NYHS MERIT AWARDS- An NYHS Tradition  

Click here for the award recipients.  

Merit Award Ceremony & Washington State Honors Photos 

 Double Your Tzedakah Today!

$15,000 More to Go  by June 30th!

Thank you to the seven very generous donors who are offering all of us a chance to double the impact of our tzedakah by matching all donations to the Annual Fund up to $72,000 (4 x Chai)through June 30th!  We are just $15,000 away from our goal!  Thank you to all who helped raise $57,000 to date and to all our Annual Fund donors!   

Thank you Double Your Tzedakah Donors 

Donate online or call Melissa Rivkin at 206-551-9322 cell or 206-232-5272 ext 515 office. Checks, stock transfers and cash are also wonderful ways to donate!

Thank you! Your investment in our school and young people is a true investment in faces of the future!

Shabbat shalom! 

Chumash Projects - Jewish Parenting

by Rabbi Yona Margolse

We believe that Torah can impact every area of a person's life. I therefore asked the students in my Chumash class to each choose a question that is related to Judaism (many of these topics we covered on "question day") and do some research, interview people, and present your findings to the class.

Below is a link to the questionaire that Halle Freidland and Tali Etsekson used for their "Jewish Parenting Presentation". Please take the test and see how your parenting style fits with some of the people that were interviewed. If nothing else, it will help you think about some serious questions related to parenting.

 Congratulations Class of 2011! 

By Milana Davydov 2012  

What a fantastic year it has been! It is hard to believe it's almost all over. Congratulations to our seniors who had their last day of high school (FOREVER!) today! Please be sure to join us on Wednesday June 15^th, at 7:30 PM at SBH as we celebrate all of our seniors' accomplishments, and wish them good luck on all of their future endeavors.   

Please be sure to remember that all community service forms are due by next week! All students are required to complete 24 hours of community service each year, 12 per semester. 10 of those hours can be completed any way the student chooses, and 2 must be in school hours. Thank you to everyone who has already turned their forms in!   

The three days off for Shavuot gave all of us all a teasing taste of summer. However: students - be sure to remember that finals are next week! School will be getting out at 2 PM all of next week, with the exception of Friday, which will get out at 11 AM (however school still starts at 8 AM every day, as usual). For a complete final schedule, pick up a copy in the office. Study hard everyone, and let's finish out another amazing school year!   

For those of you interested in greening NYHS even more, please join the Green Team for their first meeting on Monday at 2:15 pm in the Beit Midrash.

Have a restful weekend and a wonderful Shabbat! 

Shabbat Shalom!

 Photos of the Week  

Cake Auction Pics 

Merit Award Photos 

Do you want to have an international experience without leaving Seattle?

 

Would you like to share your home and beautiful city with a high school student looking for a Jewish high school experience?

 

If you answered 'yes' to either question, consider hosting a student for the 2011-12 school year.  

 

 

We have a number of incoming students from out of state and country.  If you are interested in hosting a student and/or would like more information, please contact Rabbi Margolese at

rmargolese@nyhs.net. 

 

NYHS In the News

NYHS Food Auction in the MI Patch

Elie Aboulafia 2011 #2 in State Golf Championship in the MI Patch

Israel Walk in the Mercer Island Patch 

Israel Walk and Dine in the JT News 

NYHS Students to Be Honored by the Friendship Circle

Raphi Kintzer 2011, David Kintzer 2013 and Yoni Kintzer 2015 and their parents, Jane Becker and Jason Kintzer to be honored at the 6th Annual Friendship Dinner on June 12th!  We congratulate the Kintzers on their service to our community!

 

Click here for the first edition of the NYHS Alumni magazine!  This is a compilation of updates that had previously been in the E-Bulletin.  We will continue to add to it with new alumni updates! New updates still in process! Check back next week!




Click here to read about Ruby Antolin and Zach Grashin in the JT News

Zelle Rettman 2010 has had an exciting and active first year at college.  She spent a semester at Hebrew University before starting Brandeis this winter.

