MIDDLE SCHOOL MOMENTS November 3rd

8th Grade trip to the Jewish Heritage Museum

Recently, the 8th graders of HANC Middle School had the privilege to go on a very meaningful trip to the Jewish Heritage Museum, located in New York City. We went on a tour of the museum and saw different objects from the Holocaust, as well as videos of stories of survivors. As we walked through the museum, we were able to understand the feeling of horror that people went through. It was definitely an emotional and powerful experience.

After the tour of the museum, the students looked and analyzed different artifacts from the Holocaust. One artifact was a picture of children and women gathered around a menorah, while a man was lighting it and another picture was of a girl's comb. Each artifact meant something different and then we were able to share our ideas based on what we thought each picture symbolized. These artifacts were really meaningful to look at and see how the Jews lived during the Holocaust.

The museum and the artifacts really helped us understand a little more of the horrors of the concentration camps, the Ghettos and all of the horrors that the Nazis put the Jews through. This trip was especially meaningful because the 8th grade is participating this year in the Names, Not Numbers© project, created by Mrs. Tova Fish-Rosenberg. The entire trip was a very meaningful experience. Thank you to Rabbi Hecht, Mrs. Morey, Morah Greener and Mr. Potok for making this trip possible.

By: Yaira Goldress

OUR TORAH BOWL VICTORY!

On Monday, November 20th, the girls and boys Torah bowl team traveled to HALB to compete against many of our local schools. The teams spent weeks preparing Chumash and Rashi and it clearly showed!

The boys Torah Bowl team got off to an amazing start this season. In their first match they beat HALB, as they displayed their unbelievable knowledge on the parshiot of Beraishis, Noach, and Lech Lecha. Following this, the team beat Haftr 7-2, and then North Shore 8-3. In the final and thrilling game, the boys lost in overtime in a fantastic match where they tied the game on the final question to send it into overtime. The boys finished the day with a record of 3-1 and a share of first place in the league. The boys were led by the 8th grade captains of the team, Mor Sharoni and Avi Brandler.

The girls won ALL 5 games they played, beating HAFTR, HALB, NORTH SHORE, SHAGN and most impressively the school that has maintained an undefeatable title for many years SHULAMITH! We were so proud of all the Torah who learned and all the questions we buzzed in correctly for. Thank you Rabbi Harris and Morah Klein for coaching us and teaching us great Chumash and Torah Bowl skills. We look forward to continuing to master the Chumash as we move on to the next 3 parshiot in Sefer Breishit.

DEBATE

On Tuesday, November 28th, the Debate Team had their first debate of the season at HAFTR. The students worked very hard to prepare for the debate. The resolution was The United States should penalize companies that outsource a large percentage of their work to foreign countries. The participating schools were HAFTR, Kushner, and Flatbush. We look forward to the next debate in January

Scrabble Team Takes The Gold

On Wednesday, November 29, the HANC Middle School Scrabble Team went to the Roslyn Middle School to compete in a scrabble tournament. There were many competitive and exciting rounds of scrabble. The HANC Middle School Scrabble Team was victorious and took home the 1st place trophy. Avi Brandler and Yishai Kaufman were undefeated, winning all 5 of their matches. Mrs. Wasser and the entire team are very excited and celebrated their victory with slurpees from 7/11. The HANC Middle School Scrabble Team is looking forward to the next tournament, which will be in February.

By: Yoni Levy 5-0

CODING CLUB TRIP

The Middle School Coding Club hit the road this week to learn about real-world computer programming. On Thursday, our Coders visited software company PenLink. First, Coders met with Mr. David Gross, parent of fellow coder, Abigail Gross. Mr. Gross explained how PenLink works with clients including Shell Oil. Coders toured the offices, remarking on the collaborative 'pod' set-up as well as each pod's clever nicknames including 'Delta Force' and 'The Jugglers'. Over a delicious lunch, our coders were treated to an informative discussion with several Soft Link employees. Our Coders asked several questions including which coding languages are favored (C++ and Java) as well as which subjects to focus on in high school to prepare for a future in computer programming (accounting, computer science, and English). Our Coders left with hopes to return as interns!

SPORTS UPDATE

"Accept a loss as a learning experience, and never point fingers at your teammates" -

"Accept a loss as a learning experience, and never point fingers at your teammates" - Michael Jordan. After two hard fought losses at the Sderot Tournament, the boys middle school basketball team was primed for an opening night showdown with Brandeis. After weeks of preparation and fine tuning their skills, the team was eager to display their hard work for the start of the regular season. As Brad Stevens said, "The game honors toughness" that is the motto HANC's basketball team used to dominate this game. HANC got off to an early lead and steadily built on it as the game went on. The team led from beginning to end finishing with a 38-26 victory. There was professionalism the entire time. This victory was truly a team effort. The boys made a Kiddush Hashem the way they handled themselves. We are looking forward to the Sderot finals on December 3rd in Teaneck NJ.

The HANC Hurricanes middle school hockey team has had a fantastic start to the beginning of their season. Even though the team is of the youngest in the league, they play at a level much bigger than their age. HANC played its first game of the season against the Shaarei Torah Stars and won 8-4. The team was led by Moshi Grossman who scored 6 goals. The team also displayed an amazing defense led by Jakey Goldenberg, Judah Ehrenhaus, Daniel Ciment, and Avi Pfeffer. In the next game HANC beat Yeshiva Derech Eretz 9-1, as Yoni Lovy scored a hat trick and Daniel Ciment got his first ever goal. Following this, HANC lost a tough game to Magen David, but the HANC team is really good and very exciting to watch. Stay tuned for more amazing things from this great team as the season unfolds.

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 3 - Sderot Tournament - Boys' basketball vs. YHT @ TABC - 12:30

December 4 - Girls' basketball @ SSSQ - 5:30

December 7 - Hockey @ Barkai - 7:30

December 8 - First trimester ends

December 9 - Boys Basketball vs. HAFTR - 7:15

December 11 - Girls' Basketball vs. HAFTR - 7:30

December 13 - Rabbi Paysach Krohn speaks to the Middle School about Chanukah

December 14 - Surprise Chanukua program

December 15 - Menorah Building/Dreidel competition

December 18 - Chanukah Vacation

December 19 - Special menorah Competition

December 20 - Surprise Trip