Torah-Based SEL for Jewish Schools: Inside the Darcheinu & Our Path Revolution

[music] We have three guests here in our studio at Flow Motion in Brooklyn, New York. Uh, and they represent Darenu. They're in fact are called the Darenu panel. Mrs. Shira Burkowitz is here, the program director. Welcome. Thank you for being here. Rabbi Israel Gber is rabbitic educational director. Welcome. Thank you for being here. by Avi Landanda is here. LCPC director of education daru and our path seal are culturally aligned clinically informed social emotional learning that's seal social emotional learning programs developed specifically for the Jewish community community. Daru serves the yeshiva and karedi communities. Our path serves the broader Jewish day school in modern Orthodox world. And together they form the first fully built Torah guided seal curriculum spanning grades 5 through 12 with post high school tracks for yeshivas and seminaries. These are not one-time workshops or assemblies. They are structured sequenced multi-year programs that embed essential emotional and life skills into a child's education. And I would say to the entire panel, boy, have we come a long way as a community, huh? To say the least. Mrs. Burke, we'll start with you. Tell me more about what you teach in Darenu. Uh, and in a typical hour path class. >> Sure. So, Dareno and our path are taught as a once a week class. So, it's about a 30 to 40 minute period um for every single week 5th through 12th grade and postseminary. The kinds of topics that we cover. So social emotional learning encompasses three skill sets. Skill set number one is your personal skill set. That's everything I need to be a healthy person. So we're looking at things like emotion regulation including stress, anger management. We're looking at healthy decision-m which affects everything that we do, goal setting, self-awareness, healthy body image. Once we're healthy ourselves, we move into the second skill set, which is your social skill set. everything I need to be able to interact with others in a healthy way. So, those are all of your social skills, your communication skills. My favorite conflict resolution. I always tell my students, this is literally the secret to having healthy relationships for the rest of your life. If you >> and a seventh grader, for example, can internalize all of this. >> We start teaching it in sixth grade and we bring it down to their level. >> Well, I'm just giving an example. That's amazing. >> We use a sixth grade example for sixth grade and we use a marriage example. We talk about seminary. When I grew up, they said there's nothing better than conflict. And here we're trying to resolve and make sure that people are socially dealing with things properly. It really is amazing. Uh Rabbi Landa, [clears throat] what does a daru our path seal class look like? And do you do anything that's actually interactive with the students? >> Sure. So, because we want to appeal to all age groups, we need to make it super interactive, >> right? >> We need to make sure that there's buyin from the kids. One of the things that I like to say about the beauty of SEAL curriculum is actually outside the abbreviation, but that it's a curriculum. When we teach things and we repeat it in different venues, in different formats and then upgrade it in the maturity level from year to year, that's really how a child can learn these skills and really internalize them. >> So, we want to try to make the classes interactive so that they're memorable. Many times the one >> mean fun at all. >> Yes, it can mean fun. Seriously, it can mean fun. Um many times the the memory that they'll get that will stay with them is that fun activity that was in some of the classes. Um just as a couple of examples we are doing some vaping education for the kids at a younger age already. We want them to understand the dangers involved. And so one idea that we're putting into the curriculum now is to actually uh get a kid to volunteer who can hold their breath for a long time. So, everyone likes to compete a little bit and one child will come up. They'll hold their breath maybe for a minute and then I'll tell them, "Okay, now let's refresh and now try holding your breath again while you're doing jumping jacks." And it's a really fun visual. The rebum like to see it kind of their tummy doing like put pictures in their newsletter and the child can hold their breath for less than half the amount of time because they're using up the oxygen in their lungs. So again, just a cute fun way to give over the idea that when we jeopardize the lungs, obviously the jumping jacks is healthy. But when we do it in an unhealthy way and it sticks with us even long after we've stopped, it's something that can cause big problems. One prop that I actually brought in for you >> is um when we talk about >> and we discovered something interesting about this prop. I'll discuss in a minute. Go ahead, introduce it to everybody. >> When we the these are actually colloquially called drunk goggles. So these mimic the visual impairment. >> You would use this with which grades? all of them. >> Um, definitely in high school, >> definitely in high school. It can be used with younger children as well, but definitely in high school prone to drinking and all that, right? >> More prone to that and to driving, >> right? >> This is particularly in terms of education and awareness and prevention regarding drinking and driving, which we know is such a huge >> deadly >> deadly and a huge problem and and has tremendous emotional consequences beyond >> what we can imagine. And so we use this as a super fun way that we teach obviously all the information. We have some videos that we show and then we allow one of the children to volunteer in front of the class. We make a path with some tape on the floor and we have them walk the line wearing these goggles mimicking the visual impairment. I'd actually invite you to just put them on first. Now, I did this before and I want to tell the audience because maybe not everybody understands the the danger of drinking, but I put these on earlier and I could do it right now for a moment because I I we we joked