Holidays and Events Distinguish February and March in Schools
For schools that celebrate the special days of three religions, it sometimes seems that there is never an end to school holidays. However, by mid-January with Christmas, Chanukah, and Id El-Adha (the Moslem Feast of Sacrifice) behind them, the Hand in Hand schools returned to schedules dedicated primarily to serious study. Fortunately, there were enough holidays still around to give the educators of Hand in Hand an opportunity to both celebrate and engage children and sometimes even parents in experiential learning. The schools also took advantage of these last two months to intensify their community programming. The following are some of the holiday events and community programs that marked recent months.
Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for the trees celebrated on February 13, gave all the schools an opportunity to plant trees, flowers, bushes, and even to build gardens. Children and parents in all three schools worked hard at turning their courtyards into corners of greenery and blossoming flowers. Children learned to work together and can now enjoy the fruits of their labor. The Wadi Ara School used the holiday to bring in a tractor to help move large stones into place. The children filled in the areas between with soil and proceeded to place the plants into holes that they had dug in a major effort to transform the face of the school.
The schools also used Purim as a time to put on costumes and go a little crazy. The Jerusalem School organized a soccer game with the women teachers playing each other in fun and chaos. In all schools, both children and teachers dressed up in sometimes outrageous costumes. In the Wadi A'ra School, each day before Purim had a theme. There was clown day with everyone dressed as clowns and with parents, teachers, and kids performing as clowns. There was opposite day with the preschoolers going to 3rd and 4th grade classes and teachers and the the 3rd and 4th graders spending the morning with the preschool teachers in their classrooms.
February was particularly busy for the Galilee School. Here are just some of the extracuricular events that took place that month in the school. On February 1, the first through fourth grades saw the play Apartment for Rent , the steering committee for the Galilee Junior High, and the planning committee for the open school day also meeting. On the 2nd, the teachers participated in a training session on teaching Hebrew and Arabic. The weekly Sunday staff meeting was held on the 5th and on the 7th, a music concert for the first and second grades with the school also hosting a visit of the directors of the branches of education departments from the Carmiel, Misgav, Sachnin, and other nearby towns,holding the ongoing weekly class for Jewish teachers to raise their proficiency in the Arabic language. On the 12th, the school celebrated Tu B'shavat with a trip to a nearby national park, where each class built an envrionamental sculpture and prepared a food dish for the whole school to taste. The school staff also met on the same day and on the 13th, the 7th grade class had a program of adventure challenge activities with a 7th grade class from the neighboring Misgav Regional Council School. This was followed by a meeting of the school steering committee, a meeting for all the Misgav preschool teachers at the school, and another training program on teaching the Arabic and Hebrew languages. The week of the 19th was highlighted by a collection of donations by the 7th and 8th grade for ALUT, the Israeli Society for Assisting Autistic Children, and AKIM, the Association for the Habilitation of the Mentally Handicapped in Israel, a meeting of preschool teachers from the Arab towns of Sachnin and Sha'ab, the monthly meeting of student representatives from the classes with the two principals, a two day workshop with all the staff and Dr. Elias Zeidan to discuss national days and how to program for them, and class trips to a variety of destinations for the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th grades.
The school also empowered its students by enlisting 66 of them to deal with a variety of issues in the following committees - active recess, school activities outside the walls of the school, beautification of the school grounds and nearby area, newspaper, and special days. All ideas and initiatives come from the students who are active on the committees and who have the responsibility to implement the programs. In February, the committees were very busy with the active recess group organizing a chocolate day for the whole school, the outside the school activities committee carrying out the Tu B'Shvat program, the special days committee producing a celebration of the 8th birthday of the creation of the Galilee School, and the beautification committee creating several comfortable corners to watch movies and to play board games during recess, as well as working on painting and and selecting and hanging pictures on the walls of the school.
The Galilee School also launched a new educational program prepared by the teaching staff which focuses on the subject of connections. Each grade centers on one aspect of connections with the first grade studying connections of friendships, second grade - connections in the family, third grade - connections with neighbors, fourth grade - connections between neighboring towns and settlements, fifth grade - connections between countries in the Middle East, and sixth grade - connections between the individual and the group. Children research and discover the strengths and weaknesses of connections in a variety of settings. The approach is integrated with children gaining knowledge, abilities, and taking positions. The program also looks at the problems of connections and how to evaluate situations from a variety of perspectives and to take practical steps in solving the problems.
This month was not unique. March was just as busy with the Galilee School hosting some large programs - a visit of 85 individuals from the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh and an open school day with 400 participants attending a program of panel discussions about the school, a bilingual story telling corner, musical performances, thinking games for children, food and drinks, and a table selling the school's hats and shirts. The director of the Northern Region of the Ministry of Education, David Wasserman, visited the school in March. After witnessing what was happening in the classrooms, he declared that "the Galilee School is an example of real daily activity that educates to accept the other with all of her or his differences, in the framework of bringing Arabs and Jews closer together. I see the Galilee Hand in Hand School as the leading educator in this subject in the entire Northern Region."
David Wasserman,
Ministry of
Education's Northern
Region Director and
Batya Rechavi,
Director of Misgav
Regional Council
Education
Department visit
Galilee Hand in
Hand School's
2nd grade.
Over the same time period the Jerusalem Hand in Hand School reported a similar range of activities. The school's student council meets on a weekly basis. For the first time, school crossing guards from the sixth grade help younger children on a daily basis to cross the busy street in order to arrive safely to school. Dr. Muhammed Amara spoke to parents and teachers about the issue of bilingualism. An Arab Book Festival was held to encourage the purchase and reading of Arab books. A language support center was opened at the school which twice a week has a teacher ready to give help to any student needing assistance in Hebrew or Arabic language studies. A march of books program was organized which featured the selection by the students of their most beloved book.
The Jerusalem School continued its film series with a showing of the controversial film, Paradise Now, on February 21 at the Jerusalem Cinemateque. The producer of the movie led a discussion of the film immediately after the screening. The month's schedule also included a mathematics day dedicated to the learning of math. Danny Bar-Giora, the chairperson of the school's steering committee for the last three years, announced his departure from this task. In his place, two individuals were appointed to be co-chairpeople. The first is Jihad Arsheed, a lawyer and father of two children at the school. The second is Professor Chiam Adler, winner of the Israel Prize in Education for this year.
No one was sleeping at the Wadi A'ra School. The staff spent a weekend together hiking and putting together the framework for the school's commemeration of the National Days. Active recess was also a major subject for children and staff of the school. On Sundays, the third and fourth graders run activities for the younger children. In order to encourage the use of the Arabic language, the recess of every Tuesday is given over to groups of children, Jews and Arabs together, who present skits in Arabic. Chugim in cooking, handicrafts, bridge, gardening, and soccer were opened for the pupils.
The days proceeding Election Day on March 28 were dedicated to Human Rights and the right to vote. Each class carried out activities appropriate to its age. The preschoolers held a campaign to select the type of cake that they would prepare, bake, and eat. Passionate speeches followed by an election gave a victory to the venerable chocolate cake. For those who can read Hebrew or just like to take in the pictures, the preschool has a very worthwhile website at www.bustan.netfirm
The pupils and staff of the schools now have a deserving break to celebrate Pesach, Easter, and the Birth of Prophet Mohammed. When they return, activity at all the schools will continue at their excited pace till the end of the June. It almost makes one wish to return to the classroom.
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