Go Green With Jeans for Spring!
Elana G./The Academy Voice

    Fri. Mar. 5 is the first Holchim Yarok Go Green Day of the spring season.  Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy students and teachers are invited to wear jeans and a green shirt, preferably the Go Green shirt from last year, if they make a one dollar donation to Holchim Yarok.  
    Holchim Yarok also encourages everyone to bring paper, magazines, and newspapers to recycle.

Students Enjoy Purim Carnival
Maggie H./The Academy Voice

    Chag Purim Sameach! Since Purim this year was on a Sun., the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy held Purim celebrations on Fri. Feb. 26. The Upper School Student Council hosted the annual Purim carnival in the Social Hall.
    The theme of this year’s Purim carnival was “Welcome to the Jungle”. Students were encouraged to dress according to theme; however, it was not required. The carnival featured many classic games, such as a bottle
ring toss, a soda can knock-down and a haunted house. The carnival also had a huge inflatable obstacle course and a moon bounce.
    Every lower school grade spent forty five minutes at the carnival. Students purchased “shekels” (tickets) ahead of time that they were able to use to play games, buy drinks, candy and popcorn or enter the raffle.
    “This year’s Purim Carnival was really fun!” said fourth grader Amanda S. “I like the Purim carnival because you can just hang out with your friends and eat as much food as you want. This year’s haunted house was the scariest ever, it was great!”.
    High school students manned the booths and games and awarded prize tickets to the winning students.
    “The Purim carnival was great this year. I always love the carnival because it is fun for both lower and upper school kids. The lower schoolers win prizes and the upper school students get to play with the kids and see how happy they are”, said junior Davida R.
    Instead of participating in the carnival, the middle school students visited Village Shalom and sang Purim songs and gave Mishloach Manot, one of the mitzvot of giving food, to the residents.
    “It was nice going to Village Shalom and giving Mishlaoch Manot to the residents. I could tell we brightened their day,” said sixth grader Lainie K.
    Afterwards the Middle School students got to go roller skating at Skate City. School dismissed for all students at noon.

There and Back Again-A Failed Attempt to Attend Model UN
David H./The Academy Voice

    In the early morning hours of Sun. Feb 21, I awoke and started the drive to the airport with my dad, my sister, and fellow teammate Turner S. The two of us were meeting up with the rest of the delegation from Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, representing the Republic of Singapore, on our way to Yeshiva University National Model United Nations conference (YUNMUN) in Stamford, CT, an event that brings together Jewish students from across the country in the spirit of debate and exchange of ideas.
    It had rained constantly the previous night and as we approached the airport, we noticed that the rain was starting to freeze and the site of an army of snow plows on the runway at the airport was not an encouraging site.
    Initially, things in Kansas City went fairly smoothly. We met up with most of our group, faculty advisor James Wilcox, and freshmen Nathan M., Sam A. and Zac P., got our tickets and even pushed off from the gate on time. The trouble started when we were left sitting on the tarmac for nearly half an hour while our plane defrosted. When we landed in Chicago, trying to make a connection to New York, the trouble continued as we found out our gate was occupied and we had to wait ten minutes for a gate to clear. If our gate had not been occupied, we would have made our connection in Chicago and the story would be very different.
    When a gate was finally able to clear, we found out that United Airlines did not hold our plane and had given our seats away. After we had met up with the final member of our delegation, Ethan K., and began the long process of waiting on the standby list trying to make any flight into the New York area. The remainder of the day was spent waiting at the airport and trying to get on a variety of flights to the New York area.
    Although Wilcox tried valiantly to get us on a flight, all attempts were unsuccessful. Eventually, after a long and exhaustive day of travel, we decided to return to Kansas City.
    We were all upset about failing to make it to the conference. Turner, Ethan and I were even more upset since, as seniors, this was our final opportunity to participate in the conference. It was also a disappointment for Zac, Sam and Nathan because this was their first opportunity to attend the conference and although they will most likely be able to attend next year, the experience at YUNMUN is a unique environment of intense debate that cannot be replicated. It was a long day that made us all feel upset and tired.

