HAFTR Highlights

After reflection, moving forward with new classes

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Back-to-school is a fundamental component of the academic year: it’s a time of first impressions, new goals, and turning over a new leaf, and also a critical time for the Jewish community. Some of the most significant holidays are at this time of year: Rosh Hashana, which is the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, a day of repentance and reflection.

As times of introspection and personal development; we are spiritually obligated to reflect on our past experiences. This year, Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) students had a few consecutive weeks of school before the start of holidays to get back into the swing of their academic schedules and focus on the plethora of clubs and elective courses the high school has to offer.

On Sept. 28, HAFTR held its annual club fair, where students met with faculty and student club advisors to learn about the 35 different clubs, including College Bowl, Torah Bowl, Math Club, AV Club, Science Institute, Drama Club, Globalization Club, Medical Ethics Club, and Students Against Destructive Decisions Club.

These clubs not only enable students to engage in academic as well as cultural and social service activities beyond the core curriculum, but they encourage students to develop interpersonal, leadership, and creativity skills and connect with peers who have similar interests may not have similar class schedules. To help ensure that more students participate, school administration shifted the club schedule from after-school to in-school hours. Clubs will officially begin after school resumes following the Sukkot break and be held every Wednesday from 2 to 2:45 p.m.

There are also a variety of elective courses in general and Judaic studies. In the English department, Dr. Hindi Krinsky and Michelle Beach are offering new courses in literature in food and sports literature, respectively. Krinsky’s class isn’t about the best and latest recipes. The course encourages students to explore how the choices they make about food not only affect their bodies, but also impact the world around them.

Students also examine how economic, political, and cultural forces fashion their eating habits. Beach’s course focuses on athletic themes like leadership, rivalries, definitions of success and failure, and coaching ethics. Students discover how these themes are portrayed in sports-related novels and discuss their opinions on these themes.

Thomas Liguori, who teaches scientific technology and biomedical engineering electives for 9th and 10th grade students, is now teaching “Introduction to Computer Programming and Engineering,” an elective exclusively for juniors. Students will be immersed in app development and will program and test their own Android apps. Benjamin Gross, director of Education Technology, is teaching advanced engineering and automation to the seniors.

The course focuses on physical computing — building highly interactive physical systems with personalized programming such as miniature vehicles. For their first endeavor, students will construct miniature Google cars. In Judaic studies, students have the opportunity to select from a variety of compelling electives such as chadashot/current event/inyanei dyoma examines current events from a Jewish perspective, while teva — science & Torah explores a variety of scientific concepts through the eyes of a Torah observer.

Though HAFTR puts a tremendous amount of effort into crafting a spectacular academic program, it also ensures that much attention is given to student activities and our athletics department. The new Glaubach Family Student Center and Scott Satran Arena, an 8,000-square-foot multifunctional facility, is currently under construction.

The facility will function as a gymnasium to accommodate physical education classes, sports games and tournaments as well as a center for a wide array of school activities like science fairs and college nights. The student center will also feature conference rooms, offices for extracurricular activities, and a media center.

The school’s original gymnasium will be transformed into a scientific and technological research center with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classrooms and research labs. It is scheduled to be complete by early 2017. We look forward to the student center’s opening and our opportunity to take advantage of its many uses.