As a co-founder and President of Students4Students, with Dalit Agronin '12 and   

fulfillment with the raising of close to $30,000 so that the children of the Goz Amer refugee camp in Chad and those in Azezo in Northwestern Ethiopia, are able to study under strong roofs, with doors that close and windows that allow the sun to seep through.

When her heart is not building for others, Rachel's mind is building for readers as Editor-in-Chief of The Bulldog Print, a contributor and intern of the Dallas Morning News, and other outlets.  One day, she hopes to cover a presidential campaign.

"Rachel has a willingness to seek challenges that will really stretch her abilities and, at the same time, bring that same level of excellence to wherever she contributes. She is so well-respected by her peers and her triumphs are never "hers" alone," said Journalism and The Bulldog Print adviser, Sandy Hall-Chiles.  "Modest and grounded, Rachel is so aware of the power of collective thinking and effort. A true citizen of the world, Rachel gives much more than lip-service to bettering the planet."

Bound in the fall for for Yale University's Directed Studies honors program, Rachel was also accepted to the University of Texas' Plan II Honors program.

"Rachel is one of the most dedicated and hard working students I have ever met. 

"I was far from ready to leave the close-knit Jewish environment I'd been lucky to be a part of since preschool.  Though it definitely took time to transition from Akiba to Yavneh, I cannot imagine myself growing into the person I have become anywhere else, and remind myself how strongly I want to be here," said Rachel, who attended Akiba Academy from toddlerhood.  "Students here are given the freedom to explore beyond the classroom. We are given the chance to succeed, to fail, to move past obstacles and to be lifted back up. We are never alone, but arrive with the expectation that we have an open door to make a difference in this world."

Rachel admits it is no secret that it is difficult to handle a dual-curriculum and to take in both secular and Judaic information back-to-back-to-back. Still, she has never felt that her general education suffered to make room for Judaic courses.  "Instead, we walk away with 'double,'" she said.  "Facing a dual-curriculum has taught me tremendous time management skills I'll inevitably need for college. Students here are successful because we are able to apply the lessons learned at Yavneh - religious or not - to our own lives and determine how we will use our knowledge to chart our own courses in the future."

The daughter of Lisa and Charles, and sister to Evan and Rosie, Rachel is a member of Congregation Shearith Israel where she served as a member of its United Synagogue Youth chapter board of directors.

In addition to Students4Students, which in addition to building schools abroad, supports a mentoring team of Yavneh students at a local elementary school, on The Bulldog Print since her last year at Akiba, Rachel has served as reporter, features editor, managing editor.  Rachel has also served as a Yavneh Student Ambassador.  She is the recipient of numerous state, national, and local Journalism awards, and a former participant of the Georgetown Summer Journalism Workshop for High School students, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting Summer Journalism Program, and the Dallas Morning News Summer Journalism Workshop.

"I came to Yavneh a very different person than who I am today. I came here unsure when or how I was going to find my footing, and struggled with the reality that I was in a new school for the first time and I had yet to learn the ropes," said Rachel.  "I cannot thank Mr. O'Quinn enough for showing me that there is no single path we are all supposed to take in life, and that we all eventually land on the right one. We take unexpected twists and turns, we walk backwards, we forge ahead."

For all of us at Yavneh, we are blessed that Rachel's turns, the words in her mind and the giving of her heart, made the Schultz Rosenberg Campus, a stop on her path.