HBHA Competes in JETS Competiton
Max F./The Academy Voice

    Students from the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy traveled to DeVry University on Thurs. Feb.18 to compete in the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) competition. In addition to HBHA, members from Blue Valley North and Joplin High School also competed. Each year the competition has a specific theme, this year the theme was water issues around the world.
    The JETS team from HBHA consisted of seven students, senior captain Ben W, senior Ethan K., junior Justin R., sophomore Jacob M., and freshmen Alex, D. and Avery P.
    When the students arrived at DeVry, they had to answer eight packets filled with multiple choice questions. After several hours the team took a lunch break. Their lunch was provided by the Hen House Kosher Market. After lunch the students went back to work, each completing a lengthy water oriented physics problem.
    “The questions were really difficult,” Jacob said “but it was a fun and memorable experience.”
    Although HBHA did not come away the winner of the competitions each student enjoyed the experience, and the day spent away from school.
    “This was harder than most school days, but it was fun and I learned a lot” Ethan said.
    Vickie Sisco, the HBHA LAUNCH Coordinator, is in charge of the JETS team. She said, “The competition helps students better understand what engineers do and the students learned how to apply physics to real world problems” said Sisco.
    Jacob now wants to learn more about engineering. “I’m getting to the point where I’m starting to look at different colleges and what they offer. This experience has now made me more interested in engineering.”

Students Learn History and Dance from Culture House
Jeremy G./The Academy Voice

    On Fri. Feb. 12, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy fourth and fifth-graders had the opportunity to watch and work with performers from the Culture House. 
    The Culture House is an academy for dance, theatre and music located on 119th and Blackbob. The performers informed the kids about life during the Underground Railroad (early-mid 1800) by dancing to unique patters and music. 
    “It was remarkable how their intricate dance patters truly conveyed the story of the Underground Railroad,” said Jessica Kyanka, fourth and fifth-grade teacher. 
    This was the second visit to HBHA by Culture House performers within the school year, as they also taught a class during Winterims. Since 1996, the Culture House has strived to educate and train children and adults different artistic and creative dance routines.  Their dances are found to be interesting and enjoyable to watch. 
    Fourth-grader Amanda Sokol said, “I had a lot of fun and I thought it was interesting how
they danced with no words about the Underground Railroad.” 
    At the end of the performance, the students got to see an influential and heartfelt dance about Martin Luther King. 
    Fifth-grader Lauren Hassan said, “It was so realistic, I almost cried as it was like reciting Martin Luther King’s speech.”

Chag Chumash
David H./The Academy Voice

    As part of a longstanding tradition at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, the second-grade class received their Chumashim in a ceremony on Thurs. Feb 11 in front of their parents.
The play the second-graders performed in the ceremony, which was done entirely in Hebrew, had the students reading from relevant passages in the Torah about the seven days of creation, Shabbat, Shavuot and Simchat Torah.
    While the second graders took turns reading their assigned passages, the remaining members of the class acted out the scene on stage while occasionally adding songs that pertained to the passage.
After the play concluded, second grade teachers Sharon Sela and Marsha Cowan shared a few words with the audience about the progress the second graders had made over the past year. Afterwards, Head of School Howard Haas and Head of Jewish Studies Rabbi Avi Weinstein presented each student with a personalized copy of the chumash and held a talit in the form of a chupah for the students to stand underneath.
    Speaking afterwards, second grader Jonah G. said that receiving the chumash was his favorite part of the night because “…it was heavy and cool and had gold on it.” Josie S. also said that her favorite part was “…standing under the chupah singing shecheyanu.”
    Devra Lerner and Myrna Braverman, who taught and provided the music for the students, were still astounded by the second graders after more than twenty years of doing the Chag Chumash. “They were fabulous and they have worked really hard on those songs and they came out so beautifully,” said Lerner.
    “Sometimes it is hard, it is new and they struggle but they go on stage and do well, behave mature. It is not easy for second graders to go up on stage in front of all of these people”, said Braverman.
Sela and Cowan also had glowing praise for their students with Sela saying, “They were very sweet and I love their voices”, and Cowan saying, “They touched our hearts”.

