BeYachad

Calgary Jewish Federation Reps Participate in Galilee Computer Center Inauguration

Representatives from the Calgary Jewish Federation participated in a moving inauguration ceremony of the newly opened computer center in the village of Yesod Hama'ala in the Galilee Panhandle at the beginning of June 2007. The idea to establish a computer center in the village was presented by local leaders to representatives of the Calgary Jewish Federation during a visit to Yesod Hama'ala just over a year ago. One of the first five settlements established in Israel, in 1883, Yesod Hama'ala has fallen on hard times.

Recently faced with a leadership and economic crisis, Yesod Hama'ala's town could no longer provide services for its citizens, and its community center had been closed for quite a while, reopening only shortly before the Calgary visit. Half of its children no longer attend the local elementary school, instead attending other schools scattered throughout the region. Its teens also attend various high schools in the region. Thus, the community's youngsters don't have the opportunity tot get to know each other, and there was no sense of communal belonging or responsibility. Last summer's war only compounded the difficulties facing the village.

UIA-Canada communities including the Calgary Jewish community, Atlantic Canada and Winnipeg; the Sacta-Rashi Foundation; the Israel Venture Network; the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco and Partnership 2000 of the Jewish Agency - all partners in the BeYachad initiative - pledged their assistance to programs drawn up by the local community that would address Yesod Hama'ala's problems.

A major element of these programs was an ambitious one - the establishment of a computer room that would provide services for children, adolescents and adults, and serve to unify the community, via a community wide newspaper, a documentation project linking the generations, etc. On Thursday, June 14, 2007, in a very moving ceremony, visitors from Calgary helped affix the mezuzah on the doorpost of the brand-new computer room, and were the first to boot up the computers. Calgary representatives were: Marilyn Libin, Lenny Shapiro, Laura Martin, Donna Riback, Myrna Linder, and Lance Davis. They watched a Power Point presentation describing the organizational efforts underway, and the plans for utilizing the computers to help unify the community. Some of the pictures included in the presentation showed young Canadian volunteers who had helped to clear the room and set it up for the computers only a few months ago.

The visitors from Calgary were also very impressed by the local youngsters whom they met, representatives of the local cadre of future leaders, who will be using the computers and are eager to start training as junior counsellors. During the past year, as many people remarked during the visit, a palpable change has taken place in the community. A new Community Board has met for the first time, and begun to outline future plans. The most tangible and visible achievement of this partnership in Yesod Hama'ala is the computer room. As the community center director, Liat Bar-Noy Fleishman remarked, it is really "A dream come true".

Welcome to the BeYachad Blog

BeYachad is a partnership of the Israel Venture Network, the Sacta-Rashi Foundation, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, and the Jewish Agency for Israel- Partnership 2000-UIA Canada Coast to Coast Communities.  The mission of BeYachad is to raise student achievement while advancing the management capabilities and culture within the education system in the Upper Galilee of Israel.  The program focuses on training teachers, principals and municipal leaders to create a systemic shift in how the education system functions as a whole. 

The initiative is now entering its fourth year of operation during the 2006-7 school year and we have already begun to see significant results in the area of student achievement and a shift in the management culture.

This weblog will provide monthly updates on one of the 40+ programs that BeYachad is supporting in the region.  We welcome your feedback and thank you for your support.

The Education for Active Citizenship Program

Two girls sat in front of the main office of Mezudot Elementary School in Kiryat Shemona awaiting the arrival of the children from the Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangariya.  The excitement in their eyes and the nervousness of their feet said it all. On this sunny winter morning, the two schools were meeting to culminate the first part of a year-long program aimed at teaching civics in a unique fashion.

BeYachad is sponsoring the Active Citizenship program, developed by the Israel Venture Network and the New Israel Fund, in eleven schools in the Galilee Panhandle. The program, involving children from grades two to twelve, emphasizes the practical side of Democracy, involvement and citizenship in Israel.  The program empowers the children to take on social action activities to help their community. In addition, the program promotes teacher training and the promotion of civics in all grades. Among the current projects that the children themselves have initiated are visiting hospitals; visiting homes for Senior citizens; volunteer work; and the adoption of a problem neighbourhood in Kiryat Shemona, which includes picnics with the residents and cleaning the streets. One of the most moving projects is the adoption of a high school girl in need of a kidney transplant. The children have been fundraising, speaking with the press and will be holding a cultural fundraising and awareness evening for her this month.

Fiaez Zangariya, the coordinator of the program in from Tuba-Zangariya and a teacher at Yesodi Bet there said, “There has been a big change in the students since the Active Citizenship program started. They are more connected to the country – less apathetic towards learning about Democracy. Now they want to know everything. All the classes are very practical and the children search from answers and don’t just absorb what I give them.”

