The seniors tossed their caps into the air as they said goodbye to their second home for the final time last weekend. The celebration started on Friday, Feb. 11 with Siyum at B’nai Israel Congregation, followed by graduation on Sunday, Feb. 13.

This year, one of the main highlights of Siyum was the faculty speaker, chemistry teacher Daniela Munteanu. Senior Adina Schwartz said that it was “very exciting” because “we have a really good connection with her.” The seniors are the first class to have Munteanu teach the entirety of their class in their sophomore year.

Siyum also had an award ceremony for students, with awards ranging from leadership to academics and arts. 

Dean of Students Roslyn Landy said that while graduation is exciting by itself, Siyum offers something else special and unique.

“It is very different from Graduation. It is significantly smaller which makes it more intimate and I love that about it.” Landy said. “Graduation has much more pomp and circumstance with caps and gowns, a processional and recessional and the conferring of awards. They are different but each is very meaningful.”

JDS held a three-hour delay for the entirety of the school, with classes starting at 11 a.m. The seniors got to go home for a relaxing Shabbat with their families. 

The celebration continued on Sunday when the seniors accepted their diplomas at graduation, which also centers around a concept unique to JDS. Every year the senior class does their own original cantata where they sum up each year of their JDS experience. Graduation and Siyum are set up so that every senior has a speaking part, and the cantata is where the majority of seniors get that opportunity.

“Our cantata is really funny and that takes up the majority of graduation,” Schwartz said. “So, I think it’s really sweet and heartfelt, but there are a lot of funny jokes and it’s more enjoyable.”

Graduation this year looked different than it has in the past, with a new alumni award for excellence in tikkun olam that was given out by Landy in honor of an alumnus who was killed last summer. 

“We have created an alumni award in memory of Anat Kimchi,” Landy explained. “She was a member of the class of 2008 who was killed in Chicago last summer.” 

Kimchi was in the process of getting a Ph.D. in criminal justice and was “very into writing about the ills of society,” Landy said. This year, the award was given to alumnus Xander Orenstein, who was the first non-binary judge in U.S. history. They were present to receive the award.

After the award ceremony, there were a few more speakers followed by the gift to the class being awarded. The gift for the Class of 2022 was a mini Olympic podium that every individual received along with their diplomas. 

When the sea of blue satin caps was thrown into the air, a sense of relief and emotional release filled the room. Graduation was especially meaningful for one of the grade advisors, math teacher Robert Shorr. 

“They deserve to feel accomplished when it’s their graduation, but at the same time, when you’ve been going to the same place for 13 years or six years, or even two years, that’s a big change,” Shorr said. “And I think that’s just something that they’re all grappling with, and that part definitely makes it emotional. I think they all realize that what happened to JDS isn’t really replicated anywhere else.”