September 1st
The first day of school.
What it means to Mesila:
The curriculum for financial literacy that is being introduced in dozens of schools around the world, will provide these future household managers with the tools they need for proper financial management, naturally integrated into them from a young age.
What is the greatest challenge for teachers solved by a teacher in the Mesila program in Waterbury, U.S.?
One of the biggest challenges that teachers face in drawing their students’ attention to any given topic is finding relevance. How often does a middle or high school teacher hear the question from students, “why do we need to know this?”. If students can’t find how the subject is relevant to their lives, even the best teacher will have difficulty igniting a precious spark of interest.
In our request for feedback about the Mesila school curriculum, one teacher told me how besides the value of the content of the curriculum, he finds that it offers particular relevance to some of the most challenging students. Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber teaches the Mesila curriculum in the Yeshiva K’tana of Waterbury, CT, in the US. He related that this past year he had one of those boys who could not sit still or participate constructively in nearly any of his classes in his class. However, during a Mesila lesson, Rabbi Heber asked the boys to compare the cost of driving a Tesla vs. a less expensive car. The boy’s interest lit up like a bonfire, and he participated in the lesson like never before. Someone was finally speaking his language!
A certain level of maturity is indeed required in order to internalize the lessons of the Mesila school curricula. However, the most crucial ingredient is first kindling the students’ interest. We thank Rabbi Heber for igniting that spark in his students to enable the Mesila lessons to be absorbed. As time progresses, we hope that the values and messages he imparts to his students will help transform the next generation.
