Project Tikvah 2018

Project Tikvah 2018!

The Importance of being inclusive is more important than ever.

I have been sitting in my “chair” as the Director of Education for 12 years. When I first arrived at Holy Blossom in 2006, I learned about a wonderful program called Project Tikvah. This program was established many years prior to attend to the needs of our students with individual needs and challenges. It was when first designed and carefully created, and is now a terrific addition to our programming — bringing students into the classroom who might otherwise feel they could not manage and stay at home. It was the first step toward creating the inclusive and caring community we strive for at Holy Blossom Temple.

Like all things, Project Tikvah has evolved and grown with the times. The original intent for Project Tikvah was to give our students additional one-on-one Hebrew language experience, but we now find the need even greater. As in all areas of education, the number of students with particular special circumstances has grown. Our Project Tikvah program has now changed course from being most specifically for Hebrew language assistance to a program assisting our students many who are on the autism spectrum. Most of these students function very well in our Sunday classrooms but with one-on-one assistants. Finding the match for our students takes a great deal of effort and we are always looking for able, capable people who are interested in giving their time to assist. If you or someone you know is interested in working with us in the Youth Education Centre with one of these super students, please contact me. We love volunteers but are willing to make this (somewhat) financially rewarding as well.

It is a privilege to be the host for these students and we look forward to all of their successes throughout their HBT, Youth Education Centre experience, and beyond!