Jewish Community High School of the Bay Community Outreach

Community Outreach

At JCHS, Community Outreach isn’t just an activity, it’s a way of seeing the world.

Over their four years, students gain the knowledge and skills to offer effective and meaningful service in our communities, grounded in dignity and understanding.

Through guided reflection, skill-building workshops and all-school assemblies, students deepen their awareness of contemporary social justice issues as well as the dynamics of bias and oppression. They graduate as global citizens, committed to using their time and talent to make our society more just and equitable.

Our Four-Year Community Outreach Program

Community outreach is integral to the JCHS education experience. Each class has different expectations and requirements to satisfy. Community outreach is graded pass/fail, and successful completion of each school year’s requirement is a prerequisite for graduation.

List of 3 items.

9th Grade Program
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In the 9th grade, students begin learning about structural inequality and food insecurity. JCHS partners with the St. Anthony Foundation, which provides the poor of San Francisco with basic needs and services as a gateway to reclaiming their sense of dignity and stability. Students begin the year by participating in a day-long workshop that breaks down the complex issues of health, hunger, and homelessness; dispels stereotypes; and answers questions that often go unasked. During the year, each student will volunteer two more times at the St. Anthony's Dining Hall.
10th and 11th Grade Program
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In the 10th and 11th grades, students commit to ongoing service with the agency or program of their choice. They can choose to work with an agency with which JCHS has a formal partnership or pursue their own. Through consistent service, students have the opportunity to forge deeper relationships, learn about a particular area of need, and build professional skills.

At the beginning of each school year, students review a list of possible service positions with their advisors and choose the best fit. Alternately, students can choose to lead a JCHS Va’ad (social justice-oriented club) which involves planning at least three service activities and one in-school campaign/activity. Students are responsible for completing at least 26 hours of community outreach, including two hours in the Western Addition neighborhood.
12th Grade Program
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All 12th grade students integrate community outreach into their senior Keystone Projects. Through their year-long Keystone Projects, students have the opportunity to design and implement a multi-faceted project on the topic of their choice, demonstrating what it means to be a "scholar-citizen." Every project must be “purpose-driven” – that is, it must be in service of something greater. Early on, students identify one or more target groups that might benefit from their Keystone Projects, and base their work on research of that group’s needs.

Lammed Vavnik Awards

In the 10th and 11th grades, JCHS students deepen their community outreach practice. It’s a school requirement that many fulfill, but for some it goes beyond the requirement. We want to honor a handful of students that represent exemplary community outreach work.

In Jewish tradition, there is a belief that in every generation there are 36 (lammed vav) righteous people. The Lammed Vavnik Award was created to recognize some of the students who have demonstrated righteous action this year.

Read about our six Lammed Vavnik Award Winners for 2015-16 on our blog.

Director of Student Activities and Community Outreach

Roni Ben-David

Director of Social Justice and Inclusion & Jewish Studies Teacher

415.694.5772 x175
rbendavid@jchsofthebay.org

Jewish Community High School of the Bay

1835 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

Phone: 415.345.9777

JCHS is grateful for generous operational, programmatic, and financial support from:

The Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS) is a unique college preparatory high school committed to integrating deep learning, universal wisdom, and Jewish values. We empower each student to embrace her or his Jewish identity, generate empathy and compassion, delight in lifelong education, and improve the world.

Community Outreach

Our Four-Year Community Outreach Program

List of 3 items.

9th Grade Program

10th and 11th Grade Program

12th Grade Program

Lammed Vavnik Awards

Director of Student Activities and Community Outreach