We are committed to creating a learning environment that challenges students to fulfill their highest potential, while supporting their efforts to develop their talents and gain new skills - both inside and outside the classroom.
RKYHS sponsors a wide array of extracurricular activities for students, ranging from Mock Trial and Debate, to Torah Bowl and Panim El Panim. These clubs and teams also provide students with opportunities to develop important new skills and assume a variety of leadership positions.
Aimatai
RKYHS students participate in a high school leadership conference that is sponsored by YeshivaUniversity. High school students throughout the country meet to explore issues of common concern. Students focus on how to be a Jewish leader. Current events and how they affect a teenager’s world are also part of the program.
American Red Cross Blood Drive
A student committee orchestrates our annual blood drive, in conjunction with the American Red Cross. Student leaders undergo a special training seminar, led by the American Red Cross, that prepares them for the blood drive. Student leaders also have the opportunity to participate in an annual conference with their peers from other high schools to learn how to successfully recruit blood donors and organize blood drives.
College Bowl
Students often think they know everything. The RKYHS College Bowl team asks them to prove it. During a series of meets and matches with other Yeshivot in the area, students answer a series of lightning-fast trivia questions and compete for trophies and bragging rights. The team’s varsity and junior varsity squad members pass rigorous exams to gain a spot on the team and then represent the school on the road to the championship. The team also competes in other trivia-related competitions such as the Rutgers Academic Challenge.
Debate
Debate is an activity that helps students learn to speak with confidence in public. Students learn to present logical arguments and argue persuasively against competitors. This is accomplished in a series of debates held both at RKYHS and other Yeshivot. The students gain more than debating skills and self-confidence; they mature and gain social skills as well. Several of our students have won awards at competitions including first-prize debating team (two debaters), first-prize individual debater, and overall team (school championship). As part of the competition, there is also an extemporaneous speaking contest in which students speak about a topic with little time for preparation. Here we have also excelled, taking home several awards.
Drama
Stage presence, body language, articulation, projection, and analysis of a piece of text for presentation are all part of what is explored in this club. Using creative dramatics and specific theatrical techniques, students study the fundamentals of acting. The actors have opportunities to demonstrate their talents at school functions.
Echoes Literary Magazine
RKYHS students are overflowing with creative expression and Echoes, the RKYHS literary journal, gives them a medium in which they can express their talents. Published once per semester, this handsome magazine highlights student work: poetry, fiction and prose writing, original artwork and photography. Students take pride in their work and are exposed to the work of others.
Habitat for Humanity
Our students have established a volunteer partnership with Habitat for Humanity to build simple, decent homes in one of Newark’s most economically distressed neighborhoods - the Central Ward. Students help in various capacities, ranging from building decks, to clearing building sites, to assisting in the initial phases of construction.
Israel Action Committee
Every morning after Shacharit, the student leaders of the Israel Action Committee update the student body on the latest news from our homeland. Additionally, the committee discusses Israeli politics, organizes events to promote Israel awareness, and develops fundraising ideas for different Zionist causes.
Mock Trial
Our school participates in the Vincent J. Apruzzese Mock Trial Competition sponsored in cooperation with The New Jersey Bar Association. Our team members learn the fine points of the legal system and of jury trials by working on cases. They split up into two teams, plaintiff and defense. Each team conducts a trial against another high school in EssexCounty. For five consecutive years, our teams have reached at least the quarter-final round, narrowly missing a championship. Trials are performed in the Essex County Courthouse and are done before real judges. Winners of the county championship compete in a regional competition against the winners of other county competitions, eventually vying for the New Jersey State Championship. There are five students on each team that must compete in a trial: two as attorneys, three as witnesses. In addition, other team members serve as jury members in trials involving other schools. This program teaches students respect and appreciation for law and legal practices and instills them with confidence for public speaking.
