Wayne Slate Weiselly
Wayne State University
Center for Judaic Studies*
congratulates
CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK
on its Siyyum Ha-Torah
and welcomes
DAVID WEISS HALIVNY
Columbia University
Revered Teacher, Scholar and Friend
Teacher Bayla Landsman, second from left, joins the students as they study Jewish and Hebrew songs
with guitarist Russ Siegel. Pictured with her are: Natanya Grodan, Nachama Aaron and Seth Grosky.
Jewish Schools Mainstream
Kids With Special Needs
HEIDI PRESS
News Editor
L
In Celebration with the Congregation
Professor Halivny will speak on
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
TORAH IN JEWISH LIFE
Sunday, November 13 • 7:00 pm.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
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1
earning Hebrew can be
pretty tough for a child.
There is a new
alphabet, unfamiliar sounds
and strange words. In a tradi-
tional classroom setting, most
kids can get the gist of it pret-
ty quickly. But what about
the child who has problems
learning typical school sub-
jects in the traditional
classroom? How will he or she
ever be able to comprehend
Hebrew?
That child can keep up with
his/her peers in religious
school thanks to a variety of
local programs catering to
children with special needs.
"It is our aim to get the kids
doing as much as they can,"
said Marvin Kasoff, educa-
tional director at Congrega-
tion Shaarey Zedek. "They
have the same requirements
as the other kids. We tailor
the educational programs so
that they don't stand out."
At Shaarey Zedek, a special
education teacher provides in-
dividual programming for
children who are learning
disabled or mildly emotional-
ly impaired. About nine
children are in the program
which meets two days a week
at both the synagogue school
in Southfield and at its
branch at the Orchard Lake
Middle School in West
Bloomfield.
Children in the Shaarey
Zedek program can par-
ticipate in regular classroom
activities, have a special
enrichment session on Sun-
days and get individualized
attention. How much and
what kind of programming
the child gets depends on
his/her needs. Students in the
three-year-old program get
help with Hebrew skills,
reading, writing skills and
study Jewish customs and
Jewish law.
Temple Emanu-El's pro-
gram for children with special
needs began three years ago
when former education direc-
tor Dr. Margaret Eichner
wrote a proposal to the Max
M. Fisher Jewish Communi-
ty Foundation to seek funds
for a pilot program. Staff was
hired and a self-contained
class was created. Some
students received in-
dividualized attention, others
were tutored in pairs. Accor-
ding to Eichner, some of the
special needs students did so
well that they left the pro-
gram to return to the regular
class.
Dottie Dressler, interim
director of education and
youth activities at Temple
Emanu-El, said that three
teachers are on staff serving
about a dozen students age
9-11. The program is
available on Sundays,
Tuesdays and Thursdays —
each time the Hebrew classes
meet. Children are dealt with
according to individual need,
and often the special educa-
tion teacher will remove the
student from class to work in
a quiet area at the temple or
at the adjacent Jimmy Pren-
tis Morris Building of the
Jewish Community Center.
Dressler said the temple
class is aimed at children who
have disabilities other than
learning. Some, she said, just
have trouble sitting in a
classroom.
Children at Akiva Hebrew
Day School who are learning
disabled get individualized
instruction as part of the dai-
ly curriculum. Each day the
student is taken to the
school's learning resource
center, where teacher Andrea
Liberman helps the children
study Hebrew, for example, by
using blocks, magnets, clay
and a computer. Seven
children age 6-10 are current-
ly being serviced by the
resource center.
The oldest special needs
programs at local religious
schools is offered at Temple
Beth El. Now in its 14th year,
13 students age 5-25 are get-
ting extra help in Jewish and
Hebrew studies. Rose Werney,
coordinator of classes for
children with special needs
and supervisor for the Sunday
kindergarten through grade
three classes, said her pro-
gram is divided into three
tracks: a primary room for
kids up to age 10, an in-
termediate class and confir-
mation class. The curriculum
for the three focuses on holi-
day observances, Bible
heroes, the temple, the role of
the rabbis and Jewish
symbols.
The classes meet on Satur-
day mornings so that after-
ward the students can join the
rest of the congregation at
Shabbat services. An art
teacher visits the students