Volume 65, Issue 6 (March 2021) - The Rampage by The Rampage

The Rampage The Newspaper of the Ramaz Upper School

New York • Volume 65 • Issue 6 • March 2021 • Nissan 5781• the-rampage.org

Saving the World One Bottle at a Time

Andrew Spielfogel ’23 Every year, millions of plastic water bottles pollute Earth’s oceans, building up waste that disrupts ecosystems and natural habitats. The mission of the Ramaz Environmental Club is to create an awareness of environmental pollution and

to encourage people to develop a culture and lifestyle of sustainability based on this awareness. The Environmental Club is constantly championing public awareness in our school and the greater community. For instance, they started composting lunch scraps, organized Tu B’shvat programs and of course, the Luv Your Lulav program that engaged local synagogues and one in Atlantic Beach. Recently, the club decided to keep it simple in order to get every student involved and engaged, while at the same time, showing off their school pride. Disposable plastic water bottles in Ramaz have become ubiquitous, particularly during the COVID-19 era when the water fountains are locked and sharing a water fountain has become a less attractive option anyway. The vending machines have been spewing disposable plastic water bottles continuously. The club’s new initiative was to design an environmentally friendly metal water bottle displaying the attractive “green ram” logo. If the entire student body and faculty gets behind the project, we can keep thousands of plastic bottles from being added to the plastic pollution problem, while staying hydrated, and showing

off our school pride. The new motion sensor water filling stations should make this task seamless. When asked how students felt about this program, they all responded enthusiastically. Daniela Woldenberg ’23 said, “This year, we are not able to drink from the water fountains as usual, therefore, more people are buying plastic water bottles. It’s not only good in the sense that we’re cutting down on plastic waste but that the proceeds are going to a good cause.” A portion of the proceeds will be going to an environmental charitable cause. Additionally, this initiative reinforces a commitment to sustainability at Ramaz, which is recognized by new and existing students. Jem Hanan ’23 said “I think it spreads the message that we are environmentally aware. Coming from my old school, everybody was buying plastic water bottles everyday. At Ramaz, seeing everyone with reusable water bottles spreads a positive message. I also reContinued on Page 4

Techie, Technology on Schedule? Sarah Silverman ’24

find out a student’s schedule, or connect with other teachers to find free meeting times during the day,” said Mr. Vovsha. When Techie launched, Ramaz did not inform students of this new tool at their fingertips. “I’ve been receiving the emails but did not know the name of the program.” said Eva Goldfinger ’24. Philip-David Medows ‘24 said, “The emails just started coming one day. It was cool and self-explanatory.” Students learned to adapt and understand the program on their own. The Techie emails are known to have errors such as incorrect or outdated Zoom links and incorrect schedules. At first, links for senior minicourses were not provided, However, this was clearly stated at the top of Techie emails. “It [Techie] sounds great in theory but not in practice,” said Goldfinger ‘24, “From what I’ve heard, there have been a lot of issues, and it seems less practical than the old way.” Last semester, Ramaz opted for a policy in which teachers were required to manually input all of their Zoom links and classes to the Schoology calendar. “This was a major time-waster,” said Mr. Vovsha. This tedious task was one of the many reasons for the inception of Techie. “We can save teachers a lot of headaches and confusion” he said. Through Schoology, students would go to the

Ramaz students have been bombarded with emails recently, not from a person, but rather a new automated scheduling system. This system, called “Techie,” is a software developed by Mr. Vovsha to help ease students’ and administrators’ stresses during these anxiety-ridden times. “I wanted to help students and faculty deal with their Zoom links and ever-changing schedules.” said Mr. Vovsha. Most students recognize Techie from the daily emails that are sent to everyone’s inbox each night before class. In this email, the list of classes for that day is provided, including the corresponding Zoom links and meeting times. The emailed schedules are just one component of Techie. The program is dependent on external data. It is essentially made up of one enormous excel spreadsheet, listing every student’s Zoom links and classes. “Techie is a software devoted to making the lives of administrators and teachers easier. It is still a work in progress, but when completed, it will be a downloadable app such as Google Chrome or any other desktop application. Ms. Krupka and Dr. Jucovy are currently testing out the project in its beta phase. The application itself has many functions. A teacher can use it to get room information,

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Inside this issue...

Five Captains too Many? page

Psalm vs. Palm page

Should Ramaz Require Gender Pronouns? page

page

News 2

The Rampage

After School Athletics are Back! Rebecca Kalimi ’23

With the pandemic, it has been very difficult for students to partake in sports, especially those initiated by Ramaz. Ms. Cohen, the Head of Ramaz Athletics, has been very active in scheduling sports practices for students over the weekends. Recently, the athletic program expanded so that students can play sports in school every day of the week. In other words, the Ramaz Athletic programs are back! Throughout the first semester, every Sunday workouts were available to all students to come and get their fair share of exercise for the week. These workouts included basketball, baseball, and soccer for both boys and girls. They also held boys’ hockey workouts. There is a difference between the sports teams last year and the “teams” this year. Since this year is filled with uncertainties and teams are not participating in a competition season anyway, anyone is allowed to join a team. There will be no tryouts for sports and no concrete commitments for showing up to practices, but it would be ideal for

coaches to count on players to be there routinely. The only team that requires tryouts is the senior boys basketball. Ms. Cohen made this exception in the hope that the senior team will participate in a tournament in May as a ‘last goodbye’ to Ramaz

March 2021/Nissan 5781 back to normal.” Only the freshmen have gym in their schedules, and even then, she still thinks it’s extremely important for teenagers to be as active as possible. Scott Ferguson, a coach from Long Island, is the new basketball coach and Mr. Letourneau will be taking the lead on soccer teams. Mr. Letourneau has a background in soccer, as he played Division I soccer in college for the Colgate Raiders. Masks will be required at all times during practices. Since grades will be practicing separately, equipment will be wiped down during shifts of grades to ensure there is no cross-contamination between cohorts. Locker rooms will also be kept safe by separating grades. Pre-pandemic, teams were composed of students from all grades and this served as a bonding experience for teams to build a strong relationship with their teammates, regardless of their ages. Thankfully, another sector of school life has returned. The return of Ramaz athletics will keep students active, and provides another outlet during the pandemic.

