As JHS classes came to an end and we head into the final week of the Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ) Digital Learning Environment, the students and staff begin to prepare for graduation and ending what was a “unique” and “interesting” school year. As parents begin their frantic search to make summer plans in a world very different from what we are used to, teachers and moros at YCQ have been spending the time personally delivering packages to their students, bringing smiles and a sense of normalcy to the end of the year. Virtual classes and activities have continued with a Healthy and Wise scavenger hunt; Class 2-207 learning shapes through building, using spaghetti and marshmallows; a banana bread baking competition in 2-205 and 2-206; and some first graders even received a special letter from their teachers in the mail.
In the elementary grades, the students participated in their annual Literary Festival, and class 3-211 and 3-212 wrote and presented their own poetry and participated in their first ever Poetry Slam. Even quarantine could not hold these students back from learning and engaging in this annual event.
Each year, the sixth graders learn research methods in science class and spend time creating a project for the annual STEM fair. Though students could not be together and show their projects and research in person, they all participated in an amazing virtual science fair put together by their teacher, Ms. Picciano. Each student, individually or with a partner, shared his or her research and projects in a virtual science fair. Every student worked hard and should be proud of this amazing accomplishment. The following students won awards in different categories: Ephraim Greenfield: Now You C It, Now You Don’t; Jake Schikman: Which Sunscreen Protects Our Skin Better from UV Rays?; Yehoshua Gherman: Traffic Nightmare; Max Askari and Ariel Mastour: What Has More Radiation?; Max Chubak: Kinetic and Potential Energy; David Borukhov:
Which Water Is the Cleanest?; Yishai Ashvil: Bacteria and Toothpaste; Yaakov Gruza, Doran Sparber and Alan Linker: Stop the Sound; Ozzy Dreyfuss and Eyal Traeger: The Efficiency of the Solar Panel; Sarah Leah Sullivan and Rebecca Sisser: When Life Gives You Allergies, Make Lemonade; Abigail Badalov: Is Our Weather As Healthy As We Think?; Shira Canter: Fighting Plastic Pollution One Spoon at a Time; Becky Feygin: Freeze Tag; Dina Milchman: Stain Wars; Esther Horn: What Makes Rainbow Fireworks?; Eliana Orlanski and Eliana Gomberg: Are You Lying?; Rachel Yusupov and Leah Pleshty: Thieves vs. Clorox; and Tziporra Gold: Can My Chinchilla Tell Time?
Throughout the year, the YCQ Torah Bowl Teams have been studying and competing against several yeshivos around New York and New Jersey. Though it was a tough year, the YCQ girls’ team, under the leadership of Coach Shoshana Rosenblum, won the championship at the virtual Torah Bowl Finals, with the boys’ team placing not far behind. All the students and their coaches put in tremendous effort and hard work and, in the end, it showed, bringing nachas and pride to their Yeshiva, families, and friends.