On March 4, Project RSPCT (Recreational Sports Promoting Cultural Tolerance), an initiative created and helmed by 15-year-old Jonah Schachter, kicked off its first day of multicultural basketball games at The Frisch School. Over the course of the two hour session, students from Frisch and Teaneck High School were combined and mixed into different teams and spent the time shooting hoops with each other. Schachter, who is a sophomore at Frisch, started the initiative because he wanted to create something that would bridge the gap between the two schools and connect the students. As he sees it, the initiative is not just an opportunity for kids who otherwise might not have met to share a fun day playing basketball together, but also for them to create friendships and bonds that can last beyond the session.

Schachter has been involved in sports and athletics ever since he was very young. In the past, he’s played in regional AAU leagues, the 2017 Maccabi Games and just for fun with his friends. Having played with an assortment of kids from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds over the years, he created Project RSPCT to bring that inclusivity to his school. With help from school leaders and community members he was able to realize his goal. Speaking with The Jewish Link in an interview, he elaborated on what the initiative means to him, and how he sees it in a broader picture.

“Project RSPCT is a way to bring the community together,” Schachter explained. “As a kid, I would always play against kids from other schools and cultures; it’s different because here we’re playing with these other kids instead of against them. Hopefully, at the end of the day there will be some friendships formed between students that otherwise wouldn’t have met. If teenagers can come together over something as simple as basketball, then, hopefully, in other parts of the world people can come together for bigger things.”

David Murphy is the athletic director at Teaneck High School. During the Project RSPCT session, he was on hand with his students cheering them on from the sidelines and, during breaks, encouraging them to spend some time introducing themselves to the Frisch students. Speaking with The Jewish Link, Murphy praised the Project RSPCT concept and explained what he hopes his students will take from the experience.

“This is a great opportunity for students to come out of their normal peer groups and communicate and collaborate with kids from different beliefs and cultures,” Murphy shared. “Coming out of the games everyone shakes hands and is expanding their peer groups and understanding of each other. It gets the kids thinking about what brings us together, what are the commonalities we have as people. Being able to spread that amongst themselves and setting up further events such as this is really important to continuing that bonding process.”

The students involved in Project RSPCT were mixed together and then divided into four teams, and over the course of the session two separate games took place in Frisch’s gym. One of the people watching proudly from the sidelines was Schachter’s father, Bennett Schachter.

“As a father I’m really proud of how [Jonah] thinks about the world more broadly and recognizes that with a little bit of initiative you can make a big difference,” Bennett shared. “Hopefully that’s something that not just he will remember but all the kids here today will too. It’s so great to see the kids playing and jelling together. This is exactly what [Jonah] had hoped for and envisioned when he came up with his idea.”

Shachter himself was one of the players. When he was wasn’t on the court, however, he was spending time interacting with the kids from Teaneck High.

“This is only the beginning for Project RSPCT and I encourage other schools to take this event upon themselves and try to do it [at their schools],” Shachter remarked. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do this again and on a larger scale. I’m excited to see what comes next for it.”

If you would like to learn more about Project RSPCT, you can reach out to Schachter at [email protected].

By Adam Samuel

Adam Samuel is a journalist from Teaneck. He blogs at adamssoapbox.com.