Two Jewish boys tied for first place among the 55,000 high school students taking the annual New York State Regents scholarship tests and a Jewish girl led the girl entrants in the tests.
Norman J. Leavittz, 16, of the Bronx, a senior at the Bronx High School of Science, and Stephen R. Chinn, a senior at the Middletown, N. Y., high school, tied for first place with scores of 279 out of a possible 300. Naomi Fuchs, 15, of Brooklyn, a senior at Yeshiva University High School for Girls, scored 271.
The three Jewish scholastic stars are all only children, come from middle-class homes, read widely and take part in school sports and numerous extra-curricular activities. They differ in that the two boys are cool toward religion and the girl is dedicated to it. Miss Fuchs said she plans to visit Israel when her college work is completed and some day may settle there.
While the State Education Department did not identify the scholarship winners other than by name, an analysis of the lists indicated that New York County, with 460 names, had at least 215 Jewish names; Bronx County, with a total number of of 528 winners, listed 231 Jewish names; Kings County, with a total of 944 winners, included nearly 400 Jewish names, Similar proportions of Jewish names appeared in the lists of scholarship winners in Queens and Westchester.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
