Tu B'Shvat At Dekel School with the "Moms"

The Ashkelon Baltimore women's forum is matched with a similar group of women in Baltimore. The women from Ashkelon carry out various volunteer projects and this year they decided to "adopt" Dekel school in Shimshon neighborhood.

Vered said: "we wanted to volunteer somewhere where there is a real need and where our help would be appreciated. We don't donate money or raise funds, we donate our time and our skills. We saw the wonderful work being done at Dekel school by the principal Sigal Yashar and her group of highly motivated and dedicated teachers, and we offered our help"

Last week on the Friday morning just before Tu B'shvat, the women took over classes at the school to teach the kids about the role of trees in our lives, and carry out creative activities. The kids enjoyed rolling out clay tiles and decorating them with trees, working to create drawings on aluminium sheets, creating mosaics and flowerpots, and producing animals out of dried fruit.

At the end of the activity Einat said "It was hard to tell who enjoyed the day more. We were amazed at our warm welcome. The kids were very enthusiastic, participated wholeheartedly in all our activities and were so proud of their creations".

At the end of the activity, the headmistress Sigal Yashar thanked the women "Thank you for your help and the wonderful experience enjoyed by the children and the teachers. It is good for the children to be exposed to volunteers who come to help of their own free will. This will help to teach them the value of giving and turn them into people who volunteer and contribute to society."

The Ashkelon women are excited to continue their contact with the kids and teachers at Dekel School.

nicole

10th Grade students pick volunteer spots

This month the high schools in Ashkelon focus on volunteer opportunities for their 10th Graders.

Each school holds at least one "focus day" when students view an interesting play about civic responsibility and spend a morning listening to representatives from local organizations who come to describe their activities, to recruit volunteers from the schools.

Below, Gad Manor from Katzenelson Community Center describes a variety of programs needing volunteers to Henry Ronson High School 10th grade students.

10th graders must complete a minimum of 60 hours of volunteer work in the community during the year, but they can choose where they volunteer.

Below, at left, Oriana Hadad from Beit Canada absorption center and Dafna Biton of AMEN together with her assistant, Itamar Shumen, and Ilanit from Hatzalat Hayot (Animal Rescue) read the board advertising various volunteer options for Henry Ronson school students.

Below, a representative from Halpern Old Aged home explains volunteer options for those interested in working with senior citizens.

Many organizations show a short movie or a presentation. Below, the first screen of a presentation by Hatzalat Hayot (Ashkelon Animal Rescue)

Below, a Magen David Adom representative outlines the duties of their volunteers

After the presentations, students must sign up for one of these volunteer options. The idea is to get the students involved in the community in a field they care about. Most students become involved and work far beyond their 60 hours, often continuing to volunteer for many years.

If the students are regular volunteers during their last 3 years of high school, they receive a "Civic matriculation certificate" which awards them 10 additional bonus points when applying to institutions of higher education.

Below, a Sherut Leumi volunteer explains what "Kav LeHayim" does, working with kids and young adults with cerebral palsy, and how volunteers can help.

Nicole

8th Grade Krieger Shechter Pupils visit Park Baltimore

Yesterday, fifty 8th grade Krieger Shechter pupils and their school principal, Dr Paul Schneider, arrived in Ashkelon to meet with their Gesher Hai (Living Bridge) partners at Rabin-Mekif Daled High School. This is the 7th year in a row that this meeting is taking place in Ashkelon.

The pupils visited the Lynn Stacie Getz memorial playground and the Michael Lapides Park - "Park Baltimore" - built over a year ago as a partnership community project, by 200 Baltimorians (on an Associated Family Mission to Israel) in partnership with 400 Ashkelonians and the municipality of Ashkelon.

The pupils of Krieger Shechter School presented Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen, also Chair of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership, with a check - funds collected by them, as their barmitzvah project, for the Lynn Stacie Getz Playground.

Shlomo Cohen thanked the pupils for their generous contribution. Sigal read a personal message from Mayor Benny Vaknin. After the Park visit, the pupils continued on to visit Mekif Daled High School for a beautiful welcoming ceremony, and then left for a visit to Mitzpe Ramon airforce base. See more photos in our album at

http://picasaweb.google.com/nikirose/KriegerShechterInParkBaltimoreAshkelon#

A group photo in front of the lighthouse in the playground area, in memory of Lyn Stacie Getz.

Dr Paul Schneider,Principal of Krieger Shechter and Head of the delegation, with Sigal Ariely and pupils in the park

Shlomo Cohen, Deputy Mayor of Ashkelon, is presented with a cheque by Krieger Shechter pupils

Fortifying Schools in Ashkelon

The Minister of Religious Affairs, Itzhak Cohen has notified Shlomo Cohen, Ashkelon's Deputy Mayor, that the government has approved the plan to fortify the unprotected schools and kindergartens in Ashkelon against rocket attacks. Minister Cohen, a resident of Ashkelon, assisted the communication between Ashkelon and the government - with the help of Yuli Tamir, the Minister of Education.

