I would like to offer my personal hakarat hatov to Rabbi Zak for putting together four outstanding trips last week. Regardless of the grade, our students came back filled with a greater sense of achdut and an unparalleled feeling of excitement about what they had seen, experienced and accomplished. ...Boston, Washington, D.C., Jewish communities in the New York area, YU Seforim sale and Snowtubing brought out the smiles of each and every one of our girls.

Mazel Tov to our seniors who have completed the admissions and registration process for learning in Israel next year. We are so proud of your accomplishments and your enthusiasm for learning! We know that the carnival you have put together will be magnificent and a beautiful zikaron for Sarah Klein, aleha hashalom. You have done well! V'Aten Aliten al Kulana!

Mazel Tov to our Mock Trial Team on its second straight victory and good luck in your upcoming trial.

There has been a flurry of 8th grade visits this week and we are thrilled to continue to host our applicants over the days ahead. It is exciting to watch our registrations arrive in the office as the Class of 2010 takes on its own unique personality. We look forward to welcoming students from many elementary schools!

Having lunch can be more than eating some prepared food. I have certainly learned what can be accomplished these past months by eating lunch in my office with my students. My group lunches with the freshmen in December were not only delicious but a huge success and the results motivated me to extend the program to lunch with the sophomores in February. Meaningful dialogue ensued and some important initiatives arose from our chatting and constant calorie intake. I am currently enjoying lunch with our 8th grade visitors. Who's next? Stay tuned for our next installment!

We will be hosting our 6th Rosh Chodesh Lecture for Women next Wednesday evening. It is our zechut to feature Rebbetzin Tehila Jaeger and we anticipate an evening of learning and inspiration.

I eagerly anticipate our upcoming siyum on our Shacharit study of Meah Brachot. At the end of Tefila each morning, we hear a short dvar Torah which amplifies the message and meaning of the brachot we recite daily. Our siyum will feature an inspiring multi-media presentation on Shmoneh Esrei and our moms are more than welcome to join us. Details to follow!

As always, it's been a busy week and we look forward to the arrival of Shabbat. May you and your family have a meaningful and restful Shabbat!

On Wednesday and Thursday, February 15th and 16th, the Freshmen went on a fabulous Getaway to New England. From Norwalk, Connecticut to Newport, Rhode Island to Boston, Massachusetts, SKA's 9th graders had a blast. Some favorite attractions from day one included a simulator ride in the aquarium, laser tag at the arcade (Go Green Team!) and The Breakers, Vanderbilt's magnificent mansion. An evening boat ride, an overnight stay at a beautiful Holiday Inn and an entire day of Boston's most historic, interesting and fun sites all made this Getaway a trip the Freshmen will never forget.

Special thanks to Grade Level Advisors, Mrs. Rivka Gross and Mrs. Sheila Leibtag for all their time and hard work in planning this truly wonderful trip, and to all the chaperones who accompanied the Freshmen on the trip.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, February 15th and 16th, the 10th grade traveled to Washington, D.C. for the annual Sophomore Lobbying Trip. They visited a number of places along the way and concluded the trip by lobbying on Capital Hill.

They started out at the Herrs Potato Chip Factory, where they learned the process and received a free sample straight from the oven! Snow tubing, arcades and laser tag filled the rest of day one, and the weary Sophomores geared up for their time with the Congressmen. According to many of the girls, the most exciting part of the trip was the lobbying. They were thrilled to have the opportunity to express their concerns about Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons and Hamas’ victory in the new elections. The Sophomores were surprised and impressed to see that even high school students can make a difference in the government and its foreign policies. And it was a great time too!

Yasher koach and a tremendous thank you to Mrs. Sara Leah Haber and her hard working committee who worked tirelessly to make this trip a huge success, and to all the chaperones who accompanied the Sophomores on the trip.

