Hand in Hand: Milestones and Challenges of 2007-2008

The Hand in Hand Schools have achieved several significant milestones in the 2007/2008 school year  -- opening a new school, adding more classes and grade levels to current schools, advancing the relationship with the Israel Ministry of Education, attracting significant publicity, and receiving prestigious awards and recognition. As a Hand in Hand supporter, we would like to share our progress and hope you share our tremendous pride in our accomplishments and satisfaction in knowing that your contribution is making an indelible impact.

Two New Campuses and a New School

Galilee
On September 11, 2007 the new campus of the Galilee school was opened at a gala ceremony honoring Josef Oppenheimer, the head of the Lampadia Foundation of Argentina, who donated close to $700,000 to build the new campus.

The location of the school deserves particular notice.  Situated next to Kibbutz Eshbal, the 50-dunam (12 acre) plot of land is in an area allocated by the Misgav Regional Council and the Sakhnin Local Council. This specific area has been the focal point of land ownership disputes between Jewish and Arab municipalities.  For the first time, these two communities agreed to work together, in cooperation, to build a joint school for their children to learn each other’s languages and cultures in the cause of coexistence. Additionally, the placement of the new school fits the needs location-wise for all of the Jewish and Arab communities within close proximity to each other, such as Sakhnin, Sha’ab and Kaokub villages, as well as the communities of the Misgav Regional Council.

The new building houses: 12 classrooms, a multi-purpose hall, administrative offices, a bomb shelter, nurses office, and staff rooms.  Funds to equip a laboratory, computer room, courtyards, sports fields, and other physical plant components are now being raised. 

Jerusalem

Over a thousand guests, including students, parents, teachers, and donors attended the festive opening on October 21, 2007 of the Jerusalem Hand in Hand School's new campus.  On that day, to the delight of students and donors, the beautiful buildings, courtyards, and sports facilities were unveiled to an enthusiastic and appreciative public. The highlight of the festivities was a moving celebration of professional entertainment, as well as words of thanks and a discussion of what the new school meant to both donors and pupils.

The Jerusalem Foundation raised more than $11 million to build the new school campus and presented to generous supporters from Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein framed, original art work created by our students. The director of the Jerusalem Foundation, Ruth Cheshin, remarked in a speech thanking donors, "This is the 40th year anniversary of the Jerusalem Foundation and we have been supporting co-existence programs for the last 40 years, and I must state that the building of this school has been the most important project of the Foundation".

Former President Yitzchak Navon also praised Hand in Hand's efforts in bilingual teaching, asserting that a second language is not just a technical act but an expression of love, peace, and recognition of the rich culture and religion of the people living side by side.  "This school is bridging a gap and we can all dream that there will be many more schools like this throughout the country."

The new campus is named in memory of Lord Max E. Rayne, philanthropist and patron of the arts, education, welfare and coexistence in England and in Israel. The school's buildings comprise an area of approximately 5,000 square meters, with surrounding grounds that comprise yet another 5,500 square meters.  The floor plan of the new buildings combines the characteristics of Eastern Arab culture and Jewish architecture, influenced by both, East and West. This enables an authentic Mediterranean building style shared by both peoples.   The school contains 26 classrooms, a modern library, music, art, science and computer rooms, large sports and multipurpose hall, and abundant rooms for the administration and faculty.
Although the official opening was in October, construction was not completed until January 2008 and only then did the teachers, students, and administrators move into the building.  The joy and excitement can still be seen on their faces.

A New School in Beersheva
Two years ago, a group of Arab and Jewish parents created Hagar, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, dedicated to the creation of bilingual Jewish-Arab education for equality. 

After an unsuccessful request for cooperation made to the Ministry of Education and the Beersheva Municipality for their new organization, Hagar affiliated with Hand in Hand in 2006 and found the support that they had been searching for.  Hagar received assistance in negotiations with the "establishment" and finally received permission to open the school.  A location was chosen in the Na'amat Center in a central location in Beersheva. Staff members were hired, funds were raised, and parents and children were recruited.  Hand in Hand aided in all of these processes and continues to help, including in the vital area of teacher training.

The school opened last September with 49 children in the kindergarten and preschool classes. On the first day of school, Ya'akov Turner, the Mayor of Beersheva, greeted the children, parents, and media.  He asked the four and five year old Jewish and Arab pupils, "Do you know how important it is that you are here together today?  If you can become friends then big people can also become friends together” 

Mayor Ya'akov Turner talking to the kindergarten class at the Beersheva School.

