall meeting to

discuss each idea and eventually come to a general theme. After the meeting, Stravitz and Gershengorn, along with senior class vice presidents Alexis Bell and Liam Shemesh, established the theme and planned out the details that would go into the prank’s execution.

After the presidents and vice presidents specified the plan, the four went to Landy for approval, which is always required before the execution of all senior pranks.

For the past 15 years, Landy has required the seniors to plan out the final steps of the prank in her company to ensure that everything stays under control because many years ago, seniors did not go to Landy for approval on their prank, and she said

3. Seniors Jordan Schneider, Maor Masica, Aliza Rabinovitz and Leah Winkler wait for students’ arrival to check their belongings.

1. Senior Max Rogal interrogates freshman Hailey Nydish upon walking into the building.

1

2 photos by alexis bell 2. Spanish teacher Deby Kijak brings a filled water bottle, and is questioned by seniors Ilana Kaplan and Shira Godin, as is a normal procedure in airport security.

This process held up students attempting to enter the building and created a line out the door.

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When not in Israel...

A few seniors’ second semester plans amelia davidson contributing editor

Estie Wasserstein

Ethan Shurberg

Ilana Kaplan

photos by amelia davidson

While the rest of her class heads to Israel, senior Estie Wasserstein will stay home to volunteer as a teacher’s aide in kindergarten science classes at the Bayard Rustin elementary school in Rockville, Md. Wasserstein will spend next year studying at a seminary in Israel, so she feels going to Israel with her class for an additional three months is “unnecessary.” Her seminary study also includes a portion in Eastern Europe, so she will not be joining the class in Europe either.

“I would really love to be with my grade and to get to have all those

experiences, but from a very young age I knew that I was going for a year to learn, so I knew that was my priority,” Wasserstein said.

Wasserstein is excited about her job because it combines science and education, two subjects in which she has long been interested.

“I really wanted an opportunity that would let me do something that I was really interested in,” Wasserstein said. “This is a really good way to have a flexible schedule but also to mesh my two interests by working predominantly in science classrooms.”

This February, senior Ethan Shurberg will move to Boston to start a seven-month paid internship at the Boston Children’s Hospital.

The hospital is a hub for research out of Harvard Medical School and Shurberg will work in a neuroscience lab there.

In the lab, Shurberg will research the way that problems with mitochondria creation in neurons can lead to neurodegenerative diseases. Shurberg has previously worked in neuroscience labs over the summer, one summer focusing on traumatic brain injury, and one

summer focusing on Alzheimer’s.

Shurberg is excited about this internship because it will expand his previous knowledge.

“I think it’s going to be a really great experience and I’m really just going to be working side-by-side with graduate students and helping them with their research and with solving problems, and just progressing their research,” Shurberg said. “There isn’t going to be any hand-holding or anything like that, which is nice.”

Senior Ilana Kaplan looks toward a busy spring. As president of BBYO’s D.C. Council, Kaplan’s responsibilities make it impossible for her to go to Israel. She will be staying home to continue her work running D.C. Council and to fully carry out her work for BBYO’s International Convention. Kaplan is the Stakeholders’ Administrative Assistant for the International Order, meaning that during the convention she will work with BBYO’s large donors. “[The decision] was definitely difficult," Kaplan said. "At the beginning of junior year, I was serving my first year as a council board member, and I really realized how fulfilling it was and how important it was to me to be in this position, and I couldn’t think of leaving BBYO and all of the work that I’d been doing behind and going to Israel for three months."

Although BBYO is what primarily pushed Kaplan not to go to Israel, she will not focus only on BBYO this spring. She will intern at the Montgomery County State Attorney’s office and the Family Justice Center, where she will help with casework and with planning for the Choose Respect conference for Montgomery County teens this April.

Overall, while the decision was not easy, Kaplan is excited for the opportunities that come along with her remaining home during the spring.

“I’m most excited to close out the five years of my BBYO career in this position that holds so much legacy,” Kaplan said. “And also because of me staying home, I’m able to intern at such an amazing place and get such an amazing experience that I wouldn’t be able to have otherwise.”

