Sparking a New School's Future
Picture a classroom buzzing with excitement, where the whir of motors blends with animated student discussions. This is the scene at Mesivta Bnai Torah of Waterbury, where the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) brought its engineering classes to life.
Moshe Bree, the school’s founder, saw a critical need for a local boys’ high school in Waterbury’s Jewish community of 350 families. Bree and other parents took action, founding Mesivta Bnai Torah to keep their children close to home.
Now in its second year, the school implemented CIJE’s Principles of Engineering course. Bree recalls the advice from a teacher at another school: “Don’t bother buying all the equipment; just call CIJE. They’ll provide everything you need.”
As a video producer who works with many Jewish schools, Bree witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education’s (CIJE) cutting-edge STEAM programs. He didn’t hesitate to reach out about membership.
True to their word, CIJE delivered a comprehensive package – books, supplies, laptops, curricula, professional development – everything necessary for Moshe to launch a world-class STEM program in his new school.
The impact on students is been electrifying. “They’re building something – a circuit, a machine – and they want it to work,” Bree explains. “When it’s not working, they step back and engage in algebra formulas to make it work.” This seamless blend of practical application and theoretical knowledge is the hallmark of CIJE’s approach.
“One student asked to take spare components home,” Bree continues excitedly. “His father sent me a picture that night of a whole new LED desktop lamp he had created.”
In a world where memorizing information is increasingly futile, CIJE focuses on developing collaboration, communication, leadership, and grit – skills that will serve students well in any career path.
Bree works closely with his CIJE mentor Aryeh Laufer to customize the curriculum and bring the materials to life for his students. “The same way we ask students to innovate in our program, we ask teachers to innovate in methods of teaching which go beyond the ‘Sage on the Stage’ paradigm,” says Laufer. “Moshe has already tested new methods…in one instance, he had students do an exercise where they purposely made a mistake in their circuit, and then another student had to attempt to fix the circuit!”
It’s thanks to people like you that Moshe and thousands of other educators have the resources they need to bring world-class STEAM education into their schools. Thank you for being here and being part of the movement to transform the Jewish future.