Houston, the Kibbutzim Interns have landed!!

A Huge Thank You to Randy Czarlinsky, the Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship Foundation, and anyone else involved in sending 10 of the most amazing young people to Israel, with a morning to spend at the Hand in Hand Jerusalem School.



The kids in the 4th grade English class that they visited were thrilled to have the Americans here, and thought it was pretty cool that they came from the same ‘place’ I did.  The opportunity to make introductions, practice their English, play spelling games, dance, play a little Football and get in a little arm wrestling was welcomed by the kids as well as their teacher, Lynn.

The short kids loved the attention from the big kids not to mention the distraction from their regular classwork.  I think sometimes that’s what they like best about me, I take them out of the class for ‘special’ time that is not regular class work.

I really needn’t say much more than ‘send more interns’.  

Hi, My name is and I like...

My name is and I like...

Well played interns, well played!!  Todah rabah! Kol hakavod!

Don’t check your identity at the door!

I mentioned that last week was a busy one at the school and Identity Day was one of the activities that made it so: basically the culmination of a year’s work in the Max Rayne Jerusalem School in the 1st-9th grade classes.



We all struggle with our identities, who we are, where we fit, but in the West we have the luxury it seems, to ‘find ourselves’ which is not the case here.  In a place where history is present always and where ‘narratives’ can and often do collide, it is important in a different more urgent way if you will, to who know ‘who you are’ and ‘how you fit’.

Here, especially at the Hand in Hand schools, students are encouraged not only to look at their own identities: personal, family, community, religious, and national, but at those of their classmates and friends.  Not only to look, but to appreciate and respect that your narrative may be different from mine but it is your narrative and it has value.

future architect 

Identity Day gives the students an opportunity to explore and share who they are in a community setting that delights in and encourages the process, knowing that understanding is a key for the future.





I think LeVar Burton said it well after his visit earlier in the day. "My hope is that these kids are the future of this region. And that their willingness to look beyond labels and to embrace one another as human beings – I hope that becomes the model for generations to come”

That, to me, is a large part of what Identity Day is all about.  



The final presentation is a big event with parents and friends invited to come and share.  Students present a variety of creations from written word and photographs, to drawings and dioramas, singing and dancing.  Some are directly involved in describing their work and what it means to them.  Others like the chorus’, musicians and dancers, present merely for our enjoyment and enlightenment.

Bible Hill and the Scottish Church

Reading Rainbow goes International!

Last week was pretty busy at the school, adding to the excitement was a film crew from Reading Rainbow and of course its host, LeVar Burton.  I got to recruit two students from the 4^th grade class with the help of the teacher, who would be filmed with LeVar in a short segment.  One Arab and one Jew, one boy one girl. English speakers preferred.

It was pretty exciting for all of us, even if some of us were new to Reading Rainbow.  I have always loved the show and my children have fond memories of it as well, so I was pretty stoked, but it is generally unknown in Israel.

With the attached video, there’s not much else to say except LeVar is just as nice in person as he appears on screen, and so genuine with the kids.  Good thing too, cuz’ kids see right through insincere.

If you’d like to see more about our visitor, visit:

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/06/08/reading-rainbow-goes-international-liebermann-pkg.cnn

Well, the watermelon was healthy, right?

The end of the school year is fast approaching, and with that the end of school extravaganza POOL PARTY! So today the kids had an
in-house fundraiser for that event.

About a half hour before my second class ends, the kids were dismissed to the center courtyard to set up a snack Kiosk filled with lovely delights, exactly at lunch time.
Someone has thought this one through!



So, for lunch I had, in no particular order:
A small piece of chocolate cake with sprinkles,
Two chocolate covered cubes of vanilla ice cream,
A sandwich size bag of popcorn,
Another bag of popcorn,
A cup of watermelon chunks,
A pancake,
A heart cookie with sprinkles,
Two small pieces of maple cake,
A cup of turmos beans,
Oh my gosh, a second cup of turmos beans for later, these are so good!
Two more chocolate covered ice cream cubes (shared one with the students selling them),
A cup and a half of Israeli Chex Mix (end of the batch and I paid him double),
A third bag of popcorn (all three went in my bag for later),
Two pieces of strip candy that I can’t eat so I shared,
A cup of coke (because the grape juice pack was not at all inticing)

The math was easy, everything cost 1 shekel so, including the ‘tip’ I had one of the least healthy lunches of my adult life and a great time doing it for about 20 shekels!

Now in my defense of the many sweets, when I say small, think bite sized, literally, it was a fundraiser after all.

Now don’t judge me, you already know I’m a sucker for furry creatures and lizards, well I guess you can add kids to that, especially ‘my’ kids.


For those of you who aren’t familiar with turmos beans, you're in good company.  During the break between classes, the English teacher I work with shared some with me.  I thought they were chick peas so when she asked if I knew what they were I said, “Yes, chickpeas.” No she said and told me what they were, which of course didn’t help.  She’s Jewish and these are an Arab snack and she really had no clue  what exactly they were either.  When I found them at the sale later, of course I had to buy some and look them up later.

If you’d like to know more about Turmos beans, visit:
http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/04/lupines-traditional-middle-eastern-snack-food-recipe/