Shavua tov,   

 

As we make the transition into summer, we have a great deal of news to share. In addition to the usual weekly news, we are highlighting student leadership--over the past year and looking forward--throughout CJHS. We know you will enjoy reading about the many and varied accomplishments of our students (and don't miss the pictures in the left column, showing memorable moments from this year).

 

Click here for the 2007-2008/5768 CJHS calendar.

 

This summer, the CJHS office will be open 9:00 to 3:00, Monday through Friday.

 

Have a wonderful summer. Don't forget about summer reading!

 

E-News will return in the fall.

 

On Monday, May 21, members of Northwest Suburban Jewish Congregation joined the CJHS community for a morning of spirited tefillah, in thanksgiving and celebration for the bonds shared between the synagogue and the school. Following tefillot and announcements, Dr. Schaffner, CJHS Interim Head of School, spoke about the partnership.

 

"We appreciate how Northwest Suburban Jewish Congregation housed our school and worked with us as partners throughout the years," he said. "It has been a very successful and meaningful partnership. To continue to fulfill our dream, CJHS needed to grow and move on to a more spacious facility. However, Northwest Suburban Jewish Congregation will always remain in our hearts as the place where our dream began."

Afterward, Dr. Schaffner invited CJHS junior Jacob Stoehr to present Herb Root, NSJC president, with a tallit made by the studio art class. The celebration concluded with a festive breakfast for all in attendance.

 

CJHS is thrilled to invite the entire community to our grand opening celebration on September 30, 2007. The festivities will include a Torah procession from our current home in Morton Grove to our new, state-of-the-art home in Deerfield, dancing, tours of our new building, and more. Tentative plans call for the Torah procession to begin at 9:15 a.m. in Morton Grove. Community members not participating in the procession will join us for the celebration at 1:00 p.m. in Deerfield.

 

Join us for this free event chaired by Sandy Levin, Kim Frankel, and Lori Rabinowitz.

Look for more details in the coming weeks.

 

CJHS Junior Wins International FPSP Competition

 

 

 

CJHS expects to welcome at least 35 freshmen this fall, the largest freshman class to-date. New students hail from more than 11 communities and 18 synagogues and represent numerous middle schools, including day schools such as Solomon Schechter and Hillel Torah and several local public schools. 

 

CJHS will continue to process applications for entering freshmen and transfer students throughout the summer. For more information on the summer application process, or to schedule a tour, contact CJHS at 847.470.6700.

 

Students in Mrs. Snyder's Studio Art class designed and batiked three tallitot for our new school. Visitors to the new CJHS building will be encouraged to wear one of these tallitot when they daven with the school community. Aaron Gore, a Class of 2007 graduate who helped create one of the tallitot, says, "I will definitely be back, and I'm wearing ours!"

 

 

The recent Physics Expo was a huge success, featuring presentations on such diverse topics as lasers, maglev trains, the physics of music, and amateur radio. Mrs. Eliaser's students showcased a semester's worth of research to an audience of underclassmen, teachers, and family. Highlights of the evening included several student films, a working doorbell circuit, a model train levitated on magnetic strips, and a magic show. Best of show was awarded to CJHS juniors Jacob Stoehr, Michael Shapiro, and Jeremy Frankenthal for their PowerPoint montage on physics in the movies. 

 

In Other Physics News...

Aaron Weinberg and Mrs. Eliaser head to Argonne National Lab to participate in a QuarkNet program this summer. They will build a cosmic ray detector for CJHS's new roof and receive training in how to incorporate it into the classroom. Mrs. Eliaser will be the project coordinator, and Aaron will be the student TA.

 

 

You may have noticed a different voice answering the phone the last time you called the CJHS office. Our new receptionist, Maria Pani, began working here about two weeks ago. The next time you're at school, stop in to say hello to Ms. Pani!

 

 

The English department is pleased to announce that the summer reading list is now available. The list is organized by grade and course, and students should come to school in the fall prepared to discuss their assigned readings.

 

Click here for the summer reading list.

 

Snapshots, the student-directed one-act production, took place in front of an attentive audience on May 21. Donna Abisdris, Tova Goldberg, and Jacob Rabinowitz directed performances by Esther Bier, Sydni Cole, Jeremy Hipps, Joel Pachefsky, David Israel, Michael Brunwasser, Matthew Hass, Donna Abisdris, and Tova Goldberg. During breaks between acts, audience members enjoyed the music of Victor Abecassis, Kayce Miller, and Seth Berkman, as well as poetry by Skye Miller. The performance culminated with a one-act featuring all the actors, directed by Sydni Cole. This evening of student-directed plays was under the supervision of Ms. Dori Robinson.

 

CJHS is a community where every student counts, making participation in student clubs and activities paramount to the school's culture. We are pleased to share some highlights of various groups' activities throughout the school year. We extend congratulations to the outgoing and incoming student leadership in each organization.