Model United Nations
Our team’s members compete against other Yeshivot in YeshivaUniversity’s Model UN Tournament in February. The team represents a specific nation in a variety of committees. Our performance in these committees is measured against other schools by YeshivaUniversity students, who act as judges and mediators. Awards are given for overall performance and professionalism, including a mastery of procedures such as making resolutions and motions. In the past, RKYHS has received several honorable mentions.
Panim El Panim
Through Panim El Panim, RKYHS students and other Yeshiva high school students are afforded the opportunity to participate in a four-day program in Washington, DC. The program’s agenda allows students to explore issues of community service and political activism. Political meetings, tours of the nation’s capital and community service projects are conducted.
Pre-Medical Honors Program
Students at RKYHS are given the unique opportunity to participate in the prestigious Pre-Medical Honors Program offered at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Lectures in lay language are offered by professors along with discussions conducted by faculty members, residents and medical students. Additionally, students participate in a wide range of activities including elective courses such as Basic Life Support, Medical Librarianship, and Cardiopulmonary Physiology. They also tour the pathology laboratories and the Trauma Unit of University Hospital. Students completing the program receive a diploma and, upon request, a letter for inclusion in their college portfolio.
Salute To Israel Parade Committee
The Salute To Israel Parade Committee is active in organizing various aspects of the Salute To Israel Parade in which our students are obligated to participate. Faculty members, parents and students work together in designing colorful T-shirts and constructing beautiful banners and props. Additionally, our student members choreograph special dance routines to enhance our award-winning presentations.
Student Council
The Student Council is a student-run organization that empowers its members to make decisions that impact student life at RKYHS. The Council consists of a President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary, as well as student representatives from each grade and track. The Student Council, during their weekly meetings, discuss issues concerning rules and regulations of the school, enhancing school ruach with special events and activities, as well as fundraising. Members of the Student Council have the valuable opportunity to develop important life skills in leadership, organization, creativity, and time management.
The Voice Student Newspaper
Staff members of the student newspaper, The Voice determine the editorial direction of the paper, the articles that are included in the newspaper and the paper’s layout. Any student may submit an article for publication to “The Voice.” Approximately four issues are published yearly.
Torah Bowl
The RKYHS Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Torah Bowl teams compete in the New York Metro Area Torah Bowl League. The bowl consists of questions on both Chumash and Navi with Rashi. Four scheduled meets a year lead up to the playoffs and then the championship. The captains prepare questions to drill the players in advance of the meets. Participants must study the material and be quick to answer questions.
Yearbook
The RKYHS Yearbook, Chadkoli, gives senior students a chance to learn all the ins and outs of publishing a book while allowing them to stroll down memory lane. Students relive the highlights of their four years at RKYHS and present a first-class work that serves as a permanent reminder of their friends, experiences and accomplishments during their time in school. Photographs, literature and personal recollections commemorate the growth process and help store the memories for future reflection.
Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms Stock Market Challenge
Students interested in pursuing a career in business participate in this exciting chug. Over the course of the year, participants learn the details of the business world, and more specifically, the art of stock selection, when to buy and when to sell. They compete annually in the Stock Market Challenge and the Stock Market Trivia competitions sponsored by Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business. In 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, RKYHS won first place by turning a mock stock portfolio of $100,000 into over $130,000, in the eight-week competition featuring 51 teams from regional Yeshiva High Schools. Additionally, in 2005-2006, RKYHS placed second in the trivia competition.
Athletics
The Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School athletic program is designed to help all students develop their full athletic potential while gaining a strong sense of sportsmanship, integrity, personal responsibility, compassion and derech eretz. RKYHS students are expected to display these qualities both on and off the field.
Students in grades 9-12 must be in good academic and disciplinary standing to be eligible for positions on our junior varsity and varsity teams. RKYHS fields teams for both boys and girls in soccer, volleyball, hockey, bowling and basketball; for boys only in wrestling and baseball; and for girls only in softball. Skill level and commitment weigh heavily during tryouts, and student athletes must earn the privilege of competing each year. Our highly experienced coaches emphasize the importance of leadership as well as physical prowess, and foster close, supportive relationships among team members.
