THE AMERICAN-ISRAEL
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Head Of The Class
Continued from preceding page
Congratulates Its
1992 Israel Trade Award Recipients
IRWIN ELSON JOEL SHAPIRO DOUG SCHUBOT
Jules R. Schubot jewellers
j. & L. Industrial Supply Co.
And Extends
Its Appreciation To
JAMES J. BLANCHARD SHLOMO HAREL
Former Governor
State of Michigan
Head of the Israel
Economic Mission to
North America
Additional Thanks ,
For A job Well Done
MARK KAHN GEORGE HERRERA.
Dinner Co-Chairmen
And Their Planning Committee
Joe Stamell's C
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56
FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1992
E.
t, ,,,
47
851-3883
CD,
beginning 25 years ago.
Back then, the first
graduating class had one
black student.
"Not like S-L today, which
is about 38 percent black,"
Mr. Smyth said.
Mr. Smyth admits that he
knew little about diversity
and racial mix while grow-
ing up. He was raised in a
Roman Catholic neighbor-
hood in southwest Detroit.
"I went to a little parochial
school called Holy
Redeemer," he said. "My
background was very
narrow. Today, our students
have the opportunity to
learn about other cultures
and are exposed to different
experiences."
This year, Jewish students
produced I Never Saw A But-
terfly, a play about a small
girl who survived the Nazi
concentration camp,
Treblinka.
"We thought it was an im-
portant play to do," said
Joanne Brooks, 18, outgoing
president of the 1991-1992
S-L Thespian Troupe. "It got
some very emotional reac-
tions from students and
educated a lot of people
about the Holocaust. I've
always taken it for granted
that everybody knows about
what happened."
Joanne, her vice president,
Ilana Rosenbaum, 16, and a
few other Thespians, stop
into Mr. Smyth's office.
Several senior Thespians
have one act plays to per-
form and direct.
"Come on, we need you
guys," says one of the Thes-
pians to Neil and Jason, who
have starred in several
S-L productions. Most re-
cently, Neil performed the
role of female broker in the
Broadway musical Sweet
Charity. Jason played the
role of Daddy Warbucks in
the musical Annie, shaving
his head for the part.
"I think this is the
greatest school," says Ilana,
who came to S-L from Hillel
Day School. "There's some-
thing here for everybody. I
really found myself here."
Ilana, a junior, is a mem-
ber of the National Honor
Society. She remembers feel-
ing a little apprehensive
about coming to public
school.
"I spent nine years at
Hillel," Ilana said, "so I
knew S-L was going to be a
big transition. I remember it
being huge and overwhelm-
ing. But I was ready to meet
new people. I've learned so
much from the mix of people
here."
"I get really mad when I
hear people put down S-L in
favor of schools in West
C -7
Bloomfield or Farmington
Hills," Joanne said. "We can
go head to head with any
school."
Joanne, who attended a
private school in Ireland
before moving to Detroit,
will attend MSU next year.
These seniors agree that
the key to a rewarding high
school experience is a good
attitude.
"You won't make it
through school if you don't
have something exciting to
look forward to," Joanne(=,
said. "As a Thespian, I prac-
tically live here. I do every-
thing on the stage. I eat
here; I do homework here;
sometimes I sleep here."
As Thespian president,
Joanne has the honor of dec-,
orating her own brick on the
stage wall.
"It's tradition; it's our way
of leaving our mark," she
said.
This year, Alex, a seasoned
S-L debater, was coerced into
auditioning for The Night Of
"I get really mad
when I hear people
put down S-L in
favor of schools in
West Bloomfield or
Farmington Hills.
We can go head to
head with any
school."
Joanne Brooks
January 16, a play by Ayn
Rand. He wound up with the
lead.
Alex, Neil and Jason leave
S-L with advice for those'
who will follow them. They'd
like to see a lot more
students get involved.
"I think we did everything
a student could do at S-L,"
Jason said. They could be
right. They played sports,.
acted, debated, advocated.
As a reward, they were the
only three students at S-L
invited to last month's
25th anniversary party for
staff.
"Yeah, you know you're a
going to miss us," Alex says
to Mr. Smyth as the prin-
cipal tries to take back his
office.
Neil is playing with Mr.
Smyth's yellow, plastic lun-
ch box, which is shaped like,
a school bus.
"My wife gave that to me
three years ago," says Mr.
Smyth.
"Sir, can we have that bot-
tle of pop now?" Jason asks.
"Knock yourselves out,"
says Mr. Smyth. 0