The Juniors stayed local last Wednesday and Thursday for their Jewish History trip, but traveled around the Greater New York area to explore the different Jewish communities. Satmar in Williamsburg, Lubavitch in Crown Heights, the Brooklyn Syrian community and New Square north of the city were all on the agenda, and allowed the SKA Juniors to see the tremendous contributions that each community makes to Klal Yisrael as a whole. The trip really gave the girls an understanding of the concept of “shivim panim l’Torah – 70 faces of the Torah,” The Satmar bikkur cholim and gemach, the Lubavitch Children’s Museum and Park Avenue’s “Shabbat Across America” program all showed the Juniors that kiruv and chesed are important to all Jewish communities, regardless of their personal views.

Special thanks to Grade Level Advisors Ms. Rivka Fragin and Mrs. Rebecca Belizon for their tireless efforts in coordinating all the stops on this wonderful trip, and to all the chaperones who accompanied the Juniors, both during the day and overnight.

On Thursday, February 16th, the SKA Seniors went on a field trip to the YU Seforim Sale. They were able to peruse aisles of Judaica, both Hebrew and English, and purchase books and seforim to assist them on their spiritual journeys. Before returning to school, the entire 12th grade had the privilege of visiting Fairlawn, New Jersey for a special presentation by Rebbetzin Yudin. The topic was the Rebbetzin's Chesed Boomerang and inspired the Seniors toward greater acts of kindness.

Special thanks to Grade Level Advisor, Mrs. Rivka Yudin, for coordinating such a lovely trip.

Six days, five planes, four cities, three games, two chaperones, one tournament = the best time ever!! The SKA Sonics arrived Thursday, February 9th, for the RASG High School Miami Beach Basketball Tournament and were welcomed warmly by the Miami Jewish community. Thrown right into their first game, SKA won! On Friday was the most anticipated game of the season – a rematch against YULA, last year's champions. Starting off with the lead, SKA stayed ahead for most of the game and even though they lost 53 to 51, it was a close and exciting game the whole way through. Shabbat was a blast meeting new people from schools around the country, and one more win on Saturday night placed SKA third in the tournament. Sunday morning, after saying goodbye to the other teams at a closing ceremony, it became clear that the flight back to New York would be delayed because of the blizzard. Two more days and as many flights later, the SKA Sonics were back at school.

A huge hakarat hatov to chaperones Ms. Oppenheimer and Mrs. Block for everything they did to make the trip amazing – even with the unforeseen circumstances. Thank you, thank you!

This past Thursday night, the girls of SKA were offered an open Beit Midrash program, which discussed the Messianic period. They received source booklets and then were enlightened by a powerful slide show presentation, given by Rabbi Chaim Clorfene of Tsfat, which displayed visually and discussed the details of the third Beit HaMikdash. After the eye-opening presentation, the girls were also given the opportunity to channel their inspiration by going to the YU Sefarim Sale, where they bought both Hebrew and English Sefarim, as well as Torah tapes and Hebrew music. Many thanks to Chani and Shimie Klein for sponsoring this program.

Gittel Klein, a senior, has qualified for the Nassau County All-Star Mathematics Team. Qualification was based on her performance in the Nassau County Interscholastic Mathematics League, having scored among the top fifty individuals, out of over one thousand competitors from sixty high schools across the county. They have the opportunity to represent Nassau at two competitions: the New York State Math League, to be held in April in Nyack, New York, and the American Regions Math League, the national championship, to be held in June at Pennsylvania State University. Way to go, Gittel! And mazel tov on your early decision acceptance to Cooper Union College.

Another night, another topic, and yet another victory for the SKA Debate team. The resolution was that Insider Trading should no longer be illegal. Eight girls nervously prepared, struggling to understand the intricacies of the stock market and how illegal insider trading affects the fluctuations of the prices. All the hard work and dedication of the team, the captains, and the coach surely paid off, as SKA took home the trophy for 2nd place School, and 2nd place Best Team was awarded to SKAers Orah Weiss (12th grade) and Chanita Engelberg (11th grade). Yasher Koach to coach Mrs. Sheila Leibtag and the entire team on a job very well done!

REMINDER: The Freshman Eating Disorders Program, will take place next Thursday, March 2nd, at 7:30 PM.

Please R.S.V.P. to Sandy in our office, either by email to skaplan@skahalb.org or by leaving a voicemail on Ext. 106. We look forward to welcoming you on March 2nd for an informative and meaningful program.