Gathered in the Health and Wellness Center, dozens of students crowd around and listen for instructions. Sharing markers, wax paper and tape, members of the Tikkun Olam Club make hand-made stickers for hospitalized children with cancer.
The Tikkun Olam Club (meaning “repairing the world” in Hebrew) is a club at CESJDS that allows students to help the broader DMV community through different community service projects while also allowing them to accumulate volunteer service hours needed to graduate. Meetings are every other Monday during Community Time (CT).
Junior Nolyn Ziman joined the club during her freshman year and is one of its founding members. Ziman said she has always enjoyed the club and eventually became co-president in the latter half of her sophomore year.
“I had a lot of fun because it’s a really nice community doing really nice projects [and] helping the world,” Ziman said.
Tikkun Olam Club has already done a variety of different projects, some of which have lasted longer than others. Members have made blankets and bracelets for cancer patients and cards for kids with extended stays in the hospital.
High school counselor Marnie Lang is the faculty adviser of the Tikkun Olam Club this year and has found the club to be a perfect opportunity for her to get to know students better.
Tikkun Olam Club partners with multiple organizations, such as “Kids to Heart,” but Lang said they have also recently partnered with “Love for Our Elders,” an organization that gives out handwritten, customized cards from students to lonely seniors. This partnership allows students to easily get volunteer hours inside of school and help seniors who are often forgotten. According to Lang, the students are very hands-on in club management.
“I largely am just the adult in the room,” Lang said. “So the students really take ownership over everything, and they’ll plan outside the club time what they want to do and what communities or organizations they want to work with.”
Lang also said that the Tikkun Olam Club has different ideas for the future, including new projects and activities that are already in the works. One of these ideas is to host a school supply drive for disadvantaged students in the DMV later this year.
Freshman Asher Kotok joined the club this year because he wanted to help the community while receiving service hours. Even after he completes all his hours, Kotok plans to continue to partake because he finds it fun to be with his friends.
“Tikkun Olam club has helped me get closer to people because, while we’re helping the world, we all have a positive attitude,” Kotok said.
This year, the club has grown larger and gained more recognition within the school community. Ziman said many underclassmen come to fulfill their service hours. Due to the recent increase in interest and the fact that there are already three vice presidents ready to take the helm, Ziman is hopeful about the club’s future.
Even though the club lets students acquire service hours, Ziman thinks the backbone of the club is the people who work together to make an impact.
“We’re always sitting in a room working,” Ziman said. “And that’s really nice because you chat, just learning about other people you may not have known otherwise.”
