Junior Shiriyah Reflections

This year’s Junior class had a Shiriyah experience that can be described as a “roller coaster ride.” We started off Shiriyah hot, winning events one after another. We tied the 2nd longest rope on the soccer field (on Friday), after which we received an inspirational pep talk from our four generals - Ben Abizadeh, Jeremy Golub, Michal Kalaty, and Daniella Aranov. We also began practicing our English song - a parody of “Young and Beautiful” - a favorite among Juniors who had read The Great Gatsby with Dr. Maxwell in their English classes. Of course, the song instantly clicked (in fact, it could be heard in halls and classrooms all throughout Shiriyah). The juniors continued strong the next week, dominating in chess, tug-of-war, and other sports competitions. Meanwhile, those with an interest in art, such as Olivia Kandinov, worked hard on decorating our hallway, as well as creating our themed painting. We put up a good effort in both the boys and girls dance competitions, coordinated by Sasha Haghighat and Jacqueline Kalaty, who, along with all the dancers, spent hours after school perfecting their moves. Then came the Apache Relay Race, the final, and most important in-school competition. From serving a tennis ball and crawling on all fours to naming all of the U.S. presidents in order, we sprinted from competition to competition. We put up a good fight, but unfortunately, we didn't take 1st place.

However, the most important contest was yet to come - putting the “Shir” (song) into Shiriyah. On Wednesday afternoon, we all loaded up onto buses and drove off to the Sephardic Temple for the Shiriyah finale. We ate, laughed, and spent time together as we sang and danced with all our hearts. On top of that, our small choir, led by Moshe Hamerman, was by far the best of all the grades, succeeding in reaching octaves I had never known existed.

As we waited with bated breath for Mrs. Septimus to announce the winner, we all agreed on one thing. We knew that regardless of whether we did well or not, we all had fun and united as a grade, which was what truly mattered most. So many people worked extremely hard this year to make Shiriyah happen, from our teachers and the administration (especially Ms. Septimus) to our generals and our tech lead, Ben Zareh. A very big thank you to everyone!

However, it is with regret that I must end this junior Shiriyah recap on a bad note. We won -

4th place. But as they say, there’s always next time…