Moving-up ceremonies commemorated the accomplishments of students at area yeshivas, including Silverstein Hebrew Academy (SHA) and North Shore Hebrew Academy (NSHA) Middle School and High School.
SHA celebrated 20 years at its commencement ceremony for its Class of 2019 middle school students. The eighth graders will be advancing to top high schools next fall, including Hebrew Academy of Nassau County High School (HANC), Ramaz High School, Yeshiva University High School for Girls, Ezra Academy and North High.
SHA also celebrated the completion of the academic year with its annual Stepping Up ceremony for its fourth-grade students, who will start middle school in the fall. The ceremony included performances from the students, presentations about cities and well-known touristic areas in Israel, research projects and exhibits. Before the presentations, students shared a personal quote that they believe will help them as they make the transition from elementary to middle school.
NSHA Middle School graduated an esteemed group of eighth-grade students, including Valedictorian Justin Mirharoon and Salutatorian Chloe Ganjian, who were presented with awards by Sharon Goldwyn from the NSHA class of 1966. Goldwyn’s parents, Belle and Solomon Goldwyn, helped found the school in 1954. The class speakers were Brielle Kalter and Daniel Kalimi, whose speeches were named for NSHA founders George and Shirley Weinstein and founding Principal Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Wolf.
An emotional highlight of the graduation ceremony was the dedication of the class yearbook to Matthew Abramson, a congregant and ambassador for the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 members were shot and killed in October 2018.
Abramson told the graduates and guests, “Although you may never have been to Tree of Life, you are all now part of our community.”
The students remarked about the victims, “Their memories continue to inspire us to be more thoughtful, more sensitive and kinder to others.”