14 seniors are not attending the israel trip, according to english teacher nancy wassner, as of the beginning of january

photo illustration by sabrina bramson

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On and off the mat with coach Matt devira friedman & sophia miller sports editors During the school day, Director of Information Technology Matthew Castanera-Bartoszek can be found in the tech office ensuring that the internet and the school’s programs are functioning properly. After school, however, he can be found on the wrestling mat acting as the assistant coach of the CESJDS varsity wrestling team.

Castanera-Bartoszek started wrestling in high school, where he was a competitive wrestler for all four years. After two semesters of college, he decided to join the U.S. Marines because he wasn’t performing as well academically as he would’ve liked. He spent two-and-a half years there as a maintenance management specialist, working to fix all the weapons east of the Mississippi for the Marines.

Outside of school and wrestling, Castanera-Bartoszek’s hobbies include jiu-jitsu and turning wood. He has been training in jiu-jitsu for eight years with his two daughters, who both compete in high-level tournaments and holds a purple belt in the martial art form. Castanera-Barto-

szek first stumbled upon the art of turning wood while on Facebook and ever since then has become really invested in finding reclaimed pieces of wood and converting them into bowls.

“I’ve always been an artist,” Castanera-Bartoszek said. “I wanted to be an art teacher before I joined the Marines and this is feeding my artistic inside.”

After the Marines, Castanera-Bartoszek became the Director of Technology at Beauvoir, The National Cathedral Elementary School.

Also around this time, he began coaching wrestling because a close friend told him to try it out. He found it extremely rewarding and went on to coach for eight years at St. Albans followed by two years at St. Andrews, where his daughters, ages 15 and 16, go to school.

“I first started doing it [coaching wrestling] for me just to get back on the mat and be a wrestler again,” Castanera-Bartoszek said. “When I started noticing the difference I was making in the kids’ lives, that was much more rewarding for me.”

This year is Castanera-Bartoszek’s first year at JDS and thus far, he has noticed two main differences

between coaching at other schools and coaching here. First, the JDS team is unable to wrestle on Shabbat.

This makes it extremely challenging for the team to participate in large tournaments, and so although the team practices often, Castanera-Bartoszek said “there’s not a whole lot of matches going on.” Another difference is that the JDS team is much smaller than a typical team, with only seven wrestlers on the roster compared to a typical 25-30.

Castanera-Bartoszek, however, sees this as an advantage because there is more time for individual instruction for each student-athlete.

Castanera-Bartoszek was very involved in creating a wrestling room in the Lower School for the team to use for practice. The room has mats on the floor and the walls are lined, so it is completely safe for the team’s use.

Athletic Director Becky Silberman believes Castanera-Bartoszek is making changes that will strengthen the wrestling program.

“He has a lot of good connections in the area,” Silberman said.

“He set up matches with St. Andrews and St. Albans and they are now scheduling joint practices with some

public school teams in the area just one can teach you something but you never really understand it until you to grow our program.”

Castanera-Bartoszek uses a actually do it [with them].” hands-on approach when coaching that he said is the only way to teach the student-athletes how to be better.

“There is no substitute for mat time, so I could sit there and talk to them ‘this is how you do it,’ but unless I actually do it with them they are never going to feel it and know what it’s like to be in that situation,” Castanera-Bartoszek said. “My style is to actually wrestle the kids to solidify what photo courtesy of dimensions I’m actually coaching Director of Information Technology and assistant them.”

Freshmen Yoni varsity wrestling coach Matthew CastaneraLiebstein, a mem- Bartoszek demonstrates a move to junior Adiv ber of the JDS varsity Leibestein. Castanera-Bartoszek thinks it's valuable wrestling team, thinks to use a hands on coaching approach and show very highly of Castane- athletes how to do moves. ra-Bartoszek and his coaching style.

“He’s a lot more involved than any of our other coaches ... he wrestles with us,” Liebstein said. “Some-

Wellness warriors: Staff participates in weekly exercise program oren minsk contributing editor Dynamic stretches, short sprints, bodyweight exercises and cardio stations: what a few teachers can be found doing in the cafeteria on Tuesday afternoons.

The Wellness Warriors, CESJDS’ wellness program, started after-school exercise classes at the Upper School for all faculty and staff that focuses on cross training.

