A bi-monthly feature in which members of the community
offer insight on topical issues.
David Wayntraub
with his son.
Reading,
Writing, and Respect
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR
avid Wayntraub is a man
rooted in the traditions of
the past, but who believes
firmly .in the value of mod-
em educational techniques.
He bemoans educators
who "are still using the
exact same teaching meth-
ods they used 16 years ago."
He wonders at the lack of
respect he sees among stu-
dents across the spectrum.
Mr. Wayntraub was born
in Germany. His parents
settled in Detroit when
David was 22 months old.
He attended Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah, then Wayne State
University, from which he
holds degrees in secondary
education ani speech
pathology.
His wife, Sarah, teaches
at Bais Yaakov. They have
four sons, one of whom just
became a father himself,
another who last month was
bar mitzvah.
Mr. Wayntraub has
worked for the past 17 years
at Central High in Detroit,
where he teaches English,
German and Japanese. He
learned Japanese after serv-
ing as facilitator for a pilot
program, via satellite, at
Central.
Arr. Wayntraub believes
Central has an undeserved
reputation among some in
the Detroit area. "There's a
preconceived notion that
Central is a real tough
school, which it's not," he
says.
A member of Congre-
gation B'nai Israel-Beth
Yehudah and a board mem-
ber of Mikvah Israel, Mr.
Wayntraub also serves as
principal of secular studies
at the Yeshiva Gedolah. He
once taught a course on
Japanese at the yeshiva —
"which I think made us the
only yeshiva since the Mirer
in Shanghai to offer the lan-
guage."
He was raised in an
Orthodox home, where his
parents placed a high value
on education. Mr.
Wayntraub's father was a
laborer, and his mother was
a housewife who worked
nights as a nurse's aide
after her children were in
school.
"Theirs was not an easy
life," Mr. Wayntraub says,
"but it exemplified what's
said in Pirke Avot (Chapters
of the Fathers): They were
satisfied with their lot."
WHAT ISSUES
CONCERN YOU
MOST ABOUT
EDUCATION TODAY?
"We need to remember
that the best sermon is a
good example.
READING page 98