PJA adds innovative programs

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2009-01-15T00:00:00

Portland Jewish Academy introduces two new programs in the middle school.

In development for the past 18 months, the Taglit (discovery) program and the eighth-grade Capstone projects debut this month.

The last week of January, middle school students and faculty will break their routine to participate in Taglit. This week-long adventure in experiential learning allows students to spend more time with and explore in-depth a favorite subject.

Students sign up for one all-day course or an morning and afternoon course (all of which run the entire week). All-day courses include “The Northwest In Winter—Who Knew?” “Wild ‘n Wet Portland” and “Oceanography Field School 2009” (overnight trip). Morning courses are Mainstage, Woodshop, Living Life as a Writer, Illuminated Journals and Israeli Dance and Music. Afternoon courses are Uncensored Craftstravaganza! Woodshop Break Dancing with Breezy and Paint Like the Masters.

“We are so excited to introduce this wonderful new tradition to our middle school students,” said Patricia Schwartz, PJA Head of School. “Surely this will be a popular program. For a full week, our students will have the chance to dig more deeply into additional areas of interest. We have worked hard to balance the courses and make sure there was something for everyone. PJA faculty will draw on knowledge in their areas of interest as well, and several visiting faculty will bring special expertise to PJA during this week.”

Taglit will culminate in an art show and drama production of Cyrano de Bergerac.

In the Eighth Grade Capstone Project, students will have the opportunity to participate in a multifaceted, interdisciplinary project—a Capstone Project—which addresses the following:

• The PJA Middot (foundational value) of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world),
• Integration with the curriculum of the Jewish studies program,
• The fundamental skills of the research process and academic writing as taught by the PJA humanities department.

This project is a culmination of what eighth-graders have learned through the years and gives students the chance to put it into immediate action. The assignment is to design, implement and facilitate a service-learning project based on the historical and textual curriculum studied in sixth, seventh and eighth grade Jewish studies.

After identifying an area of interest and a contemporary need in their community, students write a proposal for approval of their project and finally write a lengthy formal academic research paper exploring some facet of their Capstone area of interest. Students then are expected to implement the project.

Like all of the PJA middle school experiences, these programs speak to the needs of adolescents for intellectual engagement in the world, for deep connections to ideas and people, and for experimentation in new contexts, said Schwartz.

“These two additions to our middle school program expand the world view of our adolescents while asking them to apply the learning and skill they have acquired during their years at PJA,” she concluded.

PJA is a Jewish community day school serving students in preschool through eighth grade. For more information, call the school at 503-244-0126.