This past weekend was packed with freshmen festivities, enjoying a girls shabbaton and our class trip.

The freshmen girls spent an inspiring and memorable Shabbat in North Miami Beach at the homes of the Assistant Principal Mrs. Ora Lee Kanner and classmate Mimi Atkin. Together we shared divrei Torah, zmirot and laughter! This fun- filled Shabbat was a great opportunity for us to bond, as we are never together as a group in one class. Thanks to the Kanners and Atkins for their gracious hospitality and delicious food.

The following day, all thirty-six freshmen boarded a bus to begin a two-day class trip to Orlando. It was phenomenal having 100% class participation! Sunday night, after arriving in Orlando, we were off to watch the Orlando Magic battle the Heat of Miami. Cheering for the Heat (in hostile territory!), we proudly watched them being led to victory! The following day we cruised through the Sea World amusement part - enjoying Shamu, "Kraken" and an array of shows and rides.

Both these two events were fantastic opportunities for us to further grow as a class and have fun outside of the classroom! As we find ourselves immersed in loads of work, it was a great break for us all to escape our busy lives and enjoy each others company.

Thanks to Rabbi Spodek for his hard work in helping us plan the trip and to our other chaperones Mrs. Horowitz and Mrs. Spodek. We enjoyed having their baby daughters Penina and Adina with us, adding smiles to all our faces.

Each Wednesday for the last month after school, interested students in grades 9-11 have been learning the public speaking skills needed for debate. This extracurricular is the brainchild of Mr. Adam Dobrick, history teacher and Model UN coach extraordinaire. It comes as no surprise to his students that Mr. Dobrick was an avid debater in his high school years.

There are many important skills that are being developed in debate. These skills include pace, eye contact, poise and engaging the audience. The next level of skills we will be learning is answering questions under fire, viewing ideas from a different perspective and debating that way, and learning the rules of logic.

One of the types of debate in which we will be gaining expertise is the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, which is the most common one-on-one format. We will be gaining proficiency in Dramatic Interpretation, in which one is given a piece of poetry or literature and asked to explicate it. The club's goal is to start competing against other schools next year.

It may be hard to imagine (not really), but when I came to WYHS three and a half years ago, there was no baseball team. Since I had always loved baseball, I found it difficult to accept the fact that the mere mention of starting a baseball team evoked a fair amount of scoffing and plenty of doubters. They thought it couldn't be done!

It was only when Melissa Pereira became the Athletic Director that we were truly able to get it off the ground. 2 years and a lot of hard work later, the Storm played its inaugural game last week against Boca Raton Christian.

Last year, the first of WYHS baseball, started with Rabbi Sugerman as coach and about 20 boys who were interested. Working around busy basketball and tennis schedules we somehow managed to run a few practices. It was a great first step towards a real team.

The next milestone was the hiring of (with apologies to the Rebbe) a professional baseball coach, Errol Thomas. Coach E was originally drafted by a major league team, but unfortunately tore his rotator cuff and was forced into an early retirement. He is an incredible teacher of the game, a relentless competitor with a fierce passion for baseball. With 13 games scheduled for the season, a great coach, and a number of solid baseball players, WYHS certainly seems poised for a truly historic and successful season.

Most, if not all, of the members of the team have played little to no baseball in recent years. The progress that's been made on the practice field is truthfully remarkable.

Our first game was great. If not for a few costly errors and an unfortunately placed illegal bat, the game would have been well within reach. From WYHS' first base runner and stolen base (leadoff man Josh Goldberg '06) to its first base hit and pitching strikeout (Jason Mann '07), the day was filled with unforgettable milestones and experiences.

In the 2 practices since the game, the team has gotten that much better and looks forward to being a force to be reckoned with in its remaining 12 games. The next game will be this Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. at Pinewoods Park in Boca Raton (west side of the intersection of 441 and Clintmore) vs. Posnack.

On Monday evening, Mrs. Kanner and the senior girls went to see the play "JAP" at the Levis JCC in Boca Raton. The memorable evening began with class bonding over dinner at Orchids Garden (in keeping with the evening's Asian theme) and the celebration of the 18th birthday of class member Arianna Halbstein. The play was written and performed by a Japanese woman, Rachel Factor, who literally put on a one- woman show.

It was a "for women only" performance which told the story through song and dance of how she became Jewish. It began with her interest in becoming a performer, moved on to her falling in love with a Jewish man, explained her decision to learn more about Judaism and ended with her realizing the value of an observant lifestyle. Mrs. Factor and her husband became observant together. Recent WYHS speaker Rabbi Paysach Krohn even did her son's bris!

On Wednesday, Gila Manolson, author of "The Magic Touch" and other inspirational books, spoke to all the girls. The presentation to the 11th and 12th graders was about "Shomer Negiah", the Jewish laws regarding premarital relations. With the 9th and 10th graders, Mrs. Manolson discussed tzniut, acting and dressing modestly. She explained why all young woman, regardless of the religious commitment, would benefit from observing these norms and mores.. One student even remarked, "She would even inspire public school kids to change for the better".

The girls were really taken blown away by her speech, and it was afterwards discussed in class. Many of the girls began to really understand the rationale of Jewish law in these areas for the first time. When reflecting upon her presentation, it began to feel like common sense. Everyone could not stop thanking the school for bringing her down, and the students bought every book Mrs. Manolson had brought with her!