By COLlive staff
Property owner Yossi Popack was recently asked to support a cause led by a group of educators and activists to better the education in the Crown Heights neighborhood.
Working behind the scenes, their objective is “fixing the cracks in the educational system.” They told him that many resolutions and decisions have been made and put into play over the years, but the problem is only growing.
Before Popack decided to give them an answer, he decided to get “consumer feedback” and went on a fact-finding mission to the Aliya Institute, home to boys who ‘fit that bill.’
Aliya Director Rabbi Moishe Feiglin agreed and spread the word that the young men’s experiences and opinions were being sought out.
Over 40 of them showed up. “What would have engaged you enough to get you to stay in the ‘system’ when you were considering leaving?” he asked them. The responses just kept coming.
“This was an unprecedented event,” Feiglin told COLlive.com. “We never had a person in the position to do something that came to hear what our members went through and feel about the community’s affairs.”
The meeting, which was called for 8:45 PM last Thursday, was expected to be over by 9:30 PM, in time for Popack to drive to his home in the Five Towns before it got too late.
But everyone had something to share and wanted their opinion heard. It was close to 11:00 PM when the philanthropist was finally able to slip out with plenty of insights to share at the following morning’s meeting with the education committee.
A member of the committee commented, “Thanks to the tremendous insight provided by the Aliya members the meeting took a whole new turn. The original thoughts of what was lacking in the educational system was not in large shared by the members before they heard what they had to say.”
You should have always revealed good around you, u are very inspiring
tracht gut vet zicher zain gut.
keep on kidding yourself, that type of therapy lasts all of a few minutes once they walk out of the place. the very next day life resumed for these young men as it was beofre, nothing changed.
exactly, u hit it on the nail, havivng this conversation with YPopack prob made them all fell so good, already half the cure
This is an enormous undertaking. hatzlacha.
LCHAIM V’LIVRACHA,
I agree with you and would like to add one word “students should be treated the way shluchim treat WEALTHY newcomers”
Shabbat Shalom
parents need to accept the fact that their children don’t all fit
into the same system.” Different strokes for different fo lks”.
There are different yeshivas offering more secular studies etc.
However, many parents want to be part of the”elite society”
and only send their children to Oholei Torah or Lubavitcher Yeshiva. Even if they have ten sons they expect each one to fit into the mold. Educating BEFORE their kids go off the derech is a priority Also parent should make paying tuition
a priority.
im sure they’ll have plenty to add
Concerned people asked my son years ago, what needs to be fixed. he gave a simple answer: students should be treated the way shluchim treat newcomers.
will you please report the results and outcome of this fact finding mission. Hope it will conclude that we need teachers to really care and love each individual student, to see the good in them.
We need a few more nota shemtovs in the community
is how much these boys appreciate and crave someone to listen to them! That should tell us all a lot about what needs to be done help them.
Money. To the parents. More schools. Less crowded schools. More competition between schools.
Cracks in education? Overcrowded schools that need not at all take into consideration parental satisfaction. Further, Schools that must cater only to parents who can pay and not to parents who in-line with their Mission. We need competitive variety. The system is simply starved for resources.
This makes me so happy….wish this was done years ago before so many went off the derach, but yashar koach to Mr. Popack that he took the time to focus on what’s REALLY needed in this community. Now lets see who joins him as this endeavor require more than one person’s’ time and resources. And please also keep in mind our girls.
I love it someone who can help… HELPING
May we all have the koach to start listening without assuming. Smartest move one can make is to ask the sources what they feel went wrong. It often begins with a small thing that is not dealt with or is shunned and therefore becomes big leading to dropouts…. ECT. Been there, done that, wish I could’ve changed some things.
Thank you!
fixing foundation would make sense
why wait till kids walk away? and please do not call it al taharas kodesh when kids do not spell or calculate in any language at the age of 10yoIII . And how do you calculate 10%?
go to http://www.chabadinreach.com/donate and help Aliya make some real changes to our community.
Make the Rebbe proud!
THIS is good stuff…
This is the way all philanthropists should work. Find out what is going on and make a personal decision of how things can be made better.
Yossi Popack is a real do-er and a real person. He gives tzedaka and he means it.
You guys are truly a light of inspiration to ask of us.
This is SOO nice and a really great news