The class, which has intrigued several teachers over the course of the school year, has made it easier for teachers to fit exercise into their schedules.

A wellness program is any form of workplace-organized support for healthy behavior. According to Human Resources Generalist and Wellness Program Chair Temi Ibikunle, the goal of the wellness program and committee at JDS is “to encourage, promote, and provide opportunities for our employees to choose healthy

equipment.

Instructional Technology Specialist Beth Poston is a member of the wellness committee, which meets four times each year to create programs and opportunities for faculty and staff to be as healthy as possible.

“Everyone needs to have some Poston considers type of relief, they need to herself an avid exerciser and understands expend that built-up energy and the physical and menlet it out, and working out is the tal benefits of exercise. perfect solution.”

She exercises multiple times per week with - personal trainer her personal trainer phillip durity Phillip Durity, who is also a trainer at Orangetheory, a fitness and staff are able to earn points for franchise.

When Poston proposed Durity exercising, being active and living healthy lives. Each month, the peo- coming to JDS to do boot camp workple with the most points can choose outs with faculty and staff, the comfrom a list of rewards provided by mittee sent out a survey to gauge the Wellness Program, such as gift faculty and staff interest about an cards, water bottles and exercise exercise program and what type of lifestyles and reach the optimal state of health they can achieve.”

The Wellness Warriors have a Google Classroom page where they promote healthy lifestyles. Faculty

activities they might enjoy.

The survey found that 87 percent of responders expressed interest in an after-school boot camp program featuring a variety of exercises. Once enough people were interested, Poston reached out to Durity. The class, which started in Spring 2018, is offered for an hour each week. Between five and ten faculty members attend each class, according to Rosenthal.

The cost of each class is mostly covered by Educators Benefit Services, who fund the Wellness Warriors, with each person contributing five dollars per class they attend.

According to Ibikunle, the Wellness Warriors will continue to partially fund the class through the end of the 2018-19 academic year, and then survey interest before deciding the future of the exercise classes.

Durity has run similar fitness programs at other schools in the past, and enjoys the group aspect and comradery of the program at

JDS. The energy and character that the attendees of the classes at JDS make Durity’s job more fun, and Durity recognizes the importance of his work.

“Everyone needs to have some type of relief, they need to expend that built-up energy and let it out, and working out is the perfect solution,” Durity said. “It is their time to focus on themselves, and when [they] leave the workout, they feel so much better.”

Jewish History teacher Dr. Dan Rosenthal often attends the fitness boot camp sessions. Rosenthal did not have any role in starting the program, but he “accepted” exercise when he saw it was a new opportunity for teachers.

“I do not have enough time to exercise and it becomes really hard, especially with the family, to find time, especially late in the semester, to exercise,” Rosenthal said. “So when it is built into the school day, it becomes a lot more feasible.”

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Time to Boogie wit da Hoodie sam schwartz guest writer Rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie, born Julius Dubose, has developed a presence in the hip hop scene by using the struggles of his childhood to bring national attention to his hometown, the Bronx. His latest album, "Hoodie Szn," pulls from the emotional tones of his previous work to create his most recent project.

The album, which is currently number one on the Billboard charts, begins with two tracks detailing A Boogie’s internal struggles. “Voices

in My Head” and “Beasty” describe his anxiety about maintaining relationships from his hometown while being a big-city celebrity.

Those who enjoyed the 2017 hit song “Drowning,” which conveyed a strong emotional tone, will enjoy similar raw passion in his new song “Demons and Angels.’’ The song is boosted by a collaboration with the up-and-coming Chicago rapper Juice Wrld, whose highpitched verse on promiscuity adds enough variety to make the single stand out within an album filled with special features.

In my opinion, the most im-

pressive song from the project was “4 Min Convo.” The lyrics outline an open conversation between A Boogie’s famous persona and his hometown identity. Throughout the song, A Boogie attempts to separate his professional pursuits from his personal desires. “4 Min Convo” demands that listeners look within themselves in order to remember their defining morals.

Following a group of songs targeting A Boogie’s inner demons, the rapper completes his project by discussing his external conflicts. In the song “Bosses and Workers,” the young artist talks about the conflict

and politics of the music industry, as well as the jealousy that follows individual success.