HBHA Excels in Science Fair
Hannah A./The Academy Voice

    Grow! Grow! Grow! Every year the first- through fifth-grade students and the eighth-grade students at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy participate in the HBHA Science Fair by submitting a scientific experiment. The Science Fair is took place on Wed. Feb. 10 in the Lower School hallway.
    Students go through a long process to get their experiments done. The students first choose what their experiment is going to be. Then they create their hypothesis, data charts, and conduct their experiments. Once their experiment are complete, the students then start typing up all the information and putting together a poster to display in the hallway to be judged. The judges consist of teachers and administrators that differ from year to year.
    “First-grade is really good. I enjoyed doing the experiment. The experiment was to see the higher you drop the paint the bigger the splat and our hypothesis was right,” said first-grader, Brianna K. `
    The eighth- and fifth-graders design their own experiments to test out their hypothesis. The first through fourth-graders do their experiment as a class or in three or four groups in their grades.
    Each student or group makes a poster displaying pictures of their experiment, hypothesis, analysis, etc. and their graphs. Along with their poster, students make a notebook of everything that is on their poster such as the hypothesis, the experiment, the results and etc. By doing this, it gives the judges an easier read, instead of looking up and down while trying to judge all the students experiments.
    “It was fun and took a lot of work but it paid off in the end. It was a good learning experience. It was different from fifth grade because it was more individualized work, more complicated and more formal than doing the science fair in fifth grade,” said eighth-grader, Ricardo Z.

Out to Lunch
Hannah C./The Academy Voice

    In the 2009-2010 school year, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy seniors have the opprtunity to leave campus and go out to lunch, once a month.Principle, Gayle Gray said, " Allowing the students to go out to lunch provides a special privilege for students that are completing studies and
being a positive influence in our school.  When students are afforded privileges, they often are more committed to the school requirements.
    Senior Ethan K. said, "Being able to go out to lunch is awesome. I get to go out to lunch with friends and eat good food, what else could be better?"
    In the spring of their junior year, the current seniors had a meeting with HBHA Principal Gayle Gray, discussing their senior year. One of the outcomes of that meeting is the senior lunch out. The administration then decided that seniors could leave campus for lunch once a month, to wherever they choose with a signed permission slip from parents.
    Seniors Hillary G. and Hannah G. said, "It's nice to get to go out to lunch once a month. We usually go to different places and eat there or get carry out. This time we went to get sushi to bring back to school. It's also nice to have the freedom, even if it's only once a month."
    Senior David H. also loves senior lunch out. He said, “I usually get Indian food because I love it so much."
    The hope for the students in the coming years is to continue to allow the seniors to leave for lunch. Junior Hannah A. said, "I am really excited to be able to go out to lunch next year. I really hope they keep letting the seniors go out to lunch because it gives us a little more freedom, and allows us to go off campus for a little bit of the day."

Only Three Months to Go
Elana G./The Academy Voice

    Three months. At a first glance at the countdown on my computer I think: that is a long time! That is the amount of time until I graduate from the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. There is a lot to do in between now and then. It seems like these last three months are never going to end. Graduation gown measurements, speeches, senior farewells and wills, and more are left to fill these next three months. I, as every high school senior, have a bad case of senioritis.
    However, at a second glance at my countdown, I think about how weird it will be next year when I am away. I realize that I ONLY have three months left of school. As much as I want the semester to
finally be over, three months really isn’t that long. The other day, we took our senior picture for the upstairs hallway. I have admired those pictures and imagined myself taking my senior picture for years. The fact that this was MY senior picture was a little surreal. This made me feel that the end of the semester is approaching too quickly and maybe I need to slow down.
    I know that I am excited and ready for graduation. But, I now realize that I must treasure the time I have left as a student at HBHA and soak up the feeling of the HBHA family before I graduate May 17.

