INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL: Day 3

Arguably one of the most pulsating inter-house football matches took centre stage as the Flawless Maccabees took on the clinical Sinai in the decider for the Interhouse Football Crown. Prior to the game, Maccabees sat on 6 points from their 2 games while Sinai had 4 points from their 2 games. The equation was simple, if Sinai beats Maccabees, they would win the Upper School Interhouse Football Tournament for the 2nd time in succession. If they had tied or lost the game, Maccabees would claim their hands on the title they had not won since 2009.

So who would it be? The assiduous Maccabeasts, or the expeditious and dynamic Sinai unit?
The game became a mouth-watering affair as of the Starting 8 players that both teams fielded Maccabees fielded 6 players who represented Hillel in the JISA U-19 Private School Competition (Joshua Karram, Simon Preston, Brandon Heitman, Sage Marley-Spence, Charles Tufton, Zachary Jones), While Sinai fielded 7 players who represented Hillel in the same tournament (Christian Benjamin, Andrew-David Gunter, Jacob Adam, Adam Hylton, Jevon Warner, Bradley Chen-See, William-Chase Ashley), so it was bound to be a competitive affair. In the fixture last year, Sinai beat Maccabees 4-1 on their way to clinch the crown; Maccabees knew they have to put away the bad memories with an encouraging display.

The game started as Sinai made their intentions known from early to get on the scoresheet as the put together a spell of short quick passes together, however once they got into the Maccabees box, Sports Captain Joshua Karram cleared the danger with a thumping header. Maccabees played a quite unorthodox approach as they kept possession through long range and made it clear to give the ball to two of their danger men 5’11 inch striker Charles Tufton and 5’8 inch striker Sage Marley-Spence.

Maccabees almost put themselves in a dangerous situation as a mix up in play allowed Warner of Sinai to shoot with acres of space in front of him. He hit the post and Maccabees breathed a sigh of relief. A vivacious build up from Andrew-David Gunter allowed Sinai to step on the ascendancy as his acute passes put Maccabees central defenders Simon Preston and Joshua Karram under a little bit of pressure but due to their composure and their cohesion in the heart of the Maccabees defense, Maccabees cleared the danger and went in at half-time locked at 0-0. Maccabees knew they were 20 minutes away from the title, however they knew they could not afford to sit back and play deep as Sinai would exploit them.

The 2nd half started how the 1st half ended, with Sinai in domination of possession and could have gotten a break through as through a rough tackle from Simon Preston, Maccabees were down to 7 players for 2 minutes and Sinai had the opportunity to take the lead with a man advantage.  However a sturdy clearance off the line kept Maccabees in business.
Due to sneakiness from the Sinai unit, William-Chase Ashley had the opportunity to put Sinai up 1-0 but Brandon Heitman made a brilliant save to keep things equal. Sinai turned up the tenacity levels as Adam Hylton pulled the trigger from his trademark long range shots but the shot was blocked by Simon Preston.

With Maccabees in possession from that blocked shot, Sage Marley-Spence went on the counter and was fouled right outside the box. It was an opportunity for Maccabees to put some salt in the wounds of Sinai and they did. A venomous freekick from Sage put Maccabees up 1-0 and gave Maccabees one hand on the trophy as the final whistle was fast approaching.
Sinai was in a grim mood after the goal and they started to push as they knew they needed 2 goals in the remaining 3 minutes.  A lapse in concentration from the Maccabees defense gave Sinai the equalizing goal and the crowd got wild. Maccabees had their head down but they knew the final whistle was close.

The whistle blew and Maccabees became Champions of the Interhouse Upper School Tournament. This was Maccabees’ first title since 2009 and they relished the success.

Standings 2013

Maccabees – 7 points

Sinai – 5 points

Masada – 4 Points

Carmel – 0 points

Golden Boot – Top Scorer

Charles Tufton – 6 Goals

MVP of Tournament

Sage Marley Spence

Golden Glove – Least Goals Conceded

Brandon Heitmann

Simon Preston

INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL: Day 2

Junior Sinai continues to blow the competition away with a 4-1 over Maccabees. McMaster continues to impress with fine displays for his young team. He is certainly one for the future, we have high hopes for this young one.

Masada’s juniors are having a turbulent time in this competition losing, 3-1 to junior Carmel who has been outclassing their competition so far. This is an outrageously talented squad and surely they have not disappointed any of their supporters.

