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by Deb Silverthorn
Yavneh Academy’s Ethan Prescott ’10 and Daniel Bonner ’08 attended the 2009 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas, guests of Yavneh’s Assistant Principal and government teacher Chad Baruch who is an appellate lawyer serving as Section Representative to the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors. The students and Baruch were joined by Yavneh’s Bulldog Print newspaper advisor Sandy Hall-Chiles.Speakers at the Meeting included Morris Dees; author, co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center, legal writing expert Bryan Garner, Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Antonin Scalia; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court since 1986.
“As a student at Yavneh I read many of the works of these people and to hear them in person was quite an exciting experience,” said Bonner, a former contributing and managing editor of the Bulldog Print, also served as President of Yavneh’s Students Against Terrorism. “The opportunity to meet them in person brings learning to a whole new level and having Coach Baruch invite me to join him is just one expression of how Yavneh keeps their alumni in mind. You’d be hard-pressed to find another school that keeps the connection, and the on-going concern for their students.” Just returned from a year of study in Israel at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, Bonner is headed to ColumbiaUniversity in New York as a political science major.
"It was certainly memorable for our students to meet and learn from two writers as knowledgeable as Justice Scalia and Bryan Garner, and I know they enjoyed Doris Kearns Goodwin's insights on President Lincoln,” said Baruch. “The highlight, both for them and for me as their teacher, was seeing them sit down and enjoy a quiet, personal conversation with Morris Dees, truly an American hero."
Dees, who spoke about the need for lawyers to step up and represent the less fortunate in society, granted an exclusive interview to Prescott, president of Yavneh’s Uniting Students of Dallas and Students Against Terrorism organizations, and member of the school’s Bulldog Print newspaper staff. On January 20, 2010, Uniting Students of Dallas will host its first annual Access-to-Justice Benefit Dinner, raising funds to benefit the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the leading provider of funds to secure legal aid for poor people in Texas. Speakers will include State Bar President Roland Johnson and TexasYoungLawyersPresidentCoriHarbour. Golden Globe nominated actor James Hampton will serve as Master of Ceremonies.
For information about Yavneh Academy of Dallas, or reservations to the Access-to-Justice dinner, call 214.295.3500 or email info@yavnehdallas.org.
