SAR junior Jamie Sinowitz won first place in the Jerusalem Science Contest 2022-23, an international competition for 11th and 12th grade Jewish high school students sponsored by Walder Science Labs in partnership with the LEV Academic Organization, Jerusalem College of Technology. The topic of this year’s competition was environmental sustainability and energy. As the first prize winner, Jamie receives a $1,000 cash prize and a four-year Jerusalem College of Technology Lev Academic Center tuition scholarship, as well as a trip to Israel.

Jamie’s laudable work was the result of a series of eight exams as well as a research project on environmental sustainability and its Judaic connection. “I did my final project about devices that remove CO2 from the atmosphere,” Sinowitz explains. “I like to call them artificial trees because they are human-made but function like natural trees. The main point of the project was that we don’t have to be passive in the fight against global warming by simply stopping CO2 emissions, but rather we can be active and remove CO2 that is already in the environment. The idea behind the Judaic connection was that it is OK, and even necessary, to intervene in Hashem’s world in order to better it.”

“We are so tremendously proud of Jamie for his amazing achievement and for his creative research project, which he presented at the annual JSC Culminating Celebration held at the Walder labs in Chicago on Wednesday, March 15,” said SAR High School Biology Teacher Tobie Brandriss. “When I announced the contest and Jamie indicated his interest, I told him, ‘Jamie go for it … you can definitely go all the way!’ And he did! He put in much time, effort and creative thought and he did wonderful work, winning the top prize in this competition in which over 80 students from North America, Australia and Israel participated.”

While he enjoyed participating in the contest, Sinowitz is excited about the prizes and thrilled to see his efforts come to fruition.