Masada lost 3-1 to an in-form Maccabees squad. A goal from Marley opened the scoring then an equalizer from Mairnaldo made it all square at the break. A cheap foul was awarded at the edge of the box which allowed Marley to get his second goal of the match and is now top scorer in the tournament. A late goal sealed it for Maccabees when an unaware Masada squad was caught flat footed after a quick restart in play. 

Much controversy surrounds this match as the Masada squad felt they were not awarded the sufficient amount of time after a lack of footballs delayed the match for several precious minutes. We were unaware that this time was not given back to us until the referee blew the final whistle soon after the ball was kicked off again and Maccabees scored their 3^rd goal.

Things keep on getting worse and worse for the struggling Senior Carmel squad as Sinai smashed home 6 goals passed them. All hope is lost for Carmel with a -15 goal difference and they still remain on 0 points. They face Masada tomorrow where they will only have to play for their pride as they have no hope of acquiring a medal awarded to the 1^st and 2^nd teams in the group. 

It will be tough for them tomorrow as Masada will be looking to win this match after suffering their defeat to the buzzing Maccabees that seems unstoppable at the moment.

Matthew Harrison

INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL: Day 1

A pulsating match between the junior Masada squad and the firing Sinai resulted in a 2-1 scoreline. Most of the match was even key at 1-1 until Sinai scored the winner 5 minutes before time to a shell shocked Masada squad who found it difficult to form any sort of a fight back. It was unlucky for the boys but a great result for Sinai. In the other match Carmel beat Maccabees 3-1 with goals superbly taken by the players. It was an easy match for Carmel who simply walked over their opponents.

In the Upper School however, Maccabees annihilated Carmel scoring 10 goals one of which was a classy finish by the boy they call Marley who added another 3 to his tally. The other scorer was Tufton who scored 5 goals. Carmel started the fight back late by grabbing a late consolation goal but it brought nothing to ease the pain of the players that were distraught by the abysmal scoreline. If Carmel has any hopes of at least competing in this competition they have to put this scoreline behind them and go out there with more fighting spirit.

In the next match of the day, roaring Masada came out firing from the start of the game, grabbing 2 goals in quick succession. Sinai had something to say about that! They quickly responded and took one back. The players continued to pepper the Masada goal as their weakness was evident with an inexperienced goalkeeper. They finally got the breakthrough just before the end of the half due to a fine piece of midfield play which led to the goal.

At the start of the second half Sinai came out flying by firing home 2 goals and it seemed all hope was lost for Masada. They tried endlessly taking shot after shot until finally, a bit of flare from Masada's midfielder, O’Brien made them get back in the game at 4-3, dribbling majestically through the field and rocketed it into the bottom corner of the net. Masada continued to press along searching for the equalizer and seconds before the end of the game a Sinai player was dispossessed and Masada pounced on the chance which would be the last kick of the game. It took a perfectly placed through ball which split the heart of the strong Sinai defense that gave way for the in-form striker Isaac ‘Mairnaldo’ Mair to score the equalizer right at the death and complete his hat-trick. The game ended 4-4, showing the resilience of the Masada team who were counted out before the game. Their fighting spirit was evident throughout the game it will be difficult to beat them.

After an incredible day of proceedings it was a brilliant game of football overall and we are all looking forward to what the next day will bring. This has been a glorious start for the boys’ inter-house competition. It was everything we expected and more. Let's hope the other days will be equally as exciting.

Matthew Harrison

It's that time of year again!

ELECTIONS!

Keep up with elections, speeches and campaigns on the Hillelian!

Look out for posts during this week about each of the candidates, videos of their speeches, and their campaigns! They need all the publicity they can get in trying to convince you all to vote one of them into this term of office as 2013 Student Council President!

Wow, look at those game faces!!!! The competition is on fellow Hillelians, you can just see it in their eyes.

I only have one thing to say to the candidates... What better way to 'up' your campaign efforts than to post it on The Hillelian to constantly remind the students why they should vote?

Alysia

Inter-House Round Up!

Last week we saw the girls in Maccabees rake in the points for Inter-House football! What will see this week with the boys? We all saw some of those teams fighting to earn points for their houses, but by the end Maccabees (or Maccabeasts - depending on how you wish to refer to them) ended up on top. Behind them were Masada then Sinai and Carmel!

