Scottsdale student wins position on Fairness Committee in grade-level rep election

BP Photo by Rina Wolchansky

INVOLVED: Shalhevet Scottsdale freshman Hinda Gross will serve on the Fairness Committee this year. She attends most classes and activities via Zoom but visits the LA campus about once a month.

By Gabriella Gomperts, Senior Writer

Hinda Gross, a freshman at Nishmat Adin-Shalhevet Scottsdale, will be one of her grade’s two representatives to the Fairness Committee this year, integrating the partner campus more closely into the life of Shalhevet’s Los Angeles activities.

Elections for Just Community grade-level committee representatives were held last Friday, with results being shared on Schoology that afternoon by Fairness Co-chair Henry Fried. 

Hinda attends Los Angeles classes and activities via Zoom from Scottsdale, Ariz., but like the other six Scottsdale students has already visited and attended classes on campus. The group expects to be in-person here about once a month, with their next trip planned for the week of Nov. 1. 

“I am a freshman and it’s the first year of Shalhevet Scottsdale, so it’s weird and I know that,” said Hinda in a telephone interview Sunday. “But I also want to be involved, so that’s what prompted me to run.  I’m very excited to be a Fairness rep.” The Fairness Committee, which resolves disputes between students or between students and teachers, doesn’t hold regular meetings but gets together when someone has filed a case.

SPEECH: Avi Litvak campaigned for 11th-grade SAC rep on the junior class trip to Phoenix last Friday. The other three grades voted at school. (BP Photo by Benjamin Gamson)

Candidates made speeches for their grade during the Town Hall time slot on Friday morning. Freshmen and sophomores gave theirs at school while the juniors, on their class chesed trip to Arizona, made their speeches on the bus on the way to volunteer at the Ezras Cholim kosher food pantry.  A voting link was sent to a group chat with teachers and students on the way to a hike that day. 

All of the 12th-grade candidates ran uncontested, and therefore had a free period during the Town Hall time slot.

The only grade that had two contested races was the 10th grade. Ninth and 11th grades each had one. 

Hinda will represent the ninth grade to the Fairness Committee along with Goldie Bentsvi, and she’s looking forward to seeing what it’s like being an active leader of the Just Community while being away from Shalhevet itself.  Both girls ran unopposed.

Shalhevet Scottsdale students watch Town Hall each week via Zoom, Hinda said, and then discuss the meetings afterwards.

“The Just Community is a really good learning opportunity, I think, to learn from other people and their positions,” Hinda said.

“We’re there [at Shalhevet] because we’re big fans of Shalhevet and to help figure out what to do for the school, so I was really interested in being a part of the community and seeing if I could do something to be a bigger part of it.”

 


Here are the results, as posted on Schoology Friday afternoon and updated by Fairness Co-chair Henry Fried.

 

9th grade

Fairness: Goldie Bentsvi and Hinda Gross ran unopposed.

Agenda: Olivia Petlak and Ariel Shapiro ran unopposed.

SAC: Keren Tizabi and Emanuel Rosencranz defeated Liana Gold. 

 

10th grade

Fairness: Sami Brous-Light and Joshua Gamson ran unopposed. 

Agenda: Nettie Wolkind and Tali Liebenthal defeated Shamim Elyaszadeh and Caroline Kboudi.

SAC: Rachel Shamouni and Chaim Cohen defeated Leeyah Klyman and Kyla Zackary.

 

11th grade

Fairness: Elliot Serure and Eliana Kerendian defeated Sean Silver and Mia Sims. 

Agenda: Jack Metzger and Eli Weiss ran unopposed.

SAC: Avi Litvak and Oz Shalom ran unopposed. 

 

12th grade, all unopposed

Fairness: Benny Blacher and Isabella Sztuden

Agenda: Anya Mendelson and Adina Kurzban

SAC: Talia Namvar and Ella Toczek