By Aryeh Karan-
Over the years at Ida Crown, the number of boarding students in our school has been steadily on the rise. Boarding students provide many benefits to our school. They add more diversity to our student population, while also allowing Chicago students to widen their circle of friends. But being a boarding student can also be challenging for the students.
Eli Weiss, a freshman boarding student and avid skateboarder from LA, said the hardest part of being a boarder was leaving his home and adjusting to living with a new boarding family. “Overall, I enjoy being at the school, but the hardest part of boarding at ICJA, is procrastinating especially when you don’t have your parents making sure you’re staying on task.”
When boarding, you have to learn time management skills. He advises anyone who is thinking about boarding in the future not to give in to procrastination, and “don’t give in your West Civ homework a week after it is due.”
Another boarding student, Phillip Maiman from Milwaukee, also shared his experiences as a boarder. He chose to come to ICJA because there were no schools near him that he wanted to attend. The schools that were near him, were either too small, or too intense for him. He was worried at first coming into a new school with new students, but soon it became really easy to make new friends and he had a lot of fun. The biggest challenge he faces is transportation.
“I can’t drive yet,” he said, “so it’s really hard to get from place to place.”
But, he does believe that the boarding experience will help him mature and become more prepared for college in the future, an experience that he would not have had living at home.
Phillip’s father, Mr. Mark Maiman, agreed with his son that the biggest challenge has been transportation. “Phillip lives with another boarding senior,” he said, “so transportation has been easier for him than other students, but it has still been a challenge. I worry about making sure he has rides to and from school.”
He chose ICJA for his son because he wanted the best education for his son. “We thought this was the best option for his education. ICJA has a first-class Judaic and secular education. Plus, being at a Jewish school, he can participate in all extracurricular activities because they don’t interfere with Shabbat,” Mr. Maiman said.
There are many other people that are involved in making sure a boarding student’s experience is successful.
Eli and Ayelet Kleinman, parents of four, generously opened their home to two boarding students this year. “My kids love it,” Mrs. Kleinman said, “especially my oldest son. It is like they have two older brothers that they can play with and can be great role models for them.”
Opening their home is not something new to the Klienmans. “We’ve always had family or friends living in our basement,” Klienman stated, “Our basement was open, and the opportunity to host boarders arose. We saw it as an opportunity to do chesed, giving students an opportunity to go to school in Chicago that they may not have had otherwise.”
When a student chooses to board at Ida Crown, they have no idea what will happen, and they may face challenges. But the community at ICJA is a warm, inviting one. The non-boarding students at Ida Crown continue to help with the transition to help borders get more accustomed to the school.
“I’d rather be living at home. Living away from home is hard,” says Weiss. “But, adjusting to the school was easy. I didn’t have to work hard in order to meet new people.”
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