Here are four “by the way” lessons from my school years that remain with me still
I took the knapsacks out of the closet and examined their contents. There was the detritus of a year of learning: pencil shavings, crumpled papers, half a crayon, some Post-it notes and stickers, and a very grimy eraser. Quickly, efficiently, I shook it all out over the garbage. And I wondered: In the close to 30 years since my own school days, what’s left of it all?
I attended Bnos Leah of Prospect Park Yeshivah from kindergarten straight through 12th grade, and I still feel grateful for the chinuch I received. As a student, I didn’t fully appreciate the passion, stamina, and dedication of my teachers. I didn’t realize how much I was learning and gaining until much, much later, when big chunks of the knowledge turned foggy and I found myself grasping for the mastery I once had.
But in hindsight, a lot of the most impactful lessons or teaching moments weren’t in the syllabus. They’re more like those pencil shavings and stickers and Post-it notes – acquired along the way, imparted off the cuff, without formal preparation or lesson plans. Here are four “by the way” lessons from my school years that remain with me still.
In 12th grade, during Mrs. Zlata Press’s Pirkei Avos class, we reached a mishnah (1:5) that seemed, to us at least, not quite politically correct: “Do not speak excessively much with women. This regards a man’s own wife….”
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