P hotos by Mars ha Su ndq u ist
Teacher Sarah
Eisenberger with Naga
Krakauer, 6 (left), and
Shiva Hurvitz.
ing with students. If a child is sick more
than two days, the teacher calls to see about
him or her. Once when we closed the school
because of snow, a teacher called each of her
students and said, 'Let's learn for a few
minutes.' And that's typical. No one
thought it was strange."
Accredited by the state, Darchei Torah
has both Jewish and gentile teachers. Most
of the Jewish studies teachers moved here
One of the school's most
controversial policies is a
stipulation that Darchei
Torah students may not
watch television. Mrs. Kahn
believes this approach
promotes healthier, smarter,
more creative children.
from out of town; all secular-studies
teachers must be certified.
Seventeen teachers work at the yeshiva.
Mrs. Kahn interviews each candidate, and
"I look for quality." She discusses the
school's philosophies at length with each
potential teacher and requires the applicant
to perform a model lesson as part of the
interview process.
One message that all teachers must
stress: creativity.
"We are very, very big on creative
writing," Mrs. Kahn said. Few things ir-
ritate the principal more than "when all
projects come out the same."
An example of the school's creative pro-
gram is a collection of second-grade stories
featuring "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle," a fictional
character in a children's book series. The
children's stories are all moral tales of how
boys and girls with bad habits learn impor-
tant lessons with the aid of Mrs. Piggle
Wiggle. In the Darchei Torah collection, the
friendly old woman helps stop a pencil thief,
cures a girl who giggles too much and offers
a magic powder to cure the terrible table
manners of "bad-mannered Boysa."
Some critics complain that the school's
dedication to Hebrew, Torah and Jewish
studies comes at the expense of its English
and secular program.
Darchei Torah students study English 11
hours a week, compared to about half a day
each school day at both Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah and Akiva.
Assuring that the secular studies program
continues and improves at the same rate as
the Jewish studies "will be Darchei Torah's
biggest challenge," said parent Miriam Ho-
jda.
"Still, I'm very, very satisfied with what
they're doing. My son, who is in the second
grade, reads at a second-grade level — and I
want him to maintain a level comparable to
students in his class."
Equally important is that her son,
Menachem, is motivated to learn at Darchei
Torah, Mrs. Hojda said. And if his secular
studies fall short of those offered at public
schools, "I knew that was a compromise I
was making" when she opted to send him to
a Jewish day school.
No Israeli flags can be found at the front
of the room, and Mrs. Kahn declines to
discuss the school's position on the State of
Israel, saying, "we don't get involved in
politics."
Students do know that "Eretz Yisrael (the
land of Israel) is a special land that God
gave us, and that Jews always wished and
hoped to go to Eretz Yisrael," she said. Dur-
ing these days of the United States' war
with Iraq, students often include Israel in
their prayers.
Darchei Torah's approach toward Israel is
not unlike that of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah;
Akiva is the only local day school that calls
itself Zionist.
But Darchei Torah parents themselves
generally do not take a position on Zionism,
so the school's stance is not an issue, they
say.
"One of the most important things about
Darchei Torah is that my children love go-
ing," said Bonnie Lax, who has two
daughters at the school.
"And I like the importance placed on
midot. One recent project stressed that the
children treat everybody — Jew and gentile
— with respect," she said. "To me, that's
what being Jewish is about." 0
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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