Thank you to the hundreds of people who attended our Grand Opening Celebration during Chol HaMoed Sukkot. Together, we celebrated this historic event as a united community. From the festive davening at Northwest Suburban Jewish Congregation to the joyous nine-mile Torah procession through Morton Grove, Glenview, and Northbrook, to the singing and dancing upon our arrival at our new, permanent home in Deerfield, it was a magnificent day and one we will always remember. Kol Hakavod to Sandy Levin, Kim Frankel, and Lori Rabinowitz, who co-chaired the Grand Opening celebration; to Miriam Rudolph and Inez Altman, who co-chaired the Torah procession; and to Tami Warshawsky, our marketing chair, for overseeing the event.

The co-chairs would like to thank the following people for their incredible efforts, without which the Grand Opening could not have taken place: Rabbi Elliot Goldberg, Rabbi Ruven Barkan, Dr. Zohar Raviv, Dr. Ted Schaffner, Bruce Scher, Melissa Spellman, Sheri Cooper, Iris Rosenberg, Sara Coven, Jodi Berger, Cynthia Lerner, Sheila Small, Jill Mesirow, David Ferri, Neil Cooper, Danny Kahn, David Baker, Caroline Musin, Michele Agbodza, Doris Menk, Denny Anderson, Jim Guidone, Alex Kosarev, Igor Burda, Nina Harris, Larry Gerber, Lynn Wiznitzer, Jennifer Flink, Jerry Drazin, David Pogrund, Michael Berger, Jamie Rozen, and Arianna Rozen.

Thank you to the members of our faculty, administration, staff, and student ambassadors, who provided outstanding tours of our building.

Thank you to Rabbi Karyn Kedar, Marc Swatez, and members of Congregation B'nai Joshua Beth Elohim, who were wonderful partners as we shared this special day. In addition, we are grateful for all of the additional volunteers who willingly gave of their time.

Last year, more than 1.4 million juniors in over 21,000 U.S. high schools took the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) and entered the National Merit Scholarship Program, a nationwide competition for recognition and awards. The 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program recently honored the 50,000 students who scored highest nationwide. The 16,000 highest scoring entrants are named Semifinalists; the next 34,000 are designated as Commended Students.

We are proud to announce that among this year's honorees are eight members of the CJHS Class of 2008. Ari Frankel and Richard Kahn are Semifinalists, part of a pool that represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. As Semifinalists, Ari and Richard have the opportunity to advance to Finalist standing and compete for Merit Scholarship awards. Seth Berkman, Alex Fisher, Lilli Flink, Matthew Hass, Yishai Kamin, and Joshua Warshawsky are Commended Students, among the top five percent of the juniors who entered the competition.

CJHS Students Earn AP Scholar Awards

Last spring, CJHS students who completed rigorous college-level courses at CJHS took AP examinations through the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This month, the College Board recognized several levels of achievement based on students' performance on the AP exams. We are pleased to announce that 21 CJHS students - 14 members of the Class of 2007 and seven members of the Class of 2008 - recently earned AP Scholar Awards.

Class of 2007 members Leore Avidar, Ruth Eisenberg, Jennifer Hipps, Sandy Johnston, Rachel Karp, Geoffrey Levin, Aliza Stein, and Nathaniel Sufrin qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on a 5-point scale on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more exams.

Class of 2007 member Matthew Silverman and Class of 2008 members Richard Kahn and Yishai Kamin earned the AP Scholar with Honor Award, granted to students who receive an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more exams.

Class of 2007 members Jeremy Cogan, Aaron Magid, Sofia Petchersky, Brian Pogrund, and Lindsay Seidenberg and Class of 2008 members Seth Berkman, Lilli Flink, Ari Frankel, Matthew Hass, and David Weltman qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of 3 or higher.

Sunday, November 4, 1:00 p.m. at CJHS

Meet our outstanding faculty members. Tour our new, state-of-the art campus where we welcomed 133 students this fall, including the largest freshman class and 12 transfer students. Learn about our athletic programs, extra-curricular activities, college counseling program and more. No prior day school experience is necessary to attend CJHS.