The End Is In Sight
David H./The Academy Voice

    I am done with applications, I am through with winter break, but the semester keeps rolling along. The first semester of my senior year is long over, but I am still stuck in the middle of my second, and last, semester.
    Getting accepted to college with an early decision has had its pluses and minuses. On the plus
side it has allowed me to relax a little bit without all the added stress from the college search and application process, however, the fact that I do not have to worry about colleges has caused this already brief semester to go by at a snail’s pace.
    The other day, however, I felt a sense of unity between my classmates and I as we stood for our senior portraits. At times this year, and particularly this semester, we have not been able to agree upon the color of an orange, but as we stood there smiling at the camera, I sensed that time is running out. Many of us are currently drafting our speeches for graduation and soon we will be measured for caps and gowns. Several of us are waiting to hear about their future education, while others have already made plans for college.
    My time here at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy is coming to a close. Although at times it may feel that it is just one day after another, that is what life is and even though my classmates and I will continue to clash this semester, I know "I will get by with a little help from my friends", and so will they.

National Honor Society Volunteer at Food Pantry
Elana G./The Academy Voice

    Wow, the sun is shining! Every time that the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy National Honor Society goes to the Village Church Food Pantry, the weather is always rainy. On their most recent visit, on Tues. Feb. 9, the sun was finally out.
    Each month, the NHS students travel with NHS coordinator, Director of Testing and Teacher Development, Laura Hewitt, and upper school Hebrew teacher, Danny Altshull, to the food pantry on Mission Road. The NHS students volunteer at the pantry by performing various services such as sorting cans and dry goods, hanging and organizing clothes, and unpacking large crates of food.
    During this visit, seniors Elana G. and Ilana H. filled shampoo bottles while junior Maggie H. and seniors Ben W., Hillary G. and David H. sorted through packages of fresh potatoes and onions.
    Although the smell of the food was occasionally unpleasant, Hillary G. said, "I smell like onions, but it was worth it, because I got to help lots of hungry people."
    Ilana H. added, "We made a mess with the shampoo but the idea of helping others was fulfilling".
    The NHS only has one more trip in March to the Village Church Food Pantry for the 2009-2010 school year due to Passover Break and the March of the Living in April.

Student Celebrate Tu B'shvat
Jonathan E./The Academy Voice

    "When I get cold, I sneeze and cough. When he gets cold, his leaves fall off..." The Tree Song was heard throughout the hallways of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in celebration of Tu B'shvat.
On Mon. Feb. 1, students of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy participated in a Tu B'Shvat program, sponsored by Holchim Yarok. The two hour event consisted of a Tu'Bshvat Sedar, games, activities, and an art project. The students were divided up into their school families for this program.
    The first part of the program was the Tu B'shvat sedar. Students learned about the seven species associated with Tu B'shvat and read stories as well.
    "My favorite part of the sedar was learning about the four cups," eighth-grader Natalie C. said, "It was cool to watch the expressions on the younger student’s faces when they saw that the color of the grape juice change."
    After the sedar, families went through booth rotations to learn about different aspects of Tu B'shvat and Holchim Yarok. The booths included "Tu B'shvat Jeopardy", "Recycling Relay Race" and "How a Tree Grows"
    "The Relay Race was surprisingly competative," junior Aaron Towle, leader of the relay race booth said "Students got really into it. It was a fun way to recycle."
    The students ended the program with an art project. Students used recycled magazine clippings to create a Kansas farm scene.
    "I used a picture of a dress a woman wore in an award show as the wheat fields," fifth-grader Leah S. exclaimed. "It was so cool cut everything out and watch as it all came together."
    The second annual Holchim Yarok Tu B'shvat program went very well according to head adviser Danny Altshull.  "The best part of the experience was seeing everyone having fun. I thought the program as a whole was very successful and I hope this can be a tradition that carries on for many years."

