“Ein adam lomed ella b’makom she’libo chafetz—A person learns best in a place his heart desires (Gemara Avoda Zara 19a).” Chazal, in their wisdom, recognized how important student choice is in the educational process. This wisdom is concurrent with current research that consistently finds a strong correlation between student choice, intrinsic motivation and academic success (Ostrow & Hefferman 2015).
Student choice is a guiding principle at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA). Beginning sophomore year, students have an opportunity to choose elective courses. During junior year, with the added options of Yeshiva University college courses, MTA students can focus on an area of concentration that speaks to their interests. This year, we have added two new elective opportunities for our students, focusing on STEM and Talmud Torah.
Building on our already-strong STEM program, we have begun offering a STEM elective for sophomores, in which they can choose to learn scientific engineering or coding. In addition to the opportunity to choose their course, each class is conducted in a student-centered manner, providing students with the opportunity to guide their own learning and growth. In order to continue to enhance our STEM education, our juniors and seniors have a new AP computer science elective course. Over the summer, we secured a grant from the Gruss Foundation to enable us to provide the plethora of opportunities for our students to find a niche in a subject matter and develop skill sets that are essential to their success in today’s world, regardless of what field they choose to pursue. Part of the grant money is dedicated to providing our students with the resources to pursue their learning beyond class by participating in prestigious competitions under the guidance of Mrs. HL Zacks, chair of our science department.
Our new night seder program, in which our talmidim have an opportunity to learn b’chaburah with college and semicha students in the Glueck Beit Midrash at YU, allows talmidim, at the end of the school day, to choose from a variety of chaburahs with older madrichim. These learning options provide our talmidim with an opportunity to choose the area they want to further explore such as Gemara bekiut, Mishnah or machshava. Choice in Talmud Torah during night seder provides our talmidim with a space for them to learn ma she’libo chafetz in a serious, supportive and nurturing manner. Regardless of chaburah choice, dinner is served to all and transportation home is provided.
At MTA, we firmly believe that learning is not relegated to the classroom walls alone. Learning occurs during recreational time, clubs and teams, both academic and athletic. We have increased our programming options for students to have an opportunity to participate in various activities that contribute to their growth as individuals. With an increased focus on community programming, we have created programs ranging from Friday-night tisches to community Simchat Beis Hashoevas, from Friday-morning shiurim in various communities to a yeshiva-wide Simchat Torah celebration. It is our hope that with all the choices, each and every student will find a chance to learn ma she’libo chafetz b’makom she’libo chafetz.
By Rabbi Joshua Kahn
Rabbi Joshua Kahn in Head of School at MTA.