 

Next year, look for the Shabbaton Committee and Drama Club to join the ranks of student organizations at CJHS.

 

This year, the Va'ad was involved in a number of initiatives to enhance student life. The fall was quite busy, with programming that included Human Foosball, the annual Sukkah Hop, Spirit Week, and the All-School Shabbaton. In addition, the Va'ad planned CJHS's first-ever Homecoming Dance, which was attended by more than 100 students. We also hosted a design contest for CJHS sweatshirts. (Yes, we still have some available! Contact Ms. Musin at cmusin@cjhs.org if you'd like to buy one.)

 

The Va'ad worked with students to bring their concerns to the administration, placed special treats in students' boxes every Friday, sponsored the annual Semester Break Ski Trip. For Purim, the Va'ad collaborated with Va'ad Tikkun Olam on the annual Mishloach Manot Drive, and in May, the school had its first Blood Drive! The Va'ad also proposed several amendments to its constitution, including a significant restructure of the Va'ad itself. These amendments were passed by the student body in overwhelming numbers. We look forward to strengthening student life even more next year in our new building.

Yasher koach to this year's leadership:
President: Matthew Silverman
Vice President: Ari Glasser
Treasurer: Geoff Levin
Secretary: Rachel Braun
Freshman Representative: Hannah Miller

Congratulations to next year's leadership:
President: Rachel Braun
Finance VP: Rachel Binstock
Fundraising VP: Jeff Berger
Programming VP: Lilli Flink
Communications VP: Sam Aisen
Freshman Rep: TBD in fall

 

In addition to facilitating the multiple facets of the Tefillah program, the Va'ad Tefillah attracted many new members to its board this past year, developed positions and began a constitutional process, spearheaded the taskforce that advocated on behalf of students' interests, and began a broad educational initiative.

 

Yasher koach to this year's leadership: Sandy Johnston and Richard Kahn, co-chairs; Aaron Weinberg, Eli Miller, Rena Forester, Elli Cohn, Aviva Schwartz, Jeremy Hulkower, Avi Coven, Seth Berkman, Matt Levin, Esther Lowe, Hannah Rosenbaum, and Vanessa Youshaei.

 

Next year's Va'ad Tefillah Leadership:

Co-chairs: Richard Kahn and Aaron Weinberg

Aliyot Coordinators: Rena Forester, Elli Cohn, and Aviva Schwartz

Davening Coordinator: Jeremy Frankenthal

Leyning Coordinator: Jeremy Hulkower

Parsha Summary Coordinator: Avi Coven

Education Committee: Seth Berkman (chair), Elli Cohn, Matt Levin, Jacob Stoehr

General Member charged with confronting pressing tefillah issues: Esther Lowe

Mincha Coordinator: Matt Levin

Liaison: Hannah Rosenbaum

Secretary: Vanessa Youshaei

 

VTO's many committees took their work to new levels. The Book Club was reshaped through an expansion of our partnership with The ARK. After serving food at Café ARK on a monthly basis, we had substantive discussions with the clients about issues ranging from Torah, homelessness, violence, and Jerusalem through Amichai's poetry. Students on the recycling committee formed a rotation to faithfully empty the recycling bins multiple times a week. The Tzedakah committee donated the funds it raised to Bet Teshuvah. The Chesed committee cared for the members of our community by acknowledging simchas and losses. Jewish World Watch raised money and awareness by selling wristbands, signing petitions, making calls to elected officials, and planning a sleep-in to protest the genocide in Darfur. Rabbi Asher Lopatin and Kevin Coval were featured speakers, and the showing of the movie Hotel Rwanda was a chilling reminder of the consequences of an apathetic world. 

Yasher koach to this year's VTO Board:
Co-Chairs: Ruthie Eisenberg and Hannah Berkowicz
Recycling: Rosie Kiken
Drives: Rachel Binstock
Tzedakah: Rachel Garfinkel
Friend Club: Nicole Wiznitzer
ARK: Lea Sarris
Book Club: Yoni Solomon
JWW: Nat Sufrin
Chesed: Geoff Levin
Next year's VTO Leadership:
Co-chairs: Yael Schwartz and Nicole Wiznitzer
Recycling: Rebecca Silverman and Kayce Miller
Drives: Rachel Binstock and Dani Wolf
Tzedakah: Lea Sarris and Rachel Braun
Friend Club: Vanessa Youshaei and Rena Forester
ARK: Tova Goldberg and Sam Aisen
Book Club: Hannah Rosenbaum and Rosie Kiken
JWW: Nina Kiken
Chesed: Elli Cohn

 

1) Beads and Yarn for CJHS's Crocheting Club and Va'ad Vogue's Beading Bonanza (Rachel Binstock)

2) Winter Wear for The ARK (Skye Miller)

3) School/Math Supplies for schools in India (Avra Shapiro)

4) Shoes for Share Your Soles (Arianna Rozen)

5) Canned Food for the Greater Chicago Food Depository (Zach Kamin, Zack Warso, and David Binstock)

6) Art Supplies for Chai Lifeline (Yael Derman)

 

Thank you to everyone who donated and who led drives this year. All of your work makes a difference in people's lives throughout our community and throughout the world!

