July 24th, 2011
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July 21st, 2011
For 10 days, 57 Teach For America corps members will explore Israel’s education and social justice systems, gain exposure to top Israeli leaders and thinkers, and uncover and recommit to the values that drive their passion for public service. Follow along on their REALITY Israel Experience!
We have entered the third leg of our journey, shifting from exploring models of leadership and our own values to inequities that exist in society, beginning with learning about Israeli Arabs living in the mountainous Galilee region.
Our seventh day began with a visit to Moshav Shorashim, a small community founded in the early 1980’s by a group of young American immigrants seeking to build a model of civil society using informal education and programming like a Jewish-Arab youth circus and a Hebrew-Arabic regional internet newspaper.
We met with leaders of Shorashim, and then visited a teacher training school in Sachnine, an Israeli Arabic town where we met with a recent graduate and several students to learn about their views on education, Israeli Arabs role in Israeli society, pop culture, cultural norms and their futures. Read More »
July 20th, 2011
Cross-posted from MyJewishLearning.
The REALITY Israel Experience is a unique leadership development opportunity for selected Teach For America corps members to spend 10 days exploring Israel’s education and social justice systems, gaining exposure to top Israeli leaders and thinkers, and uncovering and recommitting to the values that drive their passion for public service. It is a program of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Samberg Family Foundation, in partnership with Teach For America and the ROI Community of young Jewish innovators.
I will admit it: I am not the best Jew. Bacon cheeseburgers are a personal favorite, I love a good New Orleans shrimp po boy, and I hate Seinfeld. I also messed around a lot in Hebrew school and as a result only remember three things: 3 words of Hebrew, lessons about the Holocaust, and a lesson about Masada.
Masada, in particular, truly gripped me. It was a mystery why people would voluntarily kill themselves–and yet, in such tragedy we find honor and beauty. I could never wrap my mind around it, and when I saw the itinerary for Teach for America’s REALITY program, I became excited when I saw we would be seeing Masada. I was enthusiastic about the opportunity to look for answers and to gain a deeper understanding as to why this tragedy happened and what we could learn about it. Read More »
July 18th, 2011
For 10 days, 57 Teach For America corps members will explore Israel’s education and social justice systems, gain exposure to top Israeli leaders and thinkers, and uncover and recommit to the values that drive their passion for public service. Follow along on their REALITY Israel Experience!
Where to begin??? So much has happened since our last update!
Friday morning began in the wee hours with a climb (well, a cable car ride because of the heat alert) up Masada, the mountain overlooking the Dead Sea that served as the stronghold for a group of Jews who refused to submit to the Romans in 72 CE and held out a valiant amount of time before committing suicide just as the Romans breached the walls.
From there we went to the Dead Sea, floated in the salty water and had a chance to enjoy a spa. Afterwards we heard from Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli Director of EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East, an organization that works to bring together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists around a variety of issues, particularly the water shortage in the Middle East. Gidon underscored to us how water is the one bridge among Israel and its neighboring Arab states and what we, in our home communities in America, can do to help. Read More »
July 15th, 2011
For 10 days, 57 Teach For America corps members will explore Israel’s education and social justice systems, gain exposure to top Israeli leaders and thinkers, and uncover and recommit to the values that drive their passion for public service. Follow along on their REALITY Israel Experience!
Day 2 started with innovation in the classroom. We visited Time to Know, an Israeli company that has created a Digital Teaching Platform to helps schools improve the quality of teaching through the incorporation of computing. It was an eye-opening experience and gave us much to consider about the use of computers in the classroom, the way the classroom will look in the future and ways to integrate new technology while maintaining the personal connection between teachers and students.
After such a thought-provoking morning, we ventured out on our own to explore shuk HaCarmel, Tel Aviv’s colorful market full of vendors and little falafel joints and restaurants. Read More »
July 14th, 2011
Apparently we aren’t the only ones who think the 57 Teach For America corps members currently in Israel on the REALITY Israel Experience are noteworthy. Several media outlets in Israel and abroad are tracking their journey. Here are just a few to get you started—we will continue to keep you updated! Oh, and be sure to check out the photos on Flickr!
Radio
- Interview with Andrew Mandel, Teach For America’s Vice President of Interactive Learning and Development on Kol Yisrael
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July 13th, 2011
For 10 days, 57 Teach For America corps members will explore Israel’s education and social justice systems, gain exposure to top Israeli leaders and thinkers, and uncover and recommit to the values that drive their passion for public service. Follow along on their REALITY Israel Experience!
After a great day of preparation and welcome to the REALITY community from past trip participants, we arrived in Israel this morning.
Despite the long flight, we wasted no time getting started. Straight from the airport we went to a nature reserve between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv called Naot Kedumim where we … herded sheep! Set against a stunning landscape, ripe with Biblical and modern-day Israeli history, our 60+ participants and staff learned about leadership through the art of herding sheep and goats.
Such an activity sparked much dialogue and self-reflection, which gave everyone the chance to learn more about ourselves and our challenges and assets in the process. Read More »
July 13th, 2011
Actually, don’t answer that—rather, send in more questions!
For PresenTense’s upcoming Leadership issue, we are interviewing Sandy Cardin, president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream—and we thought we’d give you the opportunity to get your questions answered about leadership and the Jewish world!
Submit any questions you have for Sandy and Daniel by Monday, July 18, using this form. The interviews will be published in the Fall issue of PresenTense magazine, where your name might just appear next to your question. Go on and make mom proud! Remember, the only stupid question is the one left unasked …
About Sandy and Daniel:
As head of the Schusterman Family Foundation, the Schusterman Foundation-Israel and the ROI Community of Young Jewish Innovators, Sandy Cardin brings to the table 20 years of foundation leadership and service within the Jewish communal world. Daniel Birnbaum—formerly the general manager of Nike Israel—draws on a business acumen that has put Sodastream back on the map in the competitive billion-dollar beverage industry.
(For those who don’t know, the Israel-based Sodastream is the home soda maker that offers fizzy refreshments both healthier and more environmentally friendly than its Coke and Pepsi counterparts. Children of the 70’s and 80’s: you may remember its famed jingle, Get Busy with the Fizzy. If this doesn’t ring a bell, Google it and fizzy with it.)
Cross-posted from Presentense.org.
July 12th, 2011
Cross-posted from eJewishPhilanthropy. Check out photos from the REALITY Israel Experience 2011.
In just a few short hours, 57 up-and-coming U.S. change agents will be on their way to Israel to connect with local peers and leaders – and their counterparts at Teach First Israel – through the REALITY Israel Experience for Teach For America corps members program. While here, they will learn from one another on how best to inspire students in disadvantaged areas to succeed in school and to work on a communal vision of educational equality.
The encounter is just one stop for Teach For America corps members on the REALITY Israel Experience program, supported by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Samberg Family Foundation in partnership with Teach For America and the ROI Community of Young Jewish Innovators. The 10-day trip is designed to introduce corps members to Israel’s education and social justice systems, give them exposure to top Israeli leaders and thinkers, and help them uncover and recommit to the values that drive their passion for public service.
Speaking on behalf of both foundations, Lynn Schusterman told eJP, “By partnering with Teach For America to create the REALITY program, we hope to inspire corps members to embark on meaningful engagement with their personal journeys and with Israel, as well as cultivate long-term dedication toward Jewish community involvement and service.” Read More »