Transcript What is Confirmation Academy?

What is Confirmation Academy?
Goals:
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To provide teens with a place to explore
social, moral, ethical, religious and spiritual
aspects of their lives.
To foster strong relationships between
Jewish teens and their Jewish peers, clergy,
and synagogue.
To support teens in their desire to learn more
about their religion, the world around them,
and how they relate to both.
Methods
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Social Connections: Pizza dinner
Empowerment: Conversations, not
presentations
Listening: Student directed learning
Learning: The doing is in the details
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Example... A class about Facebook
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Curriculum - 7th Grade
Me and my life as a Jewish Adult
Core class: Jewish Identity and Anti-Semitism
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A year long look at what does being Jewish mean to me?
What role do Jewish values play in my life?
What role do Jewish rituals play in my life?
What happens when people target me or target my people?
Why do I, as a Jew, need to stand up for others?
Core class: Bar/Bat Mitzvah Pre/Post Prep
A rotation for students depending on where they are
in the Bar/Bat Mitzvah process: Cantillation, Writing
a D’var Torah, Modern Hebrew, and What does
becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah mean.
Curriculum – 8th Grade
Me and the world around me
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How can I really make a difference in our world?
What is needed, what really works, what am I
comfortable doing and what am I capable of doing?
Who are our heroes and who are our leaders?
Jewish value:
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Justice! Justice! Shall you pursue
Remember, the stranger for you were strangers
Topics : The Environment, Hunger and
Homelessness, Tzedakah, Bikkur Holim
(visiting/helping the sick), Business Ethics
Method: In the building discussion and learning, out
of the building doing and reflecting.
Curriculum – 9th Grade
My friends, My relationships
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Who am I? What are the factors that went into who I became?
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Who are my friends? What is my obligation towards them and their
obligation towards me?
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Jewish value: Cavod: Respect, Kedushah: Holiness.
Topics to explore: Communication, social media, friendships, peer relationships,
peer pressure, wounding with words
What about more than friends? What is accepted and what is frowned upon?
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Jewish value: We are all created in God’s image, God created us to be good and
holy
Topics of exploration: Body issues, tattoos and piercings, drugs and drinking,
sexuality, suicide
Jewish value: I-Thou vs –It relationships
Topics to explore: Homosexuality and heterosexuality, What is sex? When
should you engage in sexual relationships? What about birth control, abortion and
the reproductive system?
When relationships go bad: Physical and Emotional Abuse
What should we do? How can we tell?
Curriculum – 10th Grade
My Judaism, My Synagogue, My Israel
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What is Reform Judaism? What are its principles
and how does it allow for individual beliefs?
What is the synagogue all about? How can I support
my synagogue? Why should I belong to a
synagogue?
What does Israel mean to me? How can I
understand the Arab Israeli Conflict? How can I
relate to our holy land? Why should I go there?
What have the past 10 years meant to me? What do
I believe about God? About Judaism? What have I
learned? What will be next?
Electives!
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8th, 9th and 10th graders will be offered
electives.
Electives will, when possible, result in large
scale projects to be worked on and then
displayed or presented.
Examples include: Jewish food festival,
preparation for a special Yom Hashoah
Service, being in the Hebrew Hammers
Band, creating murals, website or podcasts,
book reviews, and comparative religion visits.
Why should you send your child to
Confirmation Academy?
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Students who are involved in religious education in
their high school years are less likely to be involved
in risky behaviors.
Our program provides and promotes identity building
and increases self esteem.
The Academy gives your teenager a chance to
reflect on core values rather than absorb modern
cultural values and negative media messages.
Teenagers need places where they can share,
discuss and debate with adults who are NOT their
parents
Where else will they be discussing serious moral
issues and playing out real life scenarios with
educators who have their best interests in mind?
Times and dates
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Tuesday evenings
6:30 Dinner 7:00 Core class 7:45 Elective class
It is required for all students to be enrolled in
religious school until their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. It is
strongly encouraged that all students be
Confirmed.
Students are asked to dress appropriately (no
undergarments showing), refrain from cell phone use
during class and be respectful of peers and
teachers.
Students still need to be signed out in the office even
between classes, because of liability issues students
should not bring guests to class.