about whether I would put these on during this show and then try to stand up and walk. I could barely sit and keep these on, frankly, and there's no way in the world I could stand up while wearing these. And you said that there's a there's a formula meaning that if someone has how many drinks? >> Yeah. about the these goggles are designed there's different goggles. These specifically are designed for about six or seven drinks and the visual impairment that's associated with that. A drink again this is part of the education can be a shot of whiskey a glass of wine a bottle of beer. >> You know what's interesting is that and I'm sorry I continuously refer back to my era but if this type of education or program would have been around then those kids that I knew who were smoking in summer camp would probably have gone in a different direction when it comes to that. Would you say? Yeah, 100%. >> Unbelievable. Thank >> God we have this now. >> Prevention is the key. >> Rabbi Gberg, uh, we say is Torah based. So far, our guests have described what an effective curriculum is all about. Where does the Torah come into this whole system? >> Right? So, you heard like really some really great stuff, right? But then the question is >> how do you get it into the yeshivas? How do you get culturally sensitive but yet at the same time also for the child to understand >> a lot, you know, the a lot of what we're seeing that people are learning now through v various different psychological methodologies etc are really they're from and every part of the curriculum brings in really something beautiful whether it be from a whether it be from an example like I don't want to spot and it's just funny because I was I was looking before just about um self-actualization right so the the idea of atmi and this was really I I am to teach the curriculum as well. So in seminary and seminary the it's a time where a girl is really kind of finding their way you know up until now they haven't necessarily been an individual >> and really examining their whole existence more than in high school >> right and so self-actualization kind of you know feeling your way around in Alishor has such a beautiful piece about understanding who you are you know getting to know yourself and to go through that together with this it's you know it's kind of you know musmoo and but it. But it's all again all evidence-based and it fits. >> So it kind of, you know, it it has and and >> we want to be able to go to yeshiva and not have them question the validity, not have them, >> right? >> The reality of the community is that we have Jewish sources. >> People are skeptical. People are skeptical. People hear, you know, seal, you know, what does that mean? But when they when they really see that the, you know, the quote unquote the proof is in the pudding in terms of what is there. And one other point to bring out is that the reality is as the we the outside world moves a little bit further and further away from our values. It becomes that much more important to have something that yeshivas are comfortable with. You know maybe there was a time where you go online you can find an program for maybe you know we we hear this find something for half the price. I said are you com look at it are you comfortable teaching that in your class? you just without going into various specifics, it's not the time. But you know, there's um >> and we're here with Ammud and always discussing how so many problems in the general community seep into our community. It's a reality and it's got to be dealt with and if you could do it while you add the whole Torah component to it, it's only beneficial obviously to everybody. This is for everybody and anybody who wants to who wants to address this. Do you need buyin from the parents? Because I can imagine there's some parents who would be like, "Do me a favor. My kid never heard of vaping. don't introduce the concept to them etc etc is that and that's just one example I'm giving is that an issue anybody >> I think part of the comprehensive program I didn't mean to jump in >> no please >> is that we we offer support when in other words when a school takes the program they take one of us along with it and we offer support for example we will come down to meet with the parents we have we have parent letters prepared to go out to the parents to to discuss in other it's it's not just here's the curriculum and we'll see you. But >> go home and tell your parents heard. >> Right. Right. No. And and specifically before the more uh sensitive topics, there's even letters that go out again, you know, that we've written for the schools to send out so that parents are aware doesn't, you know, and if parent Dava doesn't want their child in for that class, they might have that option. But generally speaking, I think parents are realizing this day and age. >> Of course, how do the three of you become experts incl? Like is there a a curriculum that you have to go to and you have to keep up with? I assume it's something you you do have to keep up with because things are ever changing. No. >> Yep. >> Please. >> Um just to add to Robert Gber said, we train and we supervise every single teacher. And your question is a great question. That's part of the training. We talk about how we find that balance between empowering our children with knowledge but at the same time not exposing them to new things. And we talk about that and then in supervision we're always like juggling what these students have to know. And that's why we have RPathal for modern Orthodox community schools and Darinu for the Moradi schools >> because everybody's uh being exposed to different things in their community >> and the curriculum is fully customizable. So we can have two different schools and they'll speak to us and we'll customize the curriculum for them for their needs for whatever they might be concerned about >> right because certain things may have hit one school that has not hit others you know and they they need to address that. But if I could just put out a statement, every fifth grader has heard of vaping. >> Simple as that. Just say that. >> And we're talking about every every avenue of our