The meeting between the two schools began with the children from Tuba joining Mezodot classrooms where the students had the opportunity to ask each other questions, such as: “What kind of customs do you have? Where do you pray? Where does the name of your town come from? and what books do you read?

Gal, a fourth grade boy from Mezudot, said, “I was really excited about this meeting. They were funny. Even though I couldn’t understand one of the boys, he was very funny. Some day I’d like to visit there.”

Following this encounter, the children all went to experience an Active Recess, where sports and games were played on the playground. “One of the reasons I wanted to have this meeting of the two schools,” said Smadar Rozenfeld, the IVN coordinator of the program, “was to have the staff and children see what a successful Active Recess with limited means can be.”

“The teacher’s are doing a fabulous job with this program. It’s a great program, and because of the sponsors there is cooperation between all of the organizations,’ said Smadar.

“The kids used to do only activities for our school,” said Yael, a teacher at Mezudot,  “the children worked to improve the school – now, because of the program, there has been a change in attitude and they want to do things for the community and the country.”

Mercaz Em Kiryat Shemona: Enrichment Center for Kindergarten Age Children

The children’s books of Israeli writer Paul Kor have become the inspiration for a fascinating program in Kiryat Shemona made possible by Beyachad contributions and involvement.

Over 600 children from 20 kindergartens in Kiryat Shemona and Metulla arrive every three weeks to participate in this program, which integrates learning environments from the sciences, the arts, music and theater.

The highly professional staff takes Paul Kor’s stories and breaks them down into theater, arts and crafts, music and scientific understanding. Then, with the children, they put it all back together, experiencing aspects of life they could not learn without such integration. One thing that is apparent while watching the six staff members interact with the children – they love their work.

Miri Gross, the director of the center and science instructor is proud of the value of what the children experience.  “Everything we offer them here, they can’t get in their kindergartens. We couldn’t do this without the help of Beyachad and the city of

Kiryat Shemona

. Last year we were down to two areas of learning due to lack of funds. Now we have four.”

The children arrive at the center after preparation in their kindergartens. They read and learn the story and can easily relate to the characters when they begin their work in the center. With the help of the Information, Measurement & Evaluation unit initiated by BeYachad, the staff was able to define their goals and create a brilliant program.

And the program, which accepts two kindergartens a day, is meeting its educational objectives. 

“We love to activate the kids, help them get into the characters we’re working with and have them learn to work the puppets,” Batya Rivah, the puppet theater instructor said. “It’s great for the kids’ personal development.”

Osnat Weiss, art teacher who studied at Beit Berl and the Rijksakdemie in Amsterdam, said, “Everything here is connected – from the story and the theater to science and art – it’s all tied together to day to day life.”

Five large, beautifully arranged rooms house the project. Each aspect of the program has its own space and the building includes a playroom where the children can release extra energy between tasks.

“My dream now is to develop the area around the building – plant a garden,” said Miri. “And we’d   also love to have a web site to show our work.”

For many, after six years the current operation of the center is already a dream come true.

Batya summed it up saying, “After the war, this is a great way to cheer-up the children of Kiryat Shemona.”

Sde Eliezar After School Care for at Risk Children

After entering the After School Care center at Sde Eliezar, it takes just a few minutes to begin to feel the energy of the building. Three rooms house three age groups of elementary school children who are brought together twice a week in order to have a positive experience in a safe and nurturing   atmosphere.

At first, it seems that this is just another ASC in northern Israel, but at closer look, the uniqueness of the center becomes clear.

What all of the 25 children who attend the Sde Eliezar center have in common is that they have all been identified as children at risk in need of additional care and treatment. Some of the children come from families in financial trouble; some are neglected and often found wandering their towns at all hours; and still others have family members who have been killed in terrorist attacks. Each child is sent to the center by a social worker and is met with specially trained counselors, who work with the child from after school until six in the evening.

BeYachad provides funding for additional support staff such as youth counselors, a social worker and a psychologist.  In addition, BeYachad is assisting the staff to develop clear objectives including building individual treatment plans for each child and encouraging joint child/parent activities.

“We try to provide them a feeling of home, and that this building belongs to them – that each room, even the garden, is theirs,” said the center’s director, Ayelet, a therapy specialist.

Even the basic activities are given a therapeutic tone. Whether it is music therapy, drama therapy, private tutoring or co-ed soccer, each activity is programmed to answer specific emotional, social and scholastic needs.

“The essence of the program,” said Rakefet Reuven, the regional council coordinator of the project, is to reach each child in time.”

In addition to a hot meal, tutoring, special activities and personal attention, the children are taught to work together. 

