June 9, 2004
by Eitan Freedenberg and Ian Solomon
Student Council co-Presidents

On Student Council
Dear students, faculty, and parents,

It has been an absolute pleasure to serve the JDS community this past year as your Student Council co-presidents.
We hope that we have served you well. Whether you were energized by one of the most successful dances in the history or encouraged and touched by the social action project we co-sponsored with the Middle School Knesset—Free the Slaves—it is our hope that there was something new and exciting for you to take part in this year in the school community.

This year, we discovered something quirky and interesting: oftentimes, school spirit can start in the bathroom! Your constructive and enjoyable responses to FlushNotes not only helped us to make the bathroom newsletter more fun to read, the positive encouragement we got from the entire student body in response to our new endeavor into communication helped us shape our mission for the entire year. Our goal was not only to make the school more aware of Student Council events and projects, but also to lighten your day and constantly present something fun to look forward to, such as the thrilling Spirit Days or the exhilarating dash to the finish in the March Madness contest. We hope that we have succeeded in that respect and that you can give us any positive or negative feedback you may have about this year’s Council that will help to shape the transition into a fresh new year.

In the end, it is the duty of everyone to continue to shape the Student Council. The Student Council relies on the participation of the entire school community in order to succeed and we should be incredibly proud of all the things we have done this year: dozens of successful student events, over $5,000 raised to build a classroom for freed slaves in Africa, thousands of dollars for several other worthy charities, a thriving new recycling program, and a wonderful Zimriah and Color War, to name just a few. We are lucky to have served such an involved and passionate student body.

Next year, your Student Council Co-Presidents will be David Distenfeld and Rachel Lieber. They, along with Vice Presidents Maytal Schmidt and Annie Ben-Ami and Secretaries Emma Price and Lindsay Wood, will be the leaders and the voice of the student body. As long as there is a desire for progress and active involvement, next year will be an exciting and successful year for everyone. We wish the new Student Council Good Luck in the year to come.

We’re sending this year off with a bang with the second annual barbeque/Battle of the Bands right after school on June 9! Admission is free, but bring money for delicious hot dogs, hamburgers and other refreshments. We would also like to wish everyone in the school community a happy, healthy and safe summer break! This is Big Papa and Big Mama signing off.