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Fourth period felt… off.
No teachers. Whispering in the halls. Everyone was holding their breath because they knew something was coming but wouldn’t dare say it out loud. Suddenly, horns started honking in the parking lot. The building froze for half a second until it erupted. Everyone was running, jumping, and dancing because the time had finally come.
It was Color War!
But nothing compares to the moment that the captains (including yours truly) ran out of the gym in full color war swag. Running out as senior captain didn’t feel real. I’ve watched breakout for years, but this time I wasn’t watching breakout—I was sprinting into it. The music was blasting, everyone was jumping, and all I could think was: don’t drop the very important clip board that Mrs. Hochner gave you two minutes ago.
For anyone who doesn’t know, those clipboards are the survival guides for the entire color war. They’re not just for looking cool—every single paper in that huge stack is 100% necessary.
Every second of this color war was completely filled with fun, competition, and achdus. Even though there are over 500 students in our school, there were activities for everyone: Soccer, football, basketball, and more for our athletes; the spelling bee, bracha bee, and escape room for the academically-inclined students; and banner and music for those with artistic talent. No matter your strength, there was an activity for you to participate in.
This idea connects to this week’s parsha Tetzaveh. It describes in detail the garments worn by the Kohanim. Among them is the Choshen, the breastplate worn by the Kohen Gadol that contained 12 different stones, each engraved with a shevet’s name. Each tribe was unique. Shevet Levi served in the Beit HaMikdash, Shevet Yehuda ruled the kingdom of Israel, and other tribes were merchants, warriors, and scholars. They did not have the same qualities, yet each name was engraved in a stone that was placed together on one breastplate and worn over one heart. This teaches that unity does not come from uniformity. Bnei Yisroel was not strongest when everyone was identical, but when each tribe embraced its unique qualities.
That is exactly what color war looked like at KYHS. Every student is different. Every student brings a different skill set and type of energy. Some lead cheers. Some score goals. Some solve intense puzzles. A team does not succeed because everyone plays the same role, but it succeeds because everyone plays their own role.
And of course, nothing captures the intensity of teamwork quite like Mrs. Merzoeff’s infamous Musical Chairs Scavenger Hunt, where students run across the entire campus searching for objects in order to sit back in their seats. If they grab the wrong item or have no seat left to sit in, they are “DISQUALIFIED!”
One of the most intense parts of color war was the boys’ and girls’ Amazing Races. For those of you who don’t know, this isn’t just a race. Every single kid is assigned an obstacle or challenge, (one of the most difficult parts of being senior captain was assigning these roles) and the baton moves through the 19 steps—only nineteen! So that means if one person hesitates or falters, the whole team feels it.
Orange senior captain (and famous co-editor in chief of Highlites), Esti Distenfeld (‘26), shared, “the most unforgettable part of color war was the energy rush of cheering for my team during the Amazing Race.” A major highlite of my color war experience was getting my entire face painted as a part of the race (mostly because it took me almost a quarter of a bottle of facewash to get the blue off my face).
Thank you to all the captains who helped made this year's color war incredible:
Blue Team:
Golan Aghion ('26)
Mikaela Gottheil ('26)
Adam Shavit ('27)
Liel Levy ('27)
Liad Cohen ('28)
Abby Haller ('28)
Buzz Goldberg ('29)
Ava Bienenfeld ('29)
Orange Team:
David Flajsing ('26)
Esti Distenfeld ('26)
Shalom Vidal ('27)
Sarah Leff ('27)
Aaron Corcos ('28)
Orlee Shemesh ('28)
Gabe Harris ('29)
Emunah Rosen ('29
Thank you so much to Mrs. Hochner and all the staff for putting in so much effort to make the most amazing color war possible. It was completely awesome and totally unforgettable!
Go Blue!
Good Shabbos,
Mikaela Gottheil ('26)
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