For those of you who weren't able to watch the matches and cheer on your teams last week, here were the results by the end of 3 long, sweaty days of girls' football:

Day 1
Maccabees - Sinai: 2 - 0

Masada - Carmel: 1 - 0


Day 2
Sinai - Masada: 1 - 0

Maccabees - Carmel: 4 - 0

Day 3
Masada - Maccabees: 1 - 0

Sinai - Carmel: 1 - 0


Quite an interesting end, I think - it seems as though Maccabees may be living up to their name... After all, they were named after the notorious Maccabean forces which victoriously entered Jerusalem. Will they prevail in the battle for first place? Will the outcome be the same for the boys? Or will Sinai be a mountainous obstacle in their path. What about Carmel and Masada, how will they prevail?

Well, I'm not a psychic so I surely can't tell you. The only way to find out and help your teams do their best is by coming out to support! The boys' games start tomorrow, we need to hear some shouting and see some (friendly) rivalry! The Hillel sports season is on, let's make it bloody (not really)!

Brooke

P.S. Look out for photos!!

Look out!

We're kicking off our sports coverage this year with the Inter-house football matches, both girls and boys! The recap of the girls match is coming up right after this one! And look out for the next post on this - brought to you by fellow IB student, Matthew Harrison! Big up Kingston!

Also, please feel free to send in pictures and videos of the football matches as well as all upcoming Inter-house games! Sports day, 3K and Cheerleading are coming up and The Hillelian is going to be the centre of all team hype and rivalry this year!


Alysia

Grade 12.2's CAS Project!

I'm sure we'd all love to take a breather from our hard IB and High School lives to compete in an intense dance-off or Fifa tourney? Release your frustration from that math packet or stop tearing out your hair for a couple hours from that physics past paper that's been wracking your brain. 

Saturday February 2nd is your day! Sign up for the Fifa Tournament or Ultimate Dance-off brought to you by Grade 12.2! It's their CAS project so while you dance or twiddle your thumbs while playing Fifa 13, your money will be going towards helping the less fortunate, that's always a good thing right? Yes! 

So, you got it? 

PAC, SATURDAY FEB 2ND, BATTLE IN JUST DANCE AND FIFA! 

Be there. 

Alysia

Feel Free to Contact Us!

Brooke and I don't want to be the only people writing this blog! We want all Hillel students to read and enjoy whatever is posted, so feel free to contact us at anytime to tell us what you want to see on The Hillelian! If you see us at school, at lunch, in the supermarket - anywhere - give us feedback and suggestions, we'll love you for it.

Do you aspire to be a journalist, like writing short stories, poems, just love writing in general? Do you like photography, videography, video editing or the idea of photojournalism? Please contact us! We'd love you even more if you could help us make 'The Hillelian' the best it can be, and what better way than to have other Hillelians help us?  Subscribe, contact Brooke or myself or email us at thehillelian@gmail.com!

How do you subscribe?

Look for this box on the left hand side of the blog, in the side bar, right under 'The Editors' description:

Enter your email address and press subscribe! Simple as that! 

Back To School Feels

Okay, so Christmas break has ended and my letter to Hogwarts still hasn't arrived via Owlpost. It can't be too late for McGonagall to accept me as a first-year right? Until then, I'll have to return to the perfectly manicured Hillel campus. Bitter-sweet, no?

Let's be real everyone, we all think of the first day back to school after a fabulous Christmas break as quite the bummer. Waking up before the sun has even risen properly with a messed up sleep schedule doesn't brighten the idea of going back to school where we'll be about to receive piles upon piles of work and upcoming tests (if not now, it will happen sooner or later - be prepared). Still, we all have to admit there are so many things to look forward to at the start of a new term, especially at Hillel! It's the little things, really, that get us back into the school groove after a break: seeing our friends 5 days a week, the commencement of extracurriculars, fresh notebooks, the possibility of a new student or two, THE BOX-LUNCH IN THE CAFETERIA. Even though the prices may have increased, no one can deny Mrs. Lyn's hot lunches or even Rochelle and Pet's jokes. When you think about it, even the teachers are a long-lost delight -and don't forget our chances to start fresh with the new 2013 term. 

