About Us

 

The Elaine and Norm Brodsky Darkaynu Programs were developed for religious young men and women with special needs who are looking for the perfect way to spend a year in Israel. The program is designed for students who want to continue their learning, develop vocational skills, build independence, improve self-esteem and expand their love of Israel and the Jewish people.

Darkaynu is a unique program that "sidestreams" with typically developing students on one campus. It is an intimate program that is professionally staffed, highly structured and aims to meet the individual, special needs of its students.

 

 

 

What We Offer

Vocational Training
A major focus of Darkaynu's skills-training will be vocationally based. It is our goal to help our students develop a set of work ethics, job skills and the interpersonal skills necessary for them to be successful in a work environment. Our morning schedule revolves around prevocational skills training as well as placement in a work setting. Students will have the opportunity to develop hands on job skills and receive individual supervision by trained job coaches. Travel training will be included.

Chessed – Hands on Volunteer Work
Darkaynu is founded in tradition of "Lilmod U'Laasot", to learn and to do. Alongside our learning philosophy is our belief in the importance of giving back to the community we live in. We have therefore set up exciting volunteer programs for our students in which they will have the opportunity to actualize classroom lessons and improve interpersonal skills while building self-esteem and midot.

Life Skills
At OTS Darkaynu we stress the importance of building skills that will help our students be successful and happy members of their respective communities. Students will participate in courses which focus on interpersonal relationships, organizational skills and independent living skills. Opportunities will be arranged to apply skills to areas such as money management, phone conversations, time management, personal hygiene and making new friends

Learning
Our learning program is geared towards the individual skills of each Darkaynu participant. Students attend daily classes focusing on areas such as Chumash, Hilchot kashrut, Shabbat and Moadim. In addition, chavruta learning is an integral part of our study, as students are paired with mainstream students for study on a topic of interest to them both.

 

For more information, please visit our website.