“Ms. Cohen is happy that she can provide Ramaz students with a forum to exercise because most people don’t have exercise time built into their daily schedule .” athletics. This is also the only team that will require commitment because they will be practicing for the tournament and need to count on every player. As for the rest of the sports, Ms. Cohen doesn’t see any games against other schools happening anytime soon. Ms. Cohen is happy that she can provide Ramaz students with a forum to exercise because most people don’t have exercise time built into their daily schedule. She said, “It’s amazing news to have such a difference from where we were at the beginning of the year. Thank God we’re on the track to getting

Alma Matters

From Ramaz to Binghamton University: Interview with Hanna Sholes ’18 Charles Spielfogel ’21 Hanna Sholes graduated from Ramaz in 2018 and is currently a sophomore at Binghamton University. She is studying Politics, Philosophy and Law and is active in the Binghamton Jewish community. The Rampage interviewed Sholes about her college experience. CS: Why did you choose Binghamton? HS: I initially applied to Binghamton on a whim when I was submitting my early decision application for a different college. After decisions were released, it was clear to me that Binghamton was an option I needed to seriously consider. I decided to spend a weekend visiting the campus. That weekend changed the trajectory of my life, as I immediately felt at home and knew Binghamton would be a great place for me. CS: What is your major and why? HS: I am majoring in Politics, Philosophy and Law in the Harpur College of Arts & Sciences at Binghamton. I chose this major becuase it allows me to study a broad range of subjects and take many different courses during my time in college. CS: Could you tell us about the various Jewish programs on campus? HS: Chabad and Hillel both have huge presences on campus. I am very affiliated with the Chabad of Binghamton. They are constantly bringing people together, hosting events and shabbos meals and offering a wide variety of Jewish learning classes. Even during COVID-19, Chabad worked tirelessly to operate in the best, safest ways possible, while still providing a homey and comforting feeling to Binghamton students. CS: What is the Jewish community like at Binghamton? HS: The Jewish community at Binghamton is whatever you want it to be. The Jewish community is more than happy to have you, for as little or as much as you want to be involved. I felt at home when starting Binghamton, and the Jewish community quickly became a place where I made so many friends, and have been a part of many different programs.

CS: As a New Yorker and city kid, was it difficult to adjust living in a small town such as Binghamton? HS: Not at all. In fact, the location was one of the reasons I was attracted to Binghamton. Growing up in New York City, and also knowing that I will spend a significant amount of time living in the city post-college, the idea of going to a campus school and living in a small town really appealed to me. In Binghamton everything and everyone is really close by, and it’s great to live out of a big, bustling city for a bit. CS: What are some of the positives and negatives about living in Binghamton? HS: Positives would be the scenery: it is absolutely beautiful here. One of my favorite aspects of Binghamton is the nature preserve on campus, that offers many different hiking trails and beautiful walking trails. I love spending time there in the fall and spring. I also love that I am far away from home, but not too far and that I can always get home/to school in a car, rather than relying on a flight. A negative about living in Binghamton is that it can get quite cold in the winter, but as long as you bundle up, you’ll be fine! CS: How has COVID-19 affected your college experience? HS: I am an in-person learner, and I thrive in a classroom setting with a notebook and pen and not any electronics. Unfortunately, since schooling is virtual, it is much harder to be as attentive in class, and I realized I am a worse student on Zoom, where there are constant distractions. CS: Did Ramaz help prepare you academically for Binghamton? HS: Ramaz absolutely prepared me for college academics. Switching from 11 classes a day to a maximum three classes was a game changer. Ramaz really helped me with time management. I am able to successfully balance my academic life and my social life, without feeling overwhelmed. At Ramaz I was accustomed to taking eight finals in a row, so when I came to college and only had four finals a few days apart, I was well prepared on how to study for my exams.

CS: Is there anything else you would like to share about your Binghamton experience with the students of Ramaz? HS: During my senior year of high school, I was so caught up in the college admissions process, and felt like my worth was dependent upon an acceptance letter from college. When that did not happen for me for the early decision round, I was upset. All these years later, my advice is that at the end of the day, Ramaz Alumni at Binghamton in 2019 you will end up somewhere, and you will 99.9% be extremely happy at that school. If you aren’t happy, you can transfer! The college admissions process has nothing to do with who you are as a person. This is definitely something I wish I could’ve told my 17 year old self.

March 2021/Nissan 5781 Ramaz Upper School

The Rampage New York • Volume 65 • Issue 6 • March 2021 • the-rampage.org

FACULTY ADVISOR Dr. Steven Milowitz EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Caitlin Levine ’21 Gabby Ostad ’21 Rebecca Massel ’21 Samantha Sinensky ’21 LAYOUT EDITORS Julia Feit ’22 Rachel Freilich ’22 Sarah Ginsberg ’22 PUZZLES & MEME EDITOR Isaac Silverman ’21 PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Tammy Palagi ’21 SENIOR WRITERS Charles Spielfogel ’21 PUZZLES & MEME EDITOR Isaac Silverman ’21 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sydney Eisenstein ’22 Julia Feit ’22 Rachel Freilich ’22 Daniel Kalimi ’23 Eric Kalimi ’22 Rebecca Kalimi ’23 Charlotte Kleeger ’24 Aviva Lehman ’23 Aviva Schilowitz ’24 Sarah Silverman ’24 Rafael Sobell ’23 Charles Spielfogel ’21 Andrew Spielfogel ’23 Emily Vayner ’23 Moriel Weitzner ’24 Noam Woldenberg ’22 Aaron Zanger ’21 The Rampage is the student newspaper of the Ramaz Upper School. It is published on a monthly basis. Letters to the editors may be submitted to rampage@ramaz.org. Letters must be signed and may be edited to conform to The Rampage style and format. The opinions expressed in The Rampage are of the author’s alone, and do not represent the views or opinions of Ramaz, The Rampage, or its editors.

