It's Chodesh Nisan and Aviv has sprung upon us; the feeling that Pesach is upon us is quite tangible. The anticipation has been building through study of both Torah relevant to Pesach and the Seder and of course, the Haggada. There are also many Chesed projects our students have undertaken on a grade level or individual basis to heighten others' awareness of Pesach. You can sense it in our "cleaning out" our lockers and offices and our "finishing up" certain programs and events.

Our Tanach and Torah shebeal Peh faculty have been working hard with the various grades to generate Divrei Torah for the Seder and to review basic Hilchot Pesach. Relevant texts in Chumash and Navi have been studied and reviewed by our students and have been put into the context of the Haggada. Some classes have prepared their own Haggadot with Divrei Torah, others have verbally shared their Divrei Torah with other classes, while our Seniors experienced their very own Haggada Roundtable.

In the area of Chesed, our students have soared this past week and a half! We had an incredible Blood Drive with our strongest turnout yet. Our Freshmen packed and decorated Maot Chitim packages and then delivered them to Russian immigrants in Queens in a meaningful program. Our Sophomores entertained our preschoolers with an exciting and creative Makkot Activity Workshop. Our Juniors had a delegation go to Nefesh Academy, a kiruv school, where they ran workshops and danced with the junior high school girls. Our Seniors returned to the Gymnasia School where they continued to reach out to the children, this time about Pesach. Thank you, Mrs. Storch, for all of your hard work and inspiration.

We also had the zchut of "finishing unfinished business" before Pesach. Mazal Tov to our Torah Bowl team who, for the first time, won the Championship Title in both the League Competition and the Eastern Division Competition. Mazal Tov to our Basketball Team who won its 10th Championship League Title. Mazal Tov to our Varsity Volleyball Team who won the Championship League Title for the first time in years. Mazal Tov to our Debating Team who won Best School Award in the last three debates they have attended. Mazal Tov to our students who won awards at last week's Model Congress. Mazal Tov to our 10th grade students who won numerous awards at the French Poetry Contest . Mazal Tov to Tzipora Leah Shapiro whose article on plagiarism was printed in the Fresh Ink supplement to the Jewish Week. Mazal Tov to Jaclyn Joseph and Orit Wadler, Yearbook Editors, who submitted their last page of Tzomet '05, this year's yearbook.

Talk about "Cleaning Up"; "V'Aten Aliten al Kulanah." Hakarat Hatov to all of the team coaches and advisors for all of their hard work, love and dedication in bringing their respective teams to the top: Mrs. Menchel, Ms. Oppenheimer, Ms. Gross, Mrs. Leibtag, Mr. Fiedler and Mme. Elsant.

It's finally time to complete our Pesach hachanot and begin our vacation from school. Chazal tell us, "B'Nisan Nigalu u'Bnisan Atidin L'Higael." May we all have the zchut through our sedarim to taste the shibud of mitzraim and the cherut of yetziat mitzraim, while we daven for the ultimate geula. May Chag Pesach give us all the opportunity to strengthen our spiritual commitment to Hakadosh Baruch and Klal Yisrael, while we spend quality time with our families and dear friends.

Best wishes to you and your families for a Chag Kasher V'Sameach!!

Since September, our fifteen extremely devoted members of Torah Bowl have been studying Sefer B'raishit in its entirety, and fifteen perakim in Melachim Bet, both with peirush Rashi. These Torah-loving students have spent club hour every week, shabbosim, and even the occasional after school meeting sustaining the world with their learning. Our Torah Bowlers magnificently proved their love and knowledge of Torah, and their quick reflexes at buzzing in the course of four intense, fast-moving meets. Finished the season with an incredible 13- 1 record and earning, for the second year in a row, the title of Eastern Division Champions, was the beginning. With only two weeks to prepare, we were moving on to the regional championships in which we would test our knowledge of the entire Sefer B'raishit and Rashi against the three schools who also held the titles of division champions.

As the day of the competition grew closer, our practices became more frequent and we began to become a little nervous. Finally the big day arrived. Spectators, administrators, team and water bottles all loaded onto the bus for the long ride to Brooklyn. After a quick stop for pizza and some last glances into our treasured chumashim, we arrived at Shulamith, ready to prove our proficiency and expertise in the study of Torah. We got up on stage and sat behind the microphones, buzzers, and huge scoreboard above us, nervously awaiting the first question. Well, as we quickly established, all our fears were in vain. The SKA girls truly shone that day. Unless you were actually present at the time, it would be impossible to imagine just how amazing the event really was. The great knowledge present in that room, the speed at which our girls were able to come up with correct answers, the prophetic wisdom they must have had to be able to answer a question after only the first few words, was truly inspiring. Despite the tough competition, our girls pulled through to become Torah Bowl Champions. We overcame any and all obstacles in our paths and with the strength of Limud Torah on our side, moved on to be Champions of Torah! And yes, after witnessing all that went on that day, I am confident in saying that we truly deserve this title.

Congratulations to the unbelievable Torah Bowlers: Captains Daniella Dobe Friedman and Batya Herzberg, and our team: Aviva Aryeh, Lauren Bayer, Mijal Bitton, Shira Bindiger, Kayli Gerson, Penina Gold, Giti Klinger, Danielle Lent, Emily Levine, Elana Maslow, Daniella Morad, Sheva Odzer and Elisheva Zinberg. Most of all, we owe a huge Hakarat Hatov to Mrs. Menchel, our beloved mentor, friend and coach. We cannot thank you enough for the faith you always had in our ability to succeed, the countless hours you spent helping us prepare, and the great love of Torah you instill within us each and everyday. We feel honored to have you as our coach.

