Jewish Day School, DU School Psychologist Work Toward Being
Mensch With shared commitments to spiritual and religious
values, Catholic Duquesne University and the Jewish Community
Day School in Squirrel Hill have forged a partnership that
strengthens both institutions. It's all about being a mensch-a
Yiddish term that connotes an upright person in the community-
and finding a disciplinary system to reward and support 274
K-8th-grade students, in keeping with Jewish laws and
traditions. Dr. Kara McGoey, associate professor of school
psychology in Duquesne's School of Education's Department of
Counseling, Psychology and Special Education, has worked for two
years with Avi Munro, head of school for Community Day School,
and the school's educational staff on the plan to reward
children for doing the right thing. "Avi saw this curriculum and
thought it would work, but it was more main stream, not based on
Jewish law and traditions," McGoey said. "Positive behavior
support is my background, but I didn't know anythin