The Rampage

HS Students Unite to Save Communities from Coronavirus Emily Vayner ’23 The current Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted every person across the globe. From countless deaths and the loss of jobs to social barriers and education obstacles, the virus brought about chaos and madness to all. As time passed, the collective knowledge of the virus expanded, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested safety precautions. Mask and personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages ravaged the U.S., and failure to follow safety precautions caused exponential growth in net cases. Break the Outbreak (BTOB), a student-led, national, 501c(3) non-profit organization, with over 50 chapters across the United States, aims to “limit the spread of COVID-19 by equipping grocery stores, restaurants, senior citizen homes, and food banks with PPE.” This equipment is given to businesses and senior citizens free of charge. The finance committee and individual chapter financial officers aim to raise funds through support of government officials, partnerships with other non-profits, and donations through the GoFundMe page. Care packages are delivered to isolated seniors, homeless and low-income people, as the pandemic heavily impacts them. The PPE, including masks and face shields, are hand-made by BTOB members, following strict CDC guidelines. Additionally, BTOB focuses on medical education and research projects. The Medical Informatics Committee writes biweekly articles in order to

raise awareness about vaccinations, public health, and biology with relevance to the current pandemic. There are ongoing community outreach projects created to educate the general public about guidelines and safety precautions. Growing up in a Jewish community, unity and congregation were some of the most important Jewish values instilled in me, with a strong emphasis both at home and in school. As I watched coronavirus cases spike across the Jewish community, I instantly remembered the parts of my childhood spent in synagogues celebrating smachot while holding hands and dancing in a hora to Hava Nagila. My heart broke as I watched my Jewish community in Brooklyn being devastated by the pandemic. Immediately after hearing about BTOB, I knew I had to start a chapter in my favorite place in the world: Brooklyn, New York. As the Director of the Brooklyn Chapter, my role is to find teens near me who wanted to volunteer in helping create and distribute PPE. Our team, composed of twelve enthusiastic Jewish teens, collectively rose to the occasion and let our values of Chassidut lead the way. As a Chapter Director, my job is to oversee the Financial, Marketing, Communication, Social Media, and Production Officers of the Brooklyn Chapter. We are currently producing PPE for synagogues and Jewish-led organizations including nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, homeless shelters, and many other organizations. A central part of my volunteering experience includes the honor of

News 3

working as an Assistant Chair of the Marketing of BTOB. The goal of the marketing committee of BTOB is to streamline and organize the process of posting to social media, in order to get the maximum outreach in the communities we serve. Having experience in leadership and marketing gives me the ability to get the word out to my community. This means exponential growth in BTOB team members and helping the small businesses we aim to reach. I work to develop content for social media to increase engagement and followers every Thursday and Sunday. I reach out to various organizations to collaborate on projects as well as social media takeovers and Q&As. love being able to give back to my community, especially during a pandemic, and BTOB gives so much opportunity to do so. It is so important to me that people get the face masks and PPE they need. During Covid-19, I learned how to fight a pandemic while simultaneously uniting and isolating in a tightknit community. The values instilled in me through religion, both at home and in school, influenced my actions and enthusiasm. Judaism influenced my decision to participate in this initiative through the inspiration of proper leadership skills from characters in Biblical Studies such as my forefathers and mothers. I am so proud to work on a large team as an Assistant Chair on BTOB’s Marketing Committee and as the Director of the Brooklyn Chapter, flattening the curve one mask at a time.

These are the SFACts: March SFAC Meeting Sydney Eisenstein ’22 Teachers and student representatives discussed current policies in Ramaz at the most recent SFAC meeting. This included a discussion about why music class is valuable and a tentative schedule for next year was debuted! Mr. Henkin (the 11th and 12th grade music teacher) explained that his music curriculum is a balance between writing original songs and learning music history. Following Mr. Henkin, Mr. Elisha (the 9th and 10th grade music teacher) explained that his music curriculum is multifaceted yet focuses on creative process and formal design. Students noted that they do not understand why music classes are so demanding. Mr. Henkin responded that becoming a critical listener has a real life application, and students will most likely spend more time listening to music than applying lessons they learn in other classes.

Additionally, a student observed that many students do not have a passion for music and asked why all students are required to take music. Mr. Elisha responded that music is embedded in everything people do and, therefore, it is essential for everyone to study music. The meeting included a presentation from Mr. Blumenthal. He described that Ms. Krupka and he have been working to create a schedule for next year. The new schedule does not have rotating days and will have a Monday-Friday schedule (like this year). The new schedule allows for school to start later, which will give students more time to get to school. School will be held from 8:30 to 5:05 on Mondays through Thursdays. Classes will be 40 minutes every day (including Friday’s), and tefillah will remain after first period. Tests will only be given on Mondays and Thursdays during an allotted test period. When students do not have two tests in a week, the allotted test period will be used for assemblies or programing.

The schedule is tentative, and the administration was looking for feedback from students. Students indicated that the rotating schedule was exciting because they had a different combination of classes each day. Other students commented that the ending time is too late and that they would rather school start earlier and end earlier. Another grievance was having tefillah after first period; many students enjoy starting their school day with tefillah and then going to their classes. One student recognized that if tests are on Mondays, many students will have tests the day after the SAT/ACT. As Ms. Benus reminded Rabbi Stochel that the meeting would end in 34 seconds, Rabbi Stochel wished everyone a good night and said that he loves listening to everyone’s comments.

