{"id":9044,"date":"2013-09-01T21:47:38","date_gmt":"2013-09-02T03:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=9044"},"modified":"2013-09-01T21:56:16","modified_gmt":"2013-09-02T03:56:16","slug":"brown-praises-yu-summer-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/brown-praises-yu-summer-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Brown praises YU summer program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ALAN SMASON<\/p>\n<p>As she prepares for her final semester at Yeshiva University (YU), New Orleanian Ruth Brown can look back on her exclusive participation in the university&#8217;s Counterpoint Israel program as one that will have life changing consequences for dozens of underprivileged Israeli kids as well as for her.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9073\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9073\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9073 lazyload\" title=\"RBrown1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1-300x185.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"185\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1-1024x631.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/185;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9073\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9073  \" title=\"RBrown1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1-300x185.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown1-1024x631.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9073\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruth Brown, right, with fellow counselor, left, frame three Kiryat Gat campers. (Photo courtesy Ruth Brown)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Brown, the daughter of Kosher Cajun&#8217;s Joel Brown and Natalie of blessed memory, was one of just 60 YU student volunteers selected to participate in the program and the only resident from Louisiana. This was the eighth year for Counterpoint Israel, a summer camp\u00a0 program run by YU&#8217;s Center for the Jewish Future that instills Jewish values in Israeli youths located in five Israeli cities.<\/p>\n<p>Following a rigorous application process in which her skills were tested in individual and, later, group settings, Brown and her fellow counselors arrived in Israel during the first week of July and underwent several days of orientation in Jerusalem. She and ten fellow counselors were assigned to work in Kiryat Gat, a developmental town located about an hour&#8217;s drive southwest of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9074\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9074\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9074 lazyload\" title=\"RBrown2\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2.jpg 618w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/231;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9074\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9074 \" title=\"RBrown2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown2.jpg 618w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruth Brown, center, flanked by campers at the Kotel in Jerusalem. (Photo courtesy Ruth Brown)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;In general they\u2019re Israeli teens from 12 to 16 coming from very low socio-economic status,&#8221; she reflected in a telephone interview with the CCJN. &#8220;They come from kind of tough families and many of them are not doing so well in school.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was Brown&#8217;s and her fellow counselors&#8217; jobs to teach English to the 50-60 Israeli teens, most of whom only spoke Hebrew. &#8220;It took a lot of translating back and forth, so they would understand the English words,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;A lot of them didn&#8217;t want to learn and a lot of them had learning disabilities,&#8221; she explained.<\/p>\n<p>There was also a big disconnect between the YU counselors, who were all religiously observant and their daily charges, most of whom were largely secular in practice. But it was the enthusiasm of the counselors and their commitment to making a difference in the lives of the young campers that began to pay off. &#8220;As time went on, they got more comfortable with us,&#8221; Brown related.<\/p>\n<p>Each day the counselors focused on a specific topic ranging from social media to hobbies. The camp experience appealed to the youngsters more than their typical classroom experience and Brown and her counselors found ways to make learning English fun. Vocabulary worksheets would accompany a board game or a game of charades. &#8220;The English instruction was more like games than school,&#8221; she continued.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9075\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9075\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9075 lazyload\" title=\"RBrown3\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3.jpg 712w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/168;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9075\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9075  \" title=\"RBrown3\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/RBrown3.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9075\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entire staff of Yeshiva University counselors pose at Kiryat Gat. (Photo courtesy Center for Jewish Future)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The changes in the campers&#8217; attitudes were noteworthy as trust was built with the counselors and friendships made. &#8220;When we got there that first day, they were resistant,&#8221; Brown noted. &#8220;Towards the end (though), it was amazing. They were really connected with the counselors and even the toughest of the kids &#8211; even the ones who were resistant to learning or violent &#8211; made a connection with the counselors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the summer session, the campers enjoyed a positive summer experience, whereby they were able to gain self-confidence and to appreciate that the counselors were there to encourage and support them in all their endeavors, Brown stated.<\/p>\n<p>Many times the activities revolved around field trips\u00a0 to places like Jerusalem. According to Brown, all of the counselors all came home refreshed and feeling they had made great strides in reaching out to at-risk Israeli kids. Studies from the YU&#8217;s Center for the Jewish Future confirm the positive outcome from the summer program.<\/p>\n<p>It was an amazing experience,&#8221; she concluded. &#8220;I feel like I really made a difference to the kids.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Brown%20praises%20YU%20summer%20program%20\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8790,8795,3616,8788,3614,3615],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9044"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9078,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9044\/revisions\/9078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}