Felicia Wong to Speak on Income Inequality at the LWVS Luncheon May 6
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The League of Women Voters of Scarsdale Annual Membership Meeting at the Scarsdale Golf Club on Friday May 6, 2016 at 11:45 am, featuring Felicia Wong, President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, who will speak about The Impact of Economic Inequality in the 2016 Election and Society.
Before joining the Roosevelt Foundation, Ms. Wong worked at the Democracy Alliance, where she led the development and assessment of the organization's strategic investment portfolio. Previously, Ms. Wong ran operations and product development at a venture-funded education services company. Her public service includes a White House Fellowship in the Office of the Attorney General and a political appointment in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy.
Ms. Wong holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Her doctoral dissertation on the role of race and framing in K-12 public education politics received the 2000 American Political Science Association award in Race, Ethnicity, and Politics.
Tickets are $ 40 if paid in advance and available online at lwvs.org, or by check payable to the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale in the amount of $40, mailed to Anne Lyons, 82 Greenacres Avenue, Scarsdale, NY 10583. Tickets may also be purchased at the door for $45.
In other news from the League:
On Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 10:00 am at the Village Hall 3rd Floor Meeting Room, The League of Women Voters of Scarsdale will hold its annual membership information session concerning the Village Budget. All LWVS members and the public are invited to learn more about the 2016-2017 Village budget with members of the Village Board and Administration. League members are invited to stay for the consensus meeting immediately following the general membership meeting. For more information contact Janice Starr at VillageBudget@lwvs.org.
Two Scarsdale Students Chosen to Attend Students Inside Albany Conference
Zoe Ewing and Chloe Suzman, both juniors at Scarsdale High School, have been selected by the Scarsdale League of Women Voters to participate in the annual Students Inside Albany conference this coming May.
Students Inside Albany is an intensive four-day conference run by the New York State League of Women Voters Education Foundation. The program is designed to immerse students in the process by which public policy is proposed, enacted and changed in New York State and educate them as to how they can influence and affect this process. The conference will take place this year May 22-25, and will bring approximately 60 students from across the State to Albany to get a first-hand education about their state government. The highlight for most students is the opportunity to shadow their state representatives for an afternoon, with many students getting the opportunity to attend a session on the Chamber floor.
Ewing and Suzman were selected from among a pool of outstanding applicants in a competitive process open to students attending Scarsdale High School or residing in Scarsdale. All expenses of the students to attend the conference will be paid by the State League Education Foundation and the Scarsdale League of Women Voters.
For more information on state and local League youth programs, see www.lwvs.org/youth.html.
Jewish Film Festival Begins March 30
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This year the Westchester Jewish Film Festival at the Jacob Burns Film Center features 34 films from Israel and around the world—both documentaries and narratives—along with a rich slate of guests. Included is a special look at the films of the hilarious, uncompromising, and brilliant director Elaine May, who will come to the center on March 31. And don't miss the sensational Presenting Princess Shaw, which kicks things off on Opening Night.
Here are just a few of the films that will be shown:
If you loved Showtime's Homeland—which was the US adaptation of the sensational Israeli TV series Hatufim (Prisoners of War) —get ready to binge-watch all 12 episodes of Israel's latest hit TV political thriller. Fauda, which means "Chaos" in Arabic, was co-created by The Times of Israel's Middle East analyst Avi Issacharoff, whose deep knowledge of the region and internal conflict brings undeniable street cred to the unfolding stories. This critically acclaimed series follows undercover Israeli agents—a team of mista'arvim, Israeli soldiers who dress like Arabs to carry out a military operation—searching for a Hamas terrorist in the West Bank. We'll show the complete season in three separate programs.
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy
"Imagine what it must be like to grow up as the child of a mass murderer." That's the first sentence spoken in David Evans' searing and provocative What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy. While researching the Nuremberg trials, eminent human rights lawyer Phillippe Sands came across Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter, the sons of two high-ranking Nazi officials who were indicted as war criminals for their roles in World War II. Sands was astonished to learn that the younger men held diametrically opposed views about their fathers. As the three take an emotional journey through Europe, this powerful film explores those feelings, the complicated connection between the two sons, and the story of Sands' own grandfather, who escaped from the town where the fathers carried out mass killings. This unique view of the father-son relationship ultimately comes to difficult and unexpected conclusions.
The Midnight Orchestra uses humor and compassion to smash stereotypes about Jewish/Muslim relationships. It's the bittersweet story of Michael (played by Moroccan rising star Avishay Benazra), who went abroad as a child amid racial tensions spurred by the Yom Kippur War. Years later he returns to Casablanca to see his estranged and ailing father, who had been a famous Jewish musician. Michael is eventually tasked with giving his father a proper burial, which entails finding and bringing together the remaining members of his father's once renowned orchestra, and coming to terms with his own surprising family history.
The Jewish Film Festival includes 34 films from Israel and around the world and runs from March 30 – April 20 at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville. Shows sell out quickly – buy your tickets here today.
Raiders Lacrosse Team Opens Season -Wrestlers Take League Championship
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The Scarsdale Boys Varsity Lacrosse team kicked off its spring tryouts on Monday March 7. It has been a shaky past couple of years for the Raiders. Past seasons have been filled with strings of losses along with big upsets and pockets of consistency, but this season the team aims to take home a title after years of heartbreak.
