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TheVOiCE

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KeepStandardized

Testing?

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Coach Sandusky The 2013

Tiyul

December 2013Volume XVI, Issue II

By Dalya Dickstein

Best year yet! promised Stu-dent Council in posters that covered Kush-ners walls at the beginning of the year. But what exactly is going to make this year better than any other? What does Student Council have in store for RKYHS? Perhaps youve asked this question yourself, only to receive the standard response from someone on the Council: Its confi-dential. Well the time has come to shed some light on the awesome ac-tivities students of RKYHS can ex-pect in the coming months. Right now our main focus is the amazing school Shabbaton, said Student Council President Orah Sch-langer 14. Every year much work goes into planning for the Shabba-

ton, but President Schlanger prom-ised that this year will be even better. We are planning more interactive activities with the students, great bonding experiences, and there will be great grade videos. Treasurer Mia Lang 15 added, Were going to get people really excited and really into the things we have planned by making the activities appealing and fun for everyone. One of the high-lights promises to be the Saturday night activity, which is planned by the Student Council. Members of the Council refused to reveal any details, but Treasurer Lang said, Lets just say its gonna be quite the partay! Student Activities Director Josh Gottesman is one of RKYHSs newest arrivals. What qualities and new ideas does Mr. Gottesman bring to the table, and how does he plan on making this year the best year yet? Mr. Gottesman explained that

he possesses a unique love of fun and awesomeness, and the fact that Im proud to be awesome. President Schlanger eagerly touted Mr. Gottes-man: He is the best! He comes up with ideas that people would never even think of. He is very involved and makes sure we are always hav-ing meetings and coming up with great suggestions. Student council is lucky to have him in charge. Mr. Gottesman outlined major activities for each grade, such as Freshmen Action Day a few weeks ago, Soph-omore Sleep-in, the possibility of a Junior Shabbaton, and of course the Senior Trip. Though Student Councils focus is centered on the Shabbaton, it is also planning other exciting events. If you recall, at the beginning of the year Student Council brought an ice cream truck to the school, which was immensely popular. Although

they would not give us specifics on similar future events, President Sch-langer did hint: Lets just say we will be feeding the students since we all just love food. One of the most important things Student Council must keep in mind is the will of the people. What do students want to see from Student Council this year? I want to see the Student Council helping us out when we have a lot of things to do, said Maya Sasson 15. Maybe once a month schedule a blackout day. Maya also suggested how Student Council could address a common student problem. It would be pretty helpful if they sold good pencils and pens cheaply . . . or even better, gave out free pens and pencils for tokens you can earn from those riddles that they put up on the message board ev-ery week.

This Years Student Council Plans for the Best Year YetStudent Council Vision Revealed

continued on page 8

NewsThe Voice Staff

Jonathan Pedoeem, Editor-in-ChiefDavid Esterlit, Assistant Editor-in-Chief

Dalya Dickstein, Senior Editor

2 December 2013Volume XVI, Issue II NewsNews

Eytan Shamsian, EditorJacob Stein

Dalya DicksteinJordan Shanskhalil

Jakey OstroveIlan SlonimSam Raab

Ilana HafnerCarlie RatzkerAshley Miller

OpinionShep GerszbergEstee Wagner Ariella Shua

Natani BondarJacob Mendelson

ReviewsEitan Scher, Editor

Joey KirschGabe ZuckermanYonatan Raskin

Sports Jerry Miller, Editor

Josh Perlman, EditorJoe Berger

Effie Auman Gabe Maron Jonah Bash Greg Artman

Humor Alex Akman, Editor

Miki KestlerJoe Amster

Jesse Zucker Caryn KaplanSara Kirsch

StatisticsShaul Hafner

Avery BellGreg Artman

LayoutJacob Stein, Editor

Sammy chernaBen Wagner

Koby Stadtmauer

PhotographyYael Rabin, EditorAlex Silver, EditorMaya Silver, EditorLindsey Blenden

Avery BellEstee Wagner

Sydney StroulowitzRon Sroor

Rabbi Pearlberg, Advisor

From the Editors Desk This year The Voice has launched several new additions to the student paper. We have added a new Reviews section for student reviews of movies, games, books and TV shows. We have also added a Statistics depart-ment to administer and analyze polls of the student body. Data from these polls will provide our articles with up-to-date and accurate reflections of student sentiment on a range of topics

relevant to student life at Kushner. On top of all of that, our Opinion section now has an advice column. With all these additions, and with our dedicat-ed and talented staff, we are commit-ted to working our hardest to continue serving you as the Voice of RKYHS. All the best,

Jonathan Pedoeem Editor-in-Chief

Humans of KushnerMr. Klein, Science Teacher

Interview by Eytan Shamsian

Whats in your serpent cup? Is itserpents blood?

Haha. No, its usually Coke, Moun-tain Dew, or water. Theres a late night talk show host, Craig Fergu-son. He has one. One year for the holidays my father-in-law got my-self, my wife, and her siblings all the same cup cause he was at the muse-um where they make them.

Where did you study before you came to Kushner?

While I was in High School I took a summer and I studied in Cambridge University. I studied History and Theater. For college I went to Penn State University. I studied Archeo-logical Science. While there I also studied in Egypt doing an Archea-logical dig in the summer of 2006.

How did you end up in Egypt?

I had a professor who was in charge of doing a number of different exca-vations. One was this dig in Egypt, and basically it was a mission to save the site.

How did this influence your life?

I had a great respect for the things that our ancestors had made with such basic tools. Stuff that we have a hard time figuring out how they even did it. Then seeing it in person, you look up at the Pyramids you can

barely see the top from standing right there. Its awe inspiring. Powerful.

What influences did you have that contributed to you becoming a teacher?

I had a lot of good teachers grow-ing up. I think that helped inspire me to pass on that legacy of being a good teacher and influencing others, spreading knowledge to the popu-lous. And I know that I wouldnt be who I am without certain teachers. So I hope to one day be that for other students.

What do you exactly like about sci-ence?

It is truth in its most pure form. Sci-ence is factual, science is proven.

How is the Kushner high school experience different from the ex-periences you had attending and teaching at different high schools?

I went to public school. I taught at the school that I went to school. Pub-lic school is very different from here. [Here] days are longer. The students are generally more involved here. The students are generally more respectful. This is the place I have come to teach at where students ac-tually say thank you on a daily basis. You dont get that at a public school.

