Graduation Speech 2012 - Dr. Oberman
As we learn in Pirkei Avot during the counting of the Omer, the world stands on 3 things. (“Al shelosha devarim haolom omed. Al haTorah, ve’al ha’avodah, v’al gmeeloot chasadim.”) Torah, tefillah, and loving acts.
In many ways, schools are a world of their own, and therefore stand on their own three pillars. Having been at a number of schools, I would say that great schools depend upon the following 3 items: caring teachers, inquisitive students, and invested parents.
How do caring teachers parallel the gift of Torah? Aside from the obvious example of those who teach Torah, caring teachers deliver a body of knowledge and wisdom with a level of expertise that students will always treasure. One of the most incredible things at Yeshiva Atlanta is that students and teachers frequently visit with each other outside of class time. Whether it is at school athletic events, at a teacher’s home for a Shabbat meal or oneg, at a teacher’s home to cheer on the Falcons, at school during lunch or a study hall for extra help, chatting or emailing online, or simply by chance, the teachers at Yeshiva Atlanta thrive on getting to know the students as people. This year alone students have been the sole topic at a great number of faculty meetings. And the topic isn’t always grades, or even with grades as a central focus. In fact one of my favorite faculty meetings all year is when we as a faculty come up with five wonderful words to describe and celebrate our graduates; you will hear those soon enough!
Students can be likened to avodah in that they daven with kavanah, certainly, but more in the sense of avodah as work and study. Students, of course, are the heart of a school; without them, there IS no school. But passionate students who care about making the school great, who care about learning, who want to get to the bottom of difficult life questions—those are the kind of students who are transformative for a school. It is those students who ask “why don’t we have more additional learning opportunities” … and then help make those opportunities available to all. It is those students, for example on our baseball team who started asking the question “why not us” in reference to the Columbus baseball tournament…a tournament that saw YA bring up the rear last year. In true Yeshiva Atlanta form, the team brought home the championship in extra innings! And it is those students who engage in problem-based learning to present a recommendation to Young Israel of Toco Hills about materials to be used for the floor of their new shul in order to make it as reminiscent as possible of the Beit Hamikdash, citing appropriate Halachic sources.
The third ingredient in a great school recipe is invested parents, or g’meeloot chasadim. These are parents whose acts of kindness affect not just their own children but the entire school, and beyond via the ripple effect. They care enough to volunteer at the school, attend parent teacher conferences, attend monthly parenting meetings both to learn how others are parenting and also to share their successes and challenges, and support their children’s athletic and artistic endeavors whenever possible. It is those parents who share their expertise in classes, who call in to the school both with suggestions and with praise, as appropriate.
One thing rings true for each of these three critical ingredients: those who care make the time to support the school in every way possible, and also suggest ways to make the school even better. Not only is it possible to be both supportive and encouraging of improvement, it is nearly impossible to be supportive of a school without coming up with some ideas to make it even more amazing.
This year’s graduating class is a special group, and they will be missed tremendously. They stepped up their leadership this year in particular and crafted the school in their image. They are a passionate, caring group, who both embrace change and also remain remarkably loyal to their friends, their families, and their school. I personally cannot wait to hear how they are transforming the world in years to come. Not just the world of Yeshiva Atlanta, but the world of Torah, avodah, and g’meeloot chasadim. Congratulations and best of everything to the class of 2012.
In many ways, schools are a world of their own, and therefore stand on their own three pillars. Having been at a number of schools, I would say that great schools depend upon the following 3 items: caring teachers, inquisitive students, and invested parents.
How do caring teachers parallel the gift of Torah? Aside from the obvious example of those who teach Torah, caring teachers deliver a body of knowledge and wisdom with a level of expertise that students will always treasure. One of the most incredible things at Yeshiva Atlanta is that students and teachers frequently visit with each other outside of class time. Whether it is at school athletic events, at a teacher’s home for a Shabbat meal or oneg, at a teacher’s home to cheer on the Falcons, at school during lunch or a study hall for extra help, chatting or emailing online, or simply by chance, the teachers at Yeshiva Atlanta thrive on getting to know the students as people. This year alone students have been the sole topic at a great number of faculty meetings. And the topic isn’t always grades, or even with grades as a central focus. In fact one of my favorite faculty meetings all year is when we as a faculty come up with five wonderful words to describe and celebrate our graduates; you will hear those soon enough!
Students can be likened to avodah in that they daven with kavanah, certainly, but more in the sense of avodah as work and study. Students, of course, are the heart of a school; without them, there IS no school. But passionate students who care about making the school great, who care about learning, who want to get to the bottom of difficult life questions—those are the kind of students who are transformative for a school. It is those students who ask “why don’t we have more additional learning opportunities” … and then help make those opportunities available to all. It is those students, for example on our baseball team who started asking the question “why not us” in reference to the Columbus baseball tournament…a tournament that saw YA bring up the rear last year. In true Yeshiva Atlanta form, the team brought home the championship in extra innings! And it is those students who engage in problem-based learning to present a recommendation to Young Israel of Toco Hills about materials to be used for the floor of their new shul in order to make it as reminiscent as possible of the Beit Hamikdash, citing appropriate Halachic sources.
The third ingredient in a great school recipe is invested parents, or g’meeloot chasadim. These are parents whose acts of kindness affect not just their own children but the entire school, and beyond via the ripple effect. They care enough to volunteer at the school, attend parent teacher conferences, attend monthly parenting meetings both to learn how others are parenting and also to share their successes and challenges, and support their children’s athletic and artistic endeavors whenever possible. It is those parents who share their expertise in classes, who call in to the school both with suggestions and with praise, as appropriate.
One thing rings true for each of these three critical ingredients: those who care make the time to support the school in every way possible, and also suggest ways to make the school even better. Not only is it possible to be both supportive and encouraging of improvement, it is nearly impossible to be supportive of a school without coming up with some ideas to make it even more amazing.
This year’s graduating class is a special group, and they will be missed tremendously. They stepped up their leadership this year in particular and crafted the school in their image. They are a passionate, caring group, who both embrace change and also remain remarkably loyal to their friends, their families, and their school. I personally cannot wait to hear how they are transforming the world in years to come. Not just the world of Yeshiva Atlanta, but the world of Torah, avodah, and g’meeloot chasadim. Congratulations and best of everything to the class of 2012.