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Techie

March 2021/Nissan 5781

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calendar function and find their teachers' Zoom links. From the student's vantage point, accessing Zoom links from the Schoology calendar was incredibly straightforward. Yet, for teachers, it was a time-consuming and laborious task. Some students prefer Techie to last semester’s system. "It's way more streamlined and simple," said Medows ’24. "I like it better. The old way had me flipping through Schoology posts and checking if the schedule had changed for the day." Regarding the technical issues of Technie, "I think students need to understand that it is a new software, and with new code comes glitches and mistakes," said Mr. Vovsha, who takes effort to reply to every email regarding the program's errors. "I encourage feedback and am constantly trying to make Techie the best that it can be." Medows ’24 said, "There was an error regarding my schedule, I noticed and reported it to Mr. Vovsha, and it changed when the next email came around." Due to the pandemic, Techie plays an instrumental part in students' daily lives, but it won’t disappear any time soon. "Techie is not going away when Covid-19 is over," said Mr. Vovsha, "The features will still be useful to teachers and students alike. This program is in many ways a substitute for Ramlife." Ramlife was an app developed last year by Levi Lesches ’21 and members of the coding club. It was set to launch in March 2020, but due to Covid-19 and the change of schedules resulting from that, it never came to fruition. Techie is therefore a substitute. It may not be an app per se, but it is a helpful tool. "Whatever your opinions are on the actual practical day-to-day software, you have to admit that the whole idea is pretty incredible. It's cool how our Tech department can make and produce their own software that us, as students, can use. It is something that makes Ramaz unique," said Medows ’24.

Water Bottles Continued From Page 1

ally like the design.” Arielle Butman ’21 said that “I think it’s a good incentive on Ramaz’s behalf. A lot of people don’t understand the repercussions of constantly buying water from the vending machines. These reusable water bottles set a new standard that students can integrate into their lives.” Having Ramaz students and faculty en masse get behind this project will be a significant step in achieving awareness of the enormous challenge we have with plastic waste in our waters. By toting this attractive water bottle, each individu-

al can openly display their connection to the environment as well as their allegiance to Ramaz, all while staying hydrated and saving money. Don’t keep your environmental concerns all bottled up, go out there and show it off!

Techie as it appears for teachers

Earth Week Our validation holiday.

We work all year to create awareness of the challenges of our planet.

Help us celebrate and protect the wonders of our world.

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March 2021/Nissan 5781

Essentially Ramaz

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Features

Julia Feit ’22 and Rachel Freilich ’22

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tremendous obstacles. Nurse Nechama has worked at Ramaz for 18 years. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, Nurse Nechama needed to shift gears and focus on the necessities of opening a school during a pandemic. Her job has changed immensely over the past year and her role as a school nurse is entirely different. She continues to perform her regular nurse duties, including managing medical forms and health issues of students and faculty in the school. This year, Nurse Nechama’s primary role is to encourage and sometimes enforce the Ramaz Covid-19 protocols. Nurse Nechama explained, “[that her Nurse Nechama clearing a student for entry into school job] just doesn’t end. There are always people who may have been ex posed, test positive, or are wondering After an extremely trying fifteen plus if they came into contact with the virus or not. months, it is time to recognize our very own es- There are those that don’t feel good in school, so I sential workers. With the constant redefining of have to follow up on that.” Nurse Nechama’s job as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention the school nurse during a pandemic is a non-stop (CDC), the Department of Health, and Ramaz task. She added, “I wake up to it and go to sleep to protocols our healthcare workers, Nurse Nechama it.” Moskowitz and one of our information technol- Nurse Nechama has been focused on reogy (IT) specialists, Adam Feliciano took on the opening school since the world went virtual in difficult challenge of keeping us safe and educated. March 2020. During the last months of the 2020 acTheir tireless efforts have contributed greatly to a ademic year and through the summer, she worked very successful year of learning in spite of all the vigorously with a team of health professionals to

ensure that Ramaz could open safely and on time in September. Preparing for school to reopen was a tremendous task for Ramaz and the administration spent all of last summer preparing. Nurse Nechama said, “We set up personal protective equipment (PPE), a screen barrier in the Health Office, and an isolation room. We needed a place where students, faculty, or staff could wait in case they had symptoms.” Nurse Nechama believes that everyone has a greater sense of gratitude for essential workers since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. She noted that, “People are always saying, ‘you are a nurse, wow.’ There is definitely an appreciation for the things I do because a lot of people have come in contact with the medical world lately.” Nurse Nechama assiduously dedicated herself to adhere to the constantly evolving new regulations and recommendations by the CDC and the school authorities in general. She also had to function in her primary role as a nurse, monitoring and evaluating students who do not feel optimal, and making good decisions and quick decisions on how to take care of them. Caring for the students came first for our nurse. She certainly lived up to her name, Nechama, giving comfort to the entire student body, and peace of mind to the parents and faculty alike. The Ramaz community and society at large have been forced to adapt to the constraints of the pandemic and social isolation. This year, the school instituted a hybrid Continued on Page 10 learning model and the

Eric Kalimi ’22 This year, online school starts later, has longer breaks, and has a common lunch period between all four grades. There are also fewer classes a day, yet each period is longer. These changes in the schedule, along with inherent difficulties with Zoom, caused curriculums to be shortened or altered. Even though students are able to learn in-person a few days a week, Ramaz is still far from what it was prior to the pandemic. The defining feature of the Ramaz hybrid system is the daily rotation between online and in-person learning. This frequent switch allows for teachers to directly analyze the differences in these learning environments. Regarding online classes, Rabbi Schiowitz said, “Overall I think that they are less productive. Some learn well on Zoom but many people find it very difficult. The lively dynamic is difficult to capture on Zoom and some students are distracted or unfocused.” He appreciates that in-person classes cultivate a certain envi-

much harder to have labs. Teacher demonstrations are still commonplace, but students do not have the same hands-on experiences as in previous years. No plant cell walls are examined under a microscope and the boiling point of water cannot be analyzed. Similarly, in-person chavrutah learning for Judaic studies classes are severely limited because of social distancing restrictions. Rabbi Schiowitz said, “I am definitely doing less chavruta [learning] this year because of the social distance requirements in class. I have used breakout rooms, but they have drawbacks.” Often, students use the breakout rooms as a “phone break room” and do not work in a group like the teacher expects. Every department has its own issues and challenges with the Zoom schooling model. The teachers and administration have succeeded in creating a school system that sufficiently allows students to learn safely, but it clearly has its inevitable drawbacks.