What are the benefits of teaching at a private school like Kushner?I can teach the way I want and the material I want. At public school everything is designed for you. At my last school, I wasnt even able to make my final exam.

What are some of your hobbies?

I have a lot of different hobbies. I mainly just like interesting things. If I find an activity or group thats interesting Im going to look into it.

I do photography, most of that is for myself. I have done 15 years of martial arts and sword fighting. Ive been with it for a long time. At Penn State I was on the taekwondo team.

What is the hardest part of mar-tial arts?

It has to be keeping focus. I had different things I would do with swords, particularly. One of them was, my father would hold a cu-cumber lengthwise on his neck and I would cut the cucumber in half

while it was lying on his neck with a sharp sword without cutting him. In order to do that I had to be extremely focused so that I cut the cucumber and pulled back at just the right time without cutting my fathers head off.

Where did your hat go?

Just time for a change, something different.

Any fashion advice for your stu-dents?

Haha. Yeah, I guess scarves are cool.I wear scarves a lot. Wear what youlike, thats whats important.

If you werent a teacher, what would you be doing?

You know, I dont know. I honestlycant think of anything else Id ratherdo as a profession. Maybe work at ascience museum but other than that itwill still be education based.

Mr. Klein, 2nd from right, in Egypt

News

By Sam Raab

The Beit Midrash is an essen-tial part of any Talmud class. Teach-ers give students the opportunity to learn in chavrutot and to try to work their way through a Gemara. The expectation is that the students will stay focused on their learning and complete their assignment. How-ever, according to the Kushner Stats department, 51% of all RKYHS stu-dents say that they fool around in the Beit Midrash instead of completing the material they were assigned. Al-though this statistic has an 9.5% mar-gin of error, in the worst case scenario instead of 51% it would be 42% of

students, which is still very sig-nificant. Many students start off with good intentions, but then get lost along the way. Sometimes I can effectively learn, but when I get stuck on the Gemara, and my teacher is too busy to help, then I start wasting my time and I give up, says Simon Mendelsohn 16. In fact, many students feel the same way. Once they get stuck and they are not able to learn any-more, they start socializing and fooling around. Even more so, they feel like they dont learn as much in the Beit Midrash as they do in class. When asked the reason

as to why teachers bring their stu-dents to learn in the Beit Midrash, Rabbi Schlusselberg responded its in order to show how Gemara was classically learnt in a chavrutah, and because youre right near the Aharon Hakodesh and you are surrounded by sefarim so you really feel the walls of Torah while you are learning. Fur-thermore, he believes that if you make the students responsible for learning a specific amount of material, they will not fool around.

Rabbi Miller explained that there must be a certain decorum in a Beit Midrash, especially in a place where there is a Sefer Torah. There-fore, when students start conversing and they start to fool around, it is pos-sible that they may say something in-appropriate which is halachically not okay to do in a place of learning. He added that a Beit Midrash is for the sole purpose of learning, and students should not be hanging out and relax-

Were in the Beis and...Teachers and Students Wonder if the Beit Midrash is Being Used Properly

News 3December 2013Volume XVI, Issue IICheating on the Rise

By Jakey Ostrove

Cheating. Its wrong, and ev-eryone knows it. But why do people continue to do it? Do they do it just to break the rules? Getting caught while cheating is a very costly thing, so why take the risk? Although there is a big focus on preventing cheating, students con-tinue to do it. According to a study conducted by US News, 72% of stu-dents reported one or more instances of serious cheating on written work. Additionally, 51% of high school stu-dents did not believe cheating was wrong. Though Kushner may have fewer students, we are not immune from this plague either. The Kushner Voice Statistics department found that 58% of students admitted to having cheated on their homework and 27% admitted to having cheated at least once on a test. (Based on a sample size of 75 students margin of error 9.5%.) Twenty-seven percent may not sound terrible; however, that means one out of every four kids have cheated. Kushner students gave a vari-ety of explanations for why kids cheat in High School. Rachel Mendelsohn

17 suggested that, Students are ner-vous about their grade on that test, and maybe theyre just blanking on the an-swer which is bothering them, so they cheat. According to Rachel, when the pressure of a test causes students to blank out on answers their first instinct is to cheat. Lindsey Blenden 15 had a similar explanation. I think failure scares some people, she said. Or if getting a lower grade on a test will affect the persons grade; then a person will cheat. Maybe cheating doesnt come from the pressure of a test, but from the pressure to succeed in the future. According to Arielle Zadok 16, cheat-ing happens because of the pressure

of the parents or teachers and even getting into college/ high school. In addition to the student body, this issue interested many facul-ty members. Rabbi Rubin said, Un-fortunately, cheating in our society is pervasive. Sports figures, politicians, businesspeople and even educators cheat to get ahead or for any other gain. It is so commonplace in society that it is almost taken for granted that people cheat. There are many rea-sons why students cheat: pressure to perform, transcript enhancement for college, shame for not doing well, pa-rental pressure to excel in many other reasons. Cheating will be eliminated only when students demonstrate a

commitment to integrity and hones-ty. With every lie or deceitful action character is injured. We need to be vigilant and at the same time speak often about the importance of good character and integrity. According to Rabbi Rubin, its not up to the teach-ers to stop cheating by catching the cheaters, but for the students to strive to do the right thing. Mr. Plotsker also expressed a similar opinion. He said, Im not sure if people fully understand the conse-quences of their actions. Not only in schools, but in business and life peo-ple are always trying to get to the next level. Cheating is morally and ethical-ly wrong, and when someone cheats, it becomes harder for them to justify why they shouldnt if they dont get caught. Sometimes cheating doesnt have to have such a complicated rea-son. Gabe Maron 17 offered a morebasic reason for cheating. Kids cheat, he said, because they want to do well. Short, but to the point. Perhaps hes right. The reason why students cheat may come not from the outside pressures, but from within them-selves.

Is RKYHS Following the National Trend?

continued on page 4

News4 December 2013Volume XVI, Issue IIClass of 17 Largest Ever

By Esther Wagner During the eighth grade moving up ceremony, Rabbi Ru-bin gave a wonderful speech. He stated that the eight grade would be the largest class in RKYHS history. Without a doubt, this is proof that the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School is always growing and always becoming a greater, better community. A larger freshman class creates more vibrancy and energy inthe school, said Rabbi Rubin. Each student brings his or her special qualities to our commu-nity, which enhance every students learning and social experience. Rab-bi Rubin did acknowledge one of the challenges so many students could potentially have for the school. The larger freshman class positively con-tributes to every aspect of school life. Our only concern is to maintain class sizes that are consistent with our edu-cational standards. Even with a larger freshman class, we are committed to

maintaining our standards of person-al attention and focused instruction. Hopefully the school will continue to blossom in the future with even largerclasses than the class of 2017. But will the school be able to stretch and grow to take in more students? Our school has some room to grow with-out negatively affecting the quality of our educational program, said Rabbi Rubin. We are operating at our target number and, thankfully, our schoolhas been steadily growing every year.