 

Yasher koach to this year's Committee Heads:
President: Aliza Stein
Political Co-Chairs: Aaron Magid and Eli Miller
Holiday Co-Chairs: Lindsay Seidenberg and Shai Kamin
Cultural Co-Chairs: Lilli Flink and Karen Avidar

 

The United States Politics Club's mission is to educate CJHS students about politics, to encourage students to get involved in the political process, and to create enjoyable and interesting events that relate to politics. Our activities this year included a Political Dessert Reception, an election night party, a Congressional Election Estimation Contest, several lunch discussions about political topics such as stem-cell research and U.S.-Iranian relations, pizza with Michael Brunwasser's mom (who spoke about election reform), a speech from State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, and a Movie Night with An Inconvenient Truth. These events, as well as the establishment of the USPC Monthly Newsletter, have truly helped educate students about the political process and have fun at the same time.

Thank you to this year's leadership, who made all these events possible:
President: Geoff Levin
Education Vice President: Aaron Weinberg
Communications Vice President: Danny Silver
Social Vice Presidents: Leore Avidar and Aliza Stein
Newsletter Editors: Ari Frankel and Jeff Berger
President Emeritus: Nat Sufrin

Congratulations to next year's USPC board:
Presidents: Ari Frankel and Jeff Berger
Education Vice President: Esther Lowe
Communications Vice President: Danny Silver
Social Vice Presidents: Jeremy Frankenthal and David Weltman

 

The Gender Identity Awareness Club was very proud of their amazing activities during this year's CJHS All-School Shabbaton. This program about stereotyping raised awareness about this often-silent plague in our society. The Day of Silence reached an all time record with more students and faculty participating than ever.

 

Yasher koach to Jenn Hipps and Hillary Weiss on their dedication to GIAC this year. Welcome, Seth Berkman, who will be the group's chairperson for 2007-2008.

 

This year, the Mathletes reached new heights with our Pi Day Celebration, increased participation in the AMC test (a 75-minute 25-question competitive math test), continuation of our annual Set Tournament, and--for the first time--an award for the team's success in monthly, competitive, six-question math quizzes. The Mathletes would like to thank the 2006-2007 Co-Chairs, Avra Shapiro, Seth Berkman, and Leore Avidar, for all of their hard work and effort to make this year such a great. We would also like to welcome the 2007-2008 Co-Chairs: Avra Shapiro, Seth Berkman, and Ari Eisenstadt.

 

 

 

 

The CJHS Debate Team ended its very successful year with a recognition banquet on May 29 at Tel Aviv Pizza. Our largest group of debaters competed against teams from New Trier, Glenbrook North, and Deerfield High Schools and won a large majority of the matches. Isaac Simon and David Weltman, both Class of 2008, were named co-captains for the 2007-2008 season. Isaac was also named our debater of the year.

 

Aaron Magid and Brian Pogrund, Class of 2007, were recognized at the banquet for their dedicated leadership as co-captains of this year's team.  Also recognized at the banquet were other graduating debaters: Jeremy Cogan, Sandy Johnston, Eli Miller, and Aliza Stein. 

 

 

Mazal tov to Ms. Rachel Spiro, CJHS Director of Admissions, on the birth of a daughter, Eva Miriam Spiro, on Thursday morning, June 7. Eva weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 ˝ inches long.

 

Mommy, baby, and the rest of the family are doing very well!

 

It is with sadness that we announce the June 8 passing of Samuel Hulkower, grandfather of Jeremy Hulkower (rising 11th grade CJHS student).  The funeral took place on Monday in New Jersey

Contributions in Samuel Hulkower's memory may be made to Chicagoland Jewish High School.

Hamakom Yinachem Etchem B'toch Sh'ar Avalei Tziyon V'Yerushalayim.
May God's presence comfort Jeremy and his entire family among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

 

It is with sadness that we announce the passing on May 27 of Bob Hirsch, Caroline Musin's grandfather.  Contributions in Bob Hirsch's memory may be made to Beth El Jacob Synagogue, Tifereth Israel Synagogue, or the Judaic Resource Center of Iowa.

 

Hamakom Yinachem Etchem B'toch Sh'ar Avalei Tziyon V'Yerushalayim.
May God's presence comfort Ms. Musin and her entire family among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

 

 

It is with sadness that we announce the passing on May 29 of Albert Moss, Shelly Moss's brother.  Contributions in Albert Moss's memory may be sent to Chicagoland Jewish High School. 

 

Hamakom Yinachem Etchem B'toch Sh'ar Avalei Tziyon V'Yerushalayim.
May God's presence comfort Mr. Moss and his entire family among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

 

 

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