Expanding Jewish day school welcomes all

DAN IRWIN

NEW CASTLE NEWS

(Last in a series)

In the classroom, the strengths of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation’s Akiva Academy are apparent.

According to Nicholas Bush, the federation’s development and community marketing manager, 100 percent of students in grades seven and eight are proficient in math, and students in grades three to six all scored above the state average.

Nearly three-quarters of students in grades three to eight scored proficient or above in English Language Arts, while in science, 89

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Construction on Akiva Academy’s new middle school, part of a $1.5-million expansion project.

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percent of students in grades five to eight scored proficient, surpassing the state average.

Still, there is perhaps one surprising stat pertaining to the 190 students who attend the K-8 Jewish Day School.

Most of them aren’t Jewish.

“It’s probably around 10 percent (who are Jewish),” said Sarah Wilschek, an Akiva board member and executive director of Congregation Ohev Beth Shalom in Youngstown.

In addition, enrollment has grown to the point that Akiva recently undertook a $1.9 million expansion project to create a dedicated facility for middle school students.

And it’s this project that the Temple Hadar Israel Legacy Fund will support with one of its four annual $5,000 community gifts.

Temple Hadar Israel was New Castle’s last synagogue, closing Dec. 31, 2017.

Before turning off the lights for the last time, though, the congregation established an endowment that has distributed $160,000 over the last eight years.

This year’s other three recipients — all of whom submitted education-related proposals — are Oneness, to present an anti-bullying program in Lawrence County schools; Congregation Ohev Beth Shalon, for the hiring of a Lifelong Learning Coordinator; and the Rauh Jewish Archives for a program examining the history of Jewish youth programs in small-town congregations in western Pennsylvania.

Sam Bernstine, who was the final president of Temple Hadar Israel, is one of the committee members for the legacy fund. He and his co-members revel in Akiva’s multifaith student body.

“That’s fine with us,” he said.

“We want to provide education to anybody and everybody, and we provide a pretty good curriculum.”

Wilschek echoed those sentiments.

“One of the huge benefits of Akiva is that not only are we offering a great education for the Valley, but our Jewish students still get to have a Jewish curriculum,” she said. “It also helps educate everybody else in the area.

“So to have a group of children who live in Youngstown or Canfield or wherever who aren’t Jewish, getting a strong Jewish base helps fight the antisemitism we see. It helps fight the misinformation. It deepens the understanding of the Jewish people from being only what you see in the media to what you see in real life. Akiva really helps fight those battles on multiple fronts.”

The experience, Bernstine believes, can forestall bias that often is formed by a lack of education.

“Jewish kids are going to mix with Gentile kids, and Gentile kids are going to mix with Jewish kids,” he said, “and regardless of what’s written in a book or what someone says, they’re going to experience firsthand those relationships and experiences.”

Wilschek has seen that personally. Her daughter attends Akiva.

“My daughter’s best friends don’t look like her, don’t live like her, don’t have the same religion, and there is absolutely no difference,” she said.

“They come for holidays … so creating that and teaching that level of acceptance at such a young age is embedded in who they are.

“So we’re also fighting racism or classism or whatever it is. My focus personally would be antisemitism, but it’s a much bigger conversation than that.”

For more information about Akiva Academy, visit akivaacademy.org or call (330) 747-0452.

d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com