Bridges of Understanding
Hannah C. and Alex S./The Academy Voice

HBHA Students Compete in Math Counts
Josie T./The Academy Voice

Rams Fall on Senior Night
Jeremy G./The Academy Voice

    The adrenal was pumping, the seats were filled, and the Rams performed their best as they hosted the Christ Prep patriots on Senior Night, Tues. Feb. 23rd . It was a great game for all four quarters and at one point in the second-quarter the Rams had a commanding twelve point lead. Unfortunately,
the Patriots roared back with a 10-0 run to get the game within two. 
    “For most of the first two quarters they played with passion, but as the end of the half came, they began to get frustrated. It was a game of exchanging baskets the second-half, and the emotions and crowd what set at a very intense level,” said girls varsity coach Austin Benton. 
    The Rams were down by six with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and a three by senior Ben W. cut the lead in half with less than a minute to go. In the end, it was not enough for the Rams as they lost a heartbreaker 45-42.
“I was pumped and so was everyone else in the crowd. They couldn’t have played any harder,” said spectator Shira L. 
    The game was the last of the season for the Rams, ending a successful season.
    “It was a lot of fun and I couldn’t have asked for a better last game at the Academy. We fought our hardest and I am very proud of what the team accomplished this season,” said senior Joel M. 
    The Rams team only had two seniors, Ben W. and Joel M. Even though the Rams finished with only five wins, the team learned how to work together, and there is a very bright future ahead for next years team. 
    Assistant varsity coach Jose Romero said, “I am excited to watch them play next year, and I know they will have another successful year.”

Ram's JV Brings in the Honors
Max F./The Academy Voice

    We are the champions!
    The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy’s boys JV team advanced to the championship game of the annual KC North Presidents Day Junior Varsity tournament for the third consecutive year. This year though was the year that the boys would bring home the First Place trophy, and it was not the only award they received.
    The Rams JV team consists of players who play both JV and Varsity, junior, Justin R., sophomore, Jeremy G., sophomore, Jake R., sophomore, Max F., and  JV players, freshman Michael A., freshman, Sam A., freshman, Daniel G. and 7th grader Joel G. Their first game in the four team tournament in Parkville, MO was against KC North, a team that the Rams had beaten at the beginning of the month. The Rams came out strong and beat KC North easily to place the Rams in the championship game. Jake R. led the team with 16 points.
    After a break in between games, featuring a three point contest, a free throw contest and a chance to go get dinner, the Rams came back excited and ready to go.
    The Rams played Center Place Restoration School in the championship game, a team that upset the 1st seed KC East Lions. The Rams had spent their previous practices creating plays to beat the Lions, who had already beaten them twice during the season.
    The Rams didn’t know what to expect going into the game having never played CPRS before, but the Rams, once again, had a fast start. By halftime the Rams were up by nineteen points. CPRS would not give up though and with two minutes left in the game the Rams lead was cut to two points. After forcing turnovers and hitting free throws, the Rams were able to gain back control of the game. The Rams won 50-42 for their first championship in three seasons.
    After the game, it was time for the trophy presentation. Accepting the trophy along with head coach Jose Romero was Michael A. He hoisted the trophy in the air accepting applause from the crowd. Next came the sportsmanship award voted on by the games referees. For the second consecutive year the Rams were able to bring home the award.
    “The sportsmanship award is a great honor because not only was our team the best one here, we were also the most respectful, which speaks well of the school.” Romero said.
    Following the reception the sportsmanship award, the 6 man all tournament team was announced. Junior, Justin R. and Freshman Daniel G. were named to the team. “This feels great!” junior Justin R. exclaimed after receiving his metal. This was the third year that two Rams were named to the team.
    Last but not least the tournament MVP was awarded. And bringing home the metal was HBHA sophomore Jake R. who had received all tournament honors while he was in 8th grade. 
    “It’s a great honor,” Jake said, “but I’m more pleased with our team’s performance then my individual performance. It’s great to finally get first place after three years of coming in second.”
    The Rams JV team has been a bright spot for high school boy’s basketball. The team is 9-3 on the year whereas the Varsity boys fell to 5-22 after a loss Saturday night to Northeast’s JV’s team.