The Sonics had a great ending to a great season. The Sonics once again won the championship to make it 10 in a row. The game started off close and people started to get nervous. Slowly, but surely, the Sonics pulled away to win the game. The final score was 43-29. The Sonics were led by Juniors Lisa Ogorek with 20 points, Naomi Kramer with 8 points, Jaclyn Ramras with 7 points and Deena Klein with 6 points.
Special recognition to Lisa Ogorek who won the Most Valuable Player Award and of course, hakarat hatov to Coach Esther Oppenheimer!

This was a very exciting year for SKA at the Yeshiva League Model Congress. Each member of the team was assigned to a committee modeled after a real Congressional Committee and expected to prepare a bill for consideration. The program was hosted by HAFTR High School and took place at Young Israel of Woodmere. Each group debated a number of bills and students had the opportunity to argue for or against and then vote, as if on committee in Congress. At the end of the day, three awards were given to members of each committee: one wooden gavel for "Distinguished Speaker," and two certificates for "Honorable Mention." SKA took home two of each, with Michelle Zomber and Jackie Schwalb each being awarded gavels, and Orlie Shalev and Orah Weiss receiving Honorable Mention.Special thanks to team advisor, Mr. Fiedler.

Last week's Championship Volleyball Game against Shulamith High School was the most exciting game we've ever played!! We went into it hoping for the best, knowing that we had not won a game against Shulamith all season, and came in second to them in last year's Championship. This time, however, was a different story. Everyone on our team played their absolute best, and we won the first game 25- 14! The second game was not so clear cut and it seemed as though we would have to play a tiebreaker game, but with the help of our three outstanding fans, we won the second game 25 to 22!!!!!!! The Championship Title was ours! When the last point won the game, our team erupted in celebration as Mrs. Spirn shepped nachas on the sidelines. It was our first Championship in years and a perfect way to end the season!!!!!Hakarat hatov to Coach Rachel Gross!

On Wednesday, April 13, 2005, the 10th grade French class went to Calhoun High School for the annual French Poetry Competition sponsored by the Nassau Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French. In the Original Poetry category, Michelle Zomber won First Place for her beautiful poem, "Les Larmes." In the Recitation category, the seven participants presented well-known French poems. Accents perfected and lines rehearsed, our students were la crème de la crème. Michelle Zomber won Second Prize for her rendition of "Le Corbeau et le Renard," and Michal Wagner was awarded an Honorable Mention for her recitation of "Déjeuner du Matin." Michelle's plaque for her deuxième prix (2nd Prize) was mistakenly presented as the deluxième prix, confirming that she, like all of our French students, are of the deluxe edition. Congratulations to all the participants, Emily Levine, Talia Levkovich, Esther Teichman , Michal Wagner, Nechama Winston, Shevi Zinberg, and Michelle Zomber, who all performed so beautifully, and to their teacher, Madame Elsant. Félicitations et meilleurs souhaits à toutes les élèves!

Pesach and spring are in the air and there is certainly no shortage of people needing help in preparation for this most auspicious season. SKA girls have stepped up to assist in so many ways - it's been a whirlwind chesed season!

Last week, the 9th grade spent time collecting Kosher for Pesach products to donate to the Russian community in Kew Gardens, Queens. A huge thank you goes out to Mr. Sam Gross for donating countless cartons of food and supplies and to Mr. Mark Gross for donating the grape juice that will enable these families to eat properly over Pesach. The girls set up an assembly line and proceeded to pack all the items - gefilte fish, matzah, grape juice and much more - into 50 cartons, ensuring that each family receives the necessary amounts. With music in the background and the mitzvah of maot chittim permeating the room, the girls painted the boxes in an array of colors and shapes, ensuring that they would look as exciting as what they contained inside.

On Monday, the 9th grade had the opportunity to deliver the cartons to the Russian recipients personally. They prepared afikomen bags to decorate with the girls and were excited to see their happy, grateful faces in reaction to the beautiful boxes. In reward for their hard work the girls enjoyed lunch at Shimon's Pizza and ice cream at Max and Minna's on the way home. A good time was had by all, and a sense of accomplishment was felt by the entire 9th grade!

Sixteen volunteers from the 11th grade spent an enriching afternoon at the Nefesh Academy in Brooklyn. Teachers from the school for minimally affiliated girls asked that we come and expose them to "normal, fun, frum girls," and we were more than happy to oblige. The girls prepared bags of random, everyday items and when they arrived they split the Nefesh girls into small groups. After some time getting to know each other, they used the objects they found in the bags in order to create skits about Pesach. The program was such a success that on the way out the Nefesh teachers asked that we come again soon. Thank you to Goldie Nissel, Jaclyn Ramras and all of the girls who volunteered their time for this worthy cause.

The last Intergenerational Lunch of the year proved to be our best yet. With double the number of men and women arriving from the Woodmere Rehabilitation Center, many more of our students seized the opportunity and gave up their lunch periods to help out. Once again, Tara Fried worked very hard thinking of creative, seasonally-appropriate projects and the flower planting, as well as the cookie baking in adorable spring shapes, were enjoyed by all who participated. As our friends left to go home with their flowers and cookies in hand, they thanked us for helping them greet spring in such a fun and cheerful way.
br> In response to the dire blood shortage in New York State, the Long Island Blood Services scheduled our 2nd drive of the year and, for the first time, 16- year-olds were allowed to participate. After much preparation by the Chesed Heads led by Shani Noy and Esther Phillips, the Spring 2005 Blood Drive was a huge success. The steady stream of students, faculty and parents enabled us to collect 65 pints of blood. Much thanks go to all those who donated, as well as the many girls who helped throughout the day.