Global Programs | ORT Milestones | Young Leadership | Travel

Spotlight On ORT
Montreuil

THE HEART OF FRENCH ORT, PEELING PAINT
AND ALL

By Nancy Guri Duncan

ORT Montreuil is proof of the old adage that you can t judge a book by its cover.
The building, a former spaghetti factory bought by French ORT in 1947, is old and dilapidated. Paint is peeling, metal is rusting, and tiles are breaking under the tramp of 630 high school and college students and 250 adult education students. Classrooms are small and the young students must share space with the adult students. It's clear why a major renovation project is in the works.

But open the book s cover for a very different picture of ORT Montreuil, the vocational and technical high school, college and adult education center in Paris. The classrooms, though small, are excellently equipped. Students are dedicated and motivated. Teachers are enthusiastic, well-trained and involved with their students. The building may need the upcoming renovations desperately, but the heart of the school its students and teachers is beating strongly, each year producing graduates skilled in the latest technology and certain of how to translate those skills into meaningful careers.

"This school is indispensable for the Jewish community in France," Director David Lhayani said. "It's the only technical Jewish institution in the area, and it helps students from poorer backgrounds and those without proper training. We at ORT Montreuil know how to help these students. If our school didn't exist, many of them would be lost."

The success of ORT Montreuil is evident in excellent test results and immediate job placement. "None of these students knows anything about computer accounting skills when they arrive. When they leave, they know everything," said one of the teachers of a computerized accounting class. "And they all find work after they leave." She said 90 percent of the students are hired right after graduating, and that the 10 percent who don't get jobs have chosen not to work for one reason or another.

The carpentry teacher displays a photograph of a formerly homeless man who came to ORT Montreuil form the streets. "We saved him," she said. "He now has a job and a small apartment full of furniture he built himself."

ORT Montreuil is the largest of the seven ORT schools in France. It is also the oldest in two senses: It was the first opened, and it occupies the oldest building of the ORT schools. A very small school existed before World War II in the 18th arrondisement of Paris. During the war, students from that early school, along with their director, joined the Resistance.

After the war, when the Jewish community was coping with the tragedies of deportations and displaced people, it was of great urgency to help survivors get job training and rebuild their lives. A building in the nearby Paris suburb of Montreuil was found, and the ORT Montreuil School was born. This early school offered training primarily in manual skills such as sewing, carpentry and welding.

The curriculum has changed dramatically since then. Of the artisan skills, only carpentry is still taught in the school. Students today are training to become accountants, bilingual secretaries, electricians, maintenance technicians, computer specialists and more, and all are using the newest and most advanced technology in their studies. All computers are connected to the Internet, and students have their own e-mail addresses. In one classroom, the computers are so new that the boxes they arrived in are still piled up in a corner.

The students at Montreuil are from Paris and the surrounding suburbs. Though the school is open to all, 90 percent of the students are Jewish. That this is a Jewish school all students have two hours of Hebrew and two hours of Jewish history weekly is a major attraction for many.

"I wanted a private school not far from where I live, where the religious holidays would be celebrated," said Johanna Zenou, 19, who says she knew the excellent reputation of the school from her uncle, who had taught there. "I'm very happy here," she said. "The teachers are great. I especially like the individual attention from the teachers and the fact that we need to come to class." French universities are too free, she says, and there is little or no supervision of students.

William Nahum said he came to ORT Montreuil because he had a good friend at the school who raved about it. "He was right," said Nahum, 22. "Here we have really good teachers and an excellent computer program." Though Nahum will not graduate until the end of this year, he has already begun developing a database program for the Maison France-Israel in Paris. He plans to work after graduating while continuing his studies at night to become an engineer.

ORT Montreuil makes such advancement possible through "bridges," a remedial teaching program that gives students the background they need to work toward a higher degree. Fabrice Hagege, 23, who has spent seven years at the school, crossed one of those bridges and will soon earn a graduate degree in accounting. He is a second-generation ORT Montreuil student both his father and aunt attended the school.
When asked about the proposed renovations for the school, and whether he isn't disappointed that he will graduate before they are done, Hagege replied, "They'll be for my children!"

The proposed renovation, which will cost an estimated $8 or $9 million, will give the school a nearly complete facelift. The plan is to enlarge classrooms, redo facades and install new heating. There will also be a general reorganization of the school to divide the high school and college classes from the adult training programs.

"The buildings may be old," Director Lhayani said, "but the atmosphere is friendly, and we are all interested and involved in the success of our students. With renovation, the atmosphere will be even better!"

One feature of the renovation obviously dear to Lhayani's heart is the terraces that will be added to each floor so that students can socialize and relax between classes.

The renovation work is expected to begin as soon as the Regional Council gives the green light, which should be " in January or April," Lhayani said. There are no plans to close the school since the building will be renovated in stages.

Some things will remain the same. The carpentry shop is a holdover from the first days of the school. It is still popular, particularly with the adult students, many of whom are jobless people directed to ORT Montreuil by the State Employment Agency. The carpentry teacher told of a homeless man who had been sent to the school. Now he has a job and a small apartment full of furniture he built himself. "We saved him," said the teacher, proudly displaying a photograph of the former student with his handiwork.

The continuing success of ORT Montreuil speaks for itself. This past June, two months earlier than usual, the school was already at full capacity for enrollment for the 1998-1999 school year.

Visit ORT Montreuil s web site at www.ort.asso.fr/ort.htm.

Nancy Guri Duncan lives in Paris.


  news | calendar | about us | snapshots | join ORT | home