Weekly Update December 9, 2011

15 Kislev 5772

Bull’s Eye Lab

9th grade physics students completed a challenging lab this past week. They had to make a number of measurements, use photogates, labquests and laptops to collect velocity data, and work with equations of motion to precisely predict where a projectile (in this case a marble) would land on the floor when released down a ramp and across a table. They placed a small paper clip holder at their predicted location and would then have only one shot at getting the marble to land as close to the target as possible. At no time in the experiment before that final step did they allow the marble to leave the table; thus the location at which they placed their target was entirely based on their table-top experiments and calculations. Also note that the students chose on their own to finish this lab during their lunch period.

Please enjoy the following video of Emma and Zach’s endeavors, and a special thank you to Dr. Paul Castle for making this happen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=088-CT9Hiow

College Guidance Update

Our students’ PSAT scores have just arrived. College guidance counselor Claire Friedlander would like to invite you to attend a special college planning program at JHSC on Thursday, January 12th at 7:00 pm. In addition to reviewing the PSAT data –what it does and does not mean – we will take a look at what lies ahead for juniors and their parents this Spring as they embark upon the college visit and information- gathering process. Materials that should prove helpful will be distributed. This meeting is for parents only—Claire will have other meetings for students and faculty to be sure everyone is in the same place in the educational planning and preparation process. Please feel free to call Claire anytime at 203-962-1964 if you would like to schedule individual meetings about the college planning process.

Basketball Team Wins!

This past Thursday, our basketball team beat Greens Farms Academy by a score of 75-40! Go Wolves! Our first home game will be on Tuesday, December 13th at 4:00pm at the Bridgeport JCC. Please come and cheer on the team. The 3:30 pm busses will drop off at the JCC those students who want to go to the game, and then continue on to the regular stops in Stamford and New Haven. The 5:30 pm busses will pick up the remaining students at the JCC and continue to their regular stops in Stamford and New Haven.

Dance

The first ever JHSC dance will take place this Saturday night, December 10th, at our school! Thank you to the Student Council for making this happen, and arranging for a DJ, food and refreshments, and decorations.

New Haven Admissions Meeting

We are hosting an Admissions Parlor Meeting on Monday, December 12, 2011 at 7:30pm at the Gerber’s home in Woodbridge (thank you Gerbers!) Please tell all prospective families that you know of to join us, and learn about how the school's educational philosophy, academics and student life create a unique and inspiring high school education. They can RSVP to Dana Horowitz at (203) 275-8448 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

PTSO Meeting

All JHSC parents are invited to a general PTSO meeting on January 12th, 2012, from 9:15am-10:15am at the high school. Parents will discuss the goals of the PTSO, ask for nominations for PTSO board members, talk with Dr. Yussman, select dates for future PTSO meetings, and receive the proposed PTSO bylaws. Please RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you can attend the meeting. Looking forward to seeing you there!

JHSC Family Chanukah Party

The Ravids have graciously offered to host a Chanukah party for the JHSC community. The evening will kick-off with a latke making contest and continue with candle lighting (bring your own Chanukah Menorah for a cool effect), games, and hanging out. You will be sent a separate invitation via google docs in which you can RSVP, as well as volunteer to bring food and drink. Where: 76 Woodfield Road in Woodbridge. When: Tuesday December 27th (8th night of Chanukah) at 5pm. Thank you Ravids!

Power of One Seminar: Dr. Doron Ben-Atar

We are excited to invite you to hear our next guest speaker in our Power of One Seminar program, renowned playwright and historian, Doron Ben-Atar. Dr. Ben-Atar, a professor at Fordham College, has authored numerous books and articles on early America. His play Peace Warriors debuted in Washington, D.C. in July 2009, and is scheduled for production in 2012 by Habima, Israel's National Theater. Dr. Ben- Atar is also a member of our founding Board of Trustees.

Parents and friends of JHSC are invited to join us on December 12th from 9:15am-10:00am for Dr. Ben- Atar’s talk. In 1978, Dr. Ben-Atar fulfilled his dream and, following in his father's footsteps, played basketball for Israel's premiere team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. The following year he left for the United States where he became an historian and playwright. Dr. Ben-Atar will tell the story of the intellectual transformation of a jock--how an Israeli athlete became an historian of early America and how he stumbled upon becoming an internationally known playwright. Please join us for a dessert reception following Dr. Ben-Atar’s talk. RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you can attend.

Gala Keynote Speaker Announcement

As you already know, we are excited to honor Susan Birke Fiedler at our first gala on March 25th, 2012. We are also proud to announce that we will have Dr. Daniel Gordis as our keynote speaker. Dr. Gordis is one of the foremost Jewish educators and scholars in the world, and is the President of the Shalem Foundation.

Students Create Honor Code

I’m sure most of you have heard that Jewish day school students were recently caught in an SAT cheating scandal. I wasn’t surprised. Why do so many students cheat? I make the analogy to speeding—many people only slow down on a highway if they see a cop, or out of fear of getting a speeding ticket. But if they are sure there are no cops around, many people speed. The reason? Fear of getting caught is such a weak incentive to doing the right thing. A much stronger incentive is understanding and internalizing doing the right thing.

When I was in high school, we had an honor code. My classmates and I had to write ―I pledge‖ on every assignment turned in, which meant that we pledged we were upholding the honor code. But, the school created it and imposed it on us, and my classmates and I treated it just like that cop lurking behind the trees, waiting to catch you speeding. Needless to say, cheating was rampant at my school despite the honor code.

During this week’s Town Meeting, I asked our students to create their own honor code. I have to tell you—I was and am so very proud of them. We had a long conversation, and I’ll share some of the highlights.

We opened up our discussion by talking about what expectations students need to have of each other in order for this to be the strongest community possible. I loved the suggestion of ―Always look behind you when going through doors--hold the door open for each other.‖ It’s such a powerful metaphor for the strength of our community! Another neat one was when we said that we need to ―spot‖ each other, like how people do in weight lifting. Just like weight lifters need ―spotters‖ to make sure the barbells don’t crash down on them, we all need people watching out for us to make sure life doesn’t get too heavy. The students came up with a long list of such things.

We talked about some very concrete ways to implement their ideas. For example, make sure no one is sitting alone at lunch, everyone gets invited to parties, and so on. They also agreed that we need to have very high standards and expectations of each other, while at the same time to be forgiving if (on occasion) someone falters in their path to living up to these standards. On that note, I offered again to help the students create a peer mediation program.

Since I’m already kvelling, I want to make special mention of two statements in particular that I heard. One was from Alex, who said very sincerely that our students are probably the ―highest concentration of good people at any high school in the country.‖ The other comment came from Yoav, who said JHSC students are already at a very high level of ethics and honor, but ―it’s harder to stay at the top than it is to get to the top.‖ I couldn’t agree more with all of these student comments.

The bottom line, I think we all agreed, is that in order for us to be as strong a community as possible, we need to define what exactly a ―good community‖ is, and I’m so proud of them that they did it all by themselves. I was just the note-taker. We’re going to keep talking, and then I’ll write up a more formal ―honor code‖.

Part of the mission of JHSC is creating the ethical leaders of tomorrow. One way we do that is to put our students in situations where they have to think ethically and practice their ethics, like in this creation of an honor code. I’m very proud to say that unlike at so many other schools where an honor code is forced upon student (and is therefore not as successful), our honor code is written by our students.

Excellent work, JHSC students!!! You make me proud.

(Also, please see the following article on this topic from The Jewish Week that I was interviewed for: http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/day_school_world_gauging_fallout_sat_scandal)

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yonatan Yussman, Ed.D.