After school this past Monday, the Hebrew Academy welcomed the new freshmen with a trip to Laser Quest for laser tag. The day’s events also included a time capsule to be opened upon the grade’s graduation, a pizza dinner, a Q-and-A session with seniors, and other bonding activities.
Activities Director Rabbi Ney organized the freshman event, a back to school tradition that he started two years ago to instill unity among the new high school students.
“It’s an event that we do every year to try to kind of break the ice for the freshmen, bond with each other, do something meaningful that gets them thinking about their future, and we go someplace off campus to have fun,” Ney said.
Many freshmen viewed the laser tag as the highlight of the trip.
“It was really fun because I got to spend time with my friends and play laser tag which I’ve never played before,” said Abraham Hirsch (9th grade).
The students all enjoyed the extra time to hang out with friends after a long summer.
“Laser tag was a lot of fun because after the summer, we got to connect with everybody that we haven’t seen for a long time and I got to hang out with my big sister, Tehila Moore,” Alina Sterenfeld (9th) said.
The attending seniors doled out much appreciated advice to the freshmen as part of the festivities.
“It was great, they really taught us about the classes,” Mendel Waks (9th) said. “They really taught us what to do in high school for the future.”
New student Tziyona Gheblikian (9th) enjoyed the opportunity to connect with her new classmates while having fun playing laser tag.
“Since I’m a new student, I got to bond with more of my classmates,” Gheblikian said. “When we got to ask the seniors questions we felt more comfortable. We learned more about the school and the teachers and how to deal with stuff.”
Ron Ben-Hayoun (12th), one of the seniors present at the event, was excited to welcome the ninth graders and bond with them.
“Yeah, it was actually really fun, I got to connect with the new freshmen, get to know them,” said Ben-Hayoun. “They asked us questions about high school and how could we do sports and do homework at the same time, and we actually helped them out and gave them tips about the high school.”
By: Jack Benveniste-Plitt (11th Grade)