RSVP to Rachel Spiro, Director of Admissions, at 847.324.3706 or rspiro@cjhs.org.

Applications are currently being accepted for the 2008-2009/5768 academic year. Save $500 on tuition by applying before the Dec. 17 Early Decision Deadline. Visit our website to print a copy of the application.

JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen visited CJHS on Thursday, September 20. He met with a group of juniors and seniors to discuss and answer the students' questions about pertinent issues facing the Jewish community. Questions and topics ranged from where Judaism, and specifically the Conservative Movement, will be in 20 years, to the importance of connecting to Torah and Jewish texts on a personal level. When asked about the conflicting images in the Torah, and how we can reconcile troublesome images or verses in the text with our notions of right and wrong, Chancellor Eisen eloquently explained the importance of interpreting and mastering the text, so that we fit the text into our lives, while at the same time fitting our lives into the text.

"Speaking with the chancellor was an incredible experience," said junior Rachel Braun. "We were inspired by his commitment to revitalizing the Conservative movement and his embodiment of the principles and ideals that we learn at CJHS."

Israeli National Hockey Team

The Israeli National Hockey team visited with members of the junior class. Thank you to the Rudolph family for making this visit possible!

Mexican Jewish ORT student speaks to AP Spanish class

On Friday, October 12, Mishael Joshua Solodkin Posternak, a student from Mexico, spoke to the AP Spanish IV class. Misha's visit to the Chicago area was sponsored by ORT. We thank Kim Frankenthal for providing these students the opportunity to ask Misha questions and to learn about the life of a Jewish student from a Spanish-speaking country. 

Ken Kurson from Giuliani campaign

Ken Kurson, an observant Jew who is the chief operations officer in Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign, spoke to CJHS students at tefillah last week. Mr. Kurson talked about working in politics and balancing one's career with one's personali life and spiritual obligations. Thank you to Keith and Marci Shapiro and family for bringing Mr. Kurson to our school.

Modern Language Department Welcomes Consultants

Two representatives from ASC, our language lab provider, spent a couple days on campus training the Modern Language department in the effective use of the lab, which will allow students further practice in listening and speaking. We thank Mr. David Rose, our technology manager, for joining us and being our resource. In addition, Rachel Moskowitz, our Hebrew language curriculum consultant, visited CJHS to work with our faculty.

CJHS students, faculty, and staff gathered in the foyer on Wednesday, September 19 to affix mezuzot to the front doors of our new building. Pairs of students and faculty members read texts about homes, permanence, and mezuzot and shared their thoughts on this special moment. "Makom is a name for God, and it also means place," said Dr. Ted Schaffner. "This is to remind us that wherever we are--home, shul, or in class--God is with us." Thank you to Dr. Zohar Raviv for coordinating this ceremony.

Bridges in Physics Class

The CJHS annual bridge contest took place recently in Mrs. Shira Eliaser's physics class. Students were allowed their choice of pasta and glue to construct a bridge capable of supporting many times its own weight. The winning bridge was a Howe truss designed by Ellie Honan and Jack Dreifuss that supported 42 times its own weight. Second place went to Yali Derman, whose double-decker Warren truss with verticals had an efficiency of 35, and Donna Abisdris and Jenna Corush's modified Warren truss took third place with an efficiency of 29.

Get your pictures in the yearbook!

The Yearbook Staff invites students and parents to submit photos for the yearbook. If you have great photos of school and community events or of you and your friends just having fun, we'd like to see them. Our photographers can't be everywhere. Help us get as many photos as possible to create a terrific book everyone will want to have.

Here is how you can submit photos online:
   · Log on to: images.jostens.com
   · Enter Login ID: 1131179
   · Enter Your Password: cjhs
   · Browse to select the photo(s) you wish to upload.
   · Enter information about the photo and provide contact information in case the staff needs additional information.
   · Click "Save Details."

