HILLEL YESHIVA MIDDLE SCHOOL HOSTED A HISTORICALLY GREAT YOM HA’ATZMAUT CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF ISRAEL’S SEVENTY-FOURTH BIRTHDAY ON MAY 5TH. THE MUSEUM EXPO PROGRAM LED BY THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADERS INCLUDED MANY HIGHLIGHTS, LIKE A RECREATION OF THE MAHANE YEHUDA SHUK, AN IDF BASIC TRAINING WORKSHOP, A SHEMITAH FARM AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.
Even more impressive than the experience created by the students, was the backstory and process from which this idea emanated. The story behind the Yom Ha’atzmaut Expo began this past summer when four Hillel Yeshiva Middle School administrators and teachers were fortunate enough to attend a week-long professional development seminar on the topic of integrating a student based inquiry learning approach to project based learning.
This seminar, Ti-Tech@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), funded by a national foundation which supports Jewish day school education, trained the Hillel cohort in the student-centered methodology. And Hillel had to choose a school enhancement project to implement the methodology. Hillel chose Israeli education.
“We knew we wanted to do a better job teaching about Israel. We wanted to go above and beyond the facts about Israel. We wanted to challenge our students to really think about what Israel means to them. And thus was born, “What’s Your Israel? A Middle School Exhibit,” said Middle School Assistant Principal, Rabbi Ike Hanon.
The process began with focussing on the methodology, with the students engaging in activities to stimulate their inquiries. Using low-tech tools like post-its, construction paper and a “picture walk,” where students were introduced to a series of pictures which related indirectly to Israel and they needed to make their own conclusions based on these pictures. Students worked in groups to create a visual of what their Israel might look like. They then picked an area of interest about Israel that they would like to explore. Topic choices ranged from technology, agriculture, holy sites, food and culture, history and politics, religion and more.
Perhaps the most pivotal step in the process of growing the idea into a transformative expo experience was partnering with lay leadership. Mrs. Rivky Eidleman, Hillel Middle School Assistant Principal, reached out to Hillel parent and acclaimed event planner, Mrs. Doris Dwek, for insight and leadership in helping the students create the event. The rest is history.
“Doris was amazing,” said Mrs. Eidelman. “She generously gave of her time and resources to help the children achieve their goals. One of my favorite parts of the process was watching the children present their ideas to Doris. She gave each student committee the respect and time they needed to articulate their vision. She asked them targeted questions to challenge them to refine their ideas. “This is design thinking at its best,” said Mrs. Eidelman.
For Mrs. Dyan Levy, a Middle School math and science teacher, the collaborative process in which students engaged was most impressive. “I loved watching students from different grades and different circles working together to create this experience,” she said. “We literally were in the building until 11 p.m. finalizing details for the program. Teachers enjoyed working with students, from all different backgrounds and levels, all united by their desire to bring Israel a little closer to the community,” she continued.
Mrs. Danielle Sitt, a recent graduate of Stern College’s education program is trained in current progressive practices like project based learning. She was happy to recreate the feeling of being in Israel for the Hillel Yeshiva community. “Walking into the shuk, smelling the spices, hearing the sounds and tasting the foods actually gave me the sensation of being in Israel,” she said.
This amazing and emotional program, in which the faculty and students invested over five months, concluded on Friday morning, after Yom Ha’atzmaut. Teachers, families and students gathered under their shuk, to share words and gifts of appreciation, then joined together to sign Acheinu, in the hope that this project would truly continue to achieve its goal of bringing the community together, united by their love of Israel. L’Shana HaBa’ah B’Yerushalayim (next year in Jerusalem).