The program makes a concerted effort to tie together all of the elements influencing the child’s life.

“We don’t want the child to feel his lives on three separate islands. It’s one world. Information passes between the home, their school, and the center – we all work together to solve individual problems. We make sure nothing falls between the cracks,” said Reuven.

When asked, the children themselves praise the center. One grade five girl who has attended Sde Eliezar for four years said that she loves soccer, because “here, the boys don’t tell us that we’re no good.”

A grade two boy, who is now in his second year of attendance boasted, “I only missed coming here once, and that was because I had to go to my aunt’s birthday, not because I chose not to come.”

BeYachad's Response to the Current Emergency

Since the outbreak of the recent hostilities, the BeYachad partners have been providing ongoing assistance to the communities in the North.

Below are links to descriptions of some of the support currently being offerred.

Sacta-Rashi Foundation - Telephone Interview with Mordechai Cohen Download interview_with_mordechai_cohen_of_sacta_aug_2_06.doc

United Israel Appeal of Canada - Telephone Interview with Michael Biton Download interview_with_michael_biton_of_canada_aug_3_06.doc

San Francisco Federation - Telephone Interview with Orna Rayn Download interview_with_orna_rayn_of_sf_aug_7_06.doc

During the current emergency, IVN has been cooperating with its partners in offering various forms of assistance as needed. Elka Amitai, who is in charge of IVN's Principal Training Course, has been acting as the Coordinator for Sacta-Rashi in Kiryat Shemona and Mevoót Hermon. IsraCorps has been assisting Sacta-Rashi with recruitment of volunteers in the North. In addition, IVN is currently preparing an initiative to assist hard-hit small businesses in the North through micro-financing and business monitoring.

Beyond these emergency-related activities, BeYachad's regular work continues - collecting results, analyzing past work, creating a work plan for the coming year, and preparing for future activities.

Read about the Hydrotherapy Pool - one of BeYachad's many ongoing projects: Download the_hydrotherapy_pool.doc

BeYachad Partners Tour the North

Representatives of the BeYachad Partners toured northern Israel on June 14th - meeting with mayors, heads of regional councils, and heads of municipal education and welfare departments - in order to learn about the successes and the plans for their BeYachad-sponsored programs. 

Representatives from UIA Canada, the Federation of San Francisco, the Sacta-Rashi Foundation and the Israel Venture Network spent the day being updated regarding over fifty-five projects in six municipalities.

The tour began with an early morning visit to the Local Council of Tuba-Zangaria, during which Mayor Hussain El-Haib and Education Director and Director of Bedouin Education at the Ministry of Education, Mohammad El-Haib, discussed with the BeYachad representatives the progress they have made in their schools as a result of BeYachad’s involvement.

“I don’t have the words to thank you,” said Mayor El-Haib to the BeYachad representatives, who all agreed that, despite the progress, there is still a great deal of work to be done in this town – which is suffering from serious economic hardships and educational difficulties.

“Tuba-Zangaria can be a flagship for changing management culture and enlisting staff to work correctly", said Ilan Hadas, Director of BeYachad.

In Yesod Hama'alah, where the local council has not been able to pay its employees for five months, BeYachad’s involvement is minimal but important, as cutbacks continue to plague the town.

Regional councils of both Mevo'ot Hermon and Upper Galilee presented detailed accounts of their activities. These councils have made significant progress in both formal and informal educational programs, but despite these advances, they highlighted the long road that lies ahead of them before they can achieve their objectives. 

In Kiryat Shmonah, where the greatest number of BeYachad’s activities is taking place, it was encouraging to see the progress made by the staff in quantitative evaluation.  In a town where one quarter of the 6500 children leave Kiryat Shmonah to receive their formal education, they are in urgent need of innovative ideas and effective tools to combat the brain drain. 

The education and social welfare staff of the town were able to present data-based decisions on issues that had never been quantified prior to BeYachad’s involvement. This included the development of programs for dealing with the town’s youth, and to setting measurable objectives to assist youth-at-risk.

As BeYachad’s programs expand in the region, these visits and discussions become increasingly important in understanding the significant improvement in evaluation culture, data-based decision making, and the development of trust between the schools and the councils.

“It was incredible to see how our suggestions have been implemented and how widely evidence-based decision-making has been accepted and is being used,” said Hadas.