community. >> Oh yes. Yes. >> It's unbelievable. I'll tell you. Uh we're here for Amuim. The three of you are certainly on the front lines of preventative measures and trying your hardest to to do what you can for the children and families. Um, anybody want to address why it's important to support this cause and well >> how they're there on the front lines for everybody? >> Yeah. One thing that I'll just add, you referenced it, is how much we need to stay current >> and update the curriculum and that requires a lot. It's not just you buy the curriculum the way in which it was developed years ago and you just take it and use it. It's something that needs to stay current. It needs to update. We're working on uh from made from scratch denu animation series videos uh for the Torah community for the Torah day schools. We need to stay current in terms of the curriculum topics and we're constantly writing curriculum, constantly writing curriculum and updating curriculum. So in order to do that takes a lot of resources and we're we're fortunate to partner with Amudim to have Ammudim um really guiding us every step of the way and supporting us. But we need all the support we can get >> because we've been talking about again preventative measures getting into the schools doing programs that you know as you described and I wanted to be clear because Gabby just messaged me and he's right. I should have mentioned that this Daru is an Ammudim project and if we talk about Ammudim formalizing this entire piece they've done it with this organization or this arm of the organization. So when you're supporting Ammudin and you're going ahead and tossing in a few dollars or more to tonight's effort to get to our goal, you are supporting real real prevention in schools and uh helping them expose in a proper way all these experts expose in a proper way our children to what they need to be aware of and how to deal with these situations. All of you should be lauded for that. Robbie, you want to add? >> I just want to say like he likes to say that >> as Daro becomes more successful, we'll put Amuda out of business. Let's hope. God, I hope that comes true. >> That's the goal. >> 100%. Um, so finally, how do you know the program is successful? Again, for any and all of you, how do you know that it's successful in the long run? I know we're going toward closing down Amu. That would be a great show [laughter] of success. What can you tell us practically that you you see the results of all this? >> Unfortunately, it's not going to close down Ammudim. There's always going to be unfortunately abuse and mental illness and dysfunction. However, I do believe that for the majority for Ro for the majority of our students who come hopefully from healthy families um this prevention really should >> yeah boy >> impact tremendously um I can give you both just general stats and then kind of anecdotal but >> general our path you know social emotional learning statistics out there and there's been a lot of data on this students that have a comprehensive curriculum they it's been proven they get better grades, are less in therapy, are less on drugs, get into better colleges, have lower rates of divorce down the line. Going back to our conflict resolution that I was telling you about, one of my favorites that I'm most passionate about years later, >> years later, it's been proven. It's been proven also that for every dollar spent in prevention incl. Anecdotally, I will tell you that I'm teaching social emotional learning curriculum for 22 years in the Jewish schools. This is really my passion and I can share so many stories. But the amount of students that have come forth and shared with me whether they're struggling, their friends are struggling and have then gotten help for budding eating disorders or anxiety or whatever it may be. Um, but one specific story and I've shared it before on camera a couple years ago I think. Um, a student called a few years after she graduated. Um, she called the office looking for me and I gave her a call back and she said, "Hey, Mr. Burkowitz, do you remember a number of years ago in 12th grade when we talked about um, how to look for the signs of control and abuse when you're dating?" She said, "Can you go through that again with me because I lost that handout you gave me and I'm dating someone and I think I'm seeing some of those red flags." So, we spoke. I went through the list with her. We processed and she said, "Mrs. Burkowitz, I think I need to break up with him." We don't always get to know the end of the story, not with my students, not with my clients. Um, but I did see her months later. I was teaching in elementary school and she came to pick up her younger sister and I said, "Hey, so and so, so great to see you." Gave her a big hug and then I saw a ring on her finger and I said, "You're engaged." She glowing on glow on her face said, "Tell me about your cousin." And she said, "Mrs. Burkowitz. He treats me like a princess. >> That's wonderful. That's great. A uh a happy and wonderful uh way to wrap this up. Uh I thank this distinguished panel and you all join me and asking [snorts] everybody to support Amudin and let's hope people >> 100%. >> And I would just add that uh parents who are listening to the program, reach out to your schools, let let your schools know that you're aware of this program. Reach out to us. We're happy to share resources with the parents directly as well, but especially to >> Well, if I would name a school, chances are they're already you're already in there or not. >> We're in a lot of schools, but >> not all of them. >> No, definitely not. No, >> principles got to have to act. And as you just said, parents can make the recommendation. >> Wow. Amazing. Um, this distinguished panel joins me in asking everybody to continue to support Amudim and Denu and continue to take preventative measures within our schools, within our community to help youngsters as uh as young as fifth and sixth grade and all the way through high school and beyond um to deal with situations in a proper way and a constructive way and really build a skill set that's valuable for the rest of their lives. [music] >> [music]