The future growth of the school thatwe forecast should remain comfort-ably within our current school pro-gram. Recently I sat down with Elisheva Feldman 17, someone who has been going to Kushner since pre-k, and asked her about how so many students in the freshman class af-fects her. My grade has always been largethis year it only increased by about ten students, Elisheva said. I think of having a large grade as

a greater opportunity to make new friends. With more kids theres a greater chance of finding someone with the same interests as you who you can connect to. She did add one po-tential concern. With so many students, it is impos-sible for teachers to have a close relationship with ev-eryone. Though that does not mean the teachers wont be able to help us. Howev-er, as all students and fac-ulty know, school isnt just about classes. Socializing,

programming, and extracurricular activities are a large part of student life and the school structure. All in all, the school knows well what to do in case of larger classes and can take care of its students in however many numbers they may come, whether it be seventy or seven hundred.

Effects of the Freshman Class on the School

ing in a Beit Midrash. On the contrary, multiple stu-dents believe learning in the Beit Midrash is beneficial. Leana Sil-verberg 14 said, We have the abil-ity to learn Talmud and Tanach by ourselves, and apply it in a way that

is special to us. Multiple other stu-dents stated that learning in the Beit Midrash is also requisite for the stu-dents who dont assert themselves in class, because then they have the ability to participate in the Beit Mi-drash. Although the Beit Midrash has its disadvantages, it also has many advantages which can allow a student to prosper and grow mental-ity if used correctly.

Beis (cont.)

Tiyul at SeaBy Ilana Hafner, Carlie Ratzker, and Ashley Miller Each year as the tiyul ap-proaches, students all think the same thing: Another day of sports and food at a random camp. How-ever, this year the school decided that the Kushner students should experience the pleasures of tiyul on a boat ride around New York City. This was a high riskhigh reward decision that created varying expec-

tations throughout the school. Im expecting it to be very fun, said Rachel Mendelson 17 when she first heard about the tiyul. Gabriel Zuck-erman 17 said he thought it would be exhilarating, and was look-ing forward to the sheva brachot. Many sophomores were also highly intrigued. Maya Benzaken 16 said, Its going to be fun but much dif-ferent because its on a boat and thats something theyve never done before.

Some students were more skeptical. It will be much differ-ent than previous tiyuls, said Jor-dan Shanskhalil 16. I dont know what to expect. Students who had already been through at least two tiyuls were more apprehensive. Its going to be interesting said Tal Stern 15. Joey Kirsch 15 added, I have a feeling its go-ing to be really bad compared to the other ones. The seniors, how-ever, seemed optimistic about the

change. Hana Fus-man said, Hopefully it will be really fun, and it will be a good way for freshmen to branch out and make new friends. Jeremy Shechter said, It will be fun, very nice, very relaxing but it wont be as enjoyable as the others because there wont be any sports in-volved. After actually go-ing on the tiyul, stu-dents had an equally wide range of opin-ions. Most freshmen, continued on page 12

Although the Beit Midrash has its dis-advantages, it also

has many advantages which can allow a

student to prosper and grow mentality if used

correctly

Mixed Reviews Reflect Range of Expectations

Opinion 5December 2013Volume XVI, Issue IIStudents Feel Little Love for Davaning

By Natani Bondar

Ill open this by being bru-tally honest: Im not that much of a davener. Its never had the spiritual grasp on me that it has on other peo-ple. I am religious and spiritual in other ways and Im proud of those. Davening for me isnt very mean-ingful, and therefore I dont do it as often as is probably expected of me. I figure: if it doesnt have much meaning to me, why do it? Daven-ings just empty words with no feel-ing behind them. In minyan, though I might not daven, I try to keep qui-et. Sometimes I manage, but I fail more often than not. That, I know, is wrong. Its disrespectful and insensi-tive to those who are there to daven, to have that connection. And I work on it. But thats when Im already in minyan. The problem is, I dont make much of an effort to actually get there. Lateness is a problem in all minyanim, especially in the senior minyan. I dont think a day goes by in which Rabbi Chamudot isnt ad-monishing us for our tardiness. And this too, I admit, is wrong. Daven-ing is required by our school, and we choose to go here. As such, we agree to abide by the schools rules, and one of them is showing up on time to davening. But to write this off as simple rule-breaking would be to ignore an underlying problem. Why do some students not want to dav-en? Why is it so hard to get them to

come to minyan? It seems that there is a systemic issue with the way the school approaches davening. While I admit that coming late is wrong, it bothers me that were so reprimanded by teachers and fac-ulty for not approaching davening with the same intensity that they do. Of course not! They already have the connection! They take for granted that everyone has that same inter-nal fire for prayer that they do. Do they expect us to just automatically accept prayer as an integral part of our Jewish identity? And, there is a deeper question to all of this: had the school done more to instill in us the values of prayer, would they have a problem with student apathy towards morning minyanim? Lets be honest again: ye-shiva is about Jewish education and forming a bond with our Jewish na-

tional and cultural identity. But its also about asking questions. Ques-tions about the things that bother us, the things that we struggle with. I think I am correct in saying that, for many students, meaningful prayer is something that they seek, but also something that they are unable to find because they havent been in-stilled with those values. Their tough questions havent been answered. There hasnt been a meaningful dia-logue about it. Or maybe kids who do not have that connection will nev-er have it. Thats always a possibility. But since theres nothing we can do to change that, Id rather not dwell on it. I dont know if my outlook on prayer and davening would be different had I had a different high school experience. Probably not. In fact, RKYHS is filled with great

rabbis and teachers who are unbe-lievable Jewish role models. So we have those resources. Its just how we dispense them that will make the difference. There are already chugs and classes dedicated to such questions (with the exception of the honors classes). Would my outlook on prayer be different had Founda-tions of Prayer not been taken away from honors classes in my fresh-man year? Who knows. But the responsibility of edu-cating, learning, and questioning does not fall solely on the faculty and the administration. It also falls to the students. We could have the

best facilities available (and most of time, we do) but theyre useless with-out students exploring them. So I im-plore students if something troubles you about your beliefs, ask a Judaic studies teacher about it. If you have questions concerning davening or your faith, go to someone who can answer your questions and approach their answers with a clear and open mind, not one of cynicism. This is how questions are explored and doubts addressed. And maybe through this dual responsibil-ity: teachers and faculty providing answers, students providing ques-tions, students will want to pray, in-stead of being forced to.

