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Atlanta,
Georgia Mini-School
Hollande
Levinson
Director, Melton Mini-School of Atlanta
Ten
Years Later: Looking Back and Looking Forward
Next
year we will graduate our TENTH Melton class in Atlanta. At
that time we will have close to 1,000 Melton alumni in our
community! It is simply hard to express what the Melton Min-School
has meant to this community
Support
of Founding Institution
The
success of our Melton Mini-School is built on the sturdy foundation
of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA).
At my first staff meeting, one of the MJCCA executives mentioned
that the building had won a "Concrete Builders Association"
Award. In retrospect, I see what a "weighty" (in
a metaphorical sense!) image that turned out to be-- representing
the solid and unwavering support of the MJCCA for the Melton
Mini-School and for adult Jewish learning in general. From
the top down, the MJCCA makes Jewish education a fundamental
priority for the agency.
The
board and executives have unfailingly maintained that support-both
financial and otherwise-and continue to challenge us to keep
doing more and better. Through the vision of Harry Stern,
executive director of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of
Atlanta (MJCCA), and Deborah Cirulnick, the founding director
of the Lisa F. Brill Institute of Jewish Learning (the adult
Jewish education department), the Melton Mini-School has itself
served as a foundation for a thriving adult Jewish education
department that is a model for Jewish communities.
Lay
Leadership
On this sturdy foundation sit the solid walls of support we
receive from our lay leadership. Many of the leaders of the
MJCCA are Melton graduates and the strongest supporters of
the program. The building project has also benefited from
the support of Lisa and Ron Brill who endowed the Jewish education
department here (the "Lisa F. Brill Institute of Jewish
Learning") in large part because of Lisa's experience
as a Melton student. Lisa and Ron (who later also graduated
from Melton) haven't hesitated to grab their hard hats and
hammers for Melton. They serve on Melton's international board
and are instrumental in building the new International Alumni
Association.
Broad-based
Community Support
The Melton Mini-School has survived and continues to thrive
also due in large part to the insulation laid by the wider
Jewish community. Congregational rabbis and Jewish institutional
leaders understand that the Melton Mini-School is an incredibly
vital resource for the community as a whole.
Rabbis
demonstrate their support "concretely," providing
generous scholarships for their congregants to enroll in Melton,
or by requiring the Melton Mini-School as part of an adult
bar/bat mitzvah process. Similarly, Jewish community organizations
fund their staff members' Melton tuition, seeing the Mini-School
as a legitimate component of a Jewish professional's development.
Evaluation
and Ongoing Reflection
The
long-term success of Melton Atlanta is also a result of our
investment in a good lighting system. By that I mean that
the program maintains a discipline of self-reflection-from
a system of ongoing written evaluations, to the most open
lines of communication between and among the Director, students
and faculty. A successful institution is never afraid to let
a bright light shine in on itself! At the same time, the Director
must act as the most finicky of interior designers- always
fluffing, shifting, rearranging and never completely satisfied
with the final product. A good Mini-School gathers no dust!
We
have learned in Atlanta the importance of installing powerful
outdoor lighting also-reminding us to keep looking for those
unseen parts of the community who might yet benefit from Melton.
For about 4-5 years, Melton was "the thing to do"
in Atlanta. We had waiting lists each year without doing any
marketing or active recruiting at all. Inevitably we reached
a plateau.
We have kept the program vibrant through new initiatives,
such as the Melton Parent Education Program, which reaches
a demographic (parents of young children) that was not previously
drawn to Melton. We also started for the first time this year
a "special" version of Melton for the growing staff
of the MJCCA.
Perhaps
most fundamental to the "ongoing construction" of
our Mini-School is the development of our Melton "Graduate
School." Staying true to the same principles as the core
Melton curricula (text-based, pluralistic, participatory)
and building on the two years, our local faculty develops
new courses each year specifically designed for graduates
of the Mini-School. Faculty
Most important, though, we should also ask, "What makes
this Melton 'house' a real 'home' for so many people?"
Of course, a "house" (the physical structure) becomes
a real "home" because of what people do inside of
it. And without a doubt, it is our faculty who make the Melton
Home.
We
ask our teachers, from so many backgrounds and perspectives,
to find a way to reach into the very souls of 25, 50, perhaps
hundreds, of strangers each year-- adults, no less, of their
own various backgrounds, perspectives, personalities, and
preconceptions-and shape these groups into a learning community.
And here's what is even more remarkable. They do it.
Emphasis
on Community and Relationship
Throughout-the mortar holding the bricks together-is a continued
emphasis on the importance of developing relationships and
building community within the Melton School. In fact, I strongly
believe that it is this ability to build community-the "Melton
family"-- that makes Melton unique and that is fundamental
to its success over time. A Melton graduate stated, "The
course work is not only stimulating and enriching, but I am
also building relationships with other Jews in the community."
What
Does Success Mean?
And
what is the role of Jewish education-the study and questioning
and turning over (and over and over…) the core values and
lessons of our tradition? What does "success" mean
in the realm of Jewish education? I would argue that at its
best-and I think the Melton school is Jewish education at
its best-this process is fundamental in searching out, expressing,
and maximizing the divine potential that exists in each of
us.
Our
students demonstrate this success-- not only through their
words, but also with the high percentage of graduates who
continue to invest their time and money in Melton graduate
classes, serving as adult education chairs in their synagogues,
or myriad other ways. As one student wrote, "Participating
in the Melton Mini-School is one of the highlights of my week.
I find camaraderie, intellectual challenge and one Jewish
pearl of wisdom after another. It's the best adult learning
I've ever experienced."
Another declares, "Because of Melton, I have received
the gift of enlightenment and understanding in an atmosphere
of mutual love and respect." And yet another states,
"Because of Melton, my soul has been nurtured, my spiritual
awareness has been expanded, and I start and end my day in
prayer."
But "success" is not just individual. The emphasis
on pluralism as a core value creates an increasingly large
group of people in this community who have greater understanding
and consideration-and hopefully appreciation-of the incredible
variety of legitimate Jewish beliefs and practices, whatever
their own views might be.
Looking
Backward; Looking Forward
So, as we enter our tenth anniversary year of Melton in Atlanta,
we look back with tremendous pride at what we have built so
far. But as always, we immediately turn back around and look
into the distance, excited for whatever "new construction"
the next ten years has on store! As always, one of our students
puts it best: "Because of Melton I more fully appreciate
what links me to our miraculous past, what binds me to our
rich present, and what commits me to our promising future."
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