NOVEMBER 18 • 2021 | 17

Jeopardy game, capture-the-
flag, camp crafts and drawing
murals representing each house
are just some of the activities
students participated in during
the week.
Each day was planned to
include a dress-up, an active
activity and a passive activi-
ty. Passive activities included
everything from guessing the
amount of candies in a jar to
finding hidden trophies around
the school.
Fundraising was also incor-
porated into the spirit week.
On Friends of the IDF Day,
students dressed up in camou-
flage and did a penny war to
raise money for Friends of the
IDF. A toiletry drive also took
place throughout the week. In
their Hebrew classes that week,
students also wrote letters to
IDF soldiers.
“We were touching on our
core values throughout,
” Taylor-
Abt said. “Everything we did
has this concept of our value
system within it, even spirit
week.
”
Sesi says she and other teach-
ers overheard students saying
they wouldn’t get this experi-
ence anywhere else, realizing
how cool that is.

“There was a real engage-
ment of, ‘Wow what a cool
thing we get to do here,’” Sesi
said. “I think sitting with a
teacher and making a craft
while someone else is playing
capture the flag, while some-
one else is creating a mural to
represent their house, it’s just
unique and special.”
At the end of the week, the
winning house, Galil, won cof-
fee and donuts for the whole
house. The hope is that next
year and beyond, House Spirit
Week and the house concept
as a whole will grow at FJA.
“Our hope is that as we
transition back to normalcy
post-COVID, that this is a
really great on-ramp to that
return,” Kantor said. “It’s an
opportunity for us to put in
place some fun and exciting
things for our students that
will help them build commu-
nities, learn about themselves
in different ways and try out
new things they may never
have tried. Students get to
stretch themselves in all dif-
ferent kinds of ways inside the
classroom, and this spirit week
was also a way for them to
stretch themselves outside of
the classroom.”

FJA STUDENTS
FJA freshman Caleb Starr and
senior Leah Phillips are both
in Galil house and won spirit
week. Both believe the houses
are a cool way to connect with
others in school.
“We really became a com-
munity and I got to know
a lot of the upperclassmen,
it was a really nice way to
meet new people,” Starr said.
“There was also some learn-
ing in it, and that was inter-
esting as well.”
Starr believes the points
incentive has been a fun
part of the house system but
thinks FJA students are doing
good deeds regardless and not
necessarily doing it just to win
something.
“I think it’s a good incen-
tive, but I also think people
are doing these things anyway,
though it’s nice they’re getting
recognized,” he said.
Starr was a Galil house
delegate for the freshman and
was able to help plan how it
went.
“I got to recommend things
and it was really interesting
and fun to hear what other
people thought,” Starr said.
“We’re definitely a small

school, and I think it’s import-
ant because of that we form a
really strong community, we
need to stick with each other,
and I think spirit week was a
good way to bring us together
and form that bond. It defi-
nitely sets us apart, not every
school has that.”
While Phillips is only going
to be able to take part in the
houses for one year at FJA,
she’s grateful she was able to
experience it at least once.
“I’m at least happy that, as
a senior, I was able to par-
ticipate, help set this up for
future grades and hopefully
inspire or keep this tradition
going as something people get
really hyped up about,” she
said.
Starr will be in Galil house
for the rest of his time at
FJA and is looking forward
to how the house system
evolves.
“I’ve talked about this with
some friends, we said we feel
like it’s our job to welcome
people who are going to come
after us and make them feel
welcome like the upperclass-
men welcomed us,” he said.
“It’s now our job to keep that
tradition alive.”

Eliyah Fradkin ’24,
AJ Goodman ’23,
Caleb Robbins ’23,
Jack Beavers ’25,
Gabriel Gordon’’23,
Daniel Stryk ’22
and Eli Gordon ’22