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Three months after arriving in Israel as strangers the participants of OTZMA 26 have created a home for themselves in both Karmiel and within the group. They are currently finishing out their last week of volunteering in Karmiel and saying goodbye to the people they have met here. Starting on December 4th our group will be spending two weeks volunteering with the IDF through Sar El. Everyone is very excited about the opportunity, but feeling bittersweet about leaving Karmiel and everything they have been doing here. Today we will catch up with two more of our participants in Karmiel; Sarah Cort of St. Louis, and Alex Willick of New York, as they tell us what they have been up to for the last few weeks. Also, check out a wonderful project which ITF participant, Erica Kase, is running in Petach Tikvah.

Volunteering in Karmiel: Introducing Beit Sefer Har Gilon

Reproduced from Sarah Corts blog Now that the end of my time in Karmiel is nearing, my life in Karmiel is really starting to pick up! Last week, Davey and I taught a mini-lesson at school with the 5th and 6th graders. Its a common question that Israelis ask us: Do you celebrate Halloween? So we thought we would set the record straight about this holiday

Sarah Cort (St. Louis)

that the kids related to a combination between Purim (costumes) and Simchat Torah (candy). We also got into the spirit by wearing cat ears as our costumes :) Since there is at least one kid in each class that has lived in America, we just did a giant brainstorm on the white board of what they knew about Halloween, with some help and prodding from us. The kids were extremely loud and excited. The behavior management expectations are so different in Israel to begin with, and it is next to impossible to do anything productive when we only have 20 minutes, speak a different language, and they are excited to have two 22-year-old Americans teaching. We left exhausted, but still felt like the kids learned a lot. Afterwards we had them make their own paper Jack-o-Lanterns, and did my favorite teacher thing of all time: made a bulletin board!!own paper Jack-o-Lanterns, and did my favorite teacher thing of all time: made a bulletin board!!

It has been so exciting to finally feel productive and autonomous at school. Our teachers are so open to all of our ideas and are so encouraging of us to do whatever we want with the kids. We are currently organizing pen pals with a Jewish day school in Seattle, where my teaching partner, Davey, is from. Today we took groups of five or six kids at a time and taught them the basics of American letter writing. This lesson was in stark contrast to our Halloween lesson with all 40 kids in a classroom at once. Working in smaller groups is definitely what I prefer, and it has been great bouncing ideas back and forth with Davey as we have been developing our informal team teaching style.

Sarah Cort (St. Louis) Halloween bulletin board

This was special to me because it was reminiscent of my letter writing unit I taught last year while student teaching in 1st grade at University Elementary in Bloomington. Sarahs blog can be found at http://hoosierintheholyland.tumblr.com/

Sarah Cort (St. Louis) and Davey Friedman (Seattle) Teaching a Halloween themed English class.

David Froimson (Cleveland) Signing autographs at English Day

English Day At Har Gilon Elementary School

On Tuesday, November 29th, Davey Friedman (Seattle) and Sarah Cort (St. Louis) hosted an English Day at Har Gilon Elementary School. The pair had been planning this day for weeks, and enlisted 16 other volunteers from OTZMA and the Israel Teaching Fellowship to help make the day run smoothly. Sarah and Davey have spent the last 3 months volunteering with all the 4th, 5th and 6th grade English classes at Har Gilon twice weekly. Through their time working with these 304 students they had decided that a day dedicated to English and fun would be a wonderful way to round out their volunteering at the school. Through out the day students moved between 9 different stations run by the volunteers, doing activities ranging from making hand turkeys for Thanksgiving to playing musical chairs, or even taking a turn with batting at the baseball station.

At the end of the day there was a final ceremony where Sarah and Davey thanked the kids for all their hard work, and the kids thanked them back for helping them out for the last few months. The ceremony ended with each of the grades singing an English song that Davey and Sarah had been teaching them at school.

OTZMA and Israel Teaching Fellow volunteers at the Har Gilon English Day

Basketball and Interpersonal Relationships.

Written by Alex Willick Last weekend I was asked to referee an invitational youth basketball tournament that took place in my current town of Karmiel. The three teams involved were the team I help to, and two teams from Arab villages in the vicinity. Now Im sure every interested outsider to Israeli society has a certain curiosity as to how Jews and Arabs get along here these days. The media portrays the two

Alex Willick (New York)

parties as having mutually exclusive identities. They have separate goals and separate ways of life. Yet, Israels population is more than 20% Arab, and this number is increasing every year. In a country as tiny as this one, there is bound to be some genuine and steady interaction. Upon spending enough quality time here, Im confident that anyone would experience that ah ha! moment of coexistence. From day one, you will see it on the busy streets and in shops and restaurants; but Im talking about a more bonded connection. Some will see it in the integrated public schools. Many will see it in universities and grass-roots organizations. I was lucky enough to see it in a setting that I love and understand: the basketball court. The teams played competitively, but respectfully. They shook hands before every game and looked each other in the eye. When a member of the other team fell, they would help each other up. It dawned on me that my ah ha moment of experiencing Jewish/Arab coexistence literally happened as I was running up and down the court blowing my whistle and shouting calls in broken Hebrew.

When one of the Arab boys couldnt understand my command, he earnestly asked me in timid Hebrew, atah medeber aravit? (do you speak Arabic?). I unfortunately had to disappoint him, but I told him that I would speak to his coach with him. He smiled in understanding. Games were heated and some superficial fighting took place (as would in any competitive atmosphere), but at every time out or break in the game, the scorekeeper would play dance music out of the loud speakers and everyone in the gym, parents included, would relax and take part in the party. It was literally a scene out of Adam Sandlers You Dont Mess with the Zohan (remember the disco break during the Israel v. Palestine hacky sack tournament?). My mind went to that scene immediately and I couldnt help but laugh along and get in the spirit. A group photo was taken at the end of the tournament, right after the last game and before we gathered for post-game snacks and pastries that parents from all teams contributed. As simple as it sounds, it was truly heartening to see this group of kids just being kids no titles or preconceptions associated. Alexs blog can be found at http://ariinisrael.tumblr.com/

Checking in with ITF:

Written by Erica Kase Teaching English, in Israel, as an American brings up a lot of questions from the children. Where are you from? How old are you? Where do you live? What they do not ask me is what is your favorite book. I think that one of the best ways to learn English is to read. Unfortunately, at my school there is not a large selection of books available that match the level of the of the majority of the students. I decided to ask my older brother and sister to reach out to their friends

Erica Kase (New York)

and ask if they would be willing to de-clutter their houses and donate their old children's books to a good cause. They responded beyond anything that I could have imagined. The amount of books and workbooks that have been donated from friends and those who do not even know me personally is truly amazing, and I am so excited to begin reading more with my children. Reading with my parents and more advanced readers inspired me to read on my own and strengthened my English. I hope that by being exposed to a wider variety of books the children will be inspired to read and learn like I was when I was a little girl.

Questions or comments? Contact us at otzma@jewishfederations.org or call 02.621.6274

OTZMA is a 10-month program that offers Jewish adults ages 20-26 (college graduates preferred) an opportunity to live and volunteer in Israel in a variety of settings.

www.OTZMA.org
Check us out on facebook at www.facebook.com/otzma