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.

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.”

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