For almost two years, the Prozdor and Alliance Schools have been involved in an innovative and intensive initiative. OREN - the Department for World Jewry of Oranim College serves as the "bridge" between these two school communities. OREN was privileged to have been invited to be the bridge and to help design and implement the program. We readily agreed to take on the job because we knew how important it was and because "Jewish Peoplehood" is our business. We had no idea, however, how many wonderful people we would meet, how successful the project would be, AND how much fun we would have while doing it.
The Vision
Promoting Jewish Peoplehood.
The Goal
To increase the contact, deepen the dialogue and create commitment between two school communities in the Jewish World.
The Partners
Prozdor School, a thriving, trans-denominational supplementary school on the campus of Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. Committed to "infusing Israel" into the community
Alliance School in Haifa. Eager to further its relationship with the Jewish community in Boston.
Boston-Haifa Connection.
OREN - Dept. for World Jewry, Oranim Academic College of Education.
Components of the Initiative
Joint curriculum taught in both schools
Video conferences held between 10th graders in both schools
Mutual delegations of students
Pre- and post- delegation workshops and processing sessions
Workshops for students, parents and teachers in both schools
Research and evaluation
Some Highlights of the Program from First Year and a Half of Activity
August 2002 - OREN staff leads visioning sessions with parents, teachers and students at Prozdor
Summer 2002 - "Choosing Life: A Boston-Haifa Jewish Ethics Lab" curriculum designed and developed
September 2002 - Recruitment and registration at both Prozdor and Alliance for participation in the "Initiative"
2002-3 Academic Year: "Choosing Life" curriculum taught in parallel to 10th grade classes in Prozdor and Alliance; teachers in ongoing contact; OREN facilitating and bridging
November 2002 - Prozdor teachers, parents and students participate in Boston Mission to Israel
November-December 2002 - Delegation of 25 students from Alliance to Prozdor
Series of video conferences held between schools
January 2003 - OREN staff visits Prozdor and runs workshops
May 2003 - OREN staff with teacher from Alliance visits Prozdor
June 2003 - Prozdor graduates come on birthright trip facilitated by Project Oren
August 2003 - Delegation of 10th grade students from Prozdor to Israel
2003-4 Academic Year: Adaptation and Finetuning of Joint Curriculum done by OREN, and teachers from Alliance and Prozdor
Curriculum taught in parallel to 10th grade classes in Prozdor and Alliance; teachers in ongoing contact; OREN facilitating and bridging
December 2003 - Delegation of 10th grade students from Alliance to Boston
Measurable Outcomes to Date
50 Alliance students have participated in all components of the program: course, video conferences, delegation to Boston, hosting American students in Israel
45 Prozdor students have participated in all components of the program in Prozdor and many have visited Israel as a result
50 Prozdor families have hosted Israeli students during the delegations
17 Prozdor 10th graders participated in Jewish Ethics Lab class during first year
10 Prozdor 10th graders came to Israel in Summer, 2003
18 Prozdor 12th graders came to Israel in Summer, 2003
24 Prozdor 10th graders participating in Joint Program during second year
24 Alliance families have hosted visiting American students
Results of the Program
The connection between Alliance and Prozdor schools has been strengthened
Teachers from the respective schools are in ongoing dialogue
Reciprocal visits have been put into place and are becoming a tradition
Studying about Israel in Prozdor and about the Diaspora in Alliance has become a part of the curriculum
Both schools have introduced aspects of informal education into their programs
Both schools have engaged in discussions of Jewish Identity, Connection and Peoplehood
Parents in both communities have entered into personal relationships and learning situations
There is interest and excitement in cementing the relationship and strengthening the connection
The Prozdor-Alliance model is generating interest in other communities in Israel and abroad
A written evaluation report has been produced
Plans for the Future
Based on the success of the initiative so far, we plan to repeat all aspects of the program, improving and expanding each one of them.
In addition, we would like to do the following - intended to increase the impact of the initiative within the two communities and elsewhere:
Enrich the 10th grade pilot curriculum
Introduce elements of the initiative as early as 9th grade
Continue aspects of the initiative into 11th grade
Make the 12th graders trip to Israel a tradition
Institute an Israel family trip for Prozdor families
Involve interested teacher and parents in a adult learning program of Jewish Peoplehood
Offer to replicate the model in other partner schools and communities
Adar 5764 - March 2004