Lessons Learned

ronment that is not possible to obtain on Zoom. Dr. Bernstein said that Zoom makes it “much harder to foster classroom discussion and gain a full sense of how much students understand what is being taught.” While online classes proved to be useful to cover more material faster, the history department has not been able to teach as much material as in years past. Dr. Roldan said that online classes have the potential to be far more productive than in-person classes because the software enables teachers to easily control and “discipline” the students. Although online class may limit student interaction with teachers, the online setting gives teachers control that is not possible while in-person. This year’s schedule also affects how much material classes can cover and the material classes are being taught. In the science department, one of the most notable differences from previous years is the lack of labs. Due to social distancing regulations and the fact that many science classes are simply no longer held in the science rooms, it is

The Rampage is the student voice of Ramaz. Add your own voice to be heard and recognized.

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March 2021/Nissan 5781

Ramaz Round Table

Should Ramaz institute a policy regarding gender pronouns on Zoom? Noam Woldenberg ’22 Ramaz should remain neutral regarding whether students should be required to include their preferred pronouns on Zoom. Listing pronouns on Zoom should not be required by the school, but it definitely should not be banned either. While some people view the listing of one’s pronouns as a step towards inclusivity for the transgender community and for those whose gender identity doesn’t correspond with their biological sex, I do not see how requiring gender pronouns on Zoom would be helpful in achieving this goal for Ramaz within the context of our student body. At this point, I

Refael Sobell ’23 and Anonymous ’22 Recently, a few students have been posting their preferred pronouns as their Zoom name caption. This prompted the question of whether or not students can or should be posting their preferred pronouns on Zoom. Some students who currently display their pronouns on Zoom claim to be doing so in the capacity of supporting transgender individuals. We are of the opinion that the administration should not mandate the practice of displaying one’s preferred pronouns on their Zoom name. Furthermore, we do not believe the administration should be recommending or encouraging students to participate in this trend. We believe that if these policies were to be put in place, it would actually have the effect of hurting those individuals who are trying to help. We also believe that encouraging and engaging in this behavior will disrupt the learning environment, and runs counter to the mission statement of Ramaz as a Modern Orthodox Yeshiva, with an emphasis on our commitment to

Moriel Weitzner ’24 Ramaz should allow its faculty and students to make their own decision regarding gender pronouns on Zoom, but should encourage it nonetheless. Realistically, requiring the entire faculty and student body to include pronouns in their Zoom name would be unachievable. Ideally, everyone should follow all school policies, in-person and online, but we know this is not a reality. For example, despite the rule that having your camera on during class is mandatory, this is not always adhered to. Similarly, it is not unreasonable to believe that students wouldn’t follow a pronoun policy either.

am fully aware of the pronouns my peers use, and there is no ambiguity regarding how I should address them. There does not seem to be any benefits in having pronouns on Zoom as a requirement. A requirement to list pronouns could also result in more confusion if students decide to mock the initiative by changing their pronouns. This would undermine the intended purpose of moving towards an inclusive and transparent environment. The school should not ban listing pronouns on Zoom either though, because students have a right to express how they would like to be addressed. I have seen a

Torah and mitzvot. We genuinely believe that forcing or encouraging everyone to place their preferred pronouns in their Zoom bios will actually have the opposite-than-intended effect of hurting any transgender students that may attend Ramaz. As far as we know, there are currently no open transgender students in the Ramaz High School, so the policy would not be directly helping anyone. However, there may be people in Ramaz who are still in the closet and haven’t yet come out to their classmates, whether because they are still questioning themselves or whether they simply do not feel comfortable sharing what is obviously sensitive personal information with everyone around them. If this policy was put in place, supposedly to help them, these students would be forced to use their biological pronouns in their Zoom bios every day in order to avoid coming out, which will make them have to confront the issue every single time they log into a Zoom room in order to learn. Every day they will be reminded of their private

Unlike the camera rule, however, whether you display your pronouns or not has no impact on your ability to learn. The aim of instructing students to adhere to certain protocols such as keeping their cameras on is to ensure they are paying attention in class. In contrast, a pronoun policy has nothing to do with one’s ability to complete academic work, which is the inherent purpose of school. However, I do think it is essential to acknowledge the benefits of a possible gender pronoun policy. Not only does this assure that everyone’s gender identity is respected, but it also sends a healthy message of support to the Transgender Community. It would show that Ramaz recogniz-

few students on Zoom display their pronouns on their screen throughout the year. Why should they be banned from doing so? Ultimately, if a student wants to list their pronouns - whether they correspond to their biological sex or not - that is their choice and Ramaz does not have a valid reason to be against that decision (as long as the student’s intention is not to generate laughter in a classroom). If students wish to list their pronouns, they by all means should go ahead. Any decision by students or faculty alike regarding the listing of their preferred pronouns should be respected.

issues in a public place when they might rather not think about it. This may very well lead to an exacerbation of their distress, rendering a policy like this completely counter-intuitive. Students come to Ramaz in order to study, and it would be foolish to disrupt their learning environments in order for a small group of people to tout their own tolerance and virtue to others around them. This does not mean that students should not treat their peers with derech eretz and menschlichkeit, as is clearly outlined in the Ramaz mission statement. I personally believe that anyone who is struggling with these sorts of issues should be given our utmost respect and care. However, after looking prudently and realistically at the effects such a policy would have on Ramaz, I think it is safe to say that this policy would unintentionally hurt transgender students in more ways than it would help them.

es the validity of transgenderism and is committed to ensuring that all identities are respected. This could also make a positive mark on the well-being of potential transgender students. Studies have estimated that 5-10% of LGBTQ+ youth, depending on age and sex groups, have attempted suicide, a rate 1.5-3 times higher than heterosexual youth. The awareness of gender pronouns from a student’s fellow classmates and teachers could help them feel comforted in their identity. Overall, Ramaz should not impose nor ban the use of pronouns on Zoom.

