SPECIAL INTERESTS

AV Squad

The AV Squad handles all lighting and sound needs for school events, assemblies and shows. The squad doesn't meet weekly but rather on an "as needed" basis.

Business Investment Club

The Business Investment Club (BIC) gives students an opportunity to learn about the business and investment world. At weekly meetings, discussions take place about the current future investments of the club. Speakers, ranging from CEO's of large corporations to leading personalities from the investment and financial communities, come to talk with club members about investments, financial markets, and the business world at large.

Computer Activities Club

This club is designed to address all computer related disciplines: hardware, software, programming, web development, database design, networking and infrastructure. Students interested in any of the above should attend this club. The CAC will work on various projects simultaneously throughout the year which will touch on many of these issues. A number of the projects will have an impact on the ongoing developments within the school's own computer network.

Current Events Club

The Current Events Club provides a forum for students to discuss the important news events of the day and look at how news is presented, distorted and analyzed. This is a club for anyone interested in the world and journalism. The club also writes, edits and publishes The Ramaz Voice, a journal of opinion.

Dante Reading Club

The Dante Reading Club meets to read and discuss poetry of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). His Divine Comedy, a three book exploration of hell, purgatory, and paradise, profoundly changed the course of literature. The poem's description of a conflicted narrator encountering charming sinners and rough-edged saints from throughout history has inspired works as varied as Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, John Milton's Paradise Lost, T.S. Elliot's The Waste Land, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Come join Dantisti of Ramaz. Find out why Dante's poem lives in readers' minds and continues to elicit the admiration of scholars, artists, and poets more than 700 years after his birth.

Driver Education

Driver Education is offered twice a year, and is open to all students who have turned sixteen years of age by September 15 (for the fall term) or by February 2 (for the spring term). The course includes twenty-four one hour lecture classes held on a weekly basis, as well as a minimum of six hours of in-car training. Tuition for the course is $425 (fee can change annually); those interested in enrolling should bring a check payable to Ramaz and a completed application to the sixth floor office.

Film Club

The Film Club provides the opportunity to view movies and critically review them in an analytic manner. The club explores diverse themes and different aspects of foreign and domestic cinema. Movies studied in recent years include "The Lavender Hill Mob ", "LaStrada", "The Graduate", "Repulsion", and "The Third Man". The Film Club meets twice a month, one time to see the movie and the second to discuss it.

French Honors Society

The Societe Honoraire de Francaise is the national French Honor Society, which rewards scholastic achievement and promotes interest in and understanding of French culture. Students with a destinguished record and excellence in French will be invited to join the society. The student leaders of the Ramaz chapter will work with fellow members to create a program of activities including both on and off campus events. Society members will play a leading role in organizing the annual Cultural Festival.

Historical Simulations Club

The Historical Simulations Club seeks to better acquaint students with a host of different historical problems and approaches. Run very much on a "drop-in" basis, the club periodically learns new games selected by its leadership, based upon a criteria of relevance, playability and interest. In the past, the club has focused on board games such as Civilization, Axis and Allies, Shogun, Barbarians, Kingdoms and Empires, Diplomacy and Go. War games featuring hundreds of toy soldiers upon a terrained battlefield, replicating actions of the Ancient World, Renaissance, American Civil War and Napoleonics, are standard extra features when the calendar permits. Students merely have to show up to join.

Holocaust Oral History Club

The Holocaust Oral History Club records the oral testimony of survivors by videotaping their stories. Specifically targeted are survivors who are members of Ramaz families. Members visit museums, view art exhibits, and attend theatre performances that use different cultural media to explore the complex issues of the Holocaust. Students also dialogue with professionals whose expertise and insights help them further understand the Holocaust and then work to develop and facilitate the annual school-wide Yom ha-Shoah program.

Literary Club

The Literary Club is for students who enjoy reading and discussing literature in an informal environment. Each week a different work (often student-supplied) - story, poem, play, short novel - is read and investigated as a group. We talk about style, theme, structure, and plot, but we also try to look at the works from unique vantage points and to read the works in a creative manner.

Literary Club offers students the opportunity to share their favorite literature with others, to learn about writers they might have missed, to express their own ideas with impunity and to enjoy a stimulating hour of forthright, intelligent conversation.

Mishmar

Have you ever wanted to publish an article in a prestigious journal? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to learn Torah lishma? Have you ever wanted to eat pizza? If your answer is "yes" (or even "maybe") then this is the afternoon activity for you!

Mishmar presents the opportunity to learn Torah in an informal relaxed atmosphere, complete with pizza and some serious shmoozing. The club will hopefully provide opportunities for chavruta learning as well as chaburah style learning, which means that participants will be able to be both learners and teachers. No matter what your level of learning, there is a place for you at Mishmar.

Modern Mishmar

How does Judaism view what is going on in the world today?
What do these ancient holidays have to do with me?

To answer these questions the Modern Mishmar club meets eight times a year with a different Rav leading chavruta learning and giving a shiur on a timely, very relevant topic. Dinner is served and you always have an oportunity to learn with an older chavruta. The club meets on Thursdays, and combines with Mishmar that week.

National Spanish Honor Society

At meetings of the National Spanish Honor Society, only Spanish is spoken. Members' induction is dependent upon their performance in the advanced third year or Honors classes. Few are privileged enough to be chosen for the Society, but it is a great reward for those who excel in Spanish speaking and composition. It is the Moises ben Maimon chapter of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, a national honor society under the auspices of the National Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

Philosophy Club

The Philosophy club offeres students the opportunity to read major texts from the western intellectual tradition. Each year, the club is organized around a specific theme such as utopianism, political theory, or "confessions." Though excerpts are occasionally read, the goal of the club is to have students read and discuss texts in their entirety. The club will explore some of the great works of political philosophy of Plato, Hobbes, and Marx.

Ramaz Politics Club

The Politics Club (RPC) is the only structured forum in Ramaz for political discussion and debate. RPC encourages all those interested in politics to attend its lively discussions. This year the club will also focus on the topic of Jews, Judaism and Civic Responsibilities. We will be exploring a relationship with the Washington Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, one which may include visiting the Institute's headquarters in Washington D.C. and taking part in their seminars on Jewish Politics.

The Sewing Club

Students in this co-ed club meet and learn the basic techniques of sewing by hand and machine. Throughout the year, participants will experiment with patterns and different designs to create anything they like. However, the basic focus of the club will be that of chesed. Students sew dolls, pillows, quilts, and the like for children in hospitals, the elderly in nursing homes, as well as children personally affected by terrorism in Israel. In addition, when the membership grows, students can sell their products in Ramaz in order to raise money for different charities.

Video Club

Video Club members get hands on experience in digital filmmaking. They also learn about all the elements of filmmaking, and how they interact and depend on one another. Students with drive and ambition for filmmaking have the opportunity to develop their skills, and express themselves by mastering this art form. Students learn to use hi-tech digital filmmaking tools, about the elements of a production, as well as explore their artistic expression.

"Y" Club

Why is negia such a big deal? Where does it come from?
Why is there such an emphasis placed on clothing in Judaism?
What does it mean to believe in God?
What will happen after death? What will happen after the end of the world?
What is my purpose in the world? What is tefilla all about? What is its purpose? How do you do it?

Have you ever asked any of these questions? On Mondays, the "Y" club will meet to discuss different perspectives on these life-altering questions along with sources - both modern and ancient.