Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies, NJ
"The Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies was fortunate to preview Naturalized, the newest film in Avoda Arts’ Reel Learning series. We used the curriculum at our Spring Shabbaton which had an independent film theme.We found it to be “the perfect fit” for our program.
The film itself was both thought provoking and humorous. The curriculum presented us with many options for lessons and informal discussions, all of which were well organized and easy to use. The lesson plans were easily adaptable for our program’s specific needs.
We used the program for three informal sessions. The first was a session on what it means to be Jewish taken directly from the Naturalized curriculum. The second was a session on parent-child relationships and addressed the issue of when is it OK to disobey parents. For this discussion we adapted the materials in the curriculum and added some role-playing scenarios. The third session was an experiential part of our program where our students created their own independent films. We used techniques from both the Naturalized curriculum and the Pigeon curriculum to help guide us.
All said and done, the film and the curriculum for Naturalized were great. We look forward to enjoying more films from the Reel Learning series so that our students can continue to grow, learn and experience the medium of film in a way that is meaningful, fresh and exciting for them."
- Yoel Kaplan, Director of Student Life
