Al Pi Darko
100
talmidim
10
tutor-training sessions
250
parent sessions
13,400
annual hours of tutoring
In the last decade, we’ve seen an alarming uptick in kids-at-risk and drifting youth. These pre-adolescents and adolescents do not take an active part in school, suffer social rejection, and slowly but surely find themselves drifting from the safe enclaves of their schools and yeshivos.
In many cases, assert educators and professional counselors, the dropout effect is rooted in a child’s early academic years. Academic challenges or difficulties negatively impact a child’s emotional development and self-esteem, which in turn, shape his social status and spark a vicious cycle.
There are countless factors that influence a child’s spiritual deterioration, beginning with emotional and behavioral challenges or attention disorders and culminating with learning difficulties or speech disorders. Many of these challenges are further complicated or exacerbated when a child is the product of a low socioeconomic background or his family has minimal awareness of these issues. Furthermore, the academic requirements and study methods of the charedi school system are rigorous and require high levels of concentration, discipline and hours of intensive study, all unfeasible demands for children with poor learning skills or attention disorders.
Academically-weak or challenged children impact the classroom both directly and indirectly. However when educators attend to their needs rather than ignoring them, the entire level of the class can shift positively both academically and socially.
As a community, we must absorb the message that the dropout phenomenon is preventable! Early identification and intervention can prevent a minor problem from escalating wildly and developing into a monster that impacts the child in all realms of life. The earlier we make an effort to pinpoint a problem and deal effectively with it rather than ignore it, the faster and more effectively we can resolve the issue, thus forestalling a buildup of negativity and sparing the child future tragedy.
In recent years, we’ve seen a huge shift in awareness of learning difficulties in charedi society and their effects on kids’ passive and active drifting. However, as the proposed solutions did not compel professional knowledge and intervention, the majority of cases were not actually resolved but merely maintained a shaky status quo.
How can we help?
As Pele Yoetz Center’s flagship chinuch project, Al Pi Darko grants children a comprehensive educational support system that includes professional evaluations; mentors; and paramedical, didactic, emotional and educational therapists. This remarkable system has proven itself time and again since its inception and is a groundbreaking achievement in charedi chinuch.
Under the esteemed auspices of our Project Director Rabbi Avraham Vitman, a veteran educational advisor who is highly-regarded and trusted by Gedolei Yisrael and possesses decades of experience guiding troubled youth, Al Pi Darko has grown and expanded beyond expectation, keeping hundreds of children safe within the Torah system.
The underlying premises of this Project are investing the necessary resources at an early stage in life in order to obtain a precise evaluation of the child’s difficulty; pair him with a tutor-mentor to learn with him and empower him; and engage professionals to equip him fundamental tools and skills to surmount his challenges.
In the past years, Al Pi Darko has been successfully implemented in dozens of schools in Yerushalayim, effectively supporting hundreds of kids-at-risk and resolving many of their problems completely.
The Project takes place within the framework of the school or cheider in a collaborative effort that involves the parents, educational faculty, administration, tutors and therapists. Doubtless, a significant part of the program’s outstanding success is rooted in this close cooperation and teamwork.
Thus Al Pi Darko has stimulated a revolution in Israeli chinuch and proven itself on many occasions to keep kids safe within the system. Teachers, administrators and parents have noted a magical change in children who participate in Al Pi Darko, and dozens of schools are vying to incorporate the Project into their programs, as well.
Adopt a Talmid!
Following the remarkable success of Al Pi Darko and the miracles it has engendered in the academic, emotional and social achievements of kids formerly labeled as at-risk, Pele Yoetz is making every effort to expand the Project and avail its resources to more schools and to additional talmidim in the current schools with the sacred goal of preserving our precious youth!
We extend our heartfelt appeal to you to adopt one talmid and enable him to benefit from the vital tools and skills that he can gain from Al Pi Darko, invaluable resources that, im yirtzeh Hashem, will keep him safe within our Torah system!
Al Pi Darko’s operating costs are enormous, as we require a mentor/tutor for every child engaged in the Project, certified therapists and more. These parties, and especially the mentor, escort the child from his initial diagnosis and until he feels capable and confident branching out on his own.
However if every individual accepts responsibility for one precious Jewish soul, then the costs become negligible, and with one generous gift, you can assure a child’s spiritual success in life!