SKA names 3 for its top graduation honors

Valedictorian: Aliza Isaacs   

Aliza Isaacs brings passion and insight to her academic studies, as well as to all the activities she is involved in. A finalist in the Michlalah Ulpaniana Math Competition, Aliza is a valuable member of SKA’s math, debate, and model congress teams. She is also a Write On for Israel representative, learning how to effectively advocate for Israel on the college campus.

As captain of the Varsity Basketball and Hockey teams and a dance head in SKA’s annual production, Aliza is not limited by her intellectual pursuits. She was chosen to travel to Berlin to be involved with outreach through an NCSY-SKA Partnership and was voted by her peers to receive the Character Award for three consecutive years. Aliza is a member of the Yachad Youth Leadership Council, working to promote the inclusion of individuals with and without disabilities, and was awarded a Yachad Fellowship this past summer.

Next year Aliza will be in Jerusalem, at MMY, and then plans to continue her studies at Barnard College.

Salutatorian: Devory Lebowitz

Devory Lebowitz spent the summer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Summer Academy in Applied Science and Technology at which she was awarded the Anna Dopkin Endowed Scholarship. She also spent a summer as a Junior Scholar at the Center for Jewish History, where she researched her lineage. She placed first in Chemistry in the Science Olympiad, was a semifinalist in the Michlala Ulpaniada Math Competition, and received a Bronze Certificate for achievement with distinction in the Nassau County Interscholastic Mathematics League. In addition, she won second place in the National Yeshiva University Bronka Weintraub Talmud Competition, and traveled to Israel as part of the Jerusalem Science Contest after independently studying the intersection of physics and Jewish law.

Devory was a member of the Champion JUMP Leadership Team, a member of College Bowl, Model Congress, and Editor in Chief of the weekly Parsha Press.

She will be attending Columbia University in the fall.

Keter Shem Tov award: Sara Bienenstock

Sara Bienenstock has been voted the Keter Shem Tov Awardee by her peers in the Class of 2016.

A Choir Head for Production and an Ambassador for Recruitment, Sara is one of a select number of students studying BC Calculus. She has been a Color War Captain, a Blood Drive Head, a member of the Lobbying Committee, a volunteer who works with the disabled and a member of the MACs Committee.

Sara was awarded the peer voted Character Award. Sara always has a smile on her face, walks with a special grace, and always goes out of her way to do something for her peers.