Spreading Jewish Knowledge 

Since 2023, I have been a madrich, or assistant teacher, at my synagogue’s religious school. I really enjoy working with kids and teaching them Judaism. I’ve attended Jewish day school my whole life, so I can share my Jewish knowledge with the children. TAP has helped me learn how to work with kids with disabilities and I can use the skills I learned at TAP to better support those who need it. 

One important lesson I learned from the TAP program was about “all behavior is communication”. This saying means that if a kid is behaving in a challenging way, we can learn from their behavior and focus on what they are trying to communicate to us. I was able to apply this lesson in my religious school classroom.

I have worked in the same grade for two years now and this year, there is a kid with disabilities who I can help in the classroom. I can better empathize with people with disabilities now, thanks to TAP. TAP helped me broaden my perspective on people with disabilities, especially from hearing our guest speakers, such as one with autism and another speaker who is in a wheelchair. I’m very grateful that I was able to participate in the TAP program this year.