The Village Way is a Game Changer

An article published in The Times of Israel last month asked the question: "How dire is Israel's school system?" I believe the questions we should be asking are: Where do we stand, and what is the core focus of our mission?

When speaking about the Village Way, the first thing to emphasize is our target population. We serve the weakest, most left behind adolescent populations. For this population, scores - although important - are not the main area of  immediate concern. A guiding principle in the Village Way methodology is The Garden of the Late Bloomers – e.g., when it comes to at-risk populations, we can expect a delay between our investment during their adolescent years and its fruition later in life.

What is this fruition? Our set goal is that each Village Way graduate becomes a normative head of household (male or female) and a contributing member of society. This is our responsibility, and that is what stands behind the motto “from survival to leadership”. (Leading a family is also a type of leadership).

Regardless of these youths’ poor scoring or unruly behavior during high school, decades of experience have proven that a Village Way environment is a game changer, leading them to a well-integrated adulthood.

How does it work? We assert that the main issues for at-risk youth are low self esteem, emotional neglect, and the feeling of social alienation. These factors manifest as scholastic gaps, but if we don’t take care of the cause, nothing will help in the long run.

As you know, to achieve that, Village Way works with the educators, “training the trainers”. And here I wish to emphasize that since that dreadful October 7th and the ensuing multi-front war, which has not ceased since, the woes of the Israeli students’ poor scoring is only the tip of the iceberg. The truth is that huge chunks of Israel’s youth now fall under the definition of “at risk”. Think about those who were displaced; those who live along the borders; and anyone who has experienced the flare-ups with Iran. The teachers are overstretched and exhausted, and disillusioned with the formal education  system. The poor scores are thus a structural issue. We can only help address the needs of at-risk youth and their struggling educators, assisting them to emerge from this hell with inner strength and abilities to cope.

Village Way is a gamechanger because we specialize in the exact things that countless schools and teachers need at this time.