One of the parents, Bar Yuval-Shani, summarized the feeling of the founding parents. "Many people talk about peace but don't do anything.  Those of us who feel that we can make a difference and that our actions should reflect our beliefs have decided to send our children to this school.  This is really a special moment which we believe will help enable our children to live in peace together."

Over the year, the school has grown stronger.  The teachers and assistants have incorporated the principles of Hand in Hand and the important method of co-teaching in their classrooms. The community feels that their ideals are being implemented and their children are receiving an excellent education and gaining fluency in both Arabic and Hebrew.

Greater Cooperation with Israel's Ministry of Education 

Every school in Israel is supervised by the Ministry of Education.  The ministry employs numerous supervisors who give guidance and monitor the academic and social progress of the schools. The beginning relationship between our schools and the ministry was met with a large dose of skepticism, yet now the Ministry's supervisors have become enthusiastic supporters of Hand in Hand.  Not only were they impressed by the unique bilingual, mulicultural curricula that emphasize mutual understanding and respect, but they also noted that the teachers served as exceptional role models for the students.  Test scores have also proven that the students are doing well in math, science, and the English language, despite the serious allocation of time given to discussions on identity, culture, history, citizenship, individual rights, the conflict, and group formation.

 
The Minister of Education, Yuli Tamir, visited the Jerusalem school on February 18 and held a frank discussion about the future of the schools.  She voiced her support of extending Hand in Hand through the 12th grade and offered her good offices to help move the high school proposal through the bureaucracy of the Education Ministry.

On February 28, Hand in Hand was one of the co-sponsors of the annual conference on bilingualism with the Jewish-Arab Center of the University of Haifa.  Almost 200 educators attended the program which was entitled, Bilingual Education: Language, Community and Society.  Many of the same supervisors from the Ministry of Education were on hand to attest to the excellent work of the Hand in Hand schools.

Hand in Hand principals being honored at the national Bilingual Conference.

The Ministry has also shown great interest in the newly developed curriculum of Hand in Hand that focus on bilingualism, identity, and history.  Our texts that teach these subjects are being circulated at the highest levels of the Ministry and will hopefully be shared with educators at additional schools.

Lastly, Hand in Hand has received permission by the Ministry to open up a 7th grade class in September in the Wadi Ara School which will be the start of a junior high school there.  The Beersheva School has received the green light to open a first grade class in September 2008.  Plans for the Jerusalem School's 10th grade class are on the verge of approval and this will signify the establishment of the first Arab Jewish High School in the country.

Spreading the Word
Hand in Hand has been quite successful this year in appearing before numerous forums and in local and international media.  The list of newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and internet sites that have featured Hand in Hand since September 1, 2007 is impressive.  Locally, Hand in Hand has appeared in:  Yediot Achranot, the country's biggest newspaper; Ha'aretz (on several occasions); Jerusalem Post; local weeklies; At, a national women's magazine; the 3 main Israel TV stations; Hebrew and Arab radio; and many times on Y-Net, the internet site run by newspaper Yediot Achranot.  Internationally we have been featured extensively in Britain: The Independent; The Telegraph; The Times; The Guardian; Reuters; the London Jewish News; the Jewish Renaissance; and the BBC.  Hand in Hand has also appeared on Al Jazeera TV, Japanese TV, French TV, Swiss TV, Belgian TV, the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, German radio, and journals from around the world.

Articles in Educational Leadership, the journal of the international Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), as well as NY Metro area paper, Education Update, and the Harvard Gazette increased our recognition in the academic community. Coverage also appeared in the NY Jewish Week, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, other local Jewish and secular newspapers.

The New York Times has printed several articles this year with references to Hand in Hand.  CNN spent several hours filming for what they believed would be a minute and a half story.  In the end, they ran a 4 minute and 40 second piece about Hand in Hand.  None of the crew, including the director and correspondent could remember working on such a positive story coming from Israel. 

Amin Khalaf, co-founder and president of Hand in Hand, has presented the vision of the schools to numerous audiences.  In December at the Yafo Convention, he participated on a panel discussion chaired by Minister Yuli Tamir on the educational system's policies on teaching multiple languages. Khalaf also promoted, alongside other influential groups, a call for government action to adopt a policy of teaching Arabic language and culture in the Israeli school system.  In Britain, he appeared in June before the conference on “Women’s Role in Promoting Peaceful Coexistence" sponsored by Baroness Uddin and the Faith Regen Foundation.
 