Historic Meeting of BeYachad Partners in North America

For the first time, lay leaders and staff representing all of BeYachad's partners, met this May in San Francisco.  The meeting was an opportunity to review BeYachad's achievements, challenges, and future goals.  It also was an opportunity for partners to discuss additional ways to cooperate in order to advance their common agendas in the region.  Thank you to all who helped in the organization and hosting of the meetings.  Following is a list of all of the attendees:

Members of the Israel and Overseas Committee of the Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties:

Sheldon Wolfe

Maureen Samson

Eve Bernstein

Sora Lei Newman

Carol van Wijnen

Deborah Mintz

Linda Brownstein, Chair

Annette Dobbs

Brian Perlman

Evan Traeger-Muney

Orli Rinat

Barbara Farber

Anat Pilovsky

Liki Abrams

Roseanne Levitt

Brian Lurie

JCF Staff

Tom Dine, Executive Director

Gila Noam, Israel Officer Director

Dawne Bear-Novicoff, Israel and Overseas Director

Julie Gold, Israel and Overseas Associate

IVN Staff

Ayelet Tal

Joni Block

Ilan Hadas

Anat Farkas

IVN Board members

Itsik Danziger

Benny Levin

Partner representatives

Mordechay Cohen, Sacta-Rashi Foundation

Michael Biton, Coordinator for Planning and Development, United Israel Apeeal Canada, Jerusalem office

Rick Schreiber, National Chair, Coast to Coast Canada-Galilee Panhandle, Partnership 2000

Mark Gurvis, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver

The Singapore Math Project at Metsudot Elementary School in Kiryat Shemona

Watching children who are thrilled about learning is an exciting experience.  Finding children who are thrilled to learn math is absolutely mesmerizing. 

Recently, an adult leadership delegation from the Jewish Federation of Ottawa had the opportunity to witness such an event in the framework of their visit to Kiryat Shemona. 

The Singapore Math Program has been running in Israel for three years and 30,000 children have already benefited from the program.  At the Metsudot School, six classes of grades one to three take part in the program, which aims to bring Israeli children back to the International level in mathematics that they once held.

This program, supported by the BeYachad Initiative, trains schools and teachers to implement a math curriculum developed originally in Singapore, the leader in international math test results, that brings life and excitement to learning these elementary skills.  For more information on the basics of the Singapore Math Program, visit www.ifma.org.il/english .

“Children are not afraid to take chances,” said Moshe Reign, an ex-Systems Analyst turned teacher and proponent of the Singapore program.  “Math is a foreign language, and they need to take risks.”

The class opens with warm up exercises, where it is already clear that the children want to participate and to be heard.  The system teaches them step by step and makes learning math a positive experience.  When the teacher says he wants to give them something difficult, a challenging question, a cheer rises up from the children ready for anything he may throw their way. 

They not only learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but, for example, the difference between left and right.  “One of the problems that children have with math,” said Reign, “is coordination, and that’s connected to learning left from right.”

In a comparative test in which Kiryat Shemona and Tel Aviv schools participated, the Kiryat Shemona school working with the Singapore curriculum came in first (while the other schools of Kiryat Shemona came in last).

The faces of the second grade children, who know how to solve exercises that most children are only learning in grades three and four, say it all.  They have confidence and skills and want to come to class.

Active Fridays in Mevo’ot HaHermon

In the regional council of Mevo’ot HaHermon, 200 children from thirteen towns, mostly Moshavim, meet monthly for a regional event that brings together their communities, parents and children alike, in a program that connects them to nature and to the region.

During this Passover holiday, the communities have come together with local soldiers, to join in the “Spring March”, a memorial march for the fallen soldiers of Moshav Dishon. 

However, this is just one event in a series of activities within the framework of Active Fridays. 

When the area changed to a five-day school week at the beginning of this school year, working parents were hard pressed to find solutions for their young children who suddenly would be without an educational framework on Fridays. Here in Mevo’ot HaHermon, with the support of BeYachad, a program was created to address that need.  The Active Fridays program was born out of a cooperation between the regional community centers and the Moshavim Children Youth Movement.

“The main goal is to connect these children with the environment and nature,” said Yekira Levi, the coordinator of the program.  “After that, it’s important that they come together as a group.”

Every Friday, young counselors from grades nine and ten take the elementary school children in each town and provide a youth movement structure where they learn about their natural environment.  Once a month, all thirteen communities get together for a regional event, where both parents and teachers participate.

“We are very proud of the parent’s involvement in the program,” Yekira adds. 

In addition to the monthly regional activities, the parents replace the young counselors and run the Active Friday activities following monthly all-night sessions where the young counselors plan the program for the month to come. 

Each month there is a different theme that culminates in the regional event.  Last month, “Tolerance” was the theme, and a ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin was held.  This month, with Holocaust Memorial Day, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Independence Day, the “Spring March” is the climax of the program. 

“Our goal is to keep these children interested in the region. Once they leave this program, we hope that they will join the local youth movement, become counselors themselves and return to the region when they are finished with the army,” Yakira said.