The final week of winter break saw 12 students living together in the
Brown RISD Hillel building. They were participating in an Alternative
Winter Break (AWB) working at the Providence Highlander charter school
(K-8). During the week, Brown & RISD students facilitated all of
the after school activities, focusing on themes of peace and conflict
resolution in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. When the student
volunteers were not at the school, there was time for learning and
reflection, communal meals, and evening activities designed to build
community. The students learned about the variety of types of public
schools, and Rabbi Rackover taught about Tzedek and the Jewish value of
engaging in learning and teaching. Organizer Spencer Fields '12 said
of the week, "The educational experience was so much more than the
learning and volunteering; we learned about the city of Providence, the
educational system, and each other as individuals - and we had a blast
while doing it."