Teachers Hold Unreasonable Expectations But Responsibility Goes Both Ways

Are Freshmen Thinking Too Much?Freshmen are Overthinking College

By Gabe Zuckerman

Freshmen all around the world are finally settling into high school, and while some are acting as if every second of every day will affect whether they get into the col-lege of their choice, most arent too worried or stressed about college. I think there are three types of fresh-men when it comes to thinking about college. There are the extreme type who think that each and every mo-ment will affect whether they get into a good college, and that everything they do should be for college. For example, they rush like crazy to get to Physical Education (P.E) on time because if they are late they fear that they will be marked down a point,

and if they are marked down a point then their overall P.E. average will go down and that will bring down their actual average which in turn will ultimately affect which college they get into. Now as a freshman I do believe things matter a whole lot more in high school, and Ill try not to be late to P.E. class, but I dont think that if I receive a 4 as opposed to a 5 in P.E. it will affect what col-lege I go to. Ill admit, I do look for extracurriculars or anything that could look good for college but if I dont like something then I definitely wont stick with it. I dont think that joining a club or team just because it looks good for college is a smart idea because if you are just faking your way through an extracurricular

colleges will see right through the ruse. Plus there are so many fun ex-tracurriculars that also look good for college that it is easy to do both. That brings me to the sec-ond type of freshmen, those who join extracurriculars because it is both fun and looks good for college. My impression is that the majority of freshmen fall into this category. Many of these freshmen know how important college is but rarely stress or think too much about it. One rea-son for this might be that they are focused on the tasks at hand and not so much on where they will be go-ing to college. In my opinion this is a healthy way for freshmen to look at the college situation. Additionally, it allows them to focus on tests and

projects that will more likely affect which college they get into as op-posed to rushing to gym class. The third and final type of freshmen are those who are not as concerned as maybe they should be with college. This type doesnt re-ally think or stress too much about college and are not thinking about college when making decisions to join clubs or teams if they are at all. This is not necessarily bad, but eventually they should start think-ing about participation in activities that might look good for college.

ReviewsOpinion6 December 2013Volume XVI, Issue IIBy Jonathan Pedoeem

Students, especially stu-dents of Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, are always under a tremendous amount of pressure. This pressure usually stems from the double curriculum that we all take in addition to the multitude of extracurriculars in which most students participate. To make it worse, standardized tests like the SAT and ACT increase the anxi-ety.

I will admit right off the bat that there is a need for some sort of standardized tests for col-leges and high schools. However, I believe that the focus placed on these tests is unnecessarily stress-ful. Students are placed under the impression that these tests define their life. While some adults and teachers may argue that students are not defined by their standard-ized test scores, students are still under the impression that they are. Additionally, standardized tests are still a big factor in college ad-missions--which does affect many different areas of life. The pressure from these tests is supplemented by parents expectations, school

expectations, college expectations, and, lastly, students own expecta-tions. Because of these expecta-tions, many students spend count-less hours studying for these tests, which sometimes even takes prior-ity over school studies. Addition-ally, when students do not meet the expectations set for them, often they feel they have less chance of success in life. This is the worst sentiment a student can have. Students should not be wor-rying about doing well on a stan-

dardized test. Rather, they should be focusing on their own interests. They should be investing their time to learn about things that actually have value to them. I would go the extra mile and say that most students would actually rather do that than study for standardized tests. After all, why should students waste time learning tricks that they will prob-ably forget after the test, when they can be learning about their favorite historical period or science subject? Others may argue that these tests actually teach students about important subjects, such as math, grammar, and reading comprehen-sion. Although students may learn

The Case Against Standardized Tests

Standardized Tests Have Negative Effects

Dear 7-on call, I have been having a lot of problems with social networking. Everybody has a Facebook, and I dont have one. Its not that I dont want one but my parents say that I shouldnt get one; plus, all these cy-ber-bullying stories are scaring me. All my friends have one and, as a result, they get information on clubs and sports and stuff--things Im in-

terested in. People in my class also post party invites on Facebook and because I dont have one, I end up missing out. (I think it makes me seem uncool and geeky that Im in high school and dont have a Face-book.) Ugh, this is so frustrating! Yours truly, Un-updated

Dear Un-updated,

Do not feel pressured to get something you do not want. There are plenty of different ways to re-ceive information that you would otherwise receive on Facebook. For example you can ask a friend to al-ways alert you when invites, sport, and club related things are posted. Also no one looks down on some-one who doesnt have a Facebook. In fact, many high school students

dont have a Facebook profile be-cause it is too much of a distrac-tion from school work. Definitely do not go behind your parents back and create one--youll only get in trouble. Instead, why dont you talk it over with your parents and see if you can have a Facebook profile, strictly for academic reasons. Best of Luck, 7-on call

Advice Column

By Shep Gerszberg

Standardized tests--you have been exposed to them from a young age. From the TerraNo-vas to the ACTs and SATs they have been a part of every kids life. These tests are quite important and cannot be removed or downplayed. This is because they test a totally different aspect of a student that is equally, if not more, important than what is tested in a school setting. In a school setting, you are tested for whats known as crite-rion-referenced material: mastery of a specific section of material. While this is good for evaluating the level at which a student learns something new, it does not assess other integral parts of a students development, including abilities such as logic, time management, and test-taking skills. One of the reasons stan-dardized tests exist at all is that their creators recognize that to tru-ly assess a student more is required than simply assessing how well he understood a specific amount of in-formation in a specific amount of time, as he is assessed in school. Standardized tests gauge how well a student can apply the information he has learned over the years, how well he can use logic, and how well he has developed his innate abilities (which are typically not tested for in a school setting). Taking away or putting less emphasis on the SAT just wouldnt be fair to those students who are not good at study-ing but are good at logic or have great innate abilities. These abili-ties are just as important for col-leges to know--if not more so--than how a student performs in a restric-tive and monothematic school set-ting. Standardized tests allow for a more egalitarian and free environ-ment because, at their core, they test skills which are gathered over