Awards and Recognition
Hand in Hand has continued to win international prizes in recognition of its pioneering work in creating an educational environment which is based on mutual understanding and respect.  The Regione Lombardia in Italy awarded its "Prize for Peace for 2006-07" to the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish Arab Education in Israel and its Director and Co-Founder, Mr. Khalaf.  This prestigious prize is given by the Lombardia Region of Italy to individuals and organizations that have shown outstanding work in promoting a culture of peace. The prize was awarded on December 3, 2007 in Milan, Italy.

 Visits

Hand in Hand was blessed with many visitors this year and our schools were frequented by official guests from near and far.  U.S. First Lady, Laura Bush, chose the Jerusalem Max Rayne Hand in Hand School as one of only two projects, not tourist related, to visit in Israel.  She was accompanied by Aliza Olmert, wife of the Israeli Prime Minister, on her visit to the school where they visited a kindergarten class and a project that featured fifth graders who mentored second graders.

Another special visitor was Debra Winger, the Academy Award nominated actress for  An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, and Shadowlands. 

While in Israel for a week with her husband and son, she visited three of the four Hand in Hand schools and held a press conference announcing her intention to help support the Hand in Hand schools in their efforts to create an atmosphere of respect and understanding between Jews and Arabs.

In addition, all of the schools hosted legislators and opinion leaders from Europe

, the U.S. and Israel. Jewish Federations, synagogues, churches, religious and non-sectarian groups, as well as donors and other well-wishers from across the globe were inspired by witnessing our students in action.

Making a Difference

Six-year old Maria Aman began studying at our Jerusalem campus this September with a warm welcome from her new classmates and teachers. 

In itself, this is not such a unique story, after all there were 58 students beginning first grade this year at the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School. However, Maria's story is far from normal.  She is from Gaza and she and her family were caught in an Israeli air strike on Islamic Jihad activists over two years ago that left her paralyzed from the neck down.  After months of rehabilitation in Jerusalem's Alin hospital (where she learned Hebrew through interacting with the staff), Maria and her father decided that Hand in Hand would offer her the optimal learning environment.  The school gladly accepted her and donors came forward to help with tutoring, transportation, and special equipment.  Her bilingual skills and zest for learning aided her integration into the school and she has done very well in completing her first year of school and becoming part of the Hand in Hand family.

Three years ago Hand in Hand created a daily planner with the religious and national holidays of Jews and Arabs.  The planner became a favorite of many people and organizations but this year the number of planners sold to the public reached 3,500.  To a large extent, this was due to the purchase of 2,000 by the Israeli Association of Community Centers which bought them for the staff of its 180 community centers of which 40 are in the non-Jewish sector.  This year, the praise for the planner has been great and we expect that next year's version will have an even wider market.

In March, Sam Shube was hired to be the new executive director of Hand in Hand.  He is now in charge of the administration of the Hand in Hand’s international headquarters in Jerusalem.

Sam Shube (left) and Amin Khalaf at work together

Sam was born and raised in New York City.  After finishing his undergraduate studies at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, he moved to Israel.  After serving in the IDF's Engineering Corps as a medic, he went on to become the director of Absorption Centers in Ashdod and in Ashkelon where he furthered his appreciation of cultural diversity as befits serving a population from locations such as Ethiopia, the FSU, and Argentina.
He continued his career in the field of administration, fundraising, and human resources when he worked as the executive director of Mivakshei Derech, a reform synagogue and community center in Jerusalem.  Strongly committed to education, Sam earned a MA in Contemporary Judaism in 2002 at the Hebrew University specializing in John Dewey’s Educational Approach and the American Jewish Community.  In 2006, he received a MBA in non-profit management from the University of Haifa. 

Most recently, Sam worked as the Deputy Director of Rabbis for Human Rights. The organization operates in Israel and the territories defending both Palestinian and Israeli human, economic, and social rights.  Sam feels that the organization based its struggle for such rights on Jewish values and traditions. Hand and Hand looks forward to benefiting from Sam’s experience, talents, and dedication as part of our diverse professional team.

Donors
Hand in Hand is supported by many generous contributors from all over the world - from Argentina to Japan, America to Portugal.  We are also supported by donations from Israel.  One of the most unique donations this year came from Guy Ronen, a student for a master's degree in public policy at the Hebrew University. During last year's studies, he won a scholarship for excellence in the name of the David Diego Ludovsky, who was a student of public policy and was killed in a terror attack that took place at the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University.  After his death, his family created a scholarship fund in his name which was earmarked once a year for excellence amongst students of public policy.

