Graphic by Cherie Landa ('15)
Article by Shanee Markovitz ('16)

Last month, the junior class visited the Forest Trace Senior Community, where they interviewed World War II veterans. The juniors were inspired by the firsthand stories of determination and by the sheer bravery of these military heroes. This past Tuesday, the students once again had the opportunity to meet with and honor these veterans. Forest Trace residents came to WYHS for a wonderful program where students shared some of the veterans' biographies and presented each veteran with an award. Ellin Gurvitch ('15) shared, "I could tell they were all glowing with happiness when they were called up to the stage." The students loved presenting the veterans with their awards just as much as the veterans enjoyed receiving them!

    This past Wednesday, students from WYHS had the privilege to work side by side with middle school and high school students from Dona Klein. Together with teachers, we assisted students from the elementary schools of Hillel Day School, Dona Klein, Torah Academy, and BMA to create Chesed Day projects. Around two weeks ago, we had gone around the different schools to inform middle school students about Federation and explain how important and essential the Jewish Federation is to Jewish communities around the world. Now, lower school students were also brought into the big picture of chesed, which is the act of giving. Not only did students decorate tzedaka boxes that will be used to raise money for the Federation, but they also had a chance to interact with Jewish children from other schools and bond over the simple act of giving. One part of the project involved eighteen pennies. The number eighteen has the numeric value of the Hebrew word chai, which means life. Students were taught that giving tzedaka is just like giving life to a person. Twelve pennies were used for decoration, while the remaining six were split up amongst the partners of each group. The students had the opportunity to be the first "givers" of the project that they had completed. A lesson we could have all taken from this year's Chesed Day is that it is integral to give, and that each member of our community is responsible for the other. On behalf of everyone that participated, I would like to thank the Jewish Federation for allowing us to participate in giving, as their members constantly continue to do.