time, after years of honing innate abilities and developing new ones. Standardized tests level the play-ing field. There is another important aspect of standardized tests. As I mentioned before, Criterion-refer-enced tests grade you on your mas-tery of a certain material. Thats it. Its you against the material. Stan-dardized tests are norm-referenced tests, which measure your scores against those of everyone else who took the test. Both you and your college of choice potentially ben-efit from this situation. Compar-ing you against the nation helps you understand where you stand compared to everyone else in the country. This is a powerful tool for deciding which college is a viable and realistic choice for you. This comparison of students across the nation also helps collages decide which students to take in, more than any individual grade can ever do. Yes, you might say, that the grades can help a collages de-cide which students are better and work harder. But the fact is, these individual grades are wholly de-pendent on how good your teach-er is, how hard the tests are, how much time the teacher gives you to study, and many more factors that are variables that can change from school to school. While many peo-ple claim that these tests are point-less I rally against this. These stan-dardized tests are integral parts of education and without them the collage process would be harder and unfair to a significant part of the student population. The beauty of standardized tests is that they are standard.

The Case For Standardized Tests

Standardized Tests Play an Important Role in are School System

continued on the next page

ReviewsDecember 2013Volume XVI, Issue IIBy Eitan Scher This winter many criti-cally acclaimed movies have come out. With well known titles such as Gravity and 12 Years a Slave, it is sure to be a tough competition for Best Motion Picture. Captain Phil-lips promises to be another challeng-er for that crown. It tells the story of Richard Phillips, captain of a cargo ship transporting goods to Africa in 2009. Things go awry as a band of Somalian pi-rates attempt to commandeer the vessel, and things go downhill from there. The story of Captain Phil-lips will keep viewers, on the edge of their seats the entire time, as the Maersk Alabama and her crew try to navi-gate and survive the perilous jour-ney. Tom Hanks does a wonder-ful job portray-ing Richard Phillips, a man who has been referred to as a hero for his ac-tions during the dangerous adven-ture. Hanks was very good through-out the movie, but his true shining moment came at the end, proving again why he is one of the finest ac-tors today. More interesting, is the per-formance of Barkhad Abdi, who plays Abdukhadir Muse, the leader of the Somalian party that hijacks Phillips ship. This was Abdis first acting role, and he was phenomenal. Born in Somalia, Abdi moved to Ye-

men at age 7 and to Minneapolis, Minnesota at 14. He won the role out of almost 800 people auditioning. His fellow pirates performed admi-rably as well, but Abdi really stole the show. He has already started to attract Oscar buzz, and if he wins, it would certainly be well deserved. While Captain Phillips was definitely great, it was not a perfect film by any means. Director Paul Greengrass use of shaky cam was

distracting at times, and did not really add much to the movie. The middle act stag-nated a bit, espe-cially compared to the mind blow-ing last act. The final scene was so powerful, and while I cannot say more about it for fear of spoil-ers, anyone who experiences Cap-tain Phillips will know why it is so amazing. Cap-tain Phillips is a definite must see.

The Good: A thrilling, and emo-tional journey through the Indian Ocean with fantastic acting perfor-mances all-around and a masterful conclusion.

The Bad: Excessive use of shaky cam, iffy middle act that treads water.

The Bottom Line: This powerful and exciting film tells a wonderful story that should not be missed.

Captain PhillipsSalute the Captain!

7

By Joey Kirsch

As a major TV-show watch-er, I feel comfortable saying that I have seen many of the good shows on TV right now. Dramas, com-edies, action: you name it, I have probably seen it. That does not make me special, though, because many other people have seen these shows, too. In fact, there are a lot of us who love to sit around and discuss the latest escapades of all of our favor-ite TV show characters each week. There is one show, however, that not enough people talk about that more people really should. Community, which was created by Dan Harmon

and is loosely based on his life, is about a group of friends who go to Greendale Community College. Greendale isnt exactly your nor-mal college. Students have to deal with a lot of things that definitely wouldnt happen at a normal college. The main characters, Jeff, Britta, Abed, Annie, Shirley, Troy, and Pierce, are a loveable bunch of misfits who have all sorts of crazy adventures at Greendale. They all have their own very different personalities that together create humor in everything they do, no matter how simple. While Community overall is great, there are a few flaws. For example, if you dont know all that much about pop-culture (TV, mov-ies, etc.), you might not get all of the jokes. Also, many people have said that they didnt like the fourth season (the most recent) as much as the others. Hopefully, this issue

will be resolved by the return of Dan Harmon as the show runner, who had been let go for season four. I would recommend this show for a few reasons. First, the acting is superb, especially by Danny Pudi, who plays Abed Nadir. Abed is a movie and TV-show loving, movie making, emotion-ally detached guy who doesnt re-ally understand feelings. The way that Pudi is able to portray that

sense of disconnection and lack of interest in the world around him is amazing. Another reason I would recom-mend this show is that

its extremely funny, yet every char-acter is also flawed. The characters are hilarious in the way they seem to be deeply flawed to the point where they almost personify those flaws. Additionally, for the television en-thusiast, there are TV and film cli-chs in nearly every episode. The show keeps current with the times, referencing the latest pop culture news and obsessions. Finally, the new season is starting on January 2nd, so if youre planning a binge-watch (and I suggest you do) then youd better start soon.

The Good: This show makes me laugh in every episode. It perfectly balances humor with its ability to make me love, and be deeply invest-ed in, all the characters and their storylines.

The Bad: Some may feel there is too much emphasis on clichs and stereotypes and might be slightly offended.

The Bottom Line: Community is a very clever and entertaining show. I would recommend it to everyone.

CommunityWelcome To The Community

some useful vocabulary, they will probably not gain much more from studying for these tests. Most classes and tutors stress the use of tricks that will not help you in any situation oth-er than a standardized test. For exam-ple, the most common trick used for the math section is either plugging in numbers or working backwards with the options that are given. However, in the real world, those two strategies are not applicable. You are not go-ing to be given four different options when deciding at what angle to mount

a rocket to successfully launch it. In my opinion, the simple so-

lution to this problem is to completely redesign these tests so that they do not require students to study random and largely useless facts. Possibly something similar to an IQ test. More importantly, I think students, includ-ing me, parents, schools, and colleges should put less of a focus on standard-ized tests. Instead, they should focus on actual GPA and the subjects that interest the students. As Mark Twain famously said, I have never let my schooling interfere with my educa-tion.