Rams Fall to Pumas, Again
Max F./The Academy Voice

    A balanced night for the Rams doesn’t lead to success.
    The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy boy’s varsity basketball team traveled to Cristo Rey on Feb. 9, to play the Pumas. The game was a rematch of the Nov. 24 game in which the Rams lost 49-38.
    Going into the game, spectator Mikayla D. expected a victory for the Rams. “They only lost by 9 last game, and the team has really grown since then. I think they have a great chance at winning.”
    The Rams started off strong right after the tip off with junior guard, Justin R. stealing the ball and giving the Rams a quick 2-0 lead. The lead would not last though and after a strong second quarter by the Pumas the Rams were trailing 27-12 going into the locker room at halftime.
    The boy’s assistant coach, Jose Romero, believed that a major halftime adjustment was needed. “We just needed to start rebounding and start being more aggressive” he said. The Rams responded well in the third quarter matching Cristo Rey’s quarter score of 15.
    The Rams couldn’t come back though and the game ended with a final score of 62-43.
    The three sophomores on the team, Jeremy G., Jake R., and Max F., all lead the team in scoring with 12 points a piece.
    “It was tough”, Jake R. said, “they had a height advantage but we still fought through it.”
    This game put the Rams at 5-20. The Rams will try to improve their record at their next few game of the season.

The Winning Streak is Over
Mikayla D./The Academy Voice

    “What is the best way to beat a team? To frustrate them!” said Athletic Director Austin Benton. That is exactly what happened to the Lady Rams on Tues. Feb. 9 against Cristo Rey Academy.
    The Lady Rams started the game in a 1-3-1 defense in an attempt to shut down the middle of the lane. They changed their defense three times throughout the whole game, trying to figure out how to stop Cristo Rey. 1-3-1, 2-1-2zone, and finally man-to-man defense, but the Lady Rams just could not stop Cristo Rey's offense.
    In the middle of the second quarter, the Cristo Ray Pumas found an effective defense, a box in one, on lead scorer Mikayla D. With Mikayla D. closely guarded, the team needed other members to score points. At halftime, the Lady Rams were down by 7, with the score 18-11.
    “The team had pretty low intensity and after halftime it seemed like our moral was even lower and we could not get it together,” said Junior, Maggie H.
    In the second-half, the Lady Rams struggled to get back into the game, but came up short, losing to Cristo Rey 36-25.
    Junior and manager for the games Mike I. said, "They were against a strong and prepared team who were larger, so rebounding were hard to get, but I was hopeful at the end that they would come back and win”.
    The 14 points scored by Mikayla D. and the 8 scored by Junior Shira L., were not enough to secure the win.
    Benton said “we could not find our rhythm and it was a small court, we were not letting our offense develop. We can’t win them all”.

Fouls Doom Rams
Jeremy G./The Academy Voice

    Foul Trouble hurts the Rams, in their loss to the Whitefield Lions 42-60 on Tues., Feb. 2nd. 
    “Our team got into foul trouble early, and we never really got into a rhythm,” sophomore Jake R. said.  Jake finished with thirteen points. Three players in the starting lineup fouled out for the Rams,
Justin R., Ben W., and Aaron T.
    At halftime, the Rams were tied 25-25 and eventually took the lead in the third quarter 33-31. The Rams went cold from the court from that point on, scoring, only nine more points the rest of the game. The Lions could not be stopped in the paint and the height of the Lions was the deciding factor, as the Rams were missing six-foot two inch sophomore Max F., due to illness.
    “The boys fought hard and they are progressing as a team. By the end of the season they will be much more improved than they were at the beginning of the season,” spectator Hannah C. said.
    Jeremy G. led the team with nineteen points and Aaron T. added six. Coach Romero said, “I am proud of the way they hustled and never gave up, now we know we need to be smarter on defense”. 
    The Rams next game is Thursday Feb. 4th VS. Whitfield. 

