It feels like it was just yesterday that the SGO sat down to start planning Color War. We left that fist meeting with so many brilliant ideas on how to revolutionize the event. From changing the colors, marathon during school, scavenger hunt, a game show, and much more. We were determined to make Color War 2015 one for the books. In the upcoming months we came up with our themes, chose generals, created a schedule, and made all of the necessary preparations. The overarching message and theme was, "When times are tough, what motivates you to stand up?" After all, we live in a world where people are afraid to seem Jewish, to look Jewish and to be Jewish. Instead of hiding your identity and remaining silent, the SGO 2015 wanted to inspire the students at Yeshivah of Flatbush to stand tall for what they believe in; to not only be proud Jews in private, but to show the world who we are and what we are made of. The themes were Orange Confidence, Green Knowledge, Red Heritage and Purple Persistence. Through acquiring each of these character traits, a person can find a way to stand up and to stand tall.
Green Team Banner
Red Team Banner
We began on March 6 with breakout! After an amazing teacher Shushan Purim production, the Color War Generals and SGO unexpectedly broke into the final pose of the teachers' Synchronized Swimming Dance. The song uptown funk came on with the lyrics saying, "Flatbush Color War, Flatbush Color War." This was followed by the team intro videos and the very first team time. Here, our Generals introduced themselves and encouraged students to get involved, participate in the events, and help out in any way possible. Saturday night were the team meetings where hundreds of students and many faculty members went to the homes of the Generals and Lt. Generals and as they worked on videos, dances, art-work and more. I personally got home at 4:30 AM but some of the meetings continued on even later.
Purple Team Banner
Orange Team Banner
Sunday Morning Learning came next with phenomenal Dvrei Torah presentations on the themes provided by our very own students and teachers. The day was filled with preparations as the teams decorated hundreds of square feet of hallways, learned dances, played sports and had a blast. We even had to push students out of the building at 11PM. Monday morning flew by as well. We started the day with musical chairs during breakfast. Just a few periods later Team Dvar Torah/Mascot videos were presented to the school, relaying messages about the themes through creativity and acting. Later in the day, we put on a game show for each grade too. From our trivia questions on Teacher Social Media, Around Ave J and others, to our Minute to Win It challenges, the students were occupied in a fun and competitive atmosphere. That night was followed by our Scavenger Hunt around school and Ave J, where each team wrote questions for the other teams.
Finally, we started Tuesday with musical chairs and more Team Dvar Torah/Mascot videos. We made our way into Fun games and Marathon, both during school around the building. These periods were filled with excitement, competition, chaos (in a good way) and tons of running. The entire school then made their way into the auditorium for the final presentations. These included team cheers, skits, commercials, dances, banners, and much more. I can proudly say this was one of the greatest Color Wars Flatbush has ever seen. Saying goodbye was very tough but the fact that we were able to inspire so many students made it just a little bit easier. Orange Confidence came in first place, followed by Green Knowledge, Red Heritage and Purple Persistence. But to us, all the teams won given their outstanding work and dedication.
Color War 2015 Black team and SGO 2015
A special thanks to all those involved for making Color War 2015 all that it was. From the students, to the teachers, Rabbi Levy, Mrs. Marcus, the administration and more, we could not have done this alone and we are proud you stepped up, became leaders, and took the messages to heart. We hope you loved it and truly learned something meaningful from this experience! We saw true leadership abilities in each and every one of you and we were so proud to see the Flatbush family so united and happy together standing tall for what we believe in!
~SGO 2015~
Victor Zeitoune, Robyn Dweck, Junie Maleh, Sophia Chabot, Michael Zalta
Mrs. Sarah Marcus, Faculty Advisor
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