March 2021/Nissan 5781 Charlotte Kleeger ’24 There is a stigma surrounding pronouns, and to be honest, I don’t understand why. Many think that sharing your pronouns on social media or on other platforms is odd.

However, I believe that there is no reason for confusion. Everyone has pronouns, and this is not a new concept. I don’t think that Ramaz needs to create a policy regarding pronouns, at least not yet. Rather, including your pronouns next to your

name on Zoom should be encouraged at first because as soon as it is a requirement without the Ramaz having mentioned anything before on the topic, it will receive a more negative response.

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Aviva Lehman ’23 Gender pronouns on Zoom shouldn’t be required but heavily encouraged. Requiring all students to put their pronouns in their Zoom name could potentially put transgender students in the position to either out themselves or open themselves up to ridicule from transphobic students. On the other hand, I see no harm in heavily encouraging those who are comfortable sharing

Feature 7 their pronouns to put them in their Zoom name. After all, everyone has pronouns, and no one likes to be misgendered, whether they are trangender or not. This policy could function similarly to the recent phenomenon of people putting their pronouns in their social media bio to create a safer online community for transgender users. Previously, putting your pronouns in your social media bio was mainly done by transgender individuals. There-

fore, transphobic users would cyberbully those with pronouns in their bio. In response, cisgender users began also putting their pronouns in their bio so transphobic users couldn’t use that as a reason to harass Transgender individuals. I see schools providing a similar mindset to Zoom names as an equally effective way of making a safer and more welcoming environment for Transgender people.

Seen at the Scene Yom Haatzmaut

The entire student body of Ramaz came out in full force to celebrate Yom Haatzmaut on April 15. The day was highlighted by our own faculty and alumnus, Binny Shalef ’75, who spoke from the heart about various experiences in Israel including IDF service, gap years, and settling in the Galil. All exuded enthusiasm for supporting Eretz Yisroel. Celebratory food included falafel and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream food trucks and, of course, the beloved blue and white cookies.

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Opinions

Everyone’s a President Aviva Schilowitz ’24 Sometimes it seems like some Ramaz clubs have more presidents than members, which begs the question: if everyone is in charge, is anyone in charge? Certain clubs at Ramaz have as many as five or six captains. I understand that seniors want to be the president of their respective clubs, and it’s noble that Ramaz tries to accommodate so many worthy students, but the school should restrict how many presidents a club can have. If you asked the average Ramaz student why Mount Rushmore has four presidents, most would answer “because they’re all seniors right now.” I support clubs having multiple presidents, but some kind of limit seems sensible. To quote a noted scholar on hierarchical and bureaucratic structures, rapper Young Thug, “How can they call themselves bosses, when they got so many bosses? I would like to propose making a rule that sets the maximum number of presidents a club can have based on the number of members in that club. For example, a club can only have one president for ev-

ery ten members it has in a given year. This way, club members will be incentivized to recruit participants to their club so they will have a better chance of being the club president. The best way to recruit students to your team or club is to produce a quality product. My proposal would hopefully lead to increased focus on improving the quality and benefits of our various clubs. Having a system like this also gives faculty advisors and students who are in-

you send an email to two people, they’re each likely to hope the other will take care of it, and neither may. It’s the same with a minyan. Having a community of ten men is better for getting a minyan than having a community of eleven. Similarly, if every senior in a club becomes president it creates a twofold problem: (1) there is little motivation to be involved beforehand because a leadership position is essentially a right upon becoming a senior. (2) No one takes ownership of club activities, with everyone looking at someone else. All students should be motivated to be constantly involved in, and recruiting for, their clubs. A president’s involvement affects the club member’s involvement. When the president is involved and worked hard to get to their position in the club they will feel more accomplished and be more respected by others. The title of “president” should mean something. I’m resisting all urges here to say “Make Presidents Great Again,” but, ugh, too late.

“The title of ‘president’ should mean something.” volved an opportunity to see which members have done the most to attract students and are therefore deserving of a leadership position. It is also important to have some kind of limit on the number of presidents in order to make sure leadership is motivated and engaged. We’re all familiar with the problem of sending an email to multiple people. If you send an email to one person, the recipient knows it’s on them to respond. If

Black History Month Charlotte Kleeger ’24 February is Black History Month. We as a country recognize, highlight and celebrate the achievements of Black Americans, as well as recognize their role in the history of the United States. This is important, as many Black inventors, engineers, scientists, doctors, and more are constantly overlooked. It is crucial for all Americans, including the Ramaz School, to engage in conversations regarding race and the challenges that Black people face in America. Unfortunately, Ramaz fell short of this objective. The 10th and 12th graders listened to Rabbi Aharon Frazer speak about his experience as the child of a Black parent in the Orthodox community. The 9th and 11th graders watched “Just Mercy”, a movie based on the story of American lawyer and social justice activist, Bryan Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative.

Both of these programs provided insight into the struggles of the Black community in America, and sparked conversations that we as a school needed to have. In the past few years, Ramaz has not done enough to celebrate or honor Black History Month, so I applaud them for taking this first step. However, this simply was not enough. After we watched the movie, my class had one class discussion about it, which was not necessarily the case in other classes. Further, the movie was shown on Zoom, and thus many students were not paying attention. Students would have welcomed the opportunity to learn about people who played an important role in our country or discuss topics such as systemic racism, implicit bias, etc. yet, there were no videos, no presentations, nothing. The efforts made by Ramaz to celebrate Black History Month were lacking. A school, which has a goal

and a responsibility to educate, should do more to inform their students on very real, very serious issues that exist in our society. It is clear that Ramaz can do better regarding exploring these issues. Ramaz students are always taught the concept of Tikkun Olam, an aspiration to repair and heal the world. Eradicating racism and overcoming social issues in America is certainly part of that goal, and we as Jews have a moral responsibility to carry out this mission. This has been a transitional year in many ways, and I am hoping that next year, Ramaz will take the opportunity to do more in their approach to celebrating Black History Month, and even educating students on the accomplishments of the Black community as well as racial issues outside of just the month of February.

