It’s high season for academic clubs at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central)! The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of competitions and pivotal events for Wildcat teams across the board.
On Sunday, March 16, Central hosted its first History Bowl competition, placing as semifinalists. On that same day, Central’s Model Congress club competed at the Yeshiva League Model Congress Conference, where they received a citation from Nassau County government.
Learning experiences outside the classroom extended beyond academic competitions: The following day, Central juniors were accompanied by our Humanities Department Chair and Director of College Guidance, Mrs. Rena Boord, to the Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. The group chatted with current Stern students, toured the Beren Campus, and heard from YU President Emeritus Mr. Richard M. Joel and from Assistant Vice President and Executive Director of the Shevet Glaubach Center for Career Strategy and Professional Development Ms. Susan Bauer about the opportunities and sources of support available to Stern students as they complete their degrees and prepare for fulfilling work lives.
Central’s STEM students are also looking to the future with experiential learning: On Sunday, March 23, the school sent a collective of its student scientists to the annual Yeshiva League Science Olympiad. Hosted by the Jewish Education Project and the Lander College for Men, the Science Olympiad offers a forum for yeshivah students to apply their knowledge of science, technology, and engineering in competition. The team made a strong showing, placing fourth in Botany, second in Chemistry Lab, third in Ecology, third in “Microbe Mission,” and first overall in the “Write It, Do It” category.
“Events such as Science Olympiad are important because they challenge students to take a topic they might learn inside the classroom at a cursory level, then dive more deeply into the information to gain a better understanding of what each topic is asking for,” said Science Department faculty member Mr. Michael Spindel, who accompanied the students to the event with Science Department faculty member Mrs. Miriam Chopp. “Whether it’s one of the test-taking events, or one of the build events, our students worked for months in order to prepare themselves to compete this past Sunday, and it showed in their results on the day.”
Another meaningful outing promoting STEM careers came on Monday, March 24, when Central engineering students took a field trip to Google headquarters, where they toured the facility and chatted with current Google employees. These recent academic extracurriculars have come with honors: Recently, junior Kayla Etra received second place in the Girls’ Division in the 5785 Jerusalem Science Contest. An international competition with participants from North America, Israel, and Australia, the JSC will host its culminating celebration on Wednesday, March 26, in Chicago, where Kayla will present her research project on nanotechnology and its Judaic connections.
Upcoming STEM events include Central’s participation in a March 31 robotics tournament, hosted by the Center for Jewish Initiatives in Education. Central Humanities also hosts a full schedule: The Central Playhouse’s spring musical production of Frozen takes the stage on Thursday, April 3, while Central’s Shakespeare troupe will participate in Envision Shakespeare, hosted by the Envision Theater group, on Monday, April 7.
