Maccabi Games Tryouts, Lacrosse Camp and Waterpark Trip
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This summer, the JCC Maccabi Games will take place in Houston, TX, Memphis, TN and Rockland County, NY. The JCC of Mid-Westchester will send a delegation of athletes to each set of games. A general information meeting will take place at 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 5th at the JCC, 999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale.Tryouts for Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer and Baseball will begin January 9th and end February 29th. All tryouts take place at the JCC of Mid-Westchester, 8:00-9:15 pm.. The schedule can be found here.
Athletes interested in Boys Hockey, Boys Lacrosse, Girls Lacrosse and Girls Softball should attend an information/sign up meeting on February 1 at 7:00pm at the JCC. Athletes and artists interested in Tennis, Swimming, Track, Golf, Table Tennis, Bowling, Dance, ArtsFest should attend an information/sign up meeting on February 8 at 7:00pm at the JCC.
The JCC Maccabi Games have been offering a life-and personality-shaping experience to Jewish teenagers since 1982. At this Olympic-style sporting event for Jewish teens 13-16 years old, each athlete has the chance to participate in one of several team or individual sports in events spanning the week-long experience, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The Games are the largest Jewish teen event in the world – each summer over 6,000 Jewish teens participate and over 100,000 teens have benefited from the JCC Maccabi Games since they were introduced. The JCC Maccabi Games however serve a larger purpose than athletic competition. The Games also promote community involvement, teamwork, and pride in being Jewish. Off the field, the teens participate in the Opening Ceremonies, evening social activities including amusement parks, zoos, host family night, parties and dances, all designed to encourage interaction among the athletes and artists who come from around the US and the world. A unique "Day of Caring and Sharing", independent from their competition, gives teens the chance to do a hands-on project that may serve those in need in the host community and/or teach the participants something about Jewish and/or Israeli culture.
For more information about the JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest, please contact Steven Weisbrot, Delegation Head, 914-472-3300, x362, weisbrots@jccmw.org, or visit www.jccmw.org.
The Recreation Department is currently accepting registrations for both Girls and Boys Travel Lacrosse programs for 3rd-6th Graders. The Lacrosse season will run from April until early June. Some prior lacrosse experience is recommended, but not required. Please register by the January 31st deadline. Registrations may be completed online here or in person at the Recreation Department located in Village Hall.
Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark Trip: The first Recreation Department Middle School Waterpark trip of the season will be to Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark on Sunday, January 29th for any interested 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th graders. Informational flyers are available on www.scarsdale.com under Parks and Recreation; Program Registration Forms or in the Village Hall at the Recreation Department. You may also register online here. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Recreation Department at 722-1160. Please register by Sunday, January 22nd. Registrations received after the deadline will be subject to a waiting list.
Recognizing Signs of Teen Dating Abuse
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Teen Dating Abuse Program on School District’s Website What would you do if you knew a teen was in an abusive relationship? A program entitled Teen Relationships and Dating Violence, on the Video on Demand feature of the Scarsdale School District’s website, offers excellent guidance for teens, parents and even bystanders.
This program, originally presented at the Scarsdale High School (SHS) PTA’s November 8, 2011 meeting, features an SHS Drama Club skit about healthy and unhealthy teen relationships, and a discussion by experts of teen relationship issues. Both high school and college students, who often witness control and abuse in relationships, can play a critical role in helping affected peers.
“Teens should talk with their friends about what they would do if they or a friend found him or her in an abusive relationship, whether as the abused person or the abuser,” says SHS Youth Outreach Worker Lauren Pomerantz, who with the Scarsdale Coalition on Family Violence helped develop the presentation.
Pomerantz urges parents, teens and all Scarsdale residents to watch the program, and to use it to begin a conversation with their children and neighbors or peers. “No one needs to suffer alone,” she adds. “Once we learn the warning signs, we can all step up on behalf of victims—as friends, peers or ourselves.”
Leading the Parade
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Sara Sherman, a senior at Scarsdale High School took part in the opening number for this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She was part of a group of students from Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp, that sang and danced an original song written for the event. Following the opening, the students made their way to the top of the parade route and marched the entire length of the parade, eventually escorting Santa Claus into Herald Square.