Women’s History Month Should Be Commemorated Sydney Eisenstein ’22 Women’s History Month commences in March. During Black History Month, students learned about Black history by watching the movie “Just Mercy” and hearing from a Black Jewish speaker. Following the film, students flooded the Zoom chat with comments about the movie being both inspirational and enlightening. Just like Ramaz honored Black History Month by educating its students, Women’s History Month is equally important and should definitely be honored at Ramaz. Women’s history month is a reflection of women’s contributions to society. It is a month dedicated to celebrating women’s achievements throughout history that are often overlooked. It is imperative that Ramaz honors Women’s History Month, especially since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in 2020. As a young attorney, Ruth Bader Ginsburg brought a groundbreaking gender discrimination case before the United States Supreme Court. I am completely

awed by the life of a woman raising a family with her devoted husband while fighting for women’s equal rights and then rising to be Supreme Court Justice. Justice Ginsburg was truly a prominent legal figure, but she was also a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. Many of Justice Ginsburg’s cases were cutting-edge and resulted in changing the standard of equality for women in the workplace in the United States. In many fields, we mainly hear about the male pioneers of the field and frequently do not acknowledge female pioneers who revolutionized their fields. For instance, when people are asked who the most influential scientists are, most people would say Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton. While I agree that both Einstein and Newton were influential scientists, I think that there are female scientists who should also be considered significant. Ramaz should teach students about female scientists who deserve equal attention to their male counterparts. In particular, students should learn about female scientists, such as Rosalind Franklin and Florence Nightingale. Franklin discovered the

density of DNA and found that the molecule exists in a helix shape; her work was key to the understanding of the molecular structure of DNA. Furthermore, Nightingale was a trailblazer in the field of nursing and created policies about sanitation and accurate medical care. Ramaz should have programming to teach students about women’s advancements in STEM. It is important for Ramaz students to learn about Women’s History Month to highlight the barriers that females have had to overcome throughout history and acknowledge the barriers which still exist in full gender equality. Additionally, the gender discrimination which females endured during their lifetimes should not influence how we, a generation striving towards gender equality, view those fields. I hope that Ramaz honors Women’s History Month in the future in such a manner that students obtain more insight into women’s achievements and find the programming to be as eye-opening as that of Black History Month.

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Feature 9

Teachers: Politics in the Classroom? Daniel Kalimi ’23 Bringing politics into schools has always been a sensitive topic.With so many teachers at Ramaz so well versed in the political world and its novelties, it is common to see teachers posting about it on Schoology. Especially with the elections this year, teachers were posting daily, notably when Mr. Deutsch posted a list of debunked rumors about the elections. Some may say that this was an attempt to corrupt students’ minds against the right because he was disproving statements usually made by conservatives. On the other hand, he did his job in educating students with facts supported by articles to show the other side of the argument. My stance on the matter is that it is crucial for teachers to discuss politics, but only from an objective standpoint, showing every side so that students can identify with whatever they truly believe in. This post is a perfect example of how there was not necessarily a teacher sharing their opinion, rather they are sharing facts explaining how some myths going around are plainly unfactual or a misinterpretation of the truth This topic itself is eminently controversial because of the relationship between a student and teacher. A student looks for a teacher for the an-

swers to their question, so when educators portray their opinion as fact without showing the other side, students go out into the actual world blindly adopting these opinions for themselves. Studies done at Stanford University show that Americans’ partisan identities are stronger than race and ethnicity. One reason they have for this is that because you choose who you support, politically and race and ethnicity are assigned to you at birth. Because you chose it, your identification with it is much stronger, but the problem is when educators are basically the one choosing it for you. By openly expressing their political views, teachers are strongly influencing students’ political affiliations, but the worst part is that students think they are making these decisions themselves. They end up identifying with a belief because they only saw one side to the argument but by the time they are introduced to the other side for the first time, it is too late for them to go against what they “chose” to believe in. This idea is supported by Dr. Roger Kingerlee, a psychologist who has done studies proving the simple fact that “minds don’t want to change”. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t discuss politics in school at all. I think that it is the job of every school to talk about politics, but they

have to make sure they are doing it in the right way. First, it is important for students to learn in a controlled environment where the teachers are presenting reliable facts and can guide students away from lies spread by random people on social media. Without the proper counseling, kids could easily form an opinion with a foundation of lies which can be prevented if taught how to properly evaluate the validity of different news sources. Also, it is crucial for students to have their teachers’ help when researching specific topics they are interested in. Ramaz does this very well with clubs like Race in American Club and Rampo, which are open to anyone interested to come and learn about whatever the topic of discussion is that week. These clubs are also forums for students to voice their opinions, and since there is someone knowledgeable moderating the conversation, students rarely get away with saying something false without getting called out on it. To conclude, school is a learning environment where easily persuaded students should learn both sides of an argument to formulate their own opinions rather than instinctively embracing a teacher’s opinion.

New Class vs. Old Classics Daniel Kalimi ’23 The Odyssey, Hamlet, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Canterbury Tales: By the time a Ramaz student is ready for graduation, they have read many of the English classics. These are books that teachers have been teaching in English classes for many years, and the authors of these books are all white men. Teachers teach students how to analyze these texts and to write essays about these works. For some students, the works of authors like Shakespeare or Chaucer seem irrelevant to current world problems. Why doesn’t the English department change the books to make it more interesting for the students, while taking books from more contemporary authors who, through their writing, are more directly addressing dilemmas in today’s world? Is this lack of diversity in the books we read detrimental to student’s exposure to new ideas? Some students wonder why the curriculum is littered with old books instead of modern ones. Ms. Grossman said that reading well-written literature teaches the skills you are expected to learn in an English class, like analyzing texts and becoming a better writer. She explained what qualifies a book to be taught in class: “When we discuss what books to read, we want to find ones that are challenging enough, meaty enough, accessible enough that affect styles and techniques that are unusual or interesting in ways that students may not, on their own, discover themselves.” Ms. Grossman believes that even though some say that the books in the Ramaz curriculum are not timely, many of them have ideas or themes that still apply to our current world. For example, “to be or not to be” in Hamlet is a question that people have been asking for centuries, and the way Shakespeare portrays this idea in a more beautiful way than

