If you read this column regularly, then you already know that I am a fan of the stellar education provided by our area’s Jewish day schools.

Recently, two teams of Yavneh students competed in the 8th Annual 2012 Academic World Quest Competition, held at the University of Texas at Arlington. The Yavneh competitors were all alumni of either Akiba Academy or Levine Academy.
Academic WorldQuest is a Flagship Program of the World Affairs Council system. The game was invented by the Charlotte Council and is now widely played at the adult and high school levels around the country. It is a team game testing competitors’ knowledge of international affairs, geography, history and culture.
Levine alumnus Jordan Cope formed the first WorldQuest team last year during his freshman year. Cope is a veteran competitor when it comes to geography, winning the Levine Middle School geography bee several times and placing as high as 11th in the National Geographic State Geography Bee. This year, Cope, who is a member of the World Affairs Council, drafted a second team.
Out of 80 teams competing in this year’s World Quest competition, one Yavneh team earned a 12th place finish. Yavneh Team 1 consisted of Jordan Cope (Levine alumnus) Jason Epstein (Akiba alumnus), Yosef Presburger (Levine Alumnus) and Adam Steinbrecher (Akiba alumnus). Yavneh Team 2 consisted of Austin Jacoby (Levine alumnus), Scott Lacritz (Akiba alumnus), Gary Levine (Levine alumnus) and Mika Stein (Levine alumnus). Mazel tov to all the competitors.

Jill Weinberg will be honored this weekend at Temple Shalom

Put on your dancing shoes and join Temple Shalom and its Sisterhood for a magical evening honoring Jill Weinberg, the 2012 Woman of Valor! “Life is a Dance” is the theme for this year’s big event in the Temple’s newly renovated Radnitz Hall at 7 p.m. this Saturday, March 24.
Chosen for her many years of dedication and service to the Dallas community and Temple Shalom, Jill has chaired various committees and served as both president and vice-president of the Sisterhood, while being very involved with the Plano Chamber of Commerce. She currently serves as area director of the Women of Reform Judaism Southwest District Executive Committee.
Jill, originally from Chicago, performed in musical theater singing, dancing and acting for over 20 years. In 2001, she and her husband, Bruce, moved to Dallas with kids in tow to launch a new career, and here began her love of Temple Shalom.
The event includes dinner, dancing, and a raffle filled with treasures. Dance to the music of Pardi Gras, a band from Fort Worth known for getting everyone on the dance floor! Proceeds of the event will benefit youth scholarships and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Tickets are $60 and can be purchased directly from the Temple Shalom website (www.templeshalomdallas.org) or through Facebook.

Greenhill students lend a hand at the Legacy at Preston Hollow

Greenhill School has a Volunteer Day once a year where students visit and give their time to more than 25 different organizations. This year, 11 students and two teachers from Greenhill visited The Legacy at Preston Hollow, a family service-oriented community, for the first time.

The students spent the day delivering daily calendars and menus to each resident, distributing potted flowers throughout the community and participating in a heated game of Bingo with the residents.
“I have been hearing my students talking all day about how wonderful it has been connecting with the residents here at The Legacy,” said Greenhill teacher Becky Daniels. “It is a treat for our kids to spend time and learn from seniors who have experienced so much life.”
“We are so lucky that Greenhill chose The Legacy this year as part of their volunteer project,” said Cheryl Weitz, volunteer coordinator at The Legacy at Preston Hollow. “Our residents love seeing new faces and getting to know people.”

RAGD visits new food bank warehouse

Grapefruit, grapefruit every where along with pallets of fresh fruits and vegetables in the Dan Morton campus warehouse was the destination of Rabbinical Association of Greater Dallas (RAGD) members on Feb. 14. Rabbis Murray Berger, Andrew Paley, Shawn Zell and Brian Zimmerman along with Shirley Rovinsky and Roy Levin tackled 12 pallets of grapefruit repackaging the fruit into bags each containing four or five grapefruit. This equates to 8,086 pounds or four tons of grapefruit which provided 6,738 meals.
One of the goals of the Rabbinic Association is to foster united action among rabbis, with due regard for the autonomy of the individual rabbi and of the various rabbinic movements. Another goal is, to encourage and promote rabbinic growth and development through continued and expanded opportunities for study and communal service. Officers of the RAGD are: Rabbis Andrew Paley, president; Stefan Weinberg and Hanan Schlesinger, vice-presidents; and Ari Perl, past president.
The Rabbinic Association of Greater Dallas receives an allocation from the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas.

Film to raise awareness, funds for school project in Darfur

Students 4 Students invites the community to the Monday, April 2 screening of “3 Points” at 7 p.m. at the Angelika Film Center at 75/Mockingbird Lane. Proceeds from the screening, which details NBA All Star, Atlanta Hawk Tracy McGrady’s humanitarian efforts in the Darfur region of the Sudan, including his 2007 visits to refugee camps in the region, and other fundraising efforts, will support S4S’ 2011-2012 campaign to build a school in Darfur.
Yavneh’s S4S co-founders Dalit Agronin ‘12, Jori Epstein ‘12 and Rachel Siegel ‘13 have teamed up with the Jewish World Watch Sister Schools Project, and hope to raise a minimum of $17,000 to begin construction on the project. For sponsorship and ticket sales, email s4sdarfur@gmail.com or call 972.333.9541.