Liana Kahan, a rising junior at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, is no stranger to the world of individuals with special needs. Her oldest brother, Elie, is on the autism spectrum.
So when her school sent an email to new students about getting involved with the girls at SINAI Shalem at Ma’ayanot, Liana was happy to sign up.
“We have so much to learn from different people,” Liana said. Moreover, the SINAI students “give as much, if not more” back to their mainstream peers.
Areas of involvement include, but are not limited to, serving as a Lunch Buddy or ‘chevra’ to a SINAI student, participating in the weekly Lev Café fundraiser run by students from both schools and even performing in Ma’ayanot’s annual Heartbeats performance together. As part of SINAI’s “Inclusion by Design” model, students at all of SINAI’s schools have numerous opportunities to spend time with mainstream students at their partner schools, including, as appropriate for the individual SINAI student, joining mainstream academic classes, having lunch and recess together, or even going on combined class trips.
Liana has plunged into volunteering, serving as a weekly Lunch Buddy to a SINAI student. She and some friends took their involvement to a higher level this past year: they created a weekly learning program “b’chavruta” style in which they spent a period each week learning one on one with their peers from SINAI, after having brainstormed ideas for accessible texts with SINAI’s director Ilana Picker and Ma’ayanot Dean of Students Bailey Braun. “It was really cool and it was a unique opportunity,” Liana said. With one girl, she learned topics ranging from Pirkei Avot to Hebrew reading.
Nor was Liana’s involvement limited to the confines of the school day. In November she traveled on a Ma’ayanot-SINAI bus to Washington, D.C., for the March for Israel rally, spending the day and evening with her peers from both schools. On many Shabbatot she would also hang out with some of her peers, both Ma’ayanot and SINAI students alike, that attend the same shul as her.
Liana has also learned to appreciate the unique qualities of SINAI students by participating in a schoolwide Lev HaShavua program, where students discuss their religious growth and personal challenges in a “safe” setting facilitated by Judaic studies teachers. Joined by SINAI students, “it was absolutely eye opening and incredible to hear” some of their experiences — and struggles. “This was a whole new level.”
“It’s definitely not a chesed project,” Liana said of Ma’ayanot students’ involvement with SINAI. “People genuinely want to build a relationship with SINAI students.”
“Liana is authentic,” said SINAI’s Picker. “She treats our students as she would any other human being — just as they are. She doesn’t patronize them but is a true friend. Her kindness stretches to anyone in her path. We love having her as part of our Ma’ayanot/SINAI group; she gives so much to our students and elevates our learning.”
“It definitely helped me in my conversations with people different from me, and I hope it did the same for them,” said Liana, who spent her summer in Israel on Yachad’s Yad B’Yad program, which brings together teens with and without disabilities on a five-week inclusive travel adventure; some of the SINAI girls were also on the same trip.
“There are always going to be people that are different from you,” Liana said. “If we work hard enough, we can use our strengths to make sure everyone is heard” and included.
Photo at top: Liana Kahan, third from left, with Ma’ayanot and SINAI students, show their support for Israel at the March for Israel Rally in Washington, D.C.