I LOCAL NEWS I
In 1991 I won
The Harry '7. I
and Sarah Laker
Israel Youth
Scholarship.
P'TACH
Continued from Page 1
This year-
You Too Can Win a Year of Study
at a leading University in Israel.
University
How do you qualify? You must be a resident of the Metropolitan Detroit area,
must be currently attending a college or university in the continental United
States, and must have applied to a school of higher learning in Israel.
What university will you attend? If you win the scholarship, you may attend The
Hebrew University, Ben Gurion University, Tel Aviv University, Bar llan University,
or Haifa University.
NOW CELEBRATING 16 YEARS
Phone (313) 352-8670
or write to the address below for application form or
information. Final day to apply is May 8, 1992.
THE HARRY 5" and SARAH LAKER
ISRAEL YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP FUND
co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Achim, 21100 W12 Mile Rd., Southfield, MI 48076
Grand Opening Special! Complete Detail
Complete Detail Includes:
Engine de-grease
Interior Shampoo & Air-freshener
Exterior rub-out
Application of hi-gloss wax
Vinyl & leather protectant
I
28
FRIDAY APRII 10. 1992
FRIDAY
and the Sally Allan Alex-
ander Beth Jacob School for
Girls, employs four Hebrew
and English teachers, an
aide, a principal and a
clinical psychologist.
Without P'TACH, Mrs.
Greenbaum fears many
children aren't going to get a
proper Torah education.
"We'd be forced into the
public schools," Mrs. Green-
baum said, "and we don't
consider that a realistic
alternative. That's not the
environment we choose for
our children."
"I can't even think about
P'TACH closing," Mrs.
Landsman said.
But Rabbi Raphael Skaist,
principal of Beth Yehudah,
said his school cannot fund a
P'TACH program.
"To do what P'TACH does
would add another $100,000
to our budget," Rabbi Skaist
said. "There's just no way;
the school is too hard-pressed
to do that.
"The only other alter-
native would be to ask
parents to individually fund
their children's programs at
the school," he said.
Until now, P'TACH has
relied on monies raised from
annual dinners, advertising
journals, raffles and private
contributions. Its January
dinner raised $30,000. This
year's journal raised $8,000.
An ongoing raffle drive is
budgeted to bring in another
$15,000.
P'TACH's annual $1,000
tuition accounts for 20 per-
cent of its operating budget.
But only half the parents
pay full tuition, Mr.
Hochheiser said.
"It's a serious financial
hardship for most parents,"
Mr. Hochheiser said.
"Parents who send their
children to P'TACH pay tui-
tion over and above what
they already pay to the
Yeshiva."
P'TACH in Detroit
receives no financial support
from national P'TACH.
"We share ideas, mate-
rials, education consultants,
resources —everything but
money," Mr. Hochheiser
said.
Mr. Hochheiser said
P'TACH relies solely on pri-
vate donations and receives
no state or federal aid. He
said P'TACH was told a few
years ago it could receive no
money from the Jewish Fed-
eration of Metropolitan
Detroit because its student
population was not broad
enough.
"P'TACH hasn't been a
traditional beneficiary of
Federation money," said
Bob Aronson, executive di-
rector of the Federation.
"But if called upon, we can
help P'TACH identify
dollars by connecting them
with individuals and organ-
izations that could help
them."
Mr. Hochheiser said
P'TACH has long been
perceived as an Orthodox
program. "We accept non-
Orthodox students," Mr.
Hochheiser said. "The goal
of P'TACH is to mainstream
children back into their
regular classes. As it stands,
this means being main-
streamed at the Yeshiva,
since this is our host school.
We'd love to be able to
expand into Darchei Torah,
the Lubavitch Cheder and
Akiva."
Bette Josephs, principal of
P'TACH, said the P'TACH
resource rooms are "havens"
for the children.
"It's about the only time in
the day when the students
come in and feel good about
themselves," Mrs. Josephs
said. "Every child has an in-
dividualized education plan,
hand-tailored to meet his or
her needs. We teach to their
strengths and remediate
their areas of weakness."
Resource rooms contain
computer stations, in-
dividual student carrels,
brightly decorated bulletin
boards, cubbies, and shelves
and shelves of books and
resource materials.
Tzivia Brocha Blumenfeld,
the boys' Hebrew teacher,
works closely with Dr.
Debbie Rothbart, education
consultant and psychologist.
Together, they chart goals
for students and monitor
their progress.
They also work with
teachers like Rabbi
Mordechai Weiss, second-
grade teacher at Beth
Yehudah, to make sure he
knows which students need
more help.
"Each year I receive out-
lines of students' strengths
and weaknesses," Rabbi
Weiss said. "This way I'll
know what they're responsi-
ble for and what they can
handle. I want them to feel
good about themselves, so I
call on them for the material
they have prepared in
P'TACH."
"I used to sit in class
sort of spaced out, day-
dreaming because I didn't
understand what the class
was learning," said one 11-
year-old boy. "Everything is
different now. I can follow
what my rebbe is saying. I
can do the work my class is
doing.
"I don't know what will
happen if I can't go to
P'TACH anymore."
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