Repairing The World We Live In: The Tikkun Olam Club at the Emery Weiner School

At the Emery Weiner School, community service means more than just accumulating the required service hours. Tikkun Olam, the Hebrew word for repairing the world, is one of the core values of the school and is carried out by every student on campus. This is ensured by the Tikkun Olam Club, a group of 20 upper-school students who dedicate time to planning service events for students.

Meeting every Tuesday during lunch, the Tikkun Olam club works diligently to organize opportunities for students to participate in community service events throughout Houston. These work meetings allow each board member to plan meaningful projects. As Sadie Schwartz, a sophomore on the Tikkun Olam Board shares, “Weekly Tikkun Olam meetings are more than just a check-in. It’s the root of our mission to bring kindness, awareness, and change to our community”.

To maintain student participation, the Tikkun Olam club must spread awareness about service opportunities. This is primarily done through the TKO Weekly, an email sent out each Friday afternoon. The TKO Weekly contains information about upcoming service project for the next month. In addition to the TKO Weekly, news of upcoming events is shared across social media. The Tikkun Olam page on Instagram already has over 100 posts, typically flyers with details regarding approaching events. Kate Burke, the director of social media for the Tikkun Olam Club shares, “I think the best part about TKO's Instagram is how powerful it is in spreading awareness about upcoming events. It allows us board members a point of contact to inform Emery's community and garner greater attendance at our events.”

Emery Weiner students volunteering at the Food Bank. (Photo: Tikkun Olam EWS Instagram)

The majority of events planned with the Tikkun Olam club occur with outside organizations throughout the city. Each member of the club is assigned to one of 8 committees such as food insecurity and care for the elderly. Each committee is then responsible for planning two events throughout the semester, resulting in a diverse range of service events available to students. Already this semester, the Tikkun Olam Club has planned over 30 service events.

Another aspect of the Tikkun Olam Club is planning in school events for students. These projects are commonly held during lunch, and are an easy and accessible way for students to get service hours. On December 6, the Tikkun Olam club hosted a “Mitzvah Monday,” a one-hour block during the school day where all students were required to participate in one of three service projects. These projects range from making dog toys to decorating Hanukkah cards.

Club president, Emily Newman, explains, “Mitzvah Monday reminds us that service can bring our community together in a powerful way. Our school offers many ways to earn service hours, yet that can often pull people in different directions. When we all participate in TKO on campus, we connect with each other and strengthen the bonds within Emery. I believe there is no better way to build real relationships than through meaningful acts of service.”