This year’s theme at Ramaz is “Next Level.” Every year, the Ramaz administrative team chooses a new theme, which is used to motivate the students and faculty and project what Ramaz values. The “Next Level” theme was designed to take Ramaz to the next level, quite literally. 

  This year, after finally being back in school after the pandemic, the Ramaz administration wanted to retrieve the momentum they had before the pandemic started. Those running Ramaz were excited to return back to normal, and wanted to inspire, motivate, challenge and engage the community. The purpose of the theme is to take Ramaz to the next level: strengthening the community in every way possible.

One reason this theme was chosen was to give all members of the Ramaz community a greater connection to Judaism. The goal of this theme is to help motivate students and teachers alike to become more spiritual, to take their religiosity to the “next level.” One of Ramaz’s mission statements is to help strengthen students’ connection to Judaism and Israel, helping the student body become more engaged in the Jewish community and motivate them to strengthen their connection to the land of Israel.

To implement the ideas of the “Next Level” theme, the Ramaz administration is increasing the quality of the Judiac Studies and academic curriculum in general. Their objective is to connect our learnings with real world issues. In addition to all the academic changes Ramaz made, they have also taken extracurricular opportunities to the next level: they enhanced the Athletics, Technology, and Arts departments. Ramaz also created new chesed opportunities to get students more involved. 

Another reason this theme was chosen was to help the Ramaz community to relate to the world around them. When choosing the theme, the Ramaz administration wanted the students to acknowledge what’s happening in the world and learn about those events. One of their intentions with this theme is to create an environment where students are trained to have more empathy for their fellow classmates and the world.

“Next level” is a very creative theme,” said Yona Weinstock ’22. “It encompasses our values of advancement and achievement especially this year with all of the new additions to the school.” 

Overall, the theme of “Next Level” is simple: the administration wishes to bring the school to the next level of excellence, in every way possible. 

“One of the most amazing things about Ramaz is that we never ‘rest on our laurels;’ our students, faculty, and staff always strive to do better, even when there’s already an excellent product,” said Mr. Jonathan Cannon. “With an annual theme of Next Level, we are challenging ourselves to think creatively in all areas of the school – academically, social-emotionally, religiously, and programmatically, so that we can work together to advance our school and student life.”