TAP Teens and Adult Educators Learn “Positive Practices” Together
By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Director, Whole Community Inclusion / “We wish we could get the same training that our TAP teens receive!” This is feedback that I’ve heard over the years from the teachers and education directors who have teens participating in Jewish Learning Venture’s Reta Emerson Fellowship/Teen Assistant Program (TAP).
Special Needs Consortium Moving Forward
By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Director, Whole Community Inclusion / On Wednesday, October 22nd, the Jewish Special Needs Consortium of Greater Philadelphia met at Jewish Learning Venture. The Consortium is comprised of professionals from agencies and lay leaders from synagogues who meet regularly to set goals to educate and guide the Jewish community about inclusion.
JDAM: Cakes and Miracles
By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Program Director for Special Needs / “You've got to be taught to hate and fear, You've got to be taught from year to year, It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made…” In 1949, these powerful lyrics from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s award-winning musical “South Pacific” challenged assumptions about relationships between different racial and ethnic groups during the pre-Civil rights era, suggesting the highly controversial idea that prejudice and fear of differences is not born within us, but rather is transmitted from one generation to the next.