2008 Woodie Awards
Teaching for Israel
Ira Ginsberg
Issue date: 12/27/04 Section: Features
Fusing two distinct educational programs into one, two Yeshiva students have recently developed a program geared toward addressing the dearth of Zionism pedagogy in day schools today. Spearheaded by Hindy Poupko, Stern College for Women '05, and Menachem Menchel, Yeshiva College '06, several YC and Stern students have formed a program appropriately titled, "The Teach for Israel Fellowship."
Around two years ago, upon returning from his second year of study in Israel, Menchel was serving as a substitute teacher in Queens' Yeshivat Har Torah elementary school. Spending a great deal of time with students, Menchel found that many kids were looking for a mentor. They wanted a person whom they could look up to without feeling threatened by authority. Based on this experience, Menchel came up with a plan to start a program that would send Yeshiva students to Jewish elementary and high schools on Friday afternoons. It was Menchel's hope that during their free time, Yeshiva students would serve as role models for some of the community's younger members.
A short time later, Poupko began to reintroduce a program that was very popular in Yeshiva in the 1980's called "Torah Leadership Training Seminars." Hoping to somehow combine the two programs, Menchel presented his idea for a mentorship program to Poupko. While little came of the meeting initially, several months later, Menchel would see his idea morphed into "The Teach for Israel Fellowship."
In a meeting between Poupko and President Richard M. Joel, some of the ideas in the mix for a new student initiated program were discussed. Over the course of the meeting, they discussed the idea of sending Yeshiva and Stern students to high schools on Friday afternoons. After looking at some of the other messages Yeshiva wanted to promote, they came up with Teach for Israel.
The program, run by both Poupko and Menchel, will take students from both the Yeshiva and Stern campuses, educate them in Israeli history and current events, and train them for interaction with younger students. Upon completing the training, the fellows will be divided into groups and will spend their Friday afternoons at various high schools in the New York area. Additionally, each group of fellows will spend a couple of weekends conducting Shabbatonim in schools all around the country.
Around two years ago, upon returning from his second year of study in Israel, Menchel was serving as a substitute teacher in Queens' Yeshivat Har Torah elementary school. Spending a great deal of time with students, Menchel found that many kids were looking for a mentor. They wanted a person whom they could look up to without feeling threatened by authority. Based on this experience, Menchel came up with a plan to start a program that would send Yeshiva students to Jewish elementary and high schools on Friday afternoons. It was Menchel's hope that during their free time, Yeshiva students would serve as role models for some of the community's younger members.
A short time later, Poupko began to reintroduce a program that was very popular in Yeshiva in the 1980's called "Torah Leadership Training Seminars." Hoping to somehow combine the two programs, Menchel presented his idea for a mentorship program to Poupko. While little came of the meeting initially, several months later, Menchel would see his idea morphed into "The Teach for Israel Fellowship."
In a meeting between Poupko and President Richard M. Joel, some of the ideas in the mix for a new student initiated program were discussed. Over the course of the meeting, they discussed the idea of sending Yeshiva and Stern students to high schools on Friday afternoons. After looking at some of the other messages Yeshiva wanted to promote, they came up with Teach for Israel.
The program, run by both Poupko and Menchel, will take students from both the Yeshiva and Stern campuses, educate them in Israeli history and current events, and train them for interaction with younger students. Upon completing the training, the fellows will be divided into groups and will spend their Friday afternoons at various high schools in the New York area. Additionally, each group of fellows will spend a couple of weekends conducting Shabbatonim in schools all around the country.