13th Grade: In Israel, lessons for life and a sustainable world
Jaclyn Kellner, BP Emeritus
December 23, 2011
Sometimes I feel like everything on the farm revolves around food, but really everything revolves around everything. On the farm, where I’m in a semester-long Masa program called Eco Israel, a semester-long Masa program in Israel, study agriculture both in the classroom and hands-on in the... (more...)
After two tours of duty, it’s back home to Israel
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor-In-Chief
June 29, 2011
Every year the first week of her Bechina Yerushalmi class, Mrs. Sabo taught Shmuel Aleph, to give her students a connection to the Haftorah they would hear on Rosh Hashanah. What might each character be thinking and feeling, and what halachic and ethical lessons are extracted from the story?... (more...)
A day for love, and being seen for who you are
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor-In-Chief
June 29, 2011
Drawing by Katie FeldAccording to the Talmud Bavli, in Masechet Taanit, in the days of the temple in Jerusalem there were two holidays Jews celebrated by dressing in white: Yom Kippur and Tu B’av. Erev Yom Kippur will be Oct. 12 this year, but Tu B’Av will take place over the summer... (more...)
Mourning in the summertime
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor-In-Chief
June 28, 2011
The Three Weeks: It’s summer. Long sunny days are followed by warm summer nights as we freely explore the outdoors. Shabbat magically goes on forever. And we students take two months to breathe, to sleep, to have fun and to recharge our batteries for the challenging year ahead. In the... (more...)
Science class: Understanding Japan’s radiation crisis
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
April 18, 2011
Japan dumped 10,000 metric tons, about three-million gallons, of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean April 4, but the United States apparently has nothing to worry about. Though 10,000 tons is a lot of radioactive water, officials say it won’t have any effect on the 680,000,000,000,000,000-ton... (more...)
After 5,000 years, God is still popular
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor-In-Chief
March 13, 2011
Poll shows most Shalhevet students believe in an all-powerful God who cares about morality More than eight out of 10 Shalhevet students believe in God, and there’s almost no difference between freshmen and seniors except that seniors are more willing to consider other beliefs, according to... (more...)
Baking bread with God
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
March 11, 2011
Yeast, flour, time and love combine for a different kind of culinary experience Have you ever wondered why Jews recite netilat yada’im before eating bread, but not before eating anything else? A few weeks ago, I was inspired to bake sourdough bread, and I think I now understand. Bread is... (more...)
Have a tall caramel latte, but hold the Frappuccino
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
January 6, 2011
Most of the hot beverages and iced lattés are kosher, but Frappuccinos are not. That’s the good news and the bad news from the Starbucks across the street from Shalhevet at Fairfax and Olympic. According to Star K, coffee and tea are always kosher as long as the coffee beans aren’t flavored.... (more...)
After debates, new bell schedule ends school at 4:45
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
January 4, 2011
An altered version of sophomore Daniel Schwartz’s new bell schedule took effect Monday, Dec. 13, dismissing school at 4:45 p.m. instead of 5 for the first time in Shalhevet history. The news was met with disdain by some students but celebrated by others. The schedule shortens the school... (more...)
Friend’s birthday coming up? Try out the school’s oven
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
December 31, 2010
After many whispered “happy birthdays,” hidden celebrations and confiscated cakes, Shalhevet has quietly begun to offer a more personal alternative to baking for friends than purchasing a cake from a bakery. Students are now allowed to bake in Shalhevet’s kitchen after school, as long... (more...)
Schwartz schedule proposal is favorite in advisory vote–administration to review
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
October 16, 2010
In a vote which may or may not influence the administration’s decision, sophomore Daniel Schwartz’s proposed new bell schedule with earlier dismissal times won by a landslide of both students and faculty in last Thursday’s schoolwide election. People could vote yes on all... (more...)
