Chanukah festivities and fun have been filling the building at RKYHS. For day one of Chanukah at RKYHS, students joined the schoolwide Yom Chesed. Throughout the day, the high school students visited a dozen different student-run chesed organizations and signed up to volunteer. From Kids Against Cancer and Senior Citizen Engagement to peer tutoring and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and more, RKYHS students signed up to get involved in many ways.

The first day of Chanukah began with a blacklight Chanukah chagiga. Students headed to the Zuckerman Family gymnasium and outfitted themselves with Chanukah face paint and blacklight tape that glowed in a myriad of colors in the blacklit gym. The cool vibe set the stage for lively singing and dancing during the spirited chagiga.

The second day of Chanukah, the entire school competed in a Family Feud game, working together to rack up points for their team. They also competed by grade in a Chanukah Mania challenge. Over the course of the day, students got tickets from teachers for answering questions correctly, participation, ruach, showing kindness and much more. Students deposited their tickets into a big bin, divided by their grade and boys vs. girls. At three points during the day, Student Activities Director Ms. CM Gerson picked one grade’s ticket from the bin to win the prize of that round. Prizes for each round included a hot cocoa and coffee bar, indulgent cinnabons and a sushi platter feast. Students enjoyed the spirit of competing with their fellow classmates.

To add to the festive atmosphere, each grade is competing in a hallway decorating contest. Working together as a grade, students adorned their lockers, ceilings and walls in their grade’s hallway with an abundance of Chanukah decorations. From a Candy Land theme, to being wrapped up in Chanukah wrapping paper, balloons and bows, the winner will be announced at the end of the week with the winning grade winning a prize.