Thanks to the blizzard, this past school week was short, but the Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central) made it count in every way. On Wednesday, February 25, YUHSG’s student-engineers braved the snow and ice to travel to the 8th annual city Hackathon, hosted by the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) at Industry City in Brooklyn.

This year’s event, themed “Innovating for Accessibility,” tasked participants with developing creative solutions for real-world environmental issues. The event hosted two “hack” options: an “innovation” hack requiring groups to design, code, manufacture, and pitch a product, and a remote aquatic challenge in which student-engineers developed a marine craft to compete in a water-based task. YUHSG’s Engineering I and II classes, led by Engineering faculty member Mr. Michael Spindel, have a long history of Hackathon success. 2026 was no exception: “It’s a great opportunity for the students to expand on the skills they’ve been learning in Engineering and apply them in a practical way,” said Mr. Spindel. “This year’s group has a lot of potential, and a lot of room for positive growth. Coming up with an idea and seeing it through to the finish line in five hours is a challenge, but the students rose to the occasion. They had fun and gained valuable experience.” This year’s CIJE cohort included sophomores Baila Bodlander, Orly Adler, Nili Bruckner, Michal Miller, Tali Schneider, and Jackie Marmer, with juniors Camryn Brunner, Annabelle Klein, Aden Muskat, and Emily Segall. And if one event wasn’t enough for a Central Wildcat: as our friends competed at CIJE, the building was abuzz with our annual Giving Day Campaign, as well as an amazing “Through the Seasons” carnival with Yachad Ivdu and a fierce Mock Trial competition to end the day.

On Thursday, February 26, YUHSG students committed themselves to a special chesed event: a bat mitzvah for Rayna, a new friend to the Central community. Wildcats celebrated Rayna in high style, with a buffet, music, dancing, and dessert, all accompanied by a professional DJ, photo booth, and decor wall. Rayna’s bat mitzvah was coordinated by YUHSG’s F.I.R.E. Ruach Fellows, which is advised by Director of Israel and Religious Guidance, Senior Grade Dean, and Judaic Studies faculty member, Mrs. Yael Axelrod. “YUHSG is so honored for the opportunity to make Rayna a beautiful bat mitzvah,” Mrs. Axelrod said. “She has gone through so much in her life, and we were so happy to give her a night that she will never forget. Thank you to the FIRE Ruach Fellows – seniors Atara Feldman, Orli Fish, Ellie Gross, Evie Haar, Leora Kurlander, and Noa Shuval – who learned Megillat Esther with Rayna and worked on so many aspects of the bat mitzvah, as well as sophomore Katie Pilarski, who put together the montage, and senior Rebecca Moskovitz and juniors Nili Aharon, Jamie Blass, and Shira Peskin, who served as our motivators. Thanks to sophomore Baila Bodlander, for making the balloon arches, and YUHSG alumna and madricha Emuna Posner (YUHSG ‘24) for spearheading the entire initiative. What an amazing team!”