Community Magazine December 2013

In the academic realm, students are offered the option of taking the standard four-year course of English Language, or enrolling in a Power Writing course which concentrates on improving and enhancing their creative writing skills. Other options include the choice of Regents-based curriculum or AP (Advanced Placement) curriculum in a variety of subjects. Students also choose from a wide range of elective courses, including Public Speaking, Jewish History, Forensic Science, Guitar, Shemirat HaLashon and Holocaust Studies. A quarterly Creative Writing Contest is open to students of all grades, with valuable prizes are awarded to the first, second and third place winners. The school has also inaugurated the Principal’s Honor Society, which offers unique benefits to the students who qualify, while the rest work diligently to qualify for the next selection at the end of the first term in January. Extracurricular activities at YOH are not only fun, but also vital for promoting healthy competition and camaraderie that build the students’ characters and prepare them for “real life.” YOH runs a basketball teamand numerous clubs –BackgammonClub, Scrabble Club, Chess Club, Nok-Hockey Club, Mathletes, Debating Society, and The Hesed Committee. These clubs offer students much-needed fun and recreation, while also honing particular skills – Mathletes for mathematics, Debate for research, writing and public speaking, and so on. The most popular club, the Hesed Committee, has the boys doing things for other, less fortunate, members of the community. They can be buying and distributing Hanukah gifts for children with illnesses, or serving as waiters and counter boys in soup-kitchens that feed our financially challenged neighbors. This club refines a skill that we want all our children to excel in – the skill of concern and devotion to one’s fellow Jew. Just after Election Day, the General Studies Department held a school-wide assembly under the theme of Representative Government. Mr. Haskell Bennett, a prominent businessman and well- known community activist, was the special guest speaker, and spoke passionately about both the privileges and the responsibilities we have living in this great bastion of freedom, the United States of America. After the boys gave Mr. Bennett a rousing ovation, they were excited to hear from Rabbi Portowicz about the formation of a Student Government, and the details of the school elections, which will include nominations, campaigning, debates and voting. Students who enjoy coming to school, are the students who excel in school, and Yeshivat Or Hatorah students LOVE coming to school! Students who enjoy coming to school, are the students who excel in school, and Yeshivat Or Hatorah students LOVE coming to school! Rabbi Avrumi Portowicz, Secular Studies Principal Mr. Haskell Bennett, speaking to the student body at assembly. TEVET 5774 DECEMBER 2013 45