In time for the Passover holiday, FJC’s Darkeinu is running another seasonal contest, this time aimed at getting students of Jewish schools throughout the FSU actively involved in the story of the holiday. The contest, named Mega Pesach, asks students to submit their own original composition on the theme of exodus from Egypt. The composition may be an essay, a short story or even a poem.

“The goal is to have the students contemplate what exodus from Egypt really means for them personally, to internalize the story and also approach it creatively,” said Mrs. Sarah Vernick, Darkeinu’s projects coordinator.

The contest winners will be awarded valuable prizes consisting of digital devices and gadgets. The contestants are divided into two groups: those under 10 years of age, and those between 10 to 18. Darkeinu is the developer of Jewish heritage educational curriculum for the FSU. Besides creating textbooks, classroom study materials and the subjects’ curriculum, Darkeinu also makes sure to develop extra-curricular activities around the coursework in order to raise the level of involvement and enthusiasm for the subjects. Among its extra-curricular activities are the annual Olympics contest, which tests the Jewish tradition knowledge among students throughout the region and the seasonal Mega contests tied to every Jewish holiday.

Mega Pesach entrees have to be completed by April 20th and the winners will be determined in May.