We are proud to announce that among this year's National Merit honorees are three members of the CJHS senior class: Yael Kiken, Benji Derman, and Ron Gejman. Yael is a Semifinalist, part of a pool that represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. As a Semifinalist, Yael has the opportunity to advance to Finalist standing and compete for a Merit Scholarship award. Benji and Ron are Commended Students, among the top five percent of the students who entered the competition.

Last year, more than 1.3 million juniors in nearly 21,000 U.S. high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) and entered the 2006 National Merit Scholarship Program, a nationwide competition for recognition and awards. The 2006 National Merit Scholarship Program recently honored the 50,000 students who scored highest nationwide. The 16,000 highest scoring entrants are designated Semifinalists; the next 34,000 are named Commended Students.

We congratulate our students on their achievements.

New Call-In Dates for Parent-Teacher Conferences

To make requests for conference reservations, families with freshmen, transfer students, or two or more siblings should call on Monday, October 24. All other families should call in requests on Thursday, October 27. Please leave a message at 847-423-5979 or email mplotnik@chicagojhs.com.

Visits from Alumni

We have been pleased to see many of our graduates stop by school, meet with teachers and friends, and join us for tefillah while home for the holidays. Jacob Kanter, Class of 2005, who is now studying at McGill University in Montreal, shared that his time at CJHS "prepared me for the amount of work, prepared me to succeed and to balance things. Everything I was worried about is going well, and I know that CJHS has played a fairly large role in aiding me in my transition."

Sukkah Hop This Week

This year's Va'ad-sponsored Sukkah Hop will be in Skokie this Thursday, September 20 from 5:15-7:30 p.m. For students who do not drive to school, bus transportation will be provided to the first stop, the Magid home at 4035 Suffield Court. Students will walk to the Pogrund home and conclude at the Silverman home (9141 Ridgeway), where they should be picked up at 7:30 p.m. The cost for this program is $5 per student. RSVPs can be placed in Shayna Flink's box; please bring the $5 to Ms. Musin.

Fall Shabbaton Coming Up in November

Our annual Fall Shabbaton will be held November 11-12 at Beth Hillel Congregation B'nai Emunah in Wilmette. It will be a relaxed opportunity for students and staff to get to know each other better while spending Shabbat together. The Shabbaton begins immediately following school on Friday, November 11 and concludes after a post-Shabbat social activity on Saturday night, November 12. Registration forms have been distributed to students and are due back to Ms. Musin by Monday, October 24.

Religious Life at CJHS

Brian Pogrund, Avi Coven, Shayna Flink, Nat Sufrin, Richard Kahn, and Shai Kamin led tefillah. Isaac Simon read Torah.

Please see Rabbi Fryer on Monday to pick up the lulavim and etrogim you ordered. Students are reminded to bring in their lulavim and etrogim on Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday for use during tefillah.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!