It's that easy! Submit your photos today! The last day to submit photos is 2/22/2008.

The Yearbook Staff will review all photos and determine final yearbook content. We cannot guarantee that all submissions can be used in the book.

Each year, the CJHS College Counseling Department sponsors numerous visits from college admissions offices. These visits are designed to help students navigate the college landscape. At this time, representatives from more than 40 colleges and universities have scheduled visits to CJHS.

Please check the CJHS Online Calendar for the exact dates and times of each visit. This is most easily accomplished by selecting only the College Counseling calendar and viewing in list or table mode.

Learn more about using the CJHS Online Calendar.

News from the Va'ad

The first Va'ad event of the year, the Sukkah Hop, was attended by a record-setting 90+ students--only half of whom are pictured above--who hopped (and ate) through sukkot in Deerfield. Thank you to the Dreifuss, Rudolph, and Rosenberg families for hosting this fun event.

Although the Va'ad is elected each spring, the freshman representative position is elected in the fall. Mazal tov to Zach Spellman, this year's freshman representative.

CJHS's Jewish World Watch was proud to cosponsor the Chicago visit of an internationally touring multi-media exhibit and symposium that highlights the crisis and culture of Darfur. The symposium took place last week at the Field Museum in Chicago. For more information, click on www.darfurdarfur.org or contact Rabbi Barkan or Nina Kiken.  

Canned Food Drive

Va'ad Tikkun Olam is holding a canned food drive for The ARK through the end of the week. The ARK requests that we collect tuna, hot and cold cereal, canned fruit (not mixed), dry milk, jams and jellies, Kleenex and paper towels. All of these foods must have an acceptable certification of kashrut (not a plain K). All that is being collected will go to The Ark in order to restock their food pantry. Numerous families depend on The ARK's weekly food rations, so bringing in food could mean feeding a hungry family. Your donations are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact Aliza Shapiro or Rachel Binstock.

Adam Schneider, freshman, and his father, Brad Schneider, biked 105.5 miles on September 16, as part in Evanston Bicycle Club's North Shore Century Bicycle Ride. Adam biked from Evanston to Kenosha and back, completing the ride in less than six hours (17.5 mph on average). Kol hakavod!

Yaakov Calamaro plays flute at CJE Annual Meeting

Yaakov Calamaro represented CJHS with a flute performance at the Council for Jewish Elderly's annual meeting, which was held at Gidwitz Place last week. CJE, through Gidwitz Place, provides CJHS's food service.

Daniel Peaceman Featured in Chicago Jewish News Article

Last week's Chicago Jewish News cover story focused on American kids spending time in Israel on a variety of MASA-sponsored programs. Daniel Peaceman, a 2006 CJHS graduate, was featured in the article. 

Rabbi Fryer Published in Shebrew

Rabbi Robyn Fryer's article on the Hebrew month of Elul and the sounds of the shofar was recently published in Shebrew, an online Jewish women's magazine.

Mazal tov to Dr. Gary Auslander, school social worker on the birth of a granddaughter, Eliana Rebecca.

Mazal tov to Rabbis Miriam and Daniel Cotzin Burg on birth of a son, Shamir Adiv. Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg, of Anshe Emet Synagogue, is a member of the CJHS Recruitment Committee.

We extended our condolences to William Berkman (father of Zach, CJHS Class of 2005, Syd, and Seth, CJHS senior) on the loss of his father, Michael Berkman.

Community News

North Suburban Synagogue Beth El To Host Scholar-in-Residence

Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, the USCJ-Midwest Region Scholar-in-Residence, will speak at NSS Beth El on Shabbat, November 3.  His Saturday morning Dvar Torah will be on Parental Wisdom. After Kiddush, he will speak about The Internet and Its Dangers, and at Seudah Shlisheet, he will lecture about Study on Israel.

For more information, please contact Merle Tovian, Director of Continuing Education at NSSBE, at 847.432.8903 x262 or mtovian@nssbethel.org.