Building bridges while deconstructing buildings in AJSS teen summer program
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
August 31, 2010
Conflicting views on gender issues test principles of religious pluralism … In an uninhabited farmhouse in the once-Jewish farming community of Marvell, Arkansas, the 21 members of my summer program, American Jewish Society for Service, sat in a circle to discuss how we should pray together. As... (more...)
Volunteers share a hands-on summer in Arkansas
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
August 30, 2010
… as teens learn how to help build homes by tearing them down In your steel-toed boots you walk through the maze of an old, abandoned furniture store in search of the hammer crowbar you left on the floor. You take your tools and begin ripping down a wall, using multiple successive jerking... (more...)
Dr. Parks to bring the art of organization to classrooms
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
August 26, 2010
When you walk into Dr. Debora Parks’ office, on the main hallway just left of the foyer, a shock of organization hits you in the face: the push pins neatly sit in her bulletin board in a row at the same 135-degree angle and there isn’t a single paper out of place. And that’s exactly what... (more...)
New schedule means big changes and some controversy
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor
August 20, 2010
The bell schedue changes almost every year, but this year’s changes break the record for the most far-reaching ever at Shalhevet. For the first time, all nine classes are meeting every day Monday through Thursday, instead of on a rotating schedule where eight classes met most days and the... (more...)
Recalling Little Rock Nine, Terrence Roberts put a face to history
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
June 30, 2010
Dr. Terrence Roberts of the Little Rock Nine — nine students who enrolled in Little Rock Central High School after the Supreme Court ruled segregation unconstitutional — told around 200 students, staff and parents of the power of human will in the face of injustice at in the Beit... (more...)
Shalhevet to take a year’s break from Bat Ami program
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
June 30, 2010
When Bat Ami Sara Borenstein and Aviya Cohen said goodbye last week, they took with them a 19-year tradition of Israeli high school graduates infusing Shalhevet with a cultural and personal connection to their country — at least for now. Shalhevet has had Bat Ami — literally, “daughter(s)... (more...)
‘Sustainable Dave’ Chameides is leaving, will move East this summer
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
June 26, 2010
“Sustainable” Dave Chameides, Director of Sustainability, announced June 15 via e-mail that he would be moving to Connecticut this summer to “be closer to relatives, and for me to begin a slow exit out of the film industry and a move into academia.” “Aliza, Maia, Tamar, the dog... (more...)
Debate vs. New Jew may foreshadow a Jewish league
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
May 23, 2010
Four of Shalhevet’s champion debaters faced tough local competition on March 24 from New Community Jewish High School in an event that may become a model for an all-Jewish debate league in Los Angeles. In a split decision, junior Jenny Newman and senior Trevor Brandt-Sarif won a debate about... (more...)
NSPA, Quill and Scroll awards for BP
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
April 30, 2010
In the past few weeks, The Boiling Point added six awards to its 2009-10 tally: a runner-up “Best in Show” award for its Special Edition on the lower schools closing, and five awards in Quill and Scroll’s International Writing and Photo Contest, judged by the American Society... (more...)
Welcome Oliver Bui Berkey Tranchi!
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
April 18, 2010
After years of “what-if’s,” English Department Chair Melanie Berkey and General Studies Principal Phu Tranchi welcomed their son Oliver Bui Berkey Tranchi into the world Sunday, April 18, at 5:07 a.m., weighing six pounds, 10 ounces. Ms. Berkey and Mr. Tranchi met at Shalhevet... (more...)
Jewish schools have closed in other cities, too
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
March 24, 2010
The Los Angeles Jewish community was shocked to hear that Shalhevet needs to close its middle, elementary and preschool, but similar situations have been happening to other Jewish schools in the past two years. Some schools, like Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island (JCDS), reacted in... (more...)
School is structurally sound but lacks supplies, safety expert says
Jaclyn Kellner, Community Editor
March 18, 2010
Shalhevet has ideal evacuation possibilities and is structurally strong in both buildings, but needs to purchase emergency supplies and write up and implement a specific emergency plan, according to Mr. Richard Druyen from Druyen and Associates, a company that helps schools prepare for 17 emergency... (more...)