The program will start in schools and kindergartens that currently have no bomb shelters or other protection against rocket attacks. The project will be funded by the Ministry of Defence. Mobile reinforced concrete shelters ("Miguniyot") will be placed in schoolyards.

Mayor Benny Vaknin said that he hopes the execution will be quick and take place without delay - because of the security situation. Saturday's rocket attack, where a missile damaged a school was a graphic demonstration of what can happen in the case of unprotected educational institutions.

The above photo shows a teacher in the wreckage-strewn computer lab at the school in Ashkelon that was hit by a Hamas rocket this last Saturday. (Photo by Joshua Mitnick: http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c40_a15075/News/Israel.html)

Getting ready for school

Last night we got a text message from the parents committee of one of our kids' school that there will be a strike tomorrow in all the schools in Ashkelon , exept 10th to 12th grade students that have final exams coming up soon. Saturday's grad rocket, an improved one, that destroyed a highschool , changed all the rules . If this had happened on a school day the results would have been horrible - it is a true miracle it was a Saturday !

So: The teachers will be at the classes ,schools will be open , but the parents were asked to keep the kids at home.Each parent can decide what to do with his kids ! OK , a dilema , what should I do ? I have 3 kids , each goes to a diffrent school.

My youngest one, in 2nd grade ,goes to a school with even no minimal security .It's very old and the classrooms are unprotected. The kids hide under the tables when there's a siren or next to a northern wall ??? ... I have to go to work so I took her to her afternoon club , that is now open since the morning , and we pay extra. My son's school has sheltered areas, but he is 8th grade , most of his friends are staying at home , so he doesn't want to be alone in the class , he stayed home , a day off ... My oldest goes to the Art school , again old buildings , one shelter for 400 children ! She is on 12th grade , final test are soon. I took her to school ,she must study for the matric tests .

Shlomo Cohen , our deputy mayor ,says the Municipality supports the PTI , and join their demand from the governement to fortify and sheild all the educational institute in Ashkelon . At the same time , he realizes that closing the school paralizes the entire city .

Update

Shrapnel damage to reinforced concrete school walls on Saturday (Pic: Itai Levi - Haaretz)

When Hamas rockets explode, they scatter ballbearings, nails and sharp shards of metal that slice into anything in their way

We just got a message that there will be no school tomorrow , except 10th-12th grade that have final exam coming up soon. The rocket that hit the high school yesterday was an improved one , biggest ever. This is why it penetrated the metal door and walls, broke through the concrete which was relied on to protect students and teachers from an attack. Only the fact that it was Saturday when there was no school, prevented a tragedy.

There are 10 schools , including my youngest daughter's school , and 22 kindergardens that have NO shelters or protected areas. The 50 schools and 120 kindergardens that have partial protection have no protection for these kind of rockets . The rockets are getting bigger, more powerful, with improved aim and longer range.

All the schools in Ashkelon will be closed until the government decides to fortify all the schools . Shlomo Cohen was interviewed on channel 2 tv , said that the governement refuses to take action in protecting the schools therefore he understands the parents' committee's decision. The teachers will be at all the schools , and the parents can decide what to do with the kids ! What a balagan !

Meanwhile another rocket hit Sderot this evening . In all , 7 rockets fired from Gaza, today. Channel 2 TV reported on Thursday that new more powerful longer-range rockets are STILL coming in to Gaza through the tunnels.

Shows a crater where One of the Grad rockets landed, on Saturday (pic: Yonatan Legayev, ynet)

Shabbat rocket - Damage to School

We now have the information about where this morning's rockets fell. One of the rockets fell in an open space in a highly populated residential area (another miraculous escape), but one of them hit a school. On Shabbat morning all the students were at home ... (yet another miracle).

The rocket caused a lot of damage to the school. Classrooms were destroyed. This is one of the schools that has no proper protection or safe shelter - the "safe area' that pupils were supposed to gather in, in case of a rocket attack, was badly hit by many pieces of shrapnel. The rockets are full of ballbearings and sharp shards of metal that slice into anything in their way. You can see the result in the photos below.

Municipality service teams that were on standby because of the stormy weather, are now out on the job, sealing windows of apartments in the area, that were blown out by the blast or hit by shrapnel.

Obviously, the school that was hit will not be open tomorrow (Sunday of course is a regular school day in Israel) and other solutions will be found for the students. At the moment, the order is that the other schools will open, but the situation can change, and a meeting will be held after Shabbat to decide if other schools will open.

We hope that the next hours (and days, and weeks, and months) will be quiet.