 

Zelle starts the conversation by telling us she loves school.  She also says that she loves NYHS and was worried that she could not find any college that would fit her better.  "But I'd figure I'd try."  She continues.   She chose Brandeis for a variety of reasons but location, education and active Jewish life were among the top.

 

"Brandeis has a large orthodox community and because the school has 4000 undergrads, it is very diverse.  I am able to both maintain my Jewish identity and grow religiously and branch out and have friends from all different backgrounds." 

 

She also said the kosher food is pretty good too and she spends up to 3 hours a night in the dining hall studying and schmoozing.

 

Zelle credits NYHS for preparing her for college.  "For example, in my Writing class, we do a lot of peer editing and I felt a lot more competent in my essay writing then most of my classmates and this was reflected in the feedback I received as well.  Going to college was not a difficult jump or transition like it could have been."

 

Zelle appreciates being able to choose her own classes.  This year, she took Computer Science, Psychology, Film, English Lit. and Yoga. 

" I enjoyed learning from all my teachers.  Like at NYHS, the teachers make it easy to build relationships with them if you make the effort. If you'd rather be another face in the crowd, that works too."

 

Zelle has not decided on a major yet.  Besides her academic classes, she is a photographer, columnist and layout designer for Hoot, the Brandeis newspaper.   She will also start as a STAR Peer Counselor next semester and is participating in training to help her be able to help students who come to her with their problems in everything from relationships to academic.  Zelle also played on the women's intramural basketball team, the Gefilta Swishers!

 

If that isn't enough, she also has a part time job at as a research assistant at the Cohen Center for Jewish Research where she is helping to compile data about every Jewish educational establishment in the US.  

Nicki Etsekson 2010 and Talia Etsekson 2013

Nicki Etsekson 2010 is back from her first year at Tulane.  Nicki had a great freshman year and loves Tulane and New Orleans.  Nicki feels that she was very well prepared for academic life on campus.  She made the Dean's List both semesters.  On campus, she is active in a variety of Jewish organizations.  This year she was a member of the Tulane Jewish Leaders (TJL) through Hillel.  She also participated in the Sinai Scholars program of Jewish learning.  Next fall, she will serve on the board of the campus Chabad House.  Nicki told us that close to half her freshmen class is Jewish and that there is a vibrant Jewish vibe on campus.  Tulane has a kosher kitchen at Hillel and both the Chabad and Hillel provide lively shabbat meals and programming. 

She has decided to major in Public Health and told us that Tulane is the oldest institution in the US offering such degrees.  She hasn't decided on a career yet but has plenty of time to explore the many options.

Thank you Nicki for catching up with us!

Ephraim Adatto 2010 visiting from Israel for Pesach where he is studying this year at Derech Etz Chaim.  Here he is with former Marilyn Meyer, Sarah Varon and Juliana Gamel

Click here for Aaron Katsman's (1988) article Financial Aliyah in the Jewish Week.

Alicia Walls 2003 -After graduating from NYHS in 2003, Alicia spent time in Israel at Midreshet Lindenbaum.  She is currently a student at Seattle University working towards a degree in Sociology.  She also works at Group Health and substitute teaches.  Alicia is taking the next three months to work on a research project on gender roles in the subculture Steampunk community with Dr. Cohan of Seattle University.

 

Alicia told us that she really understood the value of her NYHS education when she took a Philosophy class in college.  She  saw her peers having difficulty studying the material an noticed that they often took lots of notes but didn't know how to learn and process the material or come up with independent ideas.   "It wasn't just the Judaic classes but also the general studies classes at Yeshiva that helped me learn how to learn and learn how to write."

Alicia Walls with Mr. Kaufman 

Jake Baker 2009 and Jake Hanan 2012

Congratulations to Jake Baker 2009 (update from January below).  Since we spoke to Jake back in January, he has gotten his private pilot's license! He can now fly a single engine, 200 horse power plane!  He is working towards his instrument license.  Jake is also the new treasurer of the Jewish Student Organization on campus!


