COMPETITIONS AND TEAMS

Chess Club

The Chess Club is one of Ramaz's finest cocurricular activities. Everyone is invited to attend and play chess during these meetings. The team competes in the interscholastic tournaments of the Yeshivah Chess League.

Chidon ha-Tanakh

Chidon ha-Tanakh, the National Bible Contest, is a great club for those who love Tanakh and want to learn li-shmah and gain extensive beki'ut in Tanakh. The contest consists of two stages, the Regional stage and the National stage, occurring in February and May respectively. For the Regional stage, members need to know the text thoroughly only as far as the peshat. To pass this stage, one needs a score of 85 out of 100 on a written multiple-choice exam. The Regional exam is not too difficult. The National exam requires more precise knowledge of the same material. First and second place National exam winners go on to compete in the International Bible Contest held in Jerusalem on the following Yom ha-Atzma'ut. Ramaz has had close to a dozen winners in recent years. The atmosphere at the meetings is relaxed; nevertheless, a great deal is learned. All are welcome.

College Bowl

The College Bowl team is one of our school's most successful cocurricular clubs. Small in size, almost by definition, the club emphasizes a wide expertise and a mastery of random trivia. The team generally prepares for competitions by working on reaction discipline and exploring team members' strengths and weaknesses to determine primary levels of responsibility in given fields. Questions are provided by an impartial private service. While the team has no formal "meetings" outside of their annual competition schedule, it has always prided itself as a close-knit group which has developed an uncanny ability to discuss topics which invariably appear in the meets. Recently a single conversation made reference to Punic, runic, and The Magic Flute, all of which were the subject of later queries.

Debate Team

Members of the Debating Team, chosen after a tryout procedure held in September, learn many skills and have the opportunity to use these skills in both intra- and inter-school debates. Each member learns the format of a formal debate (i.e., first affirmative, second negative, etc.), the terminology thereof (i.e. resolved, status quo, etc.), and he/she also learns how a true debater prepares for a debate: research. During meetings, members discuss the issues of upcoming debates helping to devise a winning strategy. Trophies and awards are part of every debate tournament.

Federal Reserve Challenge

A group of five students competes in a nationwide competition sponsored by the Federal Reserve System. Teams learn about the goals and operations of the "Fed." They research contemporary economic data, which they use to formulate economic policy. The team policy recommendation is then defended before a panel of Reserve members. Tryouts are held in January.

Math Team

The Math Team competes in the New York Math League (NYML).

Six matches are held after school. All students in grades nine through twelve are welcome. The top five scores in each match are used to form a team score. After the match students receive solution sheets so that they can study further.

Two special lectures will be scheduled late in the spring semester on special topics in mathematics.

Mock Trial

The Mock Trial team New York State champions in 2002, consists of six lawyers, six witnesses, and several alternates. Each year the team participates in a statewide competition sponsored by the New York State Bar Association. Every participating school is given a set of stipulated facts and witness statements concerning a hypothetical case. Opposing schools represent different sides of the case before a "judge" in an actual courthouse. Lawyers must develop effective questions and learn the proper procedure for questioning witnesses. Witnesses must be able to act their parts well. Tryouts begin in late October. The Mock Trial Team has won the NYC Championship three times and has been a finalist or a semi-finalist an additional six times.

Model Congress

The goal of Model Congress is to improve those skills that are vital to informed political participation in a democracy: drafting legislation, negotiating, debating and public speaking. The ends will be pursued by simulating the United States Congress as closely as possible, within the limitations imposed by the time constraints under which it will be operating.

The team works during part of the year to prepare for a Yeshivah League Model Congress tournament. Members prepare bills that they would like to pass in Congress. They meet in committees and debate each bill. Bills are then passed to the floor of the Congress, debated and voted upon. Awards and recognition are won by the outstanding participants in the Model Congress tournament.

Model U.N.

The Model U.N. Team participates annually in the Yeshiva University Model U.N. together with many other schools from throughout the U.S. and Canada. The team focuses on merging skills in research, public speaking and persuasion within a large forum. Typically, each student embodies the views of a single country on a specific Committee such as the Security Council or World Health. In any given year, the team will represent approximately three countries. Points are awarded to individuals, national delegations, and entire school delegations. Students particularly relish the highly intellectual and competitive nature of the Model U.N. as well as the opportunity to meet people from throughout the yeshivah world. Tryouts for the fifteen member team are held in May.

Torah Bowl

2001-2002 was Ramaz's debut year at Torah Bowl, which offers our students a unique and exciting opportunity to broaden their knowledge of Tanakh. Team members study selective sections of Chumash and Nevi'im, along with Rashi's commentary and compete against the twenty or so yeshivot that currently take part in a competition patterned closely after the College Bowl league. Students who express an interest in joining this new cocurricular club will be invited to take a screening test early in the year, and will then form a boys' team and a girls' team to represent Ramaz at the three regular season meets and -- go teams! -- at the division and league championship meets as well.