you will find in

other texts. A personal goal of Ms. Grossman’s, is to use these classic works to shed light on current events. Recently, she discussed the power failure in Texas in her senior class about Franz Kafka, who writes about the failure of institutions. Dr. Milowitz, who has been at Ramaz for about twenty-five years, explained that the Ramaz curriculum has been built on the idea that certain texts that are staples of western culture, and they give students a well-rounded traditional high school English education. Books such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, The Great Gatsby, The Odyssey, and Antigone are examples of books that have been consistently taught at Ramaz for many years. Moreover, they are the same books being taught in most high schools in America. He also noted that because of the limited time in a school year, it would be impossible to just add books to the curriculum, so the question is: is worth it to replace such crucial, influential books with more contemporary literary works. Dr. Milowitz said that there is a viable argument

that these are books that are timeless and have influenced other writers.” These books are everywhere in literature and are known by all the newer writers, so because they have influenced a lot of literature making it vital for high school students to learn them. Recently, with the rise of social justice movements like the Black Lives Matter Movement in March 2020, English departments around the country have been thinking about the question of whether or not to include more authors of diverse backgrounds. On one hand, representation is important. In Ramaz, students have little exposure to diversity, so it should arguably be brought in through required readings; in more diverse schools, students should see authors who come from the same background as them. Others argue that, while including more literature by diverse authors is a positive, there are only so many books a teacher can assign. By adding more books, it means cutting out some of the classics, which are, arguably, fundamental to an American high school curriculum. Ms. Grossman stressed the importance of balancing the diversity of an author and a book’s effectiveness at helping students develop as readers and writers. She believes that reading a book by an author sole--ly because they are of a distinct race without considering what students can learn from it is not how teachers should pick books to teach. Ms. Grossman explained, “When we talk about diversity it often means books by authors of traditionally oppressed, minority groups and there is a lot of value in that but there are still things like diversity of ideas, time period, or class.” A perfect example of this is The Canterbury Tales which is written by a white author and does not focus on characters of different Continued on Page 10 races or cultures, but

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Ramaz Essentials Continued From Page 5

role of technology has become more relevant to education than ever before. The IT department at Ramaz is vital to virtual learning. They ensure that the Ramaz devices work seamlessly and the remote-live balance allows for effective learning. Adam Feliciano from the IT staff explained, “When I first came, there was an adjustment period of trying to get Ramaz up to speed with all of the new technology that makes it easier for everyone to learn. As the months went by, we’ve slowly gotten caught up to speed and everything is starting to run more smoothly. Not only me, but the teachers themselves are starting to get caught up.” Adam and other members of the technology team work hard to familiarize people with all aspects of Zoom which are unfamiliar to students and faculty. He noted, “Since everything is moving towards technology, especially with remote learning, there is definitely a need for knowledge on how to operate different software. I think that the demand for my job has definitely risen during this time.”

English Curriculum Continued From Page 9

the novel still teaches the irony and hypocrisy of socio-economic class. Dr. Milowitz mentioned that when the English department is switching out books in the curriculum, they realize that most of the core books in the ninth through eleventh grade English courses are written by white men so they try to supplement that with voices of African-American writers and overlooked, contemporary female writers. While this is true, after an analysis of the literature read throughout one’s four years at Ramaz, most are still written by white men. Ms. Litwack discussed the future for the literature chosen as mandatory reading. She said, “Now, we aim for more diversity: we want to teach more writers of color, LGBTQ writers, or female writers.” Within the English department the teachers seem to be looking for more diversity of the authors they teach but are not eager to cut out pieces of literature that they believe students will learn from or are known to be essential for a high school education.

Heard by the Herd

From Bereishit to Bashert Mazal tov to Ms. Senders on her engagement to Yoni Bryk!

Senior Hoop Dreams at Seneca Senior boys basketball team to participate in tournament at Camp Seneca Lake in May. A Safe Trip to U-Rope You don’t need a passport to transport yourself to a new athletic high! All grades will be going on a trip to the ropes course. Declaring Culinary Freedom on Yom Haatzmaut Food trucks came to Ramaz to treat students to lunch on Yom Haatzmaut! March Mishugas Congratulations to Max Tans ‘23 for winning the school-wide March Madness competition.

Rampage Crossword March 2021/Nissan 5781

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Opinion 11

Crossword

Isaac Silverman ’21

2 3 4 5 6

Solutions to both puzzles are posted online at www.the-rampage.org Solve the puzzles? Send a photo to rampage@ramaz.org to be featured on our Instagram!

Down:

Across:

4. Ms. Litwack’s teaching style. 1. Teacher who received 50+ likes on his 5. How the Ramaz dinner was held this year. Schoology post congratulating the Model UN 7. Monthly student and faculty meeting. team on their win. Across: 8. Storytelling project. 2. Juniors had this day off to virtually visit coleceived 50+ 4. Ms. teaching style. 9. AfterLitwack's months of waiting, this after-school acleges. likes on his tivity is back. 3. Rabbi Blaustein posts weekly puzzles t congratulating the Model UN for each5. How the Ramaz Dinner is being 10. February celebrates ______. week’s ______. win. yea. 6. The Environmental Club sold these.

s day oﬀ to virtually visit

Word Search

n posts weekly puzzles for Aaron Zanger ’21 ________. ental Club sold these.

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held this

7. 8. 9.

Monthly student and faculty meeting. Storytelling project.

After months of waiting, this after-school activity is coming back. The Omer 10. February celebrates ___________. Rabbi Sklarin Yom Haatzmaut Shavuos Spring Allergies Lag B’Omer Baseball SZN Rampage Week in Review

Yom Hazikaron

Yom Hashoah Build your own custom worksheet at education.com/worksheet-generato

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March 2021/Nissan 5781