Two In a Row, A Winning Streak
Mikayla D./The Academy Voice

    Two Wins in a Row for the Lady Rams.
    On Thurs. Jan 28 the Lady Rams traveled to play Shawnee Mission Christian. The Lady Rams opened with a different starting lineup, with freshman Sarah H. and Rachel K., sophomores Hannah C. and Michele N., and junior Davida R. taking the court.
    “I was surprised and happy when I heard I would be starting. It was cool to take a new position and it was a great experience, it was fun to start” said Davida.
    The Lady Rams were only up by three points at the end of a tough first-half. Junior Mikayla D. came out with 18 points and junior Shira L. closely behind with 14 points was enough to pull out with a win.  The second-half came and they started to get their momentum back ending the game wining 48-29.
    Athletic Director Austin Benton said “it was a slow start but once they got motivated and focused, the team that I wanted to see and remember came out and it turned into a victory”.
    While watching the game, sophomore Jake R. said “they fought hard and the benchwarmers really added a lot to that game”.
    Sat. Jan. 30, the Lady Rams were a little short handed with only two players on the bench. The Lady Rams knew that they had to be careful of their fouls and to not get hurt while playing against East High School at home. With almost everyone on the team scoring, it helped for the Lady Rams win, 59-32.
    Athletic Director Austin Benton “this game was one of our better games played since being back from winter break, they showed how hard they can work and how much they want it”.
    “I really enjoyed the game and I was exited to see many people score. It was great to see us try new things and play other position. I hope we can continue to see as many people scoring that night, on the rest of our games” said junior Maggie H.
    With these two wins from the Lady Rams, their record is now 11 wins and 7 losses.

After Suffering Tough Loss, Rams Win Big
Jeremy G./The Acadmey Voice

    Intensity, hustle and defense helped the Rams to an exciting 66-39 victory on Thurs., Jan. 28 against the Shawnee Mission Christian Mustangs.
    The Rams began the game in a 2-1-2 press, leading to many forced turnovers, giving them a big lead early. 
    Max F. said, “ Everybody got to their spots and pressured the ball very quickly, which resulted in many turnovers and fast break points.”
    Max ended the game with 10 points and a very good rebounding performance. In front of out of town family, Jake R. scored a season and career high 20 points for the Rams. After the game he said, “ It felt good scoring 20 points, but I am just happy the team came through for a victory, we really needed it.” 
    Jeremy G. led the team with 24 points, and Aaron T. added 8 points.
    Head Coach Corie Henry spoke to the team after the game, “ Good win! Now lets use
this momentum to keep it up!”

    Everyone knew the Rams were trying there hardest when Ben W. went crashing into the concession stands going after a lose ball against the East Bears JV team on Sat., Jan. 30. Unfortunately, this would not be enough for the short-handed Rams as they fell short, losing 67-58.
    “With a short handed team of only 7 players, we played great, everybody was out of gas and we tried our hardest,” said senior Ben W.
    Jake R. topped his previous career high with 24 points. Jeremy G. also added 24 points. The intensity was there for the Rams in the first-half, as they only trailed by one at halftime, but the big minutes
slowed down the team, as they trailed by 14 with 3 minutes left in the game.
    Justin R. said, “ We were all exhausted and we did our best, hopefully we will have a fully healthy team next game.”
    A late comeback was not enough for the Rams, as they fell nine points shy. The loss puts the young Rams at 5-16 on the season.