One of the privileges of Yavneh’s small class size is being able to directly address student needs and interests as they arise. This week, students had a plethora of questions about events unfolding in Ukraine, and Mr. Pierce and Morah Jamie were primed and ready for students to answer the questions and guide their continued understanding of the situation.
Mr. Pierce immediately took students over to the map to identify the area. He then went into post-WWII history and the rise of NATO, and Ukraine’s development as an independent country in the 1990s. In a parallel discussion, Morah Jamie directed the students’ attention to the fact that Ukraine has been a center of Jewish life and learning for centuries, and that its leadership today speaks volumes about its rich and equally bloodied past.
Classes like this, that happen on a whim and directly address student interests, are able to happen because of Yavneh’s commitment to relevance, diversity, Judaism, and partnership. Our teacher’s ability to co-teach, to understand Jewish history and memory, teach directly to student understanding, and to remain topical in an ever-changing world of information is what sets our school apart from the rest.
