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Tikkun Olam
Participating in Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world, teaches students that we each have a responsibility to make the world a better place. Students learn that each individual working to do something good can lead to a community collectively making a difference in the world in which we live. Understanding what community means and feeling a sense of obligation to and respect for community are important goals at San Diego Jewish Academy. SDJA will often use current events and crises as learning opportunities to teach students that everyone has a responsibility to help when there is a problem or need.
Spring Clean During Your Spring Break - 8th Grade Clothing Drive
Next week will kick off the 8th grade sponsored clothing drive to raise money for Agahozo Shalom and we need YOUR help!
WHAT: Collecting gently used, unwanted clothes, shoes, purses, stuffed animals, and linens—basically, anything made of textiles or leather. These donations will be sold in bulk to local communities in need.
WHY: This past summer Amy Civen participated in the Freedom Writers Institution lead by learn Erin Gruwell, a powerful speaker, inspirational educator, and catalyst for social change. As part of the Freedom Writers curriculum, teach one to teach another, our 8th graders linked up with Rwandan Freedom Writer Teacher Issa Sikubwabo and his students. Their village, Agahozo Shalom, is also using the Freedom Writers curriculum, but unfortunately, they lack the funds to purchase class texts. Our goal is to fill a 45' container and raise a total of $3000 so we can provide school materials for these kids in Rwanda.
WHEN: Now through May
Rwandan Freedom Writer Teacher Issa Sikubwabo (pictured below with his students) teaches at Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, a village for young people orphaned by the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Agahozo is a Kinyarwanda word meaning, "tears are dried," and Shalom is the Hebrew word for "peace." The village is designed after similar establishments in Israel where many Holocaust survivors settled after World War II. Issa learned about the Holocaust of the past and uses the Freedom Writers Methodology to teach Rwandan survivors, like him, of the present in order to help create a brighter future without intolerance.
Here is a CBS news piece about Issa's village: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-6351616.html
YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EojhgHyQkVs&feature=youtu.be?
Village website: http://asyv.org
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AgahozoShalom
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Butterfly Project
