Comment by Kim Schewitz on October 19, 2010 11:46 am

Dear Avrum,
I read your recent CJN article on October 14, 2010, “School sucked. Does it still?” and I felt compelled to respond. However, I was not sure where to respond on your blog (I’m somewhat technically challenged) so I hope I’m not messing things up by putting this comment here.
Like you, I too desperately yearn for learning to be a light bulb experience for my children; one that nourishes and nurtures their seeds of curiosity. Your article invoked both a sense of gratitude and sadness in me. Gratitude because I feel so lucky to have found a school that I believe fulfills everything you wrote about and sadness because of its rarity.
My children go to The Toronto Heschel School. Heschel is focused on academic excellence in every sense of the word: instilling students with the habits of heart and mind to become great thinkers and lifelong scholars, not just good performers. I witness how the school nourishes the whole individual with the essence of Jewish values and ethics to develop an inner wisdom, not just impart knowledge. Dedicated and talented teachers show children that they are mathematicians, interpreters of ancient texts, readers, scientists, artists, and writers. I see beyond even this and know that they are also being equipped to be able to synthesize all of the knowledge that they have learned and to be able to face this everchanging world through an ethical Jewish lens. They are being schooled in a place where tikkun olam and social activism is interwoven into the curriculum.
I would like to invite you to our Early Years evening tonight: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at 819 Sheppard Ave West (cnr Sheppard and Faywood) to come and see how this special school manages to do all this. And I remain hopeful that they manage to spread what they are doing to other schools.
Sincerely,
Kim Schewitz