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From the Desk of Rabbi Yisroel Kaminetsky
Welcome back to another great edition of the DRS
Address! The second half of the year is in full swing,
and with it will come a slew of fantastic DRS
programs.
Grade trips for all four grades, a new Mission to
Washington, Freshmen Shabbaton and the annual
Purim
Chagiga are all just around the corner.
This week itself saw another Nassau County Math
League Meet held at DRS, College Bowl
competition, hockey victories for the Varsity and
JV, Mock Trial competition, a Varsity
Basketball game, New Semester Club Selection and
Torah Bowl. Of course, next week spring semester
exams begin, and you can download a copy of the DRS
spring semester test schedule in PDF form from this
email.
We are confident that this semester will continue
the learning, growth and excitement for each and
every student that DRS is famous for!
| Rabbis Kaminetsky and Storch visit Alumni in Eretz Yisrael! |
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Our Yeshiva is extremely proud of the fact that of our
96 graduates, 73 graduates have been studying in
Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael this year. Four boys are
learning for their third year, 30 for their second year,
and 39 first year. At DRS, we take special care
to keep a connection with our graduates
after they leave our doors, and it was therefore no
surprise to find Rabbi Kaminetsky again this year
making his annual trip to Eretz Yisrael to visit with
and give support to our graduates currently studying in
Israel. This year, he was joined by Rabbi Storch,
Director of Israel Guidance, so that Rabbi Storch
could get a real first-hand picture of the Israeli
Yeshivot to better advise our current students about
their options for next year.
In his four-day whirlwind trip, Rabbi Kaminetsky
visited 17 Yeshivot, and met with every single
graduate. Wherever he went, he met with words
of praise for the seriousness and commitment of our
graduates. Every Yeshiva seems to be extremely
happy with our boys, and they are in fact clamoring for
more!
A special highlight of the trip was the annual
reunion, this year held at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh,
across from the Kotel in the old city of Yerushalayim,
where the entire shana aleph machzor gathered for a
dinner, and then the entire shana bet machzor came
together for dessert. Joining the shana bet reunion
were two very special DRS alumni, Benjy Gabler
and Daniel Gati, who will be the first DRS alumni to
join
the Israeli Army, when they join the Machal
program after Pesach.
Click HERE for a full photo gallery of the DRS trip to Israel!
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| Jonathan Hefter Wins Prestigious Intel Award! |
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The Intel Science Talent Competition is the
oldest and most prestigious pre-college science contest
in the country. Often referred to as the "Junior
Nobel Prize", it awards talented high school
students scholarship prizes and awards. Only 300
students in the entire country are named Intel
semifinalists.
Therefore, we were very excited to learn that
D.R.S. senior Jonathan Hefter was named a semifinalist
in this year's Intel Competition. Jonathan's
project, titled "The Thermally Stabilizing Effects and
Mechanisms of Clay Fillers on Acrylic Paints, Coatings
and Adhesives", seeks to prove a theory for the flame
retardancy properties of clay fillers in acrylic materials.
This research will make acrylic paints, glues and
coatings safer to use. In addition to bringing honor to
his school, Intel will award Jonathan a $1,000
scholarship prize and an equal gift of $1,000 to D.R.S.
Jonathan has a long list of scientific credits:
last year he was named a Semifinalist in the Siemens
Westinghouse Competition; he is a First Place winner at
the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and a
Fourth Place winner at the International Science and
Engineering Fair in Cleveland. He has presented his
research at the Junior Science and Humanities
Symposium, and at the American Physical Society in
Texas.
Jonathan conducted his research over the last two
years under the guidance of his mentor, Dr. Miriam
Rafailovich, at the Garcia MRSEC Laboratories at
Stony Brook University. Spending many hours (of
the day and night) in the lab, foregoing social
events, missing vacations and school breaks, and
traveling back and forth through ice and snow, have
paid off for this dedicated D.R.S. student. "I feel very
honored at the recognition Intel has bestowed upon
me," said Jonathan. He plans to learn next year in
Eretz Yisroel, and has been accepted to the Wharton
School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania,
where he hopes to study science and business.
Click HERE for the Intel Science Talent Competition semifinal list that includes Jonathan Hefter's project!
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| DRS Academic Competitions: A Packed Week! |
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This was a busy week for the DRS academic
teams. In addition to hosting a Math League
competition, the DRS Mock Trial and College Bowl
squads were hard at work at their respective events.
After much training and practice, the DRS Mock
Trial team was able to showcase its talent, in an
exciting performance on Thursday. The team
participated in a tournament, which pitted 46
Nassau County schools against one another. DRS
was matched against Seaford High School, a
challenging opponent. However, under the leadership of
team captain David Lasher, the talented DRS team
won both the verdict and the valuable points in the
competition.
This past Monday, the DRS Varsity College Bowl
Team came home with an outstanding record of 3
wins and one [overtime] loss, after an afternoon-long
outing at the Young Israel of Woodmere. College Bowl is
a league of Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Teams,
which sponsors several meets throughout the course of
the school year in various locations. At each meet, the
schools compete with each other in trivia game-show
format, where such categories as history, culture,
science, spelling, math, geography and general trivia
are used to determine the winning team.
The team competed with four other schools and will
over the course of the year, compete with almost
ten other schools from the Metropolitan Area. The
team's first round of the meet was against SKA
where DRS came back to tie up the game and force an
overtime round, in which they lost by 2. In the
second round, DRS faced HAFTR, one of the
best teams in the league and surprisingly defeated
them by several points. During the third round, the
team dominated Rambam, defeating them by 11
points, and finished off the day with a fourth round
defeat of HANC.
