Three national Quill & Scroll awards for The Boiling Point
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
May 1, 2012
For the sixth year in a row, The Boiling Point has won multiple honors in the annual Quill and Scroll International Writing and Photography Contest. Out of the 3,039 entries – 43 from Shalhevet – in 12 different categories, three Boiling Point stories won awards. “We submitted a lot... (more...)
Marijuana can be a slippery slope
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
December 23, 2011
Nobody sets out to be addicted. In fact, most people who do “soft drugs” like marijuana and hookah do so thinking that they’ll never get addicted. But even Amy Winehouse, who died in July from a drug and alcohol overdose, started off smoking marijuana as a teenager (www.tinyurl.com/AmyWinehouseBP).... (more...)
First-ever championship for Firehawk basketball
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
December 23, 2011
After a four-year absence from the annual David A. Yaffe Basketball Tournament, the Firehawks returned to Houston last week to win the boys’ championship Nov. 20 for the first time, while the girls’ team took fourth place. “It felt amazing to win the tournaments,” said boys co-captain... (more...)
Firehawks boys basketball is champion of Yaffee tournament
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
November 22, 2011
After a four-year absence from the annual David A. Yaffe Basketball Tournament, the Firehawks returned to Houston last week to win the boys’ championship Nov. 20 for the first time, while the girls’ team took fourth place. “It felt amazing to win the tournaments,” said boys... (more...)
Shalhevet stands alone among Orthodox high schools in letting girls carry Torah, survey finds
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
November 3, 2011
At least in mixed minyans, nine other Modern Orthodox high schools hand the Torah scrolls to either nobody or just the boys It’s no secret that the topic of women carrying the Torah has been in heated discussion since the beginning of the school year. But Shalhevet students might be the... (more...)
Tradition may rule, but law says girls can carry the Torah
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
November 3, 2011
‘All those who are impure, even niddot, arepermitted to hold a Torah scroll and to read from it, for the words of Torah are not susceptible totum’ah (impurity). This is provided that his hands are not filthy or dirty with mud; they should wash their hands and then touch it.’ —Rambam,... (more...)
Dress code enforcement to be tightened today, rabbis say
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
September 16, 2011
Following a brief ninth-period meeting on Thursday when the administration told the juniors and seniors that they would have one more day to self-regulate on dress code, an email was sent out saying that anyone out of dress code today, Friday, would not be allowed to class. At the Bet Midrash... (more...)
Central locker hallway now houses faculty wing
Rachel Lester, Managing Editor
August 22, 2011
Students arriving for the beginning of the new school year will find the main locker hallway and classrooms turned into a faculty area, and the lockers and most classes now moved to the carpeted hallway that used to belong to the lower school. Where the main student locker hallway used to be,... (more...)
Recovering slowly, Mr. Reynolds misses farewell Town Hall appearances
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
June 7, 2011
Health problems prevented Interim Head of School Nat Reynolds from speaking at Town Hall before the end of the semester. He did not appear as planned May 19 or 26 or June 2 as planned, “He kind of has ups and downs and it’s impossible to know so far in advance how he’s going to feel that... (more...)
Sh’koyach! After-school club serves Torah, brisket
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
June 3, 2011
“Sh’koyach,” casually meaning “congratulations” or “good job,” isn’t just a popular Shalhevet expression anymore. It’s the name of school’s newest club, and the first mishmar the school has seen in three years. “We need a more yeshivish idealogy,” said sophomore Daniel... (more...)
Looking back, Agenda chairs offer perspective and advice
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
June 3, 2011
It’s a position that leads the entire student body every week, held by an elite few who must juggle an intense workload of APs, college applications and extra-curriculars as well as managing fellow students and school administration. When Leona Fallas was elected Agenda Chair this week,... (more...)
Second postponement for Reynolds’ Town Hall appearance
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
May 12, 2011
For the second time, health problems prevented Interim Head of School Nat Reynolds from speaking at Town Hall last week. He did not appear as planned May 19 to say goodbye to Shalhevet, and said he hopes to make it to the last Town Hall of the year June 2. “He kind of has ups and downs... (more...)
New technology could offer drivers a cure for texting
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
March 16, 2011
Car accidents are the leading cause of teenage deaths. This is common knowledge, as is the fact that most teenagers are addicted to their cell phones. These two behaviors combined — cell phones and driving — it is no wonder that there are more than 17,000 car accidents a day in... (more...)
Slapped in the Facebook … and other things that can go wrong when social media isn’t just social
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
January 7, 2011
Since Facebook has become such a dominant part of modern society, it’s easy to see why people have started using the website for purposes other than fun or communication. And why wouldn’t they? Facebook combines the services of e-mail, instant messages, photo sharing sites and everything... (more...)
Life beyond the bubble: Alumni find many shades of Jewish life on campus
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
November 1, 2010
Shalhevet prides itself on being a school that prepares students to study in the top secular universities and observe their religion wherever they find themselves. But do students actually want to venture outside the Orthodox Jewish bubble? Based on interviews with more than a dozen recent... (more...)
Tennis champ takes over athletics
Rachel Lester, Chief Layout Editor
August 30, 2010
Shalhevet’s new Athletic Director has many ideas to improve the school’s sports program, as well as an impressive athletic resume to back them up. Mr. David Paradzik (pronounced Pa-RAD-zik) was an American Top 10 junior tennis player and played for the University of Michigan tennis... (more...)
The new schedule: No room to rest
Rachel Lester, Chief Layout Editor
August 26, 2010
It’s 11:11 on a Thursday morning: time to make a wish. I wish that I hadn’t had three APs in a row every day this week, you think. I wish that there were another break between classes besides a 45-minute lunch and a mandatory Mincha. But your teacher closes the door and tells you to take... (more...)
Eighth grade joins high school, for now
Rachel Lester, Chief Layout Editor
August 26, 2010
By Rachel Lester, Chief Layout Editor When the board announced the closing of the Shalhevet’s lower schools last March, it added that incoming eighth graders would be able to stay for their last year “because of the special needs of eighth graders” — presumably, that it would be... (more...)
Shalhevet choir goes backstage at ‘Glee’
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
May 23, 2010
Bypassing a line that wrapped at least halfway around the building, 13 members of Shalhevet’s choir walked into the Saban Theater April 21 and headed straight for reserved seats in the balcony, where they watched a taping of the hit TV show Glee and got to question stars, producers, and... (more...)
Shalhevet’s still green behind the scenes
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
May 23, 2010
The trend of reusable bowls is dying out, the Environmental Sustainability Committee has not held any events all year, and it seems like many ideas that have been brought up that turned into empty promises. Is Shalhevet still going green? In a quiet way, it seems, the answer is yes. Over the... (more...)
Athletes say missing class is okay; teachers disagree
Rachel Lester, Features Editor
March 18, 2010
Have you ever walked into an afternoon class and found it half-empty? Chances are that at least one sports team was playing a game that day. One of the most common complaints at Shalhevet is the amount of class athletes miss for sports games. Since Sukkot vacation in October, there has yet... (more...)
A higher concentration of vegetarians at Shalhevet
Rachel Lester, Chief Layout Editor
January 9, 2010
Freshman Rose Bern, the only vegetarian in her class, still remembers the feeling of having nothing to eat for lunch on Community Service Day. After a morning hard at work folding and sorting clothes, Rose opened her school-provided lunch and found that despite the promise of a vegetarian option,... (more...)