Kol Hadassa

Kol Hadassa combines a learning program and a student-run business. Both are intended to help struggling teenage Olim girls, who are not coping with school, and are at risk of academic failure and other dangerous behaviors. It is a chance for them to receive a high school diploma, to gain life skills and to develop into healthy, confident young women. This is a bridging year, a time to move on from feelings of failure to a place of confidence, self-sufficiency and hope for the future. The learning program combines study for the GED with a Jewish Studies curriculum designed to strengthen and inspire. The business run by the girls, under professional supervision, will be a cafe. This program is based on studies that show that the more responsibilities and the higher the expectations that are placed on teenagers, within the confines of a loving healthy environment, the more they thrive.