The DRS Varsity College Bowl is coached by Mr.
Abramowitz, and led by Seniors Noach
Lerman, Jonathan Hefter and Josh Rosenfeld. The
team is also supported by its strong group of juniors
including Josh Blachman, David Weiss, Eli Brecher,
Josh Hersch, Binyamin Weinstein, Yair Frankel and Josh
Reich. The team promises to be a strong success
during the 2003-2004 school year, as it has already
begun to prove.
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| DRS Athletics Update |
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The Junior Varsity Hockey team picked up this
semester just where they left off before the
break. This past Sunday, the Wildcats started strong
with 5 first period goals to spark their twelve - nothing
victory. Yitzy Lederman sparked the squad
with a first period hatrick. On Tuesday night it was
more of the same as the Wildcats beat local rival
Rambam 9-2 to run their record to a stellar 7-0.
Barri, Davidman and Estes all contributed to the
cause scoring two goals each to lead the Cats.
This Saturday night the JV takes on its biggest
rival HAFTR in the battle for first place in the Long
Island Division. The game time was
changed to 8:00pm to accommodate the large
turnout.
The Varsity lost a tough game this past Sunday to
Frisch 4-3. Captain Lederman led the way
with two goals. The squad bounced back with a
victory over Rambam 9-1. Rambam got off to an
early 1-0 lead but Yair Frankel got the
game tied immediately. After Eitan Stern
scored the second goal, the game became a laugher,
with almost all team members contributing to the
victory.
The Basketball squad lost a tough game to Westchester
to open the second semester. Shaya Hertz
paved the way with 17 points. The junior Varsity upped
its record to 7-0 without even suiting up. The team
was awarded its 7th win against no defeats when it
received a forfeit from Ezra. JV will open the
second half next Motsai Shabbat against HANC.
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| DRS to Compete in Science Olympiad! |
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Our Science Club Students are hard at work
preparing for the Science Olympiad, to be held on
Sunday, February 29 at North Shore Hebrew Academy
High School. Science Olympiad is a competition held
between teams from participating schools. Each
team consists of fifteen students plus two coaches.
A sampling of the actual events includes Bridge
Building, Cell Biology, Experimental Design, Egg Drop,
and a Science Pentathalon that requires knowledge of
science and athletic ability. Some events require
application of a scientific principle, while others require
students to build an apparatus.
This year DRS will be represented by a broad
spectrum of students from all four grades. The
team will be led by coaches Dr. Rosalie Peck,
of the chemistry department, and Mr. Henry
Schwartz, of the Earth Science department. We
will be practicing very hard over the next several
weeks. It should be a very exciting day!
Happy Birthday
Rabbi Friedman!
Rabbi Friedman's 10th grade shiur surprised him this
week with a special birthday party!
In addition to this special event, we wish
Rabbi Friedman a Mazel Tov on the marriage of his son.
Many former students, as well as his entire shiur,
and all of the DRS Rebbeim, joined Rabbi Friedman at
this simcha.
Upcoming
Events
We are eagerly anticipating this weekend's annual
Freshman Shabbaton, in Woodmere. Our entire
Freshman class will be joined by Rabbeim and Senior
Class mentors for a beautiful Shabbat, centered around
the DRS campus. The Friday night program will begin
at the Yeshiva with davening and Seudat Shabbat, and
will conclude with a very special Freshman Tisch
with Rabbi Herschel Billet, Rav of the Young Israel of
Woodmere, at Rabbi Emerson's house. Niggunim
at the Tisch will be led by Shalsheles singing star and
DRS Assistant Rebbe Rabbi Simcha Sussman.
On Shabbat day, Rabbis Kaminetsky, Emerson,
Yudin, and Storch will be hosting the Freshman for
lunch, and everyone will gather together again
for a meaningful Shalosh Seudot program at the
Yeshiva. We look forward to an exciting achdut building
and ruach-filled event! To download the schedule
and other information for this shabbaton, click on the
link below!
We are hard at work preparing for the annual
class trips that each grade goes on. Kicking off
the program this year will be "Road Trip '04:
Beantown," the annual Freshman class trip to
Boston. In addition to visiting the basketball hall of
fame, meeting with the Bostoner Rebbe, and
visiting Rav Soloveichick Zt'l's Kever, among
other places, this year, we have arranged for a special
tour of historic Fenway Park! The trip will
take place on February 25-26, and it promises to be
amazing!
Some radical and exciting changes are in the
works for future trips as well, as we look
forward to our annual Sophomore Class trip on
March 17-18. Stay tuned for exciting details
about this once in a lifetime event!
Finally, our annual Ski Trip to Hunter Mountain
will take place this Sunday, and over 60 students
and Rebbeim are looking forward to a great day of fun
in the snow! Stay tuned to The DRS Address
for pictures from this and other trips!
College night for Juniors and Parents will be
this coming Monday night, February 9th, at 7:30pm
in the DRS Bait Medrash. This evening will be the
kickoff for the college application process, and Mrs.
Hefter will explain what students and parents need to
do to prepare their college applications and choose an
appropriate college. Mr. Feldman will also present
elective choices for next year's Senior Year. We look
forward to seeing all Juniors and Parents there.
Click HERE to download the schedule and information for this weekend's FRESHMAN SHABBATON!
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