The Case Against Standardized Tests

(cont.)

Reviews8 December 2013Volume XVI, Issue IIBy Gabe Zuckerman What if you could fully submerge your-self into a video game, a video game that is so addictive and realistic that you never wanted to come out? In James Dashners The Eye of Minds, the VirtNet is the future of gaming. It allows for full body and mind submersion, and allows you to do things you could only dream of doing in the real world. But the VirtNet is ex-periencing some major technical difficulties: A cyber terrorist named Kaine has started holding

players hostage in the VirtNet. The presump-tion of the VirtNet is that nothing can harm you, but Kaine has found a way to take gamers hos-tage in the game, and make them brain-dead in real life. Michael, a gamer extremely skilled in coding and hacking, has been recruited by the

VNS, a branch of the government whose pur-pose is to control all those within the VirtNet. The government promises Michael that he will be set for life if he cooperates, and if he does not do it they will cut him off completely from the VirtNet. Michael has an impossible task in front of him: locate and track down Kaine. To do this Michael must use all of his hacking skills to stop Kaine from killing more gamers. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner is a thrilling book, even though it contains some minor flaws. This book was really enjoyable

because it introduces the Virt-Net, which I found extremely interesting. Additionally, after reading The Eye of Minds and James Dashners previous se-ries, The Maze Runner, Dashner is definitely one of my favorite authors. One thing that I do not like about The Eye of Minds is that Dashner needs to keep in-venting new ways that gamers physical bodies will be affected by what they do in the VirtNet, or else there is no interest be-cause it is known that Michael will live in the end. Overall The Eye of Minds was a great book written by an even better author.

The Good: First, the plot is extremely interesting and in-troduces a whole new type of dystopian world. Furthermore, there are constantly twists and turns that will completely shock you.

The Bad: Some of the faults of the book are that 99% of the ac-tion and main events take place in the VirtNet. That is not nec-essarily a bad thing but it makes

the action a bit less exciting be-cause it is not real.

The Bottom Line: The Eye of Minds is an excellent book with some minor flaws. The Eye of Minds is packed with action at

every bend, and a huge mystery that will shock you. Most, if not all, of the action in The Eye of Minds takes place in the VirtNet, which I per-sonally dont like. Still, The Eye of Minds is a great book and definitely worth reading.

The Eyes of Minds by James Dashner

The BlacklistBy Yonatan Raskin

Raymond Reddington has been on the FBIs most-wanted list for twenty years, some-how always managing to escape their clutches. Suddenly, he insists that he wants to help the FBI. Reddington gives them a Blacklist, a list that he has compiled of top criminals and terror-ists. For reasons unbeknownst to the viewer, he refuses to talk to anyone else in the FBI except for one person: rookie criminal profiler Elizabeth Keen, a woman who has had no previous encoun-ters with Reddington whatsoever. She is sudden-ly and unexpectedly thrust into the dangerous business of hunting down wanted criminals and suspected terrorists. Why does Reddington only want to speak with Elizabeth? Will the FBI catch all of the criminals that Reddington notified them about? Find out in The Blacklist. The Blacklist is highly original and puts a twist on your everyday cop show. Instead of police tracking down criminals, one of the most wanted fugitives of the United States helps chase down wanted criminals for reasons only known to him. Reddington is a very well played charac-ter in the show and I cant wait to see what hap-pens next in the series.

The Good: The characters are well played and the plot is exciting and easy to follow.

The Bad: The episodes are a little random when it comes to which criminals are being chased, but this overall adds to the plot.

The Bottom Line: The Blacklist is a highly orig-inal, entertaining and action packed series that will make you wish the episodes never end.

Student Councils Vision (cont.) Yovel Krasner 15 said, I think movie nights would be really fun . . anything that gives students a chance to interact and have fun in a more relaxed environment is definitely a good idea. Yovel also mentioned that she would like to see more planned trips for the students. If there were more schoolwide

trips we would have a lot of fun and it would be a really good opportunity for everyone to bond. So far Student Council has done a great job anticipating the desires of its electorate. Freshman year we had a pep rally, Krasner recalled. I think if Student Council brought it back it could be really fun.

Well, Yovel and the other RKYHS students are in luck, because that is exactly what Student Council has planned. We have already begun planning our December pep rally, President Schlanger disclosed. We are aiming to have more fans at the games especially the home games. Go Cobras! Director Gottesman ex-

plained that they are planning ways to promote sports games, through announcements, special events, and dinners. The final message that Mr. Gottesman would like to leave with the students is: Get ready for the best year yet!

Sports 9

By Joe Berger

RKYHS is hosting its sec-ond annual three-on-three basketball tournament. Last year, Jonathan Pe-doeem 15, Eytan Shamsian 15, and Joey Kirsch 15 or-ganized a basketball tournament during lunch as a fun com-petition for those interested. The tournament was a smashing success. More then twenty people signed up and played through-out the tournament. It was a great op-portunity for ev-eryone to play or-ganized basketball, particularly those who were unable to commit to an after-school basketball team. Louis Reiz 15 praised the tournament for al-lowing more intense games and en-abling people to spend less of their lunch period messing around,

waiting to organize a game. In re-sponse to the great success last year, the three student organizers decided to enhance the tournament this year, adding some exciting and important aspects to the competition.

Last year, the tournament was one of free entry, and any student was al-lowed to join. While this was very conve-nient, there were complaints that many players did not take the games serious-ly, as they were playing for noth-ing meaning-ful. In response to these com-plaints, the di-

rectors of this program have decided to add a cash prize and an entry fee of five dollars. This is not only a way

