Krupp And Cooper Beat The Buzzer To Head Into Tier-II Finals

Coverage of last night's game from Macslive.com...


Jason Kirshner and Mark Rocklin

Published on: 03/30/2009

March 29, 2009 (MacsLive Reporting Services, New York) – The second Tier II semifinal of Big Sunday featured two teams that live and die on their shooting. Tonight’s headline story would be the hot hand of Joel Bowman (17 points), the Cooper Macs 6”4 guard, who camped out at the three point arc, on his way to propelling the Cooper Macs past a good Maimonides M-Cats squad, 49-47.

The full throttle defense of both the (13) Cooper Yeshiva Macs and the(9) Maimonides M-Cats held each team scoreless for the first 4 minutes and 30 seconds of the game when Ari Packer would fly to the rim putting in the acrobatic lay-up sparking his team on a 7-0 run. The M-Cat defense and cheering section proved too much for the Macs to handle, until Joe Bowman would rally the Macs back into the game on his three point touch. But Ben Zack of Maimo was also feeling the rhythm knocking down three-pointers of his own, and at the end of one quarter it was M-Cats leading 13-8.

The start of the second quarter looked like a carbon copy of the start of the first as both teams picked up their intensity and wouldn’t allow the ball into the cylinder, until unsung hero from the first quarter, Bowman, would continue his touch draining the long ball. On their ensuing possession Cooper hit another three point field goal taking the lead 14-13. The Maimonides M-Cats did not panic, making a little run for themselves and going into the half leading 22-16...

Read the rest at Macslive.com

Tal Am in Action

While a bit belated, I couldn't help but post this clip from our 3rd grade Purim puppet show a few weeks ago. It displays so beautifully the strides we have taken in facilitating natural acquisition of Hebrew language through the implementation of the Tal Am program and the creation of Hebrew immersion environments for all Judaic studies in grades one through four.

Names, Not Numbers

Two hundred and sixty people from across the community came out last night to view Names, Not Numbers: A Movie in the Making. The documentary film told the story of the oral history project which our seniors embarked upon this year under the direction of Rabbi Gersten, in which they researched, interviewed, filmed, and edited the stories of 6 local Holocaust survivors and one concentration camp liberator.

The evening began with a dinner for the students and their families together with the interviewees and their families. It then proceeded with a formal program in which those who had come heard from Mr. Bob Mamlin, the Dachau liberator who participated in the program, followed by Mrs. Tova Rosenberg, the program's creator, who introduced the film. After the film, Rabbi Gersten called up each student who presented the final version of their work to the interviewee about whom it was made. Plaques of gratitude were also given to Mrs. Rosenberg and to Mr. Bert Bornblum, whose charitable foundation helped fund the project.

Our deepest thanks for a most memorable evening goes to the Memphis JCC, and its Director, Mr. Barrie Weiser; to Rabbi Gersten for months of hard work teaching our students and organizing the program's many logistics; and, most of all, to our fourteen phenomenal seniors who did exceptional work.

Copies of the video can be ordered through the school by emailing Mrs. Phylis Levine at plevine@mhafyos.org. For the pictures found in the slide show below, click here.

CyC Now a Blog

The Cooper Yeshiva Connection (CyC), the newsletter which Rabbi Spodek created earlier this year to keep parents and community members up to date with the latest events in our Boys High School, has now become a blog: http://cooperyeshiva.blogspot.com . On the site you can subscribe for email updates so that new posts are delivered directly to your inbox. I'll also keep a feed from the CyC site on the bottom right hand of this blog so that you can easily keep up to date.

Dean's Writing Contest

The winners of February's Dean's Writing Contest have just been announced. Winning for best General Studies piece for this month is Asher Finkelstein who accidentally "fell into his book," and landed up changing the course of American history. Best Judaic Studies piece for this month goes to Kindergartner Akiva Braverman who, through the use of inventive spelling, expressed his feelings for the holiday of Tu B'shvat. For a full list of nominees and to read the work of the finalists and winners, visit our Dean's Writing Award wikispace.

Great job to all and keep on writing!

Another Stunning Performance

Under the masterful direction of Dr. Jerry Kuttliroff, our Girls High School put on another stunning dramatic performance last week. This time it was George Bernard Shaw's classic play Pygmalion. The efforts which our girls put in to getting their lines memorized, their timing perfected, and their accents ever-so authentic, were nothing less than extraordinary - and it showed.

Below is a brief clip from the show. For more pictures click here. Enjoy!

From Pygmillion

City Champs!

In what was an amazing display of teamwork, discipline, and effort, our Junior High Macs fought through adversity last night to make MHA / FYOS history by becoming the first Jr. Macs team to become Memphis City Parks League basketball champions. The team came out on fire, working the ball to the open man, and draining shots from everywhere on the court. Their defense was stifling and even when their opponents closed the lead to only 1 point in the second half, they kept their focus and persevered.




Perhaps even more impressive still was the complement the league commissioner gave the team during the trophy presentation when she said that not only did they play "awesome" basketball, but that she has never seen a display of sportsmanship quite like that of our boys. It was a kiddush Hashem of the highest order and an accomplishment for which we should all be most proud.






Congratulations to Coach Carr and to all of the guys for a truly spectacular season!

For more pictures from the game click here.

Adar Is Here!

The spirit which engulfs our school with the onset of the month of Adar is electrifying and contagious. Every student from Pre-K3 to 12th grade, and every teacher from Judaic Studies to General Studies, gets into the celebratory mood as the holiday of Purim approaches. Here is a short compilation of but a few of the sights and sounds which have pervaded our hallways and classrooms over the past week...