2008 Woodie Awards
MSDCS Launches Quest
New Program to Teach Informal Education
Sam Blass
Issue date: 2/15/05 Section: News
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Quest, Quality Education Skills Training, teaches college students how to approach and deal with teenagers who are involved with sensitive issues such as substance abuse and gambling. Quest will train Yeshiva students to organize educational sessions in yeshiva high schools across the country. The training program will involve six 2-hour training sessions about informal educational skill building including discussions.
The program was kicked off on Wednesday night, February 2, by Rabbi Josh Joseph. Rabbi Joseph explained that Quest is the brainchild of several students who realized that many people want to reach out to high school students afflicted by drug and alcohol problems, but lacking the skills necessary to get across to them.
Rabbi Joseph expressed the need for more informal education, both inside and outside the classroom. It is instruction without tests and note-taking, and is meant to get past the defenses that students often take up in a rigid scholastic environment. In this case, the informal education is meant to teach youth about the dangers of substance abuse, as well as the importance of sanctifying life.
Rabbi Mordechai Willig, Rosh Yeshiva and the Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth Professor of Talmud and Contemporary Halakha at RIETS, drew a parallel to Quest from the Torah, stressing the importance of informal education. He explained that the Torah requires teachers to become involved in their students.
"A teacher must go beyond simply teaching...the teacher and students must develop an attachment. A warm and smiling teacher is an extremely important person in a student's life."
The much anticipated guest speaker at the kickoff event was Michael Borkow, a Hollywood producer who writes for various television shows. He has worked on shows such as Roseanne, Bernie Mac, Malcolm in the Middle, and Friends. Borkow was enrolled in law school when he realized that he wanted to take an alternative career path so he began to write for television. He addressed the hardships of being Sabbath observant in Hollywood and spoke about his discovery of the joys of keeping Shabbat.
Borkow explained that he derived spiritual satisfaction from resting on the seventh day. That is an important part of being a participant in Quest, he posited.
"It is important to be happy enough with what you have to be able to convince a troubled teen to want the same." Part of the program's goal is to show them that a better life is available to them without drug and alcohol abuse.
Borkow also explained that in order for a Quest fellow to be effective, he or she must recognize why people take drugs in the first place. They must be able to see things from another perspective. When asked what Yeshiva students have to offer that is unique to other college students, Borkow replied, "YU students have the benefit of truly living a halakhic lifestyle, and they have the ability to convey the benefit of that." He expressed that Quest fellows should appreciate their faith and be able to spread it to teenagers who might not be so fortunate.
The event was well received among students. "Quest shows what YU students can accomplish," said Aaron Roller, YC '05.