BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Emery's 2019 Junior Shabbaton

By Cassidy Rubenstein, The Emery/Weiner School, School Buzz Reporter | September 4, 2019

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The Green Team during Color Wars at Cam Cho-Yeh smiles for a picture during break time. (From left) Juniors Conrad Goerl, Maya Alatin, Taya Kol, Cassidy Rubenstein, Gyle Israel and Noy Sharony.

Every year, Emery begins school with a weekend trip they call a Shabbaton. Each grade goes to a different camp in Texas and spends Friday-Sunday bonding with their peers through fun and educational activities.

This year, as a junior, I had the amazing opportunity of going to Camp Cho-Yeh. We began our weekend with a Shabbat service led by the students which included singing, praying, and hearing about the lessons within the weekly Torah portion from our Rabbi. After, we ate dinner, had s’mores and then participated in an activity led by our grade student government leaders where we got to know each other a bit more. The next day, we began our mentor group wars (like a color war) which consisted of physical and mental races.

"I had so much fun competing against my friends and bonding with my teammates," junior Taya Kol said.

The competition ended at lunchtime, which is when we were given the rest of the afternoon to rest, swim, hike, and just hang out with each other. The most popular activity during this time was definitely the giant bubble in the pool where you climbed up and fought each other to be the last man standing on the top. Finally, the day ended with dinner and a movie where we all laid on the floor with pillows, blankets, and snacks. Then lights out where some quickly fell asleep while other stayed up laughing and chatting.

The next day, we headed home on the busses all feeling extremely tired, but also much more connected to our grade and excited for the year ahead of us.