On Sunday, January 5th, Sara B, Chief, Ari, and I all woke up very early. We left the house by 7:15 AM to catch a sherut (a shared taxi) to Kiryat Ata, where we caught a bus to the school, Tichon HaChevrati. Tichon HaChevrati is an alternative school, similar to the democratic school system that exists in the United States. It's a very simple school, with only a few classrooms and with no more than 30-35 students. Students take English and math, and every Wednesday there is chuggim for the first class of the day. There's also a "teacher's lounge," but because of the school's value of no hierarchy between teachers and students, the students are allowed into the lounge. Most of the students hang out outside on the benches talking with one another, playing basketball on the court, or in the living room, which has food and coffee/tea for them to have. The schedule of the day is also fairly simple: school starts at 9, first class, break, and then another class. Most times they also get a break in the middle of each class as well. I would say that Wednesday's are my favorite at the school. All 4 of us choose which chug we want to go to. Sara and I have gone to art the past 2 Wednesdays, Chief to acrobalance, and Ari to music. At first it was difficult to figure out the role we were supposed to play at the school. There's already teachers there, and it seems to me like everything could and has been running just as smoothly without us being there. However, our role is very important. We're older than them, but not by much (they're 9th-12th graders), but we're still younger than the teachers, so it's easier to connect with us. Although it's a hard for most to understand our English, it's important for us to hang out and talk to them during the breaks. Most look up to us and have been expecting us for a while now. Our biggest role though, is to help and tutor in their classes. I've sat in both English and math classes, and it's really helpful for the students to have one on one help. Most classes are also very small, with no more than 10-12 students.
Once the school day ends at around 2, we take the bus back to Kiryat Ata and then switch on another sherut that takes us to Hadar in Haifa. From there we walk to Beit HaTziorim, the after school ken. It's completely different from the school we volunteer at in the mornings. First off, it's in a bomb shelter, so that's pretty awesome. We also work with 4th-6th graders who are of all different ethnicities. There are Russian Christians, Russian Jews, Arab Christians, Arab Muslims, and Israeli Jews. Most of their parents are immigrants who came to Israel, and because of that their native languages are not Hebrew, but instead Russian or Arabic. Most of the kids speak Hebrew though. I find myself using my hebrew a lot more at the ken instead of the school in the morning. I'm learning a lot of Hebrew, and being able to use it and understand some of what the kids say feels amazing, especially from the place I was in the beginning of the program. So usually when we get to the ken, 1 or 2 of us help out with homework, while the other members of my tzevet play outside with the kids. They love playing games like hide and go seek, dodgeball, soccer, and tag and so I get a pretty nice workout running around and playing with them. Since there is a high school right next to the ken, there is a soccer field/ basketball court that we can use too. At 4:30, the kids go inside for a snack. It's the same thing every day: toast with either hummus, lavna, or tuna, and tons of different kids of vegetables! What's really neat is that the kids learn how to be responsible for themselves, and so a great way to do that is by preparing the meals and cleaning up after themselves. Usually one or two of them prepare with the help of a madrich and then they hand wash the dishes after the meal is over. On Sundays and Tuesdays the kids have chuggim, which include ping pong, singing, art, cooking, and dance. On Wednesdays they split up by grade and participate in an activity run for them by madrichim, which will start to be us in a week!
It took us some time to get used to the routine of the ken, but now since it's been about 3 weeks, we are pretty comfortable with the schedule and with the kids. I'm excited to start running activities and to continue building a relationship with the kids we work with!
Messima is a very important part of the workshop program, and an even bigger part of Habonim Dror as a movement. A lot of the Habo's who have made Aliyah to Israel who now live in Haifa volunteer at schools as part of their messima too. Messima is an incredible opportunity for us to not only be madrichim, but to also practice our Hebrew, work on a tzevet to plan activities, and learn to be more responsible as the young adults that we're becoming.
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