A large graduating class from last season has opened up spots for new team members hoping to make a big difference on the field. Among these new players are returner Junior William Cabrera. Cabrera who has come back from Canada's Hill Academy, where he spent a year developing his skills in a competitive sports driven atmosphere. Cabrera's dedication to the sport helped him to secure a Division 1 commitment from Yale. When talking about the upcoming season Cabrera said " It's really exciting to wear the Raiders jersey again and play with my friends, it's amazing to be able to compete against towns that I have rivaled for so long. Coach has started a couple preseason practices and has prepared a scrimmage schedule versus some highly rated teams like Iona Prep and Suffern, he has us focusing on playing fast and emphasizing stick skills in the offseason."
Offseason preparation has been essential to success in previous years, and the Raiders are looking to build on this success as the season begins in the spring. One of the team's captains for this year, Senior Andre Cutrim, offered insights about his experience in the past couple of seasons and his outlook on the upcoming season, "We had some pretty tough close losses last year that left a lasting impact on our returning players. This year we have a lot of new players coming onto the team and we are hoping that offseason preparation will pay off especially in our opening games."
It'll be a long season for the Raiders, facing steep competition from high caliber local teams like Fox Lane and Mamaroneck who have also gained reinforcements in the offseason, but the Raiders remain hopeful. Cutrim elaborated on this by saying, "This year we have a lot of good talent and have the potential to be a real threat to top teams in the section. We have some key returning players that know how to compete at a high level, and new additions to the team will only strengthen our talent pool".
Coach Brendan Curran is in his 3rd season as head coach , his second full season, assisted by James Synowiez in his second year as assistant coach, they both have high ambitions for the season and have been pushing the players to reach their potential. This season the coaches have taken a different approach by focusing on stick work and offensive/defensive principles to have an edge over the competition.
With an upcoming scrimmage against Suffern, and their league opener scheduled for March 29th against Brewster, the Raiders are hoping to translate their pre-season momentum into strong performances.
(Text and photos by Justin Barlow)
Scarsdale Wrestlers Take First League Championship Since 1999
Scarsdale Raider Wrestling Team had a banner 2015-16 season. Led by an extremely talented group of seniors, the team placed in the top three of every tournament and brought home 1st place at their own Scarsdale Invitational. The team finished with a 21-7 record. The Raiders brought home the League 1A Championship finishing 5-0 in the league. The last league championship Scarsdale won was in 1999. The team qualified 8 boys for Sections and had three boys place in the top 4. The season was capped off with 113Lbs Michael Dabramo receiving a wildcard for the State tournament where he placed fifth in the State. He finished with an amazing 46-6 record. His only losses came from Nationally ranked wrestlers.
The stats for the eight wrestlers that went to Sectionals are: 99lbs Johnny Keltz,25-14,113lbs Michael DaBramo 46-6,113lbs Jack Ortner 16-13, 132lbs Seth Schulman 25-14, 170lbs Raphael Rogoff 17-16, 182lbs Andrew Braun 31-8, 195 lbs Brendan Knaack 25-10, and at heavyweight 285 lbs Ethan Raff 32-9.
The three seniors who were named All Section were Brendan Knaack, Ethan Raff took and Michael Dabramo.
Scarsdale Named a 2015 Tree City USA
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For the 33rd consecutive year, Scarsdale has been named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of the Village's commitment to effective urban forest management.
The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the US Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.
Scarsdale achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program's four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget or at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
"Tree City USA communities see the impact an urban forest has in a community first hand," said Dan Lambe, President of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Additionally, recognition brings residents together and creates a sense of community pride, whether it's through volunteer engagement or public education."
When properly planted, trees provide multiple benefits including visual appeal, reduced home cooling costs, reduced pollution, increased wildlife and water management. For more information about the program, click here.
SHS Students Tour Spain During Winter Break
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Over the February winter break 20 students and two teachers traveled to Spain from February 6 - 19 as part of the Spanish exchange program at Scarsdale High School. This program is intended to expose students to Spanish culture and introduce the students from Spain to American culture. The first part of the exchange took place in October, when 20 students from Spain came to Scarsdale and stayed with host families.
Students on this trip were able to emerge themselves in the Spanish culture since for most of the duration of the trip they lived with Spanish families. Scarsdale students experienced typical days in the lives of the Spanish students and attended school with them.
Along with living with the various Spanish students, Scarsdale students as a group toured the center of Madrid, visited Toledo and took an overnight trip to Seville. The students also worked on their Spanish speaking skills since most of the parents of the exchange students did not speak English.
The students who went on the trip said that touring and tasting food in Spain was incredible but what they liked the most was the relationships they created with fellow Scarsdale students on the trip.
SHS junior, Abby Ducker says, " My favorite part of the trip was touring Spain with my friends. Normally when I travel it's with my family but it was an amazing experience to travel with people from school rather than my family because I met a lot of people from different grades who I wouldn't have otherwise known. By the end of the trip we had all made so many memories and we bonded a lot and I think that this was the best part of the whole trip".
Commenting on the trip, school psychologist and former Spanish teacher Ernie 
Collabolletta said, "This is our fourth year with the program and we now do it on a yearly basis, not every two years like before or what the French classes do. We exchange with a school in Madrid called Colegio Ramon y Cajal. Something new we did was to go to Sevilla for two days with the AVE (super fast train) and stayed in a hotel for a night, and toured the city for two days. The kids loved it because it was so different from Madrid. The highlight of the trip was the language experience and this year, unlike last year, when four students had to go to the hospital, no one got really sick. The trip was fabulous. Although the kids were different and have unique personalities, they each came away with the experience of wanting to return."
Overall students raved about the trip, noting that mentors Susan Lasalle and Ernie Collaboletta, who accompanied the students, did a great job at making the trip fun and keeping everyone safe.