(this photo AP on ynet)

Matric students go back to school

The Home Front Command has allowed some matric students to go back to school. Classes will take place only in underground bomb shelters. Not all the schools have the facilities to allow this, and there will be no risks taken. Apparently there was a 69% turnout of students on the first day. Mayor Benny Vaknin toured Ashkelon high school shelters together with Moshe Yanai - Head of Education, Moshe Amar, Yossi Grinfeld & Ariyeh Ohayon. (Nicole)

Rockets hit Ashkelon

After Tzahal killed four armed Hamas gunmen and destroyed a tunnel used for transporting arms, there has been an escalation of rocket attacks from Gaza.

Most of the rockets were fired at settlements around the Gaza border but yesterday sirens were heard once again in the city as three rockets fired from Gaza fell in Ashkelon. Today, sirens again, as four rockets hit Ashkelon.

Luckily no damage and no injuries, apart from a number of residents who had to be treated for shock. One of the rockets today fell near the central bus station and the street of high schools, and schools closed early.

A state of alert has been declared in the city, and public shelters have been opened.Nicole

Sue Liebman Visit

13th Nov: Sue Liebman was in Ashkelon for the day to see projects funded by The Associated. Together with Nicole, she visited Harel School to see the Tali program in action.

In the Grade One Tali Science class, the children learnt how oil is made Sue Liebman with the Headmistress of Harel School and two of the Tali teachers

Next stop was Meitar. The renovation of the Meitar building was funded by the Baltimore Jewish Community. From a disused wrecked kindergarden, the building has become an efficient facility for youth-at-risk, offering them a "home away from home", help with studies, as well as many different programs such as horse-riding, computers, music etc.

Sue with David Wolfson of Social Services, at Meitar

Sue was given a tour of the building, saw digital graphic work produced by the students as well as a newspaper they had published themselves. Sue chatted to some of the students about their life and hopes for the future. The center is run by Dafna Maman, and has been in operation for a year. They are still developing another much-needed multi-purpose hall to be used for handicrafts and carpentry.

Sue with David Wolfson of Ashkelon Social Services and Dafna Maman, Head of Meitar

Sue also visited the Michael Lapidus Park (Park Baltimore) and the Lyn Stacie Getz Playground and admired the mosaics made by the Plant and Futrovsky Families. Nicole

A view of Park Baltimore "The Michael Lapidus Park" - (looking southwards, from northern end).

Our Shinshinim prepare for the Holidays

Liron & Tal have been busy preparing for the holidays, working in the kindergartens and schools in Baltimore. See the article in the Baltimore Jewish times : http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/article/israeli_emissaries_light_up_baltimore/http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/article/israeli_emissaries_light_up_baltimore/ Nicole

We Love Reading! (Bookworms in the making)

At long last, our reading encouragement project is up and running, full steam ahead. This project aims to instill a love of reading in primary school children, to teach them reading skills and awaken their desire to read, in the face of competing challenges such as tv and video games. The project is funded bythe Bruce Sholk family of Baltimore in honor of their son Henry's barmitzvah, and the partnership.

A steering committee headed by Levi Shafran and Moshe Yanai, and comprising educators, librarians, book-loving students and literature teachers, has drawn up the guidelines for this project. The coordinator for the project is Vered Ida Shlauzer, a specialist in the field of reading encouragement and author of "The Magic Within the Story- Raising Children who love to Read".

The first stage of the project will concentrate on 3rd-6th graders. Classes participating in the project will choose 6 books from a list of about 40 "must reads" drawn up by the steering committee. Each child will read each of these 6 books over the course of the year. The school library will receive a copy of each of the 40 books on the list.

Vered Ida Shlauzer "This is an invaluable opportunity to instill a love of reading in our young children that will serve them well throughout their lives. We thank the Sholk family and the partnership for making this happen!" (Vered's Hebrew website: http://www.sipurim-po.co.il/index_files/vered.htm ) Nicole

Gesher Hai at Netzach Yisrael School

This week Geula, Nicole and I were the guests of honor at a special performance by the girls of Kita Vav (6th Grade) at Netzach Yisrael religious school for girls. The girls have been matched through our Gesher Hai (Living Bridge) project, with a sixth grade class at Beit Yakov school in Baltimore, and they have worked hard on a project showing selected sites in Eretz Yisrael, under the expert hand of their dedicated teacher Tehila Chayun. The two schools have kept in touch through the internet and by phone and have forged a close bond, working together on this project.

Geula Shalev, the Gesher Hai coordinator is very proud of their efforts: "it is heartwarming to see the enthusiasm of the students and the staff for this project".

At the performance, the girls sang a specially composed song in Hebrew and English and showed off models they had made of religious sites in Israel, The models were constructed out of a variety of materials including cardboard, papier-mache, plastic, and mosaic, and also included printed texts that the girls had researched about each place. The class made a cd showing places in Israel and featuring them singing their special song. The CD will be sent to their partner class in Baltimore. Nicole