PresenTense: NYC

What does it mean to develop and Sustain the Jewish Day School educational experience?

Do you have an idea for a venture that will strengthen religious purposefulness,  Jewish literacy, or an understanding of Jewish people hood for Day Schools? 

Perhaps you have a solution to the financial hardships facing families who want to send their children to Day School but cannot afford to do so?

If you have an answer to any of the above questions, we invite you to apply to the PresenTense NYC Fellowship to our Jewish Day School Innovation track.  We are recruiting three Fellows that are dealing with Jewish Day School innovation, and hope that your idea will be the next greatest solution! 

On Tuesday we had our first team meeting with the Steering Committee members.  An unbelievable group of artists, marketing consultants, philanthropy advisors, event planners and technology gurus - the Steering Committee is an amazingly diverse representation of the voices and experiences of the NYC Jewish community.

We captured this energy by coordinating a Cloud Storm.  Basically, we asked the Steering Committee to think about the problems in the NYC Community for which they would like to find solutions.  They wrote their ideas on sticky-notes, and then grouped these notes on the walls around the room in 9 different categories.  Afterward we reviewed the outcome and determined that NYC needs to find solutions to the following problems in the areas below.

Review their ideas, and add some thoughts of your own.  And if your motivated enough to do something about it - we encourage you to apply as a Fellow for our training program, launching this January. 

Collaboration

• Sharing best practices between public and private sectors
• Bringing in young outsiders to take fresh look at Efficiency in the Jewish NFP sector
• Interdenominational communications
• Connecting teachers through technology
• Using the Arts in Business promotion

Networking

• Bridging the Financial Gap
• Connecting new graduates with Jobs
• Outreach to the unaffiliated
• outreach to intermarried families

Work-Life Balance

• Professional Development
• Ways to find spirituality Jewishly 
• Healthy eating
• Access to cheaper, healthy foods
• Individual vs. community life

Technology

• Using technology for engagement
  

Young Families:

• Using sports to engage
• Meeting significant others - creating families
• Youth engagement
• Identity Building
• Psycho Social support for PEDS patients
• Helping parents to find time for selves w/ kids taken care of
• Support for single parents

Day Schools

• Jewish art exhibits with student artists
• Affordability of participation in Jewish communal institutions
• Building confidence for writers and artists
• Saving Day Schools from Financial Crisis
• Using unemployed/laid-off executives to manage day school finances

Gender Issues

• Religious understanding and acceptance
• More female participation in music and education
  

Israeli Population

• How to be a light onto the nations
• How to define Zionism in a post-Holocaust world
• How to reach the Israeli musicians in NYC
• Cross-cultural unity opportunities (ex. Jewish-Muslim)
• Bringing together Israelis @ Israel events with other Jews
• Bringing Jewish music to mainstream venues

Miscellaneous

• Artist business help with time, taxes and networking
• How to deal with the price for Jewish participation
• Upper West Side relationship with lower income housing
• Food Sustainability and avoiding waste
• Energy/conservation
• Combining Kashrut with organic sustainability initiatives 
• Job skills training for lower income communities