Winter break renews student energy

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Since our return from winter break in the latter part of last month, life at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School has been vibrant with student activities, Judaic learning opportunities, and constructive academic programs.

Having enjoyed long and fulfilling vacations, students at HAFTR returned with a fresh enthusiasm for the plethora of learning experiences and activities that are to come. This remarkable enthusiasm recently shone through on one of our favorite days of the school year: Sharsheret Pink Day.

HAFTR took part in the annual breast cancer awareness event on Feb. 8. “Sharsheret is a national not-for-profit organization supporting young Jewish women and their families facing breast cancer,” it states on the group’s website. The fundamental goal of the organization is “to offer a community of support to women, of all Jewish backgrounds, diagnosed with breast cancer or at increased genetic risk, by fostering culturally-relevant individualized connections with networks of peers, health professionals, and related resources.”

HAFTR students and faculty demonstrated support for the organization by wearing pink articles of clothing, having athletic activities to promote healthy lifestyles, as is the goal of Sharsheret, and hosting fundraising campaigns like bake sales to raise money.

This year, students managed to raise $1,500 for the group. Aside from providing moral support for the organization, students became intellectually engaged on the issue of breast cancer, having the opportunity to learn more about the disease from OB/GYN Dr. Jonathan Herman. He not only addressed the medical aspects of breast cancer, but also spoke about the prevalence of the disease among specific populations of Jewish women. Gaining this insight served not only to reinforce our basic medical knowledge, but more importantly, to highlight the significance of breast cancer to the Jewish community.

In spite of the unfortunate winter weather circumstances that compromised our learning time, HAFTR’s Judaic department compensated for the loss by hosting a Yom Iyun, a day dedicated to the study of a particular topic of Judaic relevance, focusing on Tu B’Shevat, a significant holiday on the Jewish calendar pertaining to trees. 

On our second snow day, Rabbi Gedaliah Oppen, principal of Judaic Studies, addressed the students about Tu B’Shevat and how Adam, a person, is compared to a tree. He explained how the growth and maturation of trees is reflective of our own personal development as individuals. We are constantly experiencing personal improvements, though these improvements may not be obvious to outsiders. Though we may appear dull and stunted at times, we are constantly growing, gradually blossoming into the best possible versions of ourselves.

Students have also made strides in the science department. Four seniors, Marc Gottlieb, Josh Plaut, Rachel Sacks, and Gila Schein, competed in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF) earlier this month.

The students presented their original science research projects, which were developed at the Garcia Center at Stony Brook University last summer. Rachel Sacks and Gila Schein, whose project dealt with the creation of a scaffold that stimulates stem cell differentiation and protein absorption with solutions of metallized graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide and sulfonated polystyrene, successfully made it to the next round of the competition. HAFTR extends its congratulations to these two extraordinary young researchers.