Last week, Nefesh Yehudi Academy’s second grade class was visited by an alumna, sixth grader, Brianna Sandler, currently attending Netivot. For her bat mitzvah project, Brianna returned to NYA to teach the second graders about her bat mitzvah parsha, Beshalach, and engage them in a game she created just for them. When Brianna was in first grade at NYA, an alumnus returned to NYA for his bar mitzvah project which directly impacted Brianna’s first grade class. That alumnus is now a senior at Frisch. Perhaps in a few years time, today’s second graders will also consider returning to NYA for their bar or bat mitzvah projects! It has been a wonderful example of the students themselves being role models for one another.

The Nefesh Yehudi program engages students through experiential learning and Brianna did just that. The second graders enjoyed the learning so much and asked Brianna to return with her game on another day since they wanted to continue learning through her tool.