Brooklyn, NY – Six months after launching a very successful GED program targeting young men in the Chasidishe community, B’Derech is set to open registration for their third semester and is breaking new ground with the opening of a women’s program.
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B’Derech’s New York State approved GED program is run in conjunction with Bramson ORT at their Bensonhurst campus and gives students the opportunity to earn a high school equivalency diploma in three semesters that take just over one year’s time to complete. Additionally, students have the option of continuing on for an additional semester to earn an Associate’s degree in business, accounting, programming, network or graphic design.
“We currently have approximately twenty five men enrolled in the program and hope that most if not all of them will continue on to get their Associate’s degree,” Yair Rosenrauch, director of Bramson ORT’s Brooklyn Extension Site. “The students are very happy and are feeling accomplished. We are very satisfied with their progress.”
B’Derech provides free tutoring to all students in the program so that they can not only pass the qualifying exam to be accepted into the GED program, but continues to provide tutoring, at no cost, throughout the program.
“We realize that coming from Chasidishe yeshivas their math and English skills may not be at the highest level, so we provide tutoring, at our cost, because we want students to succeed,” said Rosenrauch.
B’Derech founder Mrs. Ruchie Freier praised Bramson ORT for their extreme dedication to the Jewish community.
“Bramson ORT has their finger on the pulse of our community,” Mrs. Freier told VIN News. “They literally keep coming to me and asking me what else they can do to serve the Jewish community and in fact, starting a women’s program was their idea.”
While at first Mrs. Freier felt that most girls in the Chasidishe community had high school diplomas, she soon discovered that there were many women who were in need of a GED program in order to find meaningful employment.
“There are women who married off their children but never got a diploma,” explained Mrs. Freier. “There are schools that just don’t offer diplomas and girls who didn’t pass their regents. Now these women can get their GEDs at the same time that they are earning college credits. Since Bramson ORT was originally founded to help immigrants, they do exceptionally well with those for whom English is a second language, which includes many members of the Chasidishe community.”
The B’Derech women’s program will begin with the Spring 2012 semester and will offer morning courses for women in accounting, business and medical and billing coding.
B’Derech will be holding an open house on Sunday, December 11th at the Bramson ORT campus located at 8109 Bay Parkway. The women’s program will run from 11 AM – 1 PM and the men’s program will follow from 3-5 PM. For more information contact B’Derech at 917-509-9518 or email [email protected].
Kol Hakovod to them! They’re doing a great service to the Jewish nation.
May Hashem bless them with great hatzlocho.
It takes 3 Semesters for a GED, and only 1 for an Associates. No wonder today’s graduates are so clueless. We have dumbed down education so that almost ayone can get a degree. Its also why many states are beginnig to require Masters degrees for many professions that are certificate/license based.
I wish them nothing but the best, but I have a question: How is it that an associates degree in just about anything takes 2 years at a junior college, and they can do it in just one additional semester? Something is odd..
What is the point of making our kids smart? By having a degree in something we will lose an entire generation to the kollel movement. The economy stinks so even with this new knowledge our kids will have won’t do anything. We should really think hard before wanting to educate our children.
Interesting that when needed, non frum organizations are utilized. ORT is definitely not a frum group although the work that they do around the world for Yidden is amazing. If these students didn’t need these high school diplomas, would they have anything at all to do with an ORT program? What about a Hadassah program or a B’nai B’rith program? Probably not. In any event, best of luck to these students in achieving their GED’s.
maybe its time that the chasidisha and yeshivisha (for those that don’t know lakewood high schools do not have a secular education) start having some secular studies. Most of those boys in 9th grade cannot sit and learn a whole day anyway and just waste their time. What’s so trief about them learning a little algebra ?
A GED is only good if the student’s English communications skills are up to par. I have interviewed several of these students and they just didn’t have an acceptable command of the English language. If they are going to work outside of their neighborhood, they need to read and speak English!
It’s very nice what ORT is doing, however the Chassidishe schools should have a secular program, afterall they are living in a secular country.
I teach 8th grade students in a local litvish yeshiva. Sadly, these boys who for the most part come from better backgrounds are totally clueless. They focus primarily on Kodesh and are taught from an early age that English subjects are only in place because they haven’t the option to disallow it.
I fear for my students – from years past to current. Many of them, even the smarter ones, will have a difficult time making it, out in the open world. A portion of them can’t even complete a single sentence without a MAJOR mistake. It doesn’t get easier in HS.
It’s time for the yeshivas to wake up and realize that these very boys will be their supporters one day.
Bottom line: No education, No knowledge, No job, No parnasah, strained marital situations, etc…. Need I go on??
Then again….
In order to get a GED from NY State, you have to be at least 19 years old and either take the GED exam OR have 24 college credits in specific areas (eg, American history and English). There are a number of colleges that will admit students straight out of 11th grade; once these students finish their first year of college, they can ask the NY State Education Department for a GED (provided that they have fulfilled the requirements). So, it these are NOT high-school courses for a college degree.