Be The Change: Our Year 9s Reflect

The ‘Be The Change’ Jewish Studies course gave us the amazing opportunity to give back to our community. As well as volunteering at many places, we looked at volunteering though a Jewish lens by studying Jewish sources and texts on topics such as education and “tzedakah” (righteous giving), focusing on the importance of education and equal opportunity.

On most Tuesdays during the course we went to Chifley Public School, to read with Years K-2. We felt like we were really able to help these kids improve their reading skills, as well as get to know them and have fun together. A lot of us formed close bonds with the kids we kept coming back to read with. On our last day at the school, we ran Chanukah activities with them. This was super fun and it was really nice to get a chance to interact with the kids outside of a classroom setting. We really enjoyed volunteering here and will definitely miss it!

We also volunteered at an incredible organisation called Thread Together. Thread Together receives donations of end-of-line new clothes from retailers and gives them to people in need. This helps people with employment and to feel safe, wanted and comfortable –  as well as reducing clothes waste. We helped sort clothes in their warehouse and we then went to their shop to stock the shelves. It was amazing to be a part of the extremely beneficial work that Thread Together does for our community, and allowed for a more relaxed approach to volunteering where we focused on opportunity and selflessness. It subsequently opened our eyes to the world and we were able to see how lucky we are.

The Montefiore Home was another special volunteering experience. Here, we played Chanukah games with the residents and just chatted with them. We loved getting to know the residents and telling them a little about ourselves. We entertained them by played bingo and dreidel games to make them happy, and to get their mind off the fact that they are in a home and do not get many visitors. They enjoyed having people to talk to and people to listen to them.

At some points, the fun we had almost felt selfish, as the abundance of joy that we got back from such simple, yet meaningful tasks was so special! Our volunteering was always the highlight of the week as it was so rewarding and enjoyable.

Overall, we have really enjoyed this course and have learnt so much. Connecting Jewish sources to volunteering was really interesting and it was a unique and special chance to be able to volunteer and make a difference in the community.

By Chloe Miller, Lara King, Eleanor Labi and Emma Dobrin