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10

February 8 • 2018

jn

Bridging The Past And
Present at Mumford

N

o way. My zaydie went to
Because the students of Mumford
Mumford” is the usual
have experienced more emotional and
response I receive when dis-
physical trauma than most people
cussing my job with Detroit Jews.
endure in their entire lives, I am spear-
Being a young Jewish teacher at
heading a fundraising campaign to
Mumford Academy has
bring Challenge Day to our
helped me fully understand
school. Challenge Day, an
the rich history behind my
esteemed organization based
school. Most Detroiters,
out of California, leads full-
regardless of religious affilia-
day experiences for students
tion, remember Mumford as
and staff across the country
being the premier Jewish high
on the healthiest ways to deal
school in the city, particularly
with trauma. This experience
in the 1950s and ’60s.
is incredibly powerful for
Steven Benson
The school, which sits
students who feel like their
between Santa Clara and
situations and futures are
Thatcher streets on Detroit’s
filled with hopelessness and
west side, was a community
despair.
hub for the surrounding Jews
I participated in this
in the neighborhood. My dad recalls
program last year when I worked
vivid memories of playing basketball
at Henry Ford High School, and it
at the Jewish Community Center
changed my life and my students’
(now the Northwest Activities Center), lives for the better. We all walked
which is directly behind the school on away with tangible strategies on how
Curtis and Meyers. Some of the most
to prevent our emotional balloons
successful Detroiters — those con-
from becoming too full and bursting.
stantly celebrated as pride points in
Students were able to identify that
the Jewish community — are alumni
other students were experiencing the
of Mumford.
same pain as they were, which helped
Another common response from
them recognize they were not alone.
Jews regarding Mumford, which tends By the end of the program, students
to follow directly after a rousing game
were crying and hugging each other,
of Jewish geography, is something
even those who had previous issues
along these lines: “It must be so differ- with one another. I know that experi-
ent there now.”
ence will be equally powerful for the
Yes, to some degree the differences
students of Mumford.
are stark. The student population is
The Challenge Day program itself
99 percent African American. About
is incredibly expensive, so I put
85 percent of students qualify for the
together a MyEvent proposal to fund
free and reduced-lunch program.
the costs. As you can imagine, the
Students no longer exclusively reside
funds at our school are limited, so the
in the neighborhood and travel from
only way for this experience to hap-
throughout the city to attend. The
pen is if we generate the funds on our
day-to-day challenges the current
own. We have already raised $10,000
students of Mumford face compared
in just three weeks, but we still have a
to the students of Mumford in the past long way to go. If you have any extra
make it seem like two drastically dif-
money to spare, consider donating to
ferent schools. But it doesn’t have to
this incredibly necessary program for
and shouldn’t feel this way.
the students at Mumford.
How powerful would it be if
If you are interested in donat-
Detroiters no longer thought of
ing, go to myevent.com/
Mumford as the Jewish school of
MumfordChallengeDay.
the past and the black school of the
Thanks for taking the time to read
present, but as the school that has
through my thoughts. This could
been able to preserve its rich history,
be the first step in bridging the gap
despite the changing population of
between the Mumford of the past
students?
and present. I look forward to the day
I would love to be able to walk the
when the young Jews of Detroit are
halls on my way to first hour and see
not only able to speak of Mumford
the composite pictures of graduat-
as a distant memory of their parents
ing classes pre-1980. Many of the
and grandparents, but also as a cur-
Detroit Jews I have spoken with have
rent piece of their Jewish identity. •
mentioned they would love to build a
relationship with Mumford but do not Steven Benson is a teacher at Mumford
Academy.
know how to help or where to begin. I
have a potential place to start.