Five Schechter Schools Partner on a Jewish Environmental Curricular Initiative
The Solomon Schechter Day School Association received a Planning Grant from the Covenant Foundation to spearhead an inter-disciplinary curricular initiative on the theme of Judaism and the Environment. At the June Retreat which took place at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County the educator teams chose a global overall theme focused on water and its meaning through a series of highly engaging exercises facilitated by the consultants from Global Kids, which will link the five pilot schools with each other. The teams agreed that there would also be an individual and site-specific component for each school-based on its local geographic and environmental circumstances and needs. The schools also agreed to incorporate an Israeli environmental project relating to water into the school’s program, in preparation for the 8th grade Israel trip (in four of the five schools), and to program at least one day of active, experiential learning while the students are in Israel . The educators requested a sourcebook that will serve teachers in their preparation of integrated curricular units and for student use, and we committed to having one developed and prepared. By the start of the new school year. It will provide Biblical, Rabbinic and contemporary Jewish texts in English and Hebrew.
Eventually, we expect that these materials will serve as a resource for all Schechter schools and the wider field.
Through a series of facilitated and guided exercises, they agreed on an over-arching theme of water (Mekor Hayim), with a particular focus on issues relating to the region where their school resides. The primary issues that the schools have selected are:
- SSDS of Bergen County — Flooding and water conservation
- SSDS of Essex & Union — Water contamination and waste seepage in the Newark area
- The Epstein School — Drought and regional sharing of water resources
- Community Day — Steel mill and industrial pollution
- Gross Schechter — Lake Erie problems and invasive organisms
There’s a natural and evident thematic connection to learning about water issues in Israel and the schools’ Israel educator will be brought into the collaborative curricular initiative at the start of the new school year. After exploring a number of digital media, the teams agreed to begin engaging their students in learning how to use mapping in their projects via Google Maps and Google Earth, incorporating videos, photos, podcasts, voice-over commentaries, and other media tools.