The Rampage The Newspaper of the Ramaz Upper School
New York • Volume 51 • Issue 9 • May 2018 • Sivan 5778
The New G.O.
Zach Buller '20 Every spring, the Ramaz student body engages in what is the most democratic aspect of Ramaz student life: the GO elections. The stakes are high as candidates who are generally rising upperclassmen put their
campaigning abilities to the test and fight for five positions in the Ramaz student government. These five students will play a major role in leading the Upper School students, as in addition to planning and coordinating events, the GO serves as a liaison with the faculty and
the student body. According to Rabbi Slomnicki, the ultimate goal of the GO is to “uplift the school environment. [The GO members] are here to be uplifting individuals, make kids feel better about school, and to make
school better for them.” Each position on the GO serves a very different role in managing the Ramaz Upper School. The Associate Vice President (AVP) of Operations manages the non-board members of the GO, including the people holding the po-
sitions of Film Chair, Ritual Chair, Photography Chair, Aesthetics and Decor Chair, and Food Chair. The AVP of Communications mobilizes the students and updates them, particularly through social media and School-
ogy. AVP of Student Life manages the vast number of extracurricular activities and enhances student life in general. Vice President of the GO leads the class Presidents while assisting the president. Finally, GO President oversees all of the GO members and plays the most
Continued "G.O. Elections" page 2
Josephine Schizer '20
Standardizing English
Natalie Kahn '19
The Upper School English department has announced a new effort to standardize the Ramaz English experience for all students. The English department has five members— Dr. Milowitz, Dr. Gaylord, Dr. Honig, Ms. Cohen, and Ms. Litwack—each of whom has unique styles and standards when it comes to teaching literature. “This standardization is the result of a longtime discussion about how much the experience of English class is im-
each English teacher has his or her own style, and we can’t make every class identical,” he continues. “We’re trying to standardize as much as possible without taking away from the individuality of each teacher.” Since the project is new for this year, the department is starting small. Now, teachers teach books entirely in their own order, but next year, every member of the department will teach books in at least the same semester so that
"This standardization is the result of a longtime discussion about how much the experience of English class is impacted by the particular teacher you have." -Dr. Milowitz, Chair of the English Department
pacted by the particular teacher you have,” says Dr. Milowitz, “both when it comes to grading and to reading the literature.” “We recognize that
students can have conversations with each other about the literature. At least teaching the same books at similar times may alleviate some of the feeling of real
Continued "English Department Standardization" page 2
Rethinking the Friday Schedule: 35 Minute Classes
Each year, as the beginning of March nears and the time change approaches, students begin to dread the return of the regular Friday schedule with its 50 minute classes. “Fifty minutes is just too long!!!” said Cameryn Guetta ’19. “Both students and teachers hate it—it’s hard to concentrate on one topic for that long. It’s physically and mentally draining, and it doesn’t help that it’s after a long week.” However, in the 2018-2019 school year, students will no longer need to dread the return of regular Fridays. A new schedule has been devised to replace the current schedule, which is comprised of five 50-minute periods, with the new schedule consisting of six 35-minute periods. According to Ms. Krupka, there are
several reasons for this change. Firstly, next year, Ramaz will be adding a technology class, so adding an extra period to the schedule will be useful in adding that class without detracting from other classes. Additionally, Ms. Krupka recognizes the difficulty that students have in concentrating for fifty-minute periods. Furthermore, some students think of Fridays as a joke day, so adding another class to the schedule would counteract that. As of yet, it’s unclear how this would affect the division between winter Fridays and regular Fridays. A survey was distributed to students to hear their feedback on the change. 87 students responded to the survey, consisting of 34 freshmen, 31 sophomores, and 22 juniors. Of those 87 students, six
of them, or 6.9% of the sample, indicated that they would prefer to have five 50-minute classes on Fridays, and the other 81, or 93.1% of the sample, preferred six 35-minute classes. Clearly, the majority of students will be extremely pleased with this schedule change. “No one pays attention in 50 minute periods,” said Michal Rahabi ’20, “I myself start to lose focus during these long periods. Even teachers find themselves unable to control the class or lose track of what we’re learning due to these long periods. On Fridays, people are already awaiting the weekend, and short periods would help tired faculty and students and keep us motivated [throughout] the day.” Other students suggested following the winter Continued "Shorter Friday Classes" page 3
Inside this issue... RamTEC...Ramaz engineering and coding class beginning in 2018-2019 school year page 5 Retreat...The Upper School heads to Lavi for two days of fun page 6 Summer Advice...Summer essentials, from apps to activities page 7 Dress Code...Views on the upcoming changes in girls' dress code page 9