Written by Shamai Perez

Over this past year, 9th graders were able to experience the full Valley Torah experience. Whether it was trips, tests, or making new friends, each student was able to enjoy it in their own respective way. It all started in August, where we met our teachers, befriended new students, and learnt different teaching styles. In September, we experienced the first of many trips, the annual freshmen pizza and bowling trip! We were all able to have a blast with both our friends and Rebbeim, as we slowly started to see what Valley Torah was all about. In addition, we also had our very first Oneg, at our beloved Rabbi Strik’s house, which showed us what a strong community Valley Torah was. In October, we had the High holidays. Not only did we enjoy the break, in our Shul and with our families, but we had two amazing events that month, being the Pre-Yom Kippur event, and the famous Sukkot party at Rabbi Mejeski’s house, which were both truly a blast for all of the 9th graders. In addition to the High holidays, we were introduced to the first annual Alive program, a program where if you filtered your phone, you would get monthly trips, lunches, and the big Florida trip! November was an amazing experience for all Freshmen, as we experienced the first ever volleyball tournament, even though we did get last place. We also started the Maariv program, where if you went to ten Maariv’s you would get a free lunch. December, was a relaxed month, as we all prepared for our midterms and enjoyed Chanukah with our family. In January, we experienced our very first midterms. We learnt different study methods, styles of tests and so much more during January. Once midterms ended, we were officially halfway through as we went on winter break. During this semester, we learnt what it means to be part of the Valley Torah community, as we made new friendships, had tons of events, and went on memorable trips.