Thinking about it now, school hasn't done much to give us reason to look at it so lowly - we've only had to pull a few hairs out here and there, right? There are so many things we can do to ease the pressure and monotony we all see in school:

1. Organize

You know what I mean, your parents tell you everyday and so do your teachers. Organize everything!!! Keep an agenda, know what's due, what's upcoming and what's overdue (oops).

2. Revise

It sounds terrible, but you'll be way better off if you revise your notes over the weekend and breaks. A certain Chemistry teacher tells his class almost everyday to re-read our notes for the day - even for five minutes. You'll be surprised what you remember after that. Weekend reading really eases the pressure of upcoming tests, exams, classwork, and the like because you'd have already studied.

3. Freestyle Writing

If you ever see me walking around the school - to every and any class - you'll always see me with a book of poems in my hand. As of late it has been "The Feather Room" by Anis Mojgani - he's brilliant! Besides being really interested in poetry, I find that just reading a poem or two every other hour serves as a little pick-me-up throughout the day. Sometimes I find a really inspiring one and insist on reading it aloud in the common room (I promise I'll stop guys). The same might work for you; keeping inspiring quotes or even just writing anything you feel at that moment can be really relieving and ease whatever pressures - school-related or not.

4. Count

Count the successes of each day! If you got a bad grade on a test, remember the homework you also got a 100% on, or the friendly memories of lunch! It helps not to dwell on the not-so-awesome things.

5. What Works

For some people, it's working non-stop once they get home, others may need to take a 5-hour nap and work throughout the entire night.

6. Reach Out & Collaborate

Share notes with your friends, go to teachers for help, or even the older students! We don't bite, we promise (well some of us do, but only in jest)! Sharing notes, study guides and forming homework/study groups can do wonders for some people, because they're receiving extra support.

7. Release

Extra-curriculars... Besides being absolutely necessary for well-rounded development they de-stress! When a new term starts, I look forward to ballet like nothing else, because I have a reason to forget about the work I have to do when I get home, if only for a little while. I'm sure it can do the same for you, if you find your niche.

8. MAKE PLANS!!!

What better way is there to get through the week than making plans for the weekend! Being able to look towards the weekend can help you breeze through the schooldays. Just make sure you can leave time for revision and homework!

Don't look so anxious Harry:

.... Yes you do, so make it a good term

Brooke

Launching 'THE HILLELIAN'

What's a school without its own blog, right? Nowadays it could be fit to say that a school isn't really complete without its own website or blog. Of course, we have to be so thankful that our school, Hillel Academy, is not a part of those select few. It boasts a newly designed website, and online grading/schedule systems - how convenient! The world doesn't seem to be into hardcopies anymore, it's all about being soft. Hillel is definitely floating well with that tide, but what about the tide involving the student body? The students are undoubtedly one of the most important things that have made Hillel what it is today, so as part of the student body Brooke Harrison and Alysia Francis have decided to start a student-run blog, "The Hillelian".


Remember seeing these posters at various places around the school and on Facebook and Twitter?

Well there's no need for those anymore, because it's finally here! 

Having been students of Hillel for several years, Alysia and I have seen a massive change in the workings of the student-body today. The once close-knit, almost isolated little school has become a breeding ground for innumerous innovations and has opened so many doors for itself across Jamaica and the world. Our student-body is so involved in all areas; from the arts to the sciences to community service, Hillel has left its mark. That is why, as students, we want to honour the entire student-body (and teachers, parents and administration - without whom we could not be so impacting) for all their achievements. Through The Hillelian, we hope to inform and reflect on upcoming and past events involving Hillel, to keep our creative juices flowing. Somedays, we think that the sea is pretty calm over at 51 Upper Mark Way - when really there are great tides out at sea (that's an analogy for somedays school seems boring, when really a lot of things are/will be going on). Alysia and I want to keep everybody informed: students, teachers, random visitors, etc. We want everybody to know what's to come in the near and far future for the school. However, most importantly we want to give the students their own voice to project opinions/issues within the school and around the world. What better way to do such a thing than with a student-run blog!

With all of that said, we want you to support The Hillelian by subscribing via email, submitting ideas for Alysia and I, pictures, feedback, your own posts on school/current affairs - anything and everything! Don't forget to keep up to date with the school's new blog, because why wouldn't you want to hear about school events from the point of view of the students!