The following e-mail was sent by General Studies Principal Mr. Roy Danovitch last Thursday, announcing that junior Rebecca Elspas had won the first-ever “Discourses” essay competition.  His original e-mail said Rebecca’s sister Sarah had won, but a correction was quickly publicized.

Mr. Danovitch has not yet made the essay available for reading. The Boiling Point will post a link to it as soon as it is.

Dear Shalhevet Students & Faculty,

I am pleased to announce the winner of Shalhevet’s first Discourse competition. All of the students who submitted essays wrote thoughtful and eloquent responses focusing on relationship between technology and humanity. Our panel of judges (including 2 alumni students, and three faculty members) read each response carefully. They were asked to choose which of the four qualifying submissions “offered the most interesting, eloquent, and thoughtful response to the question.”

The submission that received the most votes from our panel was from junior Rebecca Elspas. The judges praised the “reflective and formal tone of her essay,” along with the “coherent, descriptive, and organized” style of her writing. The panelists, however, also commended the Discourses of Eric Bazak (10) Rina Katzovitz (11), Benny Balasz (12). I’d also like to congratulate them as well.

Rebecca Elspas will be awarded a year long subscription to Wired Magazine, and a 50 dollar Amazon gift card toward any (e) book (s) of her choosing. We congratulate Sarah on her accomplishment! As there was no unanimous 2nd place winner, all the runners up will receive gift cards as well.

A second Discourse topic will be made available in the coming weeks, together with information about a formal debate on the first question: Does technology make people more of less human?

Rebecca’s essay will be available to read next week

Sincerely,

Roy Danovitch

General Studies Principal