Early Decision: A Mother's Point of View
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Anyone out there with a high school senior knows that this is the week before early decisions are announced by the majority of schools that offer that choice to prospective students. What is early decision? It is the chance for a high school senior to apply early to their number one choice college and get a decision by December 15th. The catch is that it is a binding contract; if you are accepted early decision, you must attend that college, no second guesses, no second thoughts, no change of mind permitted. The admissions officer that my daughter and I saw when we visited Tufts University in Massachusetts summed up early decision in a very comical way: if you are ready to put your arms around me and say “I love you,” then you should apply early decision. If you don't feel that strongly, then don't apply early decision! My daughter and I left knowing that we were not ready to tell Tufts "I love you."
But besides the enticement of getting a decision by December 15th,there is another attraction to applying early decision to the college you love. Many schools take a greater percent of applicants from their early decision pool than later on from their regular decision pool in the winter. Early decision does give you a better shot at getting an acceptance. Some schools even announce their early decisions in late November. Last year, one mom was thrilled when her oldest child found out they she had been accepted into her top choice school the day after Thanksgiving allowing her to enjoy the rest of her senior year! Another mom that I spoke to had mixed thoughts on the early decision process. It worked out well for one child who was accepted early decision to an Ivy League school but not for her second child who felt awful after being rejected. It was hard to continue the rest of the college application process after facing one rejection. She would prefer that the college application system go back to the old days when there was no such thing as early decision, but it appears that the colleges like it and early decision will stay around.
Early decision applications have to be submitted by November 1st, so it's a good six weeks before you hear a response and the wait can kill you. I have tried to avoid the topic of college decisions around our house this past month. I have planned fun weekends in NYC and family gatherings in hopes of diffusing the pressure of simply waiting. This is probably the first big decision that my daughter has made that I cannot play any role in the outcome whatsoever and its killing me. Will College XYZ take her? Maybe, maybe not. It's completely their decision now. Sure, I made sure that she took a good SAT prep course and sure, I always encouraged her academically and sure, I allowed her to participate in countless clubs, sports and extracurricular activities always, but was it all enough to make it into XYZ?
Maybe I should have hired a college expert. Maybe I should have reviewed her essay (We agreed that I should not see it -- what do I know about college essays anyway? That was her guidance counselor's responsibility). Maybe I should have written a letter to the college telling them how amazing she is? Ok, I'm not serious on that one at all. But maybe I should have done something more. Next week, we will know and I will either bake a congratulations cake or bake a cheer up cake. I will be on standby to hug her and hold her tight no matter what the decision is, and the actual decision can take three forms: 1) welcome to our school, we love you and you are accepted 2) sorry you are a great person but we are not taking you or 3) we are simply not sure at this point whether we want you or not, so we are deferring you and will let you know in the spring! I think a "defer" may be harder to accept that an outright denial. Of course, anything but an acceptance is crushing to most kids. I think a rejection or a deferral could be a blessing in disguise, since then she'll apply regular decision to a number of other schools and have a choice (and I love having choices!) But I understand that rejection hurts and as a mother, I don't want to see any of my kids hurt.
One sad thing in all this is that whether she is happy or not next week, she will of course go to some good school next September and ultimately I am sure she will be happy wherever she winds up ... as for me, I will have to drop her off at college and drive away. Now that’s what is sad!
Caroline Tzelios is a "stay at home" mom of three kids who never stays at home. She has spent the past twelve years volunteering in the Edgemont Schools and recently completed her two year term as PTSA co-president of Edgemont High School and is the current co-chair of Edgemont's PISA Theater Committee.
SHS Grad Improves the Backpack
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When Lauren Bass attended school in Scarsdale (where she lived from the ages of 4- 17 ), she realized backpacks could be greatly improved upon. And now, years later, Bass has launched the business Gutzy Gear to do just that. Gutzy Gear, which Bass founded with her cousin Wendy Koolik, offers kids the opportunity to personalize their backpacks and messenger bags with patches (called Gutzies) that express their hobbies, interests, and passions.
“Children’s backpacks are the same today as when I was bringing a backpack to school in Scarsdale,” says Bass. So when she and her cousin Koolik found a sweater their grandma Betty had made featuring patches from all of the golf courses where she had played, it sparked an idea. They decided to create “flair”-like, removable, tradable patches that could be used to customize any bag and reflect the personality of the carrier.
Gutzy Gear has already seen great success—the Gutzies were featured on “The Today Show” and in Us 
Weekly. But it was in Scarsdale where Bass first honed her business sense. She was always inventing little businesses and flexing her creative muscles as a young girl. Then in college, at the University of Michigan, she started her first real company called the Privelege dining card.
Gutzy Gear is available at Child’s Play and Denny’s in Scarsdale and at Millers in Mamaroneck.
