Melton returns to Melbourne
AFTER a two-year absence, the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is resurfacing in Melbourne, under an agreement between Melton and Jewish Care, which will offer Victorians the opportunity to enrol in the acclaimed two-year undergraduate program in Jewish studies.
AFTER a two-year absence, the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is resurfacing in Melbourne, under an agreement between Melton and Jewish Care, which will offer Victorians the opportunity to enrol in the acclaimed two-year undergraduate program in Jewish studies.
Jewish Care has signed to take on the Melbourne franchise, one of more than 60 franchises of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School worldwide.
Founded in 1986 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ), the Melton program currently has 5500 students enrolled internationally. It was launched in Victoria in 1996 in association with the Jewish Museum of Australia, but courses ended in 2010 when the museum revised its adult education programming.
Jewish Care has appointed its youth engagement manager, Emma Boyar, 26, as Melton director. Boyar has worked in New York with the Clinton Global Initiative and with Australian not-for-profit group Mercy Health.
“We hope it will be a resource across the community,” Boyar told The AJN.
“Obviously our staff will be able to use the courses and we’ll possibly be creating curriculums for other care providers and for our carers as well.”
“Education is an integral component of building strength and resilience in our community,” said Jewish Care CEO Bill Appleby.
“Providing numerous services and educational programs for our community, we are in a unique position to operate Melton Melbourne.”
Melbourne’s Sandy Benjamin, a member of Melton’s international board, said Jewish Care sees the Melton program as “an investment in the Jewish community”.
“Everybody has a right to
education, particularly Jewish education, so they want to embrace that for the community and bring it in, looking at the community in general, their employees, their volunteers, the consultancy they do for The Alfred Hospital and for Cabrini. They want to expand the scope of Jewish learning in the community,” she told The AJN.
The Melton program will be relaunched next month, with courses beginning in February next year. Visiting for the launch will be Israeli educator Dr Howard Deitcher, director of the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and a senior lecturer at HUJ’s School of Education.
During his visit, he will also consult with several Jewish schools and promote the PJ Library, a worldwide service that mails free, high-quality Jewish-themed books and music CDs to children aged six months to six years.
PETER KOHN
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