Staff Report

Yavneh Academy’s Students Against Terrorism will host its 16th annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Points for Peace, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the Aaron Family JCC. Deadline to sign up is Thursday, March 22, before midnight. Participants range from first-graders to adults. The winners of each division receive prizes ranging from tickets to sporting events, gift cards, autographed basketballs and much more!
Teams are made up of a maximum of four players. Cost is $33 per team and a $3.89 Eventbrite fee. Register before the tournament at http://bit.ly/2GMFy0y. Only one “ticket” is necessary per team. Cost for the 3-point shooting contest is $10 and can be paid and registered for at the door.
Each four-person team is responsible for raising $200 in charitable donations that must be brought on tournament day. Also, contributions for the silent auction are welcomed.
“Being on the Yavneh basketball team, knowing that a lot of the younger kids look up to you, makes it a really special feeling to get to organize a tournament for them,” said Micah Romaner, SAT co-president. “Just like they love to watch us play, watching them play is just as fun.”
In 15 short years SAT has raised about $587,000 for victims of terror in Israel. This year’s beneficiary agency is The Israeli Trauma Coalition (http://israeltraumacoalition.org). Founded in 2002, ITC offers “a holistic, collaborative approach to building a continuum of care for individuals and communities affected by trauma,” according to the organization’s website.
Also, it provides “direct trauma care and counseling, deliver(s) professional caregiver training, established and manage(s) the Gaza envelope Resilience Centers, deploy(s) regional emergency preparedness programs and respond(s) to crises worldwide by offering emergency services, rehabilitation and training.”
The committee has set a goal of raising $50,000 for ITC. The main source of donations stems from the Points for Peace tournament.
Serving on the Students Against Terrorism committee this year and coordinating the tournament are: Micah Romaner and Griffin Levine, co-presidents; Alisa Rubinstein, vice president; Vanessa Tanur, logistics coordinator; Zach Bernstein, treasurer; Jonah Eber, logistics chair; Anna Wernick, fundraising coordinator; Tyler Winton, fundraising chair; and Jessica Lampert and Tami Govrin, co-secretaries.
SAT is a student-run organization; its goal: to demonstrate solidarity with Israel and provide support for victims of terror in Israel. The organization is committed to raising awareness in Dallas about the devastating effects of terrorism on Israeli citizens. SAT began in March 2002, when six Yavneh Academy of Dallas high school students attended a Yeshiva University-sponsored leadership conference in Connecticut. It focused on active leadership and various ways to help combat terror in Israel. After the insightful and motivational conference, the students returned to Dallas to share their thoughts with other students. The result was the formation of Students Against Terrorism.
“Points for Peace is an incredible way to end our high school careers, a true culmination of using our Jewish values to better the world, while strengthening our community and getting kids involved from a young age,” said Romaner, who, along with Levine, is a senior.
To sign up or donate, please visit points4peace.org, email contact@points4peace.org or call Micah Romaner at 972-413-0217.