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Shalom Sabag, a junior at Kohelet Yeshiva High School,

connects wires to a sensor that will be used to detect how

far away an object is.

Engineering Young Inventors atKoheletMAY 14, 2014

By: Lynda Dell, JE Feature

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Morning prayers echo through

the halls of Kohelet Yeshiva

High School in Lower Merion.

The first bell rings,

interrupting the solemnity

with the sound of students

scrambling to class.

Thirteen of them land in the

engineering lab, where they

quickly begin flipping through

schematics and copious notes

as instructor Michael Sizer

grills them on the mechanics

of building an ultrasonic

sensor that will detect exactly how far away an object is.

Then, these 11th graders are off on the tedious process of connecting

circuit boards, wires and bulbs. The last step involves layering in and

coding multiple computer programs to make sure that the finished product actually works — a task

that doesn’t always go smoothly, especially since Sizer doesn’t simply dole out the answers.

“We are here all the time,” said Harry Esses, 17. “This is the only class I come to on my free time. The

best part is the challenge after you know the basics.”

Esses has become so engrossed in the program that he sends his family pictures and videos of what

he’s working on. And he’s even started discussing plans to attend an engineering school.

“We build something new every day by applying what we have learned.”

Soon, these aspiring inventors will travel to Lawrence, N.Y., to show off their projects at a May 21

conference with other Jewish day schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that teach the

same engineering class in partnership with the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education.

The New York City-based nonprofit known as CIJE was established in 2001 to license, develop and

adapt Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs for day schools using

curriculum modeled after the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network. The programs are now being taught

at more than 120 institutions around the country, from Orthodox yeshivas to Conservative schools.

Kohelet began offering the CIJE-Tech High School Engineering Program for juniors two years ago.

Politz Hebrew Academy is the only other local day school that runs a CIJE program, in its case, for

middle schoolers.

CIJE pays for the curriculum, equipment and training, which includes sending teachers to the largest

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independent network of science and technology schools in Israel as well as regular visits from an

engineering mentor. Altogether, that can cost about $55,000 a year, but CIJE charges Kohelet only

$5,000, said interim principal Rabbi Rafi Eis.

“This is a very significant cost,” said Jason Curry, president of CIJE. “But if we want our kids to get a

21st century education, then we have to put the effort and money into it.”

David Weinberg, a scientific engineering specialist from New York City, visits Kohelet twice a week

to assist the kids.

“Students want to feel the science in their hands,” said Weinberg, who also mentors students in the

center’s engineering programs in New York and New Jersey. “They want to see the science come to

life — and I think that’s what CIJE-Tech does for them.”

Eis attributes the success of Kohelet’s engineering program to science teacher Sizer.

“He has put in an incredible amount of time and energy to make this program happen,” Eis said.

“When you talk about STEM education — we all have had the science and the math. But he has really

taken the “E” in engineering for the CIJE-Tech program and made it what it needs to be.”

At Kohelet, each engineering team works independently at a designated station, which enables

members to specialize in certain skills and collaborate just like actual engineers would.

“What makes it fun for the students is that I try to take the current technology that they use in their

lives and apply it to this course,” explained Sizer.

For example, they learned how the components of a smartphone work and then built a rudimentary

one that emulated the touch screen on their phones.

“They actually put the components of a touch screen underneath a piece of a glass, which detects

when you touch the glass,” Sizer said.

Recently, Sizer’s students also built speakers using coils of wire and magnets.

“When you buy speakers, you get a box but have no idea what is going on inside,” Sizer said. “By

starting with the individual parts and putting them together, you develop a good grasp of how it

really works.”

Zoe Abboudi, 16, said she enjoys the challenge of building and then testing electronic devices.

“It is very interactive and really keeps your attention because you are always doing things,” Abboudi

said. “You create things, figure out how it works and apply it.”

Her team, named ZAM after members Zoe Abboudi, Anna Schuman and Meital Zimbalist, is building

a speaker and amplifier that automatically adjusts the volume depending on how far away the listener

is from the sensor.

“So if you walk out of your room it will play your song louder, and if you walk too far away, it will

turn it off,” explained Zimbalist.

To test their devices, the students pass their hands in front of the sensor, hoping to see the calculated

distance appear on the LCD screen.

“Oh, that is so cool!” a triumphant Abboudi shouts when her team finally gets a reading.

“ZAM team is back!” she crows, punctuating their success with a victory dance.

Esses is working on a sensor to attach to a car bumper that would convey exactly how close it is to

another vehicle or obstacle.

“We found an everyday problem and asked, ‘How can we use our engineering knowledge and skills to

benefit the world?’ ”

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