Skip to Main Content
  • The Boiling Point has reached its millionth online view! Thank you, readers!
Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

Sophie Katz

Sophie Katz, Editor-in-Chief and Outside News Editor

Sophie Katz, 11th grade, joined the Boiling Point staff as a staff writer her freshman year. She served as Outside News Editor sophomore year, and is now the Editor-in-Chief, only the fourth junior in Boiling Point history to hold the top post. She enjoys writing in-depth feature pieces and localizing national and international news. She has won awards from organizations including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the National Scholastic Press Association, the American Jewish Press Association and the New York Times Learning Network. Outside of Shalhevet, Sophie co-leads Teen Minyan at her shul and plays guitar. In her free time, she likes listening to music and hanging out with friends.

All content by Sophie Katz
SOLDIER: Alumnus Mitchell Hoenig ‘20 speaks to students and teachers about his experience on Oct. 7 in Israel, serving in IDF reserves afterwards, and about his two friends – one who died fighting on Oct. 7, and one who was killed in Gaza months later. To start off the assembly on the roof, students and teachers clad in blue and white watched a video of the destroyed homes and buildings on kibbutzim in southern Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks

With songs and stories, Shalhevet remembers Oct. 7 one year later

By Sophie Katz, Editor-in-Chief
October 11, 2024

A Magen David formed by electric candles on the ground illuminated the faces of Shalhevet students and faculty as they sat tightly...

VIEW: Smoke rises from the Line Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains, which — at press time — had spread over 23,714 acres and was only 5% contained. Running Springs, where Shabbaton campsite Moshava Alevy is located, is one of the communities currently under a mandatory evacuation order because of the life-threatening conditions in the area.

Freshman-Senior Shabbaton evacuated from Running Springs campsite on Shabbat as wildfire raged

By Sophie Katz and Sonya Katzin
September 10, 2024

Friday morning of the Freshman-Senior Shabbaton, faculty were unaware of the wildfire that was spreading towards Running Springs,...

CAMP: Demonstrators at the University of Michigan protest to demand the school cut all ties with the State of Israel in light of its war with Hamas. (Vivienne Schlussel '23)

Alumni and seniors navigate new campus reality as anti-Israel protests explode at universities

By Sophie Katz and Arieh Elad
June 3, 2024

After Oct. 7, the number of Shalhevet students asking whether they should remove parts of their college applications that disclosed...

WORKING: Mrs. Keene perched at her desk in the Boiling Point office. She keeps a photo of her father with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (at right) for inspiration, as well as mugs with slogans and various newspapers.

​​Mrs. Keene, who led Boiling Point and Choirhawks for 21 years, leaves to boost journalism in more Jewish schools

By Sophie Katz, Outside News Editor
June 1, 2024

After 21 years of leading the Boiling Point, directing the Choirhawks, and teaching classes, Mrs. Joelle Keene is leaving Shalhevet...

VIEW: The deadly inferno was well ablaze as the Jacobsons waited in traffic on the road back toward Lahaina. “We were lucky we had gone on that day trip, because we were never really close to the fires,” said Ms. Jacobson.

A day hike in East Maui saves Shalhevet parents from fatal blaze

By Sophie Katz, Outside News Editor
October 19, 2023

Though the power was out that day in Lahaina where they were vacationing, Heather and Joel Jacobson had planned a day trip traversing...

DIPLOMAT: Dr. Hillel Newman, Israel’s Consul General for the Pacific Southwest, said the consulate in Los Angeles does not participate in any political activities.

Consul General says massive protests over possible judicial changes do not mean Israel needs a Constitution

By Sophie Katz, Staff Writer
May 14, 2023

When most of Israel was shut down due to a civil strike on March 27, the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles did not close that...

PROTEST: Israelis filled the streets on March 27, the day of the civil strike, outside of the HaShalom Train Station in Tel Aviv. The demonstrations stopped after Prime Minister Netanyahu halted the process of implementing the proposed judicial reforms.

Political divisions in Israel trouble students and faculty

By Sophie Katz, Staff Writer
May 11, 2023

For weeks, the Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms and the protests that raged against them made headlines all...

INSIGHT: Life lessons and perspective on a career in politics were imparted to Mr. Lieb's Pharmacology class by former White House official Mr. Jeffrey Donfeld, above.

Drug policy chief from Nixon years has advice for today

By Sophie Katz, Staff Writer
April 26, 2023

The senior Pharmacology class learned from one of the people in charge of the United States’ drug policy at the time about efforts...

SONG: With a photo of Israel’s Jezreel Valley behind them, the Choirhawks sang "Shir Ha’Emek," a pioneer song about that valley, at the Museum of Tolerance.

Choirhawks share a song of history to mark 75th anniversary of UN partition vote

By Sophie Katz, Staff Writer
February 13, 2023

In a dimly lit auditorium scattered with people, the Shalhevet Choirhawks used music to paint a picture of Israel in the months...

PREPARED: Mr. Roque Wicker, president and CEO of C-T Watch Inc., right, demonstrating to senior Zach Rub and freshmen Sarah Goor and Lev Fishman how to use a tourniquet.

Emergency training seeks balance between ignorance and fear

By Sophie Katz, 9th Grade
November 15, 2022

A counter-terrorism, security and intelligence company trained students for two hours Sept. 21 in tools they might need in an...

CHARGERS: Shalhevet has three EV charging stations, above, in the faculty parking lot. A portion of the Inflation Reduction Act allocates funds to build more to motivate people to purchase electric cars.

Inflation Reduction Act a boost for electric car owners

By Sophie Katz, 9th Grade
October 26, 2022

Senior Maalon Bohbot is delighted with at least part of  the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Joe...

Load More Stories