3 on 3: More Than BasketballSecond Annual 3 on 3 Tournament

Comes Back Better Than Ever

The New Man on CampusBy Greg Artman

The Kushner boys basket-ball team has a new coach, Jan San-dusky. He is regarded as one of the best coaches in all yeshiva league basketball and is one of the most car-ing guys you could ever meet. Coach Sandusky coached at Kushner back in the day when Mr. Singman roamed the hallways, from 2001-2005. In this five-year span, he was extremely successful. He took Kushner basket-ball to the playoffs every year, even though before he came they had not made it once. He brought Kushner basketball all the way to the top of the Yeshiva League. Then, Coach Sandusky left Kushner due to some disputes with the administration, and headed to the Yeshiva of Flatbush. At Flatbush, Coach Sandusky was also very successful. He coached there for seven years, made it to five championship games, and won both a varsity championship and a mid-

dle-school championship. After all of this, Coach San-dusky felt that he had really done everything that could be done at Flatbush. Luckily, Rabbi Kirsch still kept in touch with him. After talking to Rabbi Kirsch, Coach Sandusky decided that the right move for him would be to return to Kush-ner. As he said, I always loved Kushner and the people hereI never really wanted to leave. Coach Sandusky is also fond of Rabbi Rubin, and com-mented: I love the direction Rabbi Rubin has taken the school. You can

see the difference now and kids are happy to be here. The players

on the team are also extremely happy to have Coach San-dusky back, and they all notice a signifi-cant difference from the past couple years. Hes a dedi-cated, hard-working coach who knows so much about the game, said Jeremy Shech-ter 14, captain of the Boys Varsity team. And he really

cares about his players. The overall vibe around the school is that Coach Sandusky is a phenomenal coach,

and the right person to turn the bas-ketball program around. In Coach Sanduskys mind, he knew that it was time to return to Kushner, and pull the basketball program from its recent slump back to its glory days. I understand that it might take some time to build a nice basketball program here, said Coach Sandusky. But Im ready to do whatever it takes. Coach San-dusky couldnt be any more moti-vated to restore Kushner basketball to where it used to be. Along with his assistant coach David Ptalis 08, Coach Sandusky has the team aim-ing high. With all the students and faculty behind them, there is no tell-ing what they can accomplish in the near future. So come out and support the 2013-14 Kushner boys basketball teams, and you will be able to see the man himself in action. The one and only, Jan Sandusky.

Basketball Coach Jan Sandusky Returns with a Mission

By Gabe Maron

Halfway through the NFL season, predictions of the playoffs start to arise. Many fans will look at the teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and predict that they will win the Super Bowl because they have a lot of wins. In my opin-ion, however, that prediction is completely wrong. True, the Chiefs do have a very good chance of reaching the playoffs be-cause of their number of wins. How-ever, there are also many great teams in the league that are possibly even better than the Kansas City team. For example, the 10-2 Denver Broncos, the 9-3 Patriots, the 11-1 Seahawks, and many more teams may be better than the Chiefs. In order to as-certain whether a team is actually

good, one must thoroughly comb through the various factors that play into that teams success. According to Sam Bernstein 17, The Denver Broncos will win the Super Bowl because Peyton Manning is having his best year yet, their wide receiv-ers are great and they have a great defense. David Goldstein 16 adds,

I think it is going to end up being Se-ahawks and the Bron-cos, with the Broncos winning be-cause it is nearly im-possible to stop Peyton Mannings o f f e n s e . Especial ly with the

weapons he has like Welker, Thom-as, and also a great running back such as Knowshon Moreno. On the other hand, the Patriots also have a good chance of winning the

The Ride to the Superbowl

Predictions for the Superbowl

December 2013Volume XVI, Issue II

continued on the next pagecontinued on the next page

Sports10

Miami Heat Three-peat?Will the Reigning NBA Champions Prove Unstoppable Yet Again?

By Jonah Bash

The big question about the NBA 2013-2014 season is: Will the Miami Heat win the NBA Fi-nals for the third year in a row? Many people believe that the Heat will win, since they have all of their great players from last year, including the best player on the planet, LeBron James, and the talented players, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. The other key element to the teams suc-cess is its chemistry. There are other teams in the league with multiple superstars, like the Los Angeles Lakers, but their lack of chemistry was demonstrated in their disappointing season last year. The Brooklyn Nets, who acquired standouts Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from Boston, may end up on the same path as last years Lakers because this is the debut with the Nets for these players. However, there are teams in the league that can contend with Miami without a stacked lineup. One such team might be the San Antonio Spurs. They almost took the champi-onship from Miami last season, and may return this year to get their re-venge. So far, they have started off on the right foot. The Los Angeles

Clippers possess a lot of talent and could potentially bounce back from last years disappointing first round

exit. One of the main worries for the reigning champs will be the Oklaho-ma City Thunder, who almost took Miamis first ring in this amazing streak in 2012. Their All-Star point-guard Russell Westbrook injured his meniscus in the playoffs last year, but has returned this season to com-

pete against Miami. Lets not forget about the oth-er talented teams in the East, either.

The Indiana Pacers, who gave the Heat a run for their money last year, have come back strong again. Also, the Chicago Bulls have their stellar point guard Derrick Rose back from last years injury. Unfortunately for the Bulls, he recently came down with another injury. However, even

minus Rose, these guys still might have the talent to potentially take down Miami.

Interestingly enough, a ma-jority of Kushner students dis-agree with my predictions. Ac-cording to a survey taken by the Kushner Voices Stats department, 56 percent of the students sur-veyed do not think that the Heat will win the finals again this year. But there are plenty of sensible reasons why that would be. We are a school located in the northeast and most of the teams that our stu-dents root for are rivals with the Heat. I dont think the Heat will win, said Avery Bell 17. Though he did admit: Im a rabid Knicks fan. Im never going to give in and say that the Heat will win. There is another reason why students, and many NBA fans, say the Heat will lose. I think the Heat ruin the Eastern Conference since they have so much talent, said Zach Is-raeli 17. However, in contrast to the

majority of the Kushner student body, my personal opinion is that the Heat will three-peat, and win the finals this year.

3 on 3 (cont.)to make people play harder and inten-sify the competition, but is also a way to help others. Fifty percent of the mon-ey raised from the tournament will be donated to Friends of Jaclyn, a non-profit organization that pairs student athletes with children who are battling brain tumors. A donation to an organi-zation like this can help those in great need for a small price. We wanted to pick a good charity, something that we feel will have the most use for our mon-ey, explained Jonathan Pedoeem 15. Another student in the school, Maya Silver 15, has been raising money for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation for a little while now and we decided it was a good charity to donate to. Hopefully this years tourna-ment will attract even more students than last years. Eytan Shamsian 15 believes that students will be more involved and play with more passion

since it is for a charity and the winning team gets a small jackpot. Additionally, this time the tournament is starting ear-lier in the year to ensure that the tour-nament will be executed to the highest potential. Joey Kirsch 15 mentioned that while last year there were over 20 participants, this year they are hoping for even more. More participants will result in a higher cash prize, more com-petitive games, and most importantly, more money donated to charity. This small donation can not only result in a ton of fun, but also make a tremendous difference for someone in need.

Superbowl (cont.)