Avinoam Baral 2010 completed in the first Jerusalem Marathon last week! He was part of Team Tzvi from his school Eretz Hatzvi.  They raised over $18000 for Tikvot, an Iraeli organization that helps soldiers and victims of terror through sports. Avinoam and his teammates have been training for the last 5 months!  Congrats to Avinoam and his team! 


Avinoam Baral 2010 at the Finish Line
  

Micol and Rabbi Aaron Bayer and Koby, Adin and Gabriella

Micol (Rubin)Bayer 1994 -After graduating from NYHS in 1994, Micol spent a year Israel before enrolling and graduating from Stern College in 1998. Micol did the BA/MA program at Stern where she received a BA in Jewish Studies and continued on to earn a Masters in Jewish History.  She also minored in Art. 

Today Micol is married to Rabbi Aaron Bayer and they 3 children, Gabriella(2), Adin (4 and a half), Koby (7).  They live in Cleveland, Ohio where Micol owns her own design business.  She specializes in custom made paper cuts and ketubot and all things Judaica.  Check out her website at Micol Designs.  Micol also teaches Art at the Fuchs Mizrahi School.

Micol says that her experience at the Yeshiva inspired her to incorporate Jewish text and learning into her art work.  Micol nurtures her connection with NYHS, even from a distance by creating the beautiful honoree gifts for the dinner and auction.

Thank you Micol for speaking with us this week!


 

Jake Baker 2009 is a sophomore at the University of North Dakota and is studying Aviation Management and UAS (Unmanned Aerial systems) Operations.  Jake explains that Aviation Management is the business side of the aviation world and his degree requires one to get up to and including a commercial pilot's license. Jake is just one flight away from getting a private pilot's license which will allow Jake to fly alone, with passengers, internationally, as well as have many other privileges with an airplane. Jake however will be going a step further and will acquire his CFI license which will give him flight instructor status. After Jake gets his regular fixed wing (airplane) licenses, he will begin flying UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) which he is extremely excited to do!

Jake's university is the only civilian institution in the United States that offers a degree in UAS.  In fact, Jake will be one of the first students without a military background to earn a degree in this pioneering field.  Jake describes a not too distant future where cargo is flown by unmanned aircraft.  According to Jake, Fed Ex is already exploring this option and the US government is allocating some 20 billion dollars for commercial UAS development.  In some states, police already use such aircraft.

We asked Jake about life on campus beyond academics.  Jake told us that he is "definitely more active" in the tight knit Jewish community this year. He participates in planning shabbat dinners and helps organize Jewish events.  There is only a small Jewish community at the University and they get support from the local synagogue in the area.  Jake says that he has had many experiences with people who had never met a Jew before.  Jake goes on to say, "I love having the opportunity to share my religion with people, many of whom have never met another Jew before me.  Despite this, I haven't experienced any anti-semitism or anti-Israel sentiment on campus.  If anything, people are curious and very supportive.  The only negative feedback I can give about the University of North Dakota is that it gets ridiculously cold in the winters. If you plan on visiting North Dakota... bring a Parka!"

Jake continues to tell us that he feels that NYHS fully prepared him for the college atmosphere, academically and socially.

"I feel ahead of my peers in discussion classes and just generally in the area of forming a solid argument. At the Yeshiva, I learned how to form an effective and logical argument to back up my position.  Also, the Jewish values, cultural understanding and moral standards that Yeshiva has taught me have only been a positive influence and have helped shaped the person I am today. I am proud and honored to have been a student of Northwest Yeshiva High School."

Thank you to Jake for taking the time to share his experiences with us.

 June 12 - Friendship Circle Dinner honoring the Kintzers  

For all things NCSY, visit www.seattlencsy.com - Spring Regionals May 27-29! 

Visit www.seattlekollel.org for up to the minute Kollel programming

Check out www.jewishinseattle.org for up to date info. on all things Jewish happening!