As a whole, the album lives up to the hype that comes with being the face of modern New York hip hop. A Boogie continues to use his unique sound to face issues within his life in a creative fashion. The album uses a variety of featured artists in order to keep listeners on their feet, yet each guest feels as if it is simply a side dish to A Boogie’s main course.

Hoodie Szn is further proof that A Boogie is the most versatile artist in a crowded New York rap scene. I

would highly recommend the album both to longtime listeners of the rising star, as well as to those interested in the current soundscape of rap music.

Hoodie Szn can be found on Spotify, Google Play Music and Deezer.

Hummus hits home

Little Sesame brings the mediterranean side dish into the spotlight jonathan morris guest writer Little Sesame is a restaurant located in Washington, D.C., that does away with the notion that hummus is an appetizer, or for some, an unappealing beige paste from the refrigerated section. In fact, it’s an all-out attempt to change the identity of hummus in American’s experience of Middle Eastern food.

Little Sesame capitalizes on the recent bowl craze, similar to Cava and Sweetgreen, but takes a refreshing hands-off approach. Rather than moving down the assembly line, watching as your bowl gets made, you order from a set menu and find a seat as Chef Tenne and his staff prepare your meal.

Pita sandwiches are also available, along with many meat options.

I keep Kosher and eat vegetarian out of the house, so I was unable to try the meat. However, there is a multitude of vegetarian options. In fact, four of the five bowls offered are vegetarian. For dessert, they serve a dairy-free ice cream that comes in interesting flavors, such as tehina and Turkish coffee. A myriad of Israeli-inspired beverages is available as well. Bowls and sandwiches are between $9-10, while salads are between $3-4.

The restaurant was adorned with cacti, succulents and other greenery. Colorful, geometric tiles dotted the tables and floor. Silverware is provided if you’re eating in, which creates a nicer experience over plastic. Overall, the space was comfortable and homey. Arab and Israeli music played interchangeably, though its volume was uncomfortably loud at times.

On the day I went, the food was ready in minutes, waiting to be picked up at the counter. However, your wait time may vary, as Little Sesame can attract a large crowd. I picked up my food and offered Chef Tenne a “todah rabah,” which was well received.

I ordered the cauliflower bowl, mint tea and a cabbage salad while my companion ordered the shakshuka. Both bowls were respectably sized and had a generous portion of hummus. My bowl was topped with roasted cauliflower, sesame seeds and scallions. The shakshuka bowl had the same hummus, topped with a fragrant tomato sauce, soft egg, garlic, mint and a healthy smattering of zaatar. All meals come with a warm, delicious pita, far better than any I’ve ever had before.

The hummus was really good— quite likely the best you’ll find on the east coast, possibly even west of

Israel. It was light, flavorful, smooth and definitely worth the visit.

The salad contained pickled red cabbage, with sweet dijon and peanut dukkah, a spice blend. It was crisp and refreshing. The tea was fine but underwhelming as it was poured out of a dispenser into a paper cup. I was expecting a freshly brewed cup.

Little Sesame lived up to its hype and served up fresh dishes that were delicious and creative.

The food was pricy but was not overly expensive. As an added bonus, the LevelUp rewards app is accepted there, so you can rack up points and order ahead if you become a regular.

For those who live in or close to D.C., checking out Little Sesame is a no-brainer. Those farther out should plan something to do in addition, as I can’t quite justify a trip out solely for lunch. Whatever the case may be, if you do happen to be in D.C., do yourself a favor and check out Little Sesame.

Little Sesame is located at 1828 L St. NW, Washington, D.C. Hours are Monday-Friday from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

photos by jonothan morris Little Sesame gives hummus a new identity as a main ingredient instead of a side dish by serving a veriety of hummus based meals at reasonable prices. Little Sesame’s goal is to redefine hummus in America.

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photo courtesy of giovanni vignola

photo courtesy of giovanni vignola

The Vignola family is pictured above in 1982 in their original restaurant in downtown Rockville. The family has run their restaurant, catering business and market since this picture was taken.

The Vignola family is pictured in 2015 in their newest restaurant in the Randolph Hills Shopping Center across the street from JDS. Giovanni, left, and his wife Ashley, center, are co-owners of the restaurant.