Super Bowl because of their veterans Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. When Brady and Gronkowski are both on the field, the other team must be nervous; the two have 38 career pass-catch touchdowns. Furthermore, even without Gronkowski, Brady by himself is still an impressive force. Another highly ranked super bowl contender is the Se-attle Seahawks. Russell Wil-son, the teams quarterback, is in his second year in the NFL and has posted incredible num-bers. As of week 13, the Seat-tle Seahawks possess the high-est ranked defense. A main contributor to this impenetra-ble defense is key cornerback Richard Sherman. The Seattle

Seahawks have also forced the most sacks so far this sea-son. All of these teams have an equal chance of reaching the Super Bowl, but at the end of the day only two teams can make it. Ultimately, in my opinion, the Denver Broncos will beat the Seattle Seahawks 27-20 in the Super Bowl. The chemistry between the teams veterans, Peyton Manning and wide receiver Wes Welker, is unstoppable and so the Se-ahawks stand no chance.

SportsDecember 2013Volume XVI, Issue II

Sports Sports 11By Sam Shersher

Kushner has had quite a few athletic teams in its illustrious histo-ry: basketball, baseball, hockey, soc-cer, volleyball, wrestling, and so on. However, until recently no attempts were ever made to create a swim team. Swimming is a great sport, for exercise, sportsmanship, and brag-ging rights. In a school where athlet-ics are so important, it was a shame that we hadnt yet endeavored to form a swim team to compete with other schools. However, this year brought an unprecedented change in our athletics: for the first time, we were able to get together a boys team and a girls team and even arrange weekly practices.

So far, the girls team has drawn over a dozen swimmers. Im definitely excited about it, said Ra-chel Luxenberg 16. I really hope that people will continue to be inter-ested in the coming years. In fact, the girls have already competed in their first meet and are looking for-ward to swimming in their second meet on December 14th. Unfortu-nately, the boys team has not yet elicited the same degree of excite-ment, attracting only a handful of swimmers so far, though Rabbi Kirsch hopes that more will join. Aside from the lack of male swim-mers, a few other problems arose in the formation of the swim teams. For instance, our school doesnt have a pool, which meant Rabbi Kirsch

had to figure out how to get access to one from a nearby facility. Luck-ily, he struck a deal with the Golds Gym of Whippany allowed him to rent out their pool and also their entire gym for two hours every Saturday night. Since practices on Saturday nights are inconvenient for many swimmers, Rabbi Kirsch is searching for ways to have practices on weekdays. So far, Rabbi Kirsch has contacted at least half a dozen pools, but unfortunately none of them could accommodate the swim-mers on a weekday. Many people ask whether the swim teams will be able to be com-petitive. The girls team certainly has enough swimmers to compete with sister schools like Mayanot, Bruriah,

and Flatbush. As for the boys team, there simply arent enough swim-mers yet to compete. We probably will first need to get a few more kids involved before we can swim against other schools, said Rabbi Kirsch. In fact, currently there is not even a ye-shiva league for boys swimming, but that might and probably will change, especially since more and more ye-shivot are organizing their own swim teams. Rabbi Kirsch and all our swimmers are very optimistic that more boys will join once we get some swim meets off the ground. This is the first time in Kushner his-tory that anything like this has been attempted, and so far, it has been go-ing quite well.

Girls Team Generating More Early Interest Than Boys TeamNew RKYHS Swim Teams

December 2013Volume XVI, Issue II

The Punchline12

Chug Review: Ultimate Frisbee

Pop Culture GridBy Jesse Zucker

What is your favor-ite color in Novem-ber?

What tree do you associate yourself with?

If you use hand soap, which one do you use?

What is one she plus one she?

What shampoo do you use?

Jakey Ostrove:

Freshman

Ginger Red Oak Orange Beauty She She Head and Shoulders

Levi Jacob:

Sophomore

What does that mean?

Eucalyptus tree The soap that suds when you rub be-tween your hands

Tushe Old Spice

Sasha Sherman:

Junior

What does that mean? Wait, what are you doing?

Christmas tree I dont use it. 5 sheep Oil Shampoo

Rafi Snyder:

Senior

Fuchsia Pine tree, because its prickly and an-noying.

Cucumber melon Suave

Tunechi Leave me alone

By Sara Kirsch On Tuesday mornings we, the stu-dents of RKYHS, get to choose an elec-tive, also known as chug. One of the chugs happens to be Disc Golf, also known as RKYHS Ultimate Frisbee Chug. This reminds me of an episode from a show called Zoey 101, in which the gang hat-ed their gym class and, being the smart high school students (like us) they are, they started a disc golf team to get out of gym. Now we all know why they called it disc golf--because its as boring as golf. I wondered, though, why the name was changed to Ultimate Frisbee, so I did a lot of thinking and came to the con-

clusion that the word ultimate is just there to make the game sound like a real sport, because we all know that in real-ity, it is as much of a sport as bowling. This might come as a shock to you (#mindblown), but there is nothing interesting about throwing plastic disks into a basket. This sport is a disgrace to athletics. In short, the Ultimate Frisbee Chug looks like a lot of fun and I rec-ommend it to all students. Now, what have we learned? If you can, get a group of friends together and create an entirely new club in order to evade any physical activity during the school year. Perhaps curling will be next?

having had little to com-pare it to, thought it was a great experience. The tiyul was great, said Avery Bell 17, especially the Nach-man dancing. That made it great for me. If we did more it would have been bet-ter. Zoe Eisenberg 17 also thought the tiyul was fun, but they should have pro-vided more for us to do. Older students whod been on previous years ti-yuls had more to compare this one against. Sarit Tu-bul 16 said it was worse than last year. The rocking boat was a problem, but it reached my expectations. On the other hand, Jesse Zucker 16 said, The tiyul was very fun and very dif-ferent from last year. Some of the juniors who went in with low expectations, thought the yacht experi-ence turned out well. It was fun, said Jacob Mendelson 15, better than I thought,

but worse than past tiyuls, because in the past we were in a bigger place so we had more freedom to do what we wanted. Abigail Rubin 15 thought the tiyul was good, and it was different from other tiyuls because it was on a boat and the boys werent playing sports. Rachel Zucker 14 said it was super fun and very different from other tiyuls. It was good because boys and girls were all together instead of separate. Rafi Snyder 14 added, It was fun, and I had low expectations, but it was fine. Overall, there were a lot of different opinions about the tiyul, some people thought it was just right, while others thought it was not as good as previous ones.

Tiyul at Sea (cont.)

December 2013Volume XVI, Issue II