Shaarei Zion Ohel Bracha, a school that serves 300 students in Forest Hills, NY, has been participating with Hidden Sparks since 2007. According to Principal Label Lam, “Hidden Sparks has quietly introduced a vocabulary that alters the way we perceive students in school. The broad brush stroke labels of ‘bad,’ or ‘lazy,’ or ‘dumb’ are no longer considered valid ways to dismiss a struggling student. Hidden Sparks has revealed a multitude of alternative approaches to reach the child that's not ‘making it’ in the classroom.”
Since beginning with Hidden Sparks, the teachers of grades 1-6 have worked with External Coach Dr. Tamar Bauman, a clinical psychologist.
An important focus of this year’s work has been on incorporating metacognition and self-advocacy with teachers and students. "In our work with teachers this year, one of our goals is to help enable their students to identify and understand their own strengths, and to advocate for themselves where needed," explained Dr. Bauman. "At the same time, we are trying to engage students directly to understand their own learning profiles, and to strengthen their strengths or accommodate their difficulties." Mrs. Shoshana Leibowitz, Principal, Girls Division, adds "Through Hidden Sparks I have learned so much about how important it is to demystify for teachers and students the complexity of the learning process. I love that we know how to look for strengths and weakness in students in a non-judgmental way, whether the challenge is academic or behavioral. Just the concept of sharing with students the knowledge of how they learn best, and empowering them to advocate for themselves in the classroom, is awesome and life altering".
This year the whole faculty has also been receiving training in Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS), involving e teachers and students collaboratively to solve issue related to students’ struggles and many have begun to use this technique with students.
Perhaps most striking, though, is the leadership’s commitment to infusing Hidden Sparks into the school. With the goal of ensuring the program’s sustainability in their school, both principals took the core, four day Hidden Sparks course together last summer and have continued to attend Hidden Sparks training sessions throughout the year. “A day does not go by that I don't find myself slowing down the natural default mode of evaluating impulsively and employing some tool gained from a Hidden Sparks session,” states Rabbi Lam. “My wife will testify that I'm an even better father because of what I have learned.”
“It has been an amazing experience watching the growth of the Hidden Sparks program in Shaarei Zion Ohel Bracha,” says Dr. Bauman. “Administrators and teachers in Shaarei Zion Ohel Bracha have embraced the program and utilize many of its principals in their understanding and work with the students in their school. Just the way that the staff speaks about students has changed dramatically. There is a sense of hope and optimism in their voices with a clear belief that they can make a difference in the lives of the students that they work with. There is an aura of growth and self improvement that exists both in the staff room and in the classrooms in which students are learning. Being part of the change that has occurred at Shaarei Zion Ohel Bracha has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”
