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 Judaic Studies teachers.

Each student identifies a specific world problem through the lens of their own Jewish values. They research organizations that address these problems; at the same time, they volunteer at the organization and interview its executives. Philanthropists in the community demonstrate how to make a compelling case for funding. The students fundraise as a class, pooling their resources into their own philanthropic foundation.

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. 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.