By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Between cosmic rays and track stars, Northwest Yeshiva High School has a lot to be excited about. However, the year started off on a sad note with the death of popular student Ari Grashin. Since then, it has been a time of healing and growing.
There are plenty of activities to keep everyone going, according to Rabbi Elisha Paul, Assistant Dean of School for Judaic Studies.
One way of healing has been the large number of alumni weddings, said Rabbi Paul. They also have several activities going on within the school, including a big one next week.
“We’re going to have a mock election on election day,” Rabbi Paul said. “The students have researched the Israeli elections and been presenting mock platforms from each party.”
The school’s science department has also been doing joint projects with the University of Washington. Working with NYHS students, the university has been measuring and studying cosmic rays.
“UW lends out some high-tech equipment to some high schools that are willing to participate in some projects,” Rabbi Paul said. “One of the physics students took it upon himself to build an apparatus to measure what level of rays are going on in the atmosphere.”
Back on earth, the school received a grant from the Milken Family Foundation to create a program called Pastimes. Students worked with older members of the Jewish community, some of whom live in the Kline Galland Home and Summit at First Hill, and learned their life stories. After meeting and spending time with them, the students created projects based upon what they had learned.
For one of the projects, the student transcribed his counterpart’s story in Russian, translated it into English, then recited it back in Russian.
The students all “felt they were honoring some of the older people in the community,” Rabbi Paul said.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has also given grants to two of NYHS’ teachers: one for Dr. Salvo Arione and the other for Brenda Cathcart.
Life can’t be all academics, for the school has also cultivated some excellent athletes. Runner David Uslan is currently being courted by Brandeis University after winning a cross-country event in November. The school has also added a crew team.
To mention sports this year at NYHS means talking about Ari Grashin. Ari, who passed away in September at the age of 16, was a popular member of the basketball team. One of the ways the students are serving his memory is through fundraising for the It’s Okay Foundation, a new fund in Ari’s name.
“Every day during prayers – it’s traditional to give charity – they earmark funds for seed money for” the foundation, said Rabbi Paul.
The students also collected enough to put a bench next to the school’s pond with Ari’s name on it.
There have been other challenges as well. The older students have been struggling with whether they should spend a year of study in Israel. As with most people grappling with this decision, the big concern is safety.
“It’s a very, very hot issue for them to consider, because it’s very high stakes with the situation in the Middle East,” said Rabbi Paul.
On Feb. 7, the school will be hosting a community-wide Shabbaton at Camp Solomon Schecter. Any Jewish student from the 8th–12th grade is invited. Rabbi Paul said it’s a way to introduce them to NYHS.
After that, on Feb. 23, the school will hold its annual dinner at the Four Seasons.
Enrollment in the school has been ticking upward. Being the only Jewish day high school within a thousand miles, they have a lot of students who come in from as far as Utah and northern California. Since there are no dormitories , these students are hosted by families in the community.
One result of the larger student body is the hiring of new teachers, some of whom know NYHS intimately.
“We’ve hired about half a dozen alumni who have moved back to Seattle as teachers for our school,” said Rabbi Paul.
Upon graduation, many students stay in town and go to UW, but several go to Ivy League universities or colleges on the East Coast. Others opt to spend time in Israel, though that number has gone down in the past couple of years.
But wherever they go, and through the ups and downs of the past year, NYHS has kept its focus: to provide a good education while instilling Jewish learning and values in each of its students.