Shock waves flooded the cafeteria this Tuesday when Rabbi Ney made the stunning announcement: Freshman win Color War 2018. This was only the second time in Hebrew Academy history that the 9th grade class seized the victory.
Despite winning every sporting event, the seniors came in second, losing by 25 points to the freshman. According to Rabbi Ney, freshmen clinched first place due to their closing ceremony efforts.
This year’s theme was based on Veronica Roth’s bestselling novel and movie series, Divergent. The student body was split into four factions mirroring those of Divergent; Abnegation (selflessness) for the freshmen, Amity (peace) for the sophomores, Candor (truth) for the juniors, and Dauntless (bravery) for the seniors. Fittingly, the teachers were placed into the fifth faction, Erudite (knowledge).
The seniors seemed destined for victory from the start, as they won the first event in the Monster Ball tournament. They proceeded to win every single sport in TY park on Monday and at the Hebrew Academy on Tuesday, including boys football, girls volleyball, co-ed kickball, boys basketball, and girls soccer. Even in activities that they did not take first place in, they did not place in fourth which would have made an effect on their points.
Nobody could have predicted the turn of events that was to occur. At the closing ceremony the ninth graders swept every single event: banner, video, song, and skit. Still, no one suspected that the freshmen class would win color war until Rabbi Ney announced the victors.
Freshman Team Captain Alina Sterenfeld was in shock, as many others were.
“Throughout the whole color war, we just had this mentality that the seniors were going to win, because it’s a known fact that seniors usually win color war,” said Sterenfeld. “When Rabbi Ney announced that Team Abnegation had won, it was just the best feeling ever. Like all of the hard work really paid off.”
While the freshmen were smug in their victory, the senior class faced dismay; they will graduate without a first place finish in Color War.
“After all the hard work that I put in, after all the hard work that [Student Council Vice President] Caleb put in, and that my team put in to win literally every single sport, it was just kind of a slap in the face to us to get second place, especially to the freshmen,” said Student Council President Tehila Moore (12th).
Meanwhile, freshmen are thrilled with their accomplishment.
“I think it’s really cool how the freshmen won and how they showed the school that even though no one really likes us, we are actually part of the school,” said Menachem Levy (9th).
By: Alexa Szafranski (9th Grade)
For complete coverage on Color War 2018, look out for the Warrior Word print edition coming soon.