There is certainly no shortage of people needing help in preparation for Pesach and SKA girls have stepped up to assist in so many ways - it's been a whirlwind chesed season!

The 9th grade had the opportunity to be involved in the mitzvah of Maot Chittim, feeding the poor for Pesach, when they spent time packing and decorating boxes of food for the Russian community in Far Rockaway. The girls set up an assembly line and proceeded to pack all the items – gefilte fish, matzah, grape juice and much more – into 70 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, so that they would look as festive on the outside as they were on the inside. A huge thank you goes out to Mr. Sam Gross for donating countless cartons of food and supplies that will enable these families to eat properly over Pesach.

On Monday, the Freshmen invited the Russian recipients to a lunch party at SKA so they could personally present them with the cartons. Over lunch they greeted them with several Russian phrases and taught their new friends Mah Nishtana in Russian – skills the girls had worked hard to master. They were treated to a short speech by one of the Russian women and divrei Torah by Temi Zomick and Sarah Yager. Lunch was followed by singing, dancing, and heartfelt goodbyes. Thank you so much to Dr. Klahr for all of her translating help and to 9th graders Randi Alenick, Brocha Hirth, and Aliza Salamon without whom this program could not have happened. Special thanks to Mrs. Leibtag for coordinating, organizing, encouraging, and being there, as always.

Our own SKA basketball team came out with a victory against Magen David High School. It was not an easy win! Magen David played a great game, going basket for basket throughout most of the game. In the last thirty seconds of the game, it looked as if Magen David might win, but in the final seconds of regulation, SKA scored to tie up the score at 24-24 sending the game into overtime! In overtime, SKA took control of the game, with the help of foul shots made by Yael Leiderman. SKA won the game by a score of 29-27. After the game, one of the referees remarked, “this was one of the greatest championships in the history of the league!”

Mazel Tov toYael Leiderman on winning the MVP award. This championship was also Esther Goldfeder’s 12th championship win, and her last game. Congratulations! We will miss you!

The SKA Debate Team was amazingly successful at Bruriah High School last Thursday debating the topic "should the federal government ban stem cell research." They won three out of four debates and many of the girls went home with trophies. Becca Glikman and Samantha Selesny were awarded fourth place best team and Becca Glikman was named second place best speaker. SKA took the top prizes in the extemporaneous speech competition with 12th graders Michelle Zomber coming in first place and Mijal Bitton winning second. And thanks to everyone’s hard work and effort, SKA took home the trophy for third place best school! Thanks so much to our coach Mrs. Sheila Leibtag for all her help and guidance and congratulations to everyone!

It was a momentous day in the history of the United States of America. Hundreds of Jewish Yeshiva students gathered to institute new laws and regulations for the great American nation. Well...fake laws and bills. HAFTR hosted the 2007 Yeshiva League Model Congress in the Young Israel of Woodmere. It was beautiful to see so many enthusiastic, young future-leaders work on changes to their country's laws. Hopefully, we'll see a lot of them in the future on Capitol Hill and the White House! Special thanks to Coach Mrs. Tzivia Zuckerman for all of her hard work.

This past week SKA provided the students with a meaningful and informative program to teach the junior and senior classes a very important lesson about Eretz Yisrael. The program started off with a humorous and motivational speech by our former (and missed) teacher, Rabbi Muskat. His speech was titled “Land For Peace” and focused on the land of Yehuda Vishomron – and the desperate situation of many of the brave Jewish settlers living there. It was followed by a poignant movie depicting daily life and a brief history of the region, as well as a letter writing campaign, in which students wrote heartfelt letters which were then compiled into a beautiful and meaningful binder which will be sent to the settlers. Special thanks to our beloved Mrs. Feinberg for coordinating the program.

After much preparation by the Chesed Heads – Jessica Cohen, Amanda Friedman, Elizabeth Konigsberg, Chevie Nussbaum, Michelle Shechter, Miki Wagner, and Shevi Zinberg – the Spring 2007 Blood Drive was a huge success. The steady stream of students, faculty, and parents enabled us to collect 36 pints of blood for Long Island Blood Services. Much thanks goes to all those who donated, as well as the many girls who helped throughout the day.

Once again, parents filled the corridors of SKA moving from room to room talking with teachers at the second Parent Teachers Conference. The parents and teachers were afforded an opportunity to share information , partnering in the education of the students

Parents were also able to wander into the auditorium and see the beautiful art work of the students during the second annual Art Show. Thank you to Mrs Libin and Mrs. Wald who co-ordinated this very artistic event.

The senior class got together to share Pesach divrei Torah they had prepared during the "Haggada Roundtable." Each student prepared one dvar Torah and then presented to the others in her circle. The girls switched circles and each shared her personal dvar Torah once again, so that by the time the students had gone through three "round tables" the girls were supplied with numerous divrei Torah for their Pesach sedarim. There was a beautiful atmosphere in the room, with Torah being shared in every corner of the auditorium. Special thanks to Mrs. Rivka Yudin for organizing the event!

11th grader Leora Hefter, under the guidance of Mr. Steven Sullivan, won second place in the Andromeda Division at the New York State Science and Engineering Fair held at Columbia University yesterday. Her project, entitled "Beyond Kisses and Cookies," examined the effects of different grandparenting styles on a teenager's self-perception. Mazal Tov, Leora! Great job!

Congratulations to Emily Levine and Danielle Lent on being named finalists in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair. They competed in Round Two of the competition on Tuesday, March 20th, at the Crest Hollow Country Club. Their presentation, titled “Optimizing Recycled Polymer Blends Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide,” explores a novel solution to recycling plastic wastes. For the week of May 13th, Emily and Dani will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico to present their research in the International Science and Engineering Fair, where they will compete with students from around the world. Special thanks to their dedicated science research chaperone Rabbi Rothman.

It was a very exciting day at the final Torah Bowl meet of the season. The SKA girls studied parshiot Achrei Mot and Kedoshim for weeks before the competition. They showed that they really "knew their stuff" as they won many of the rounds. The final match was extremely close and SKA came in second. A big thank you to Coach Mrs. Beaty Menchel for all her help, her support, and her yummy food! We are so proud of the girls for all the learning l’shmah that they did.