Seventh Grade Tzedakah Project

In conjunction with the traditional time when many students become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, an adult in the Jewish community, the Tzedakah Project is a challenging year-long course facilitated by the team of English, Social Studies, and Jewish Studies teachers.

Students begin by exploring Jewish values through Jewish texts. Through this process, they then identify specific world problems through the lens of their own Jewish values. They research organizations that address these problems, and students learn to communicate and interview non-profit leaders. We invite in representatives from different organizations that share the work they do, how they fundraise, and provide volunteer project opportunities. The students fundraise as a class, utiliizing their leadership skills in planning and executing community based projects that raise awareness and funds for their chosen non-profits.  

Students become engaged advocates for their chosen cause. After months of methodical preparation, the students are cloistered together to make the case to their peers about why their project should receive funding from the amounts that they raised as a group. With difficult choices in front of them, the class works together to find consensus about how their funds should be allocated.

Finally, the students invite representatives of their chosen organizations to Wornick for a moving ceremony in which the students share what they have learned and award grants to their chosen organizations. The Tzedakah Project is one of the most impactful experiences a Wornick student undergoes in creating a Jewish identity and a deep personal dedication to changing and improving the world.

Non-profit organizations that our students have worked with include: American Cancer Society, Bay Area Friendship Circle, CASA of San Mateo, Chameleon's First Response, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Razom for Ukraine, Save A Child's Heart, Surfrider Foundation, The Trevor Project, United Hatzalah, Valley Health Foundation, and Wounded Warrior Project. 

Since 2011, students have raised $299,809 for their chosen non-profits.