Recently Guy sent Hand in Hand a letter:

After receiving the scholarship a few months ago, I decided to contribute 10% of its value as a modest donation in order to strengthen the security in our region and to prevent additional terror attacks.  I believe that the activities that Hand in Hand organizes is the key to regional co-existence, security, and prosperity over the long term.  Therefore, I find it to be the right thing to send this modest contribution of 500 NIS to you.

With great respect,
Guy Ronen
Kibbutz Shamir

Additional support from donors in Israel came from the Ofer brothers, who outfitted along with the Safra Foundation, a computer lab in the new Jerusalem school, with 26 computer stations and the most up-to-date advances in computers.  Israel's National Lottery also awarded the school 16 computers to be used for teaching in the classrooms.  Michael Gross, professor and chair of the Department of International Relations of the University of Haifa, took it upon himself to furnish and set up the new library at the Galilee school. 
Many others have donated funds to Hand in Hand and while we are tempted to mention all of them here, we would easily run out of room.  We wanted to feature here some special gifts from Israel but we gratefully thank everyone for all their help and support.

Challenges
There were some serious challenges facing Hand in Hand concerning strategy and fundraising over this past year and appropriate solutions have been, at times, elusive. 

Over 50 principals, teachers, parents, as well as board members from both the Israel Hand in Hand and the American Friends organizations met on April 3, 2008 for Hand in Hand's first Strategic Planning Retreat. Held at Hand in Hand's new Max Rayne Jerusalem School, the event offered participants the chance to learn about the multifaceted successes of Hand in Hand while exploring potential avenues for future growth and development. For the first time, stakeholders from all four schools and abroad had the chance to meet and engage in serious strategic planning. 

Many possible directions were discussed.  Considering our existing funding, the group weighed the value of opening new schools compared to using its resources to maintain and expand the existing four schools. Other considerations included investing in opening junior and senior high schools or concentrate on building an elementary school system.  The cost effectiveness of the two teacher model was also discussed. 

The most significant discussions revolved around how Hand in Hand can broaden its impact on Israeli society.  Equally important was planning for teacher recruitment, retention and training, cooperation and increasing the exchange of information between the schools, parents, administration and the broader community.  Planning discussion also focused on fundraising efforts to continue to support our mission.
 
Participants engage in vigorous discussion during the retreat.

The need to raise significantly more fund to help achieve our goals and growing program is additionally challenging because the decreased value of the dollar to the shekel.  As of this writing, the funds we have raised this year have lost 20% of their value.  This past year, in large measure to the poor exchange rates and a faltering economy, we fell short of our fundraising goal and as a result, we were forced to cut back in some areas.

However, we will continue to serve our existing students, by redoubling our fundraising efforts and through the generosity of our friends the world over.  We will also continue to strive for our goal – to be able to accommodate all interested families, in the communities where were are located, and in other locations across the country.  For the 2008-2009 academic year Hand in Hand needs to raise $2 million in order to sustain our achievements. 

Hand in Hand’s potential is affirmed everyday by the families and teachers who are committed to our schools.   Its value can also be attested to by the fact that many parents and municipalities like Haifa and Tel Aviv-Yafo have asked Hand in Hand to open up new schools.  Yet, our resources are already overstretched and until we have additional funding, we are limited in the impact that we can make in Israel.  We are fortunate to have the ongoing in-kind support from the Israeli government.  The ongoing and increased support from our friends is critical to our future.

Our Bright Future
The Hand in Hand schools' student populations are expected to increase significantly over the next few years.  Already, the Jerusalem school is expected to grow from 406 to 465 pupils, the Wadi Ara from 187 this year to 210 pupils, and the Galilee from 190 to 195 all in the next year.  The Beersheva School will also increase its student population from 49 this past year to 80 pupils next year.

We have another year of milestones ahead.  With the highly anticipate junior high program in Wadi Ara and beginning Israel's first Arab Jewish integrated senior high school program in Jerusalem school the school year promises much excitement and new challenges.  The Beersheva Hand in Hand School will move beyond preschool and kindergarten and open up a first grade class and each school population will grow exponentially.  The Hand in Hand organization is making an impact today, as a catalyst on the local, national and international level, living proof of what is possible.

We look forward to the bright future of the Hand in Hand schools and hope that you will continue to partner with us in this historic endeavor.