Vignola family: Tracing back to their roots alex landy copy editor Most CESJDS students and faculty who often go to Vignola Gourmet—the popular Italian restaurant across the street from the Upper School campus—don’t know the uplifting story of the restaurant’s creation. Vignola Gourmet’s heritage begins in the mid-1900s in Vicenza, Italy with Aluma and Luciano Vignola. Aluma grew up in Italy and worked alongside her mother in hotel kitchens beginning at age eight, while Luciano was raised on an Italian olive orchard and farm.

The Vignolas learned the value of hard work in their native country where they married, and soon mastered cooking skills they had developed as young children. In the 1950s, the couple moved to America where they started their family deli.

The Vignolas opened their first deli in downtown Rockville, Md. in 1982, with their children, Arturo and Irene. The family brought their differ-

ent mixes of Northern and Southern Italian cooking styles and recipes to the new business. The old-fashioned deli eventually evolved into a restaurant and remained in operation until 2004, when a massive construction project called the Revitalization of Downtown Rockville forced the Vignolas to close their sole location.

Years later, the Vignolas opened two locations in Frederick and on Rockville Pike, which were ultimately sold. The family’s newest location opened in 2010 and is currently in the Randolph Hills Shopping Center near JDS. Giovanni Vignola, the grandson of the original owners, has owned the restaurant since the late 1990s and now co-owns it with his wife Ashley. He looks forward to continuing to own Vignola and to keep it running in the family as he teaches his children how to operate and manage their business.

Giovanni said he learned an “amazing work ethic," the attitude of “how to get things done” and the

pride of running a local business from his parents by helping out in the kitchen of the deli back when Vignola was initially established.

“I hope to be able to run [Vignola Gourmet] as long as I can,” Giovanni said. He added that he hopes to see his catering business and market continue to expand in the future, as they have in the past.

Giovanni, in reflecting on the hard work and commitment of his parents to their deli, finds that owning a business is “challenging” and making sacrifices is necessary, but that balancing family and work and knowing how to delegate responsibilities is critical.

“From Italy to America, generations of our family have been gathering around their dinner tables to enjoy these recipes, so it’s really special to us that we’re able to share that piece of our family history with our community one pasta bowl at a time,” Giovanni said.

Vignola has become a popular spot for JDS students and teachers

to spend lunches and late afternoons both during and after school hours, but most are not aware of the story behind the conveniently-located restaurant.

For high school art and design teacher Benjamin Tellie, eating at Vignola is a perfect place to work in a casual environment. Tellie goes to the market a few times a year, mostly to order his favorite menu item, the meatball sub. He enjoys the fact that he can easily pick up a sandwich when on the go.

According to Tellie, he and the art department, as well as other teachers and their respective departments, have gone to Vignola together on professional development days.

“Vignola adds more diversity to the community, and the food is great,” Tellie said. “I like the small family vibe and the atmosphere is quiet and intimate with only a few tables, so I can sit and have conversations with my colleagues.”

Senior Ethan Chanin also enjoys going to Vignola during lunch

breaks and free periods about once a month. Chanin usually orders the chicken Caesar wrap, his favorite item on the menu, but also orders the pasta on occasion.

“I enjoy going to Vignola [Gourmet] because the food is really good and it’s hard to find good Italian food around JDS,” Chanin said. “Vignola is also a private business and it’s important to support small businesses that are local.”

Vignola is located at 11612 Boiling Brook Place, Rockville, Md. 20852.

Hours are Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

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plan the planner MONTHLY SECTION

"It lets me to see my workload and month as a zoomed out picture."

- Senior Ilana Kaplan

WEEKLY SECTION

"It allows me to be more specific and look at each thing I'm doing."

- Sophomore Tess Mendelson

CHECKLIST

“It gives me a sense of accomplishment. Like ‘You did it! You’re done, you can move onto the next thing.’”

- Senior Ari Gershengorn planner courtesy of learning specialist brett kugler

COLOR CODING

“I actually find it very necessary to my sanity because we have the rotating schedule. So for me, my planner is kind of like an itinerary to help me know where I'm supposed to be.”

- English teacher Nancy Wassner compiled by jessie lehman