(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

Jewish Education and Culture
69
44. Or Menachem, also known as Donetsk School #99, is housed in a large former
general public school building located in a remote area of the city. Established 15 years
ago by Chabad, its current enrollment in grades one through eleven is 153, a significant
decline from an enrollment of 256 when the writer last visited the school in 2005. All but
two or three pupils are halachically Jewish, said school officials. According to Principal
Zinaida Skamrodina, Or Menachem enjoys a good reputation in the city and its pupils
do very well on state examinations. Graduates of Or Menachem, said Ms. Skamrodina,
attend universities and colleges in Donetsk and Odesa, and some girls attend Beit
Chana in Dnipropetrovsk. Included in the regular enrollment figures are 14 girls in a
religious machon and 14 boys in a yeshiva katana. Almost all of the youngsters in the
more intensive religious programs are children of rabbis.
Five Israeli teachers, one of whom is supported by the Israeli Heftzibah program, are
responsible for the Jewish studies program at Or Menachem. At minimum, said Ms.
Skamrodina, pupils in the regular curriculum have five class periods in Jewish studies
each week, including lessons in Hebrew language, Jewish tradition, and Jewish history.
In response to a comment by the writer regarding the advanced computer technology
courses that she remembered from her previous visits to the school, the writer was
shown the current computer facility, which little resembles its previous sophistication.
Somehow, an earlier relationship with ORT had been severed and the school lacked
resources to replicate ORT equipment and the ORT curriculum. Or Menachem retains
14 computers, most of which are 12 years old. Only six of the computers are
operational, said an instructor. The obsolescence of the computers and related
equipment means that the level of computer technology taught at the school is very low.
The computer technology instructor and Ms. Skamrodina estimated that 85 percent of
school families have computers at home
and that all such families are on the Internet.
Or Menachem uses e-mail and the Internet
for some communications with pupil
families, they said.
Two or three students share use of a single
obsolescent computer at Or Menachem in
Donetsk due to a lack of modern technology.
Photo: the writer.
Very few parents assist the school financially, said Ms. Skamrodina in response to a
question. However, she noted, some with applicable skills help to repair damage to the
facility. The largest outside source of financial assistance, she continued, is the Avi
Chai foundation, which provides funding for two annual Shabbatons. Avi Chai used to