Savoring some moments of gleeful reflection, Hadar Glickstein, Educational Program Corrdinator for the Hebron Hills Regional Council, can barely contain her excitement for the future that awaits 7th and 8th graders in the region.
“This past year, the students here in Susya, have discovered a lot of creativity they never knew they had inside of themselves including many uniques strengths and skills,” she said.
“Their parents are thrilled to see them building a foundation for a promising career in the tech and cyber sectors!”
Several years ago Hadar would have not have been able to makesuch ecstatic remarksabout the professional prospects for 7th and 8th students in the Hebron Hills. The students, children of pioneers strongly dedicated to the restoration and rebuilding of the communities in the Hebron Hills, have inherited the same drive and determintion as their parents to thrive and prosper no matter the challenges facing them. Yet, located in such an isolated corner, the students, unlike their peers in ceentral Israel, have not been afforded the mechanism and educational structure that can best prepare them to enter the tech and cyber worlds.
Up until most recently, children in the Hebron Hills received an education only within the elementary school system framework. However, this past year with the help and encourgement of the Hebron Hills Regional Council, a religious secondary school academy opened in Susya for 7th and 8th grade boys living in the Hebron Hills region.
With the establishement of the new school came a very special opporitunity for students to participent in “Bridges”, an initiative launched three years ago by the Israeli government.
Bridges was uniquely designed to introduce 7th, 8th and 9th grade students in Israel’s periphery to the world of cyber and tech. With help from the IDF, the main gateway to the cyber and tech industries in Israel, fully trained non-commissioned IDF officers teach the students a variety of unique skills including website and application development, cyber defense, AI and programming in Python.
Located in Susya, the new school certainly qualified as being in Israel’s periphery. However, to be eligible to participate in the program, the school was required to have computer stations that were readily available for the students. Only in its first year, the school had very limited resources and needed outside help to purchase computers.
Never forgetting that you, the generous donors at CFOIC Heartland have always stood by and supported Susya and other neighboring communities in the Hebron Hills region, the Hebron Hills Regional Council reached out to CFOIC Heartland for help, and once again, you responded! Thanks to you, the new school in Susya purchased 35 computers, enough for all 120 students in the school to participate in the program within their respective classes!
As soon as the computers arrived, Hadar and the school immediately registered their students for the “Bridges” program, which is already bearing many fruits! Students have discovered skills and talents that they never knew they had, not just in the technological and cyber realms but also in general areas of concentration like problem-solving and computation. The students also take advantage of the availability of computers, using them to complete very important tasks in other classes including the conducting of research and writing of reports.
The school’s principal, Itay Baum, is overwhelmed by the impact of CFOIC Heartland’s support: “I am most grateful to our dear Christian friends at CFOIC Heartland, for their heartfelt contribution, which is a most significant investment in the futures of our children and the region at large!”
Hadar echoed Itay’s remarks: “Thanks to our most cherished and reliable friends at CFOIC Heartland, our children now have the tools to excel, blossom and reach their full potential right here in Susya!”
“I have no doubt that a great portion of the students here in Susya, all of whom have such a strong resolve to succeed, will be leading entrepreneurs in the Hebron Hills and Israel at large,” she added.
“I look forward to that day in the not-so-distant future!”