The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2015 - Page 5
JEWISH FEDERATION NEWS
P2G Teacher Delegation Builds Bridges With Israei
This past December, four Jew
ish educators from Charlotte, in
cluding Rabbi Tracy Klirs,
Education Director of Temple Is
rael Religious School, Sherri
The entire Southeast delegation with the Partner
ship staff at the Herzl Museum.
Leonard, 6th Grade Math Teacher
at Charlotte Country Day School,
Shelia Spitz, 6th grade teacher at
Temple Israel Religious School,
and Liat Gabay-Fisher, K-5 Fle-
brew teacher at Temple Israel,
participated in the Jewish Federa
tion of Greater Charlotte Partner
ship Together (P2G) Educator
Delegation. Teachers
travelled to Israel
along with seven
other Southeast Con
sortium communities
on a delegation for a
specially designed
week-long program
of touring schools,
visiting classrooms,
enjoying home hospi
tality, as well as in-
depth visits to schools
in Fladera, our partner
city.
The P2G Educator Delegation
is an ongoing reciprocal program
that has been in existence for sev
eral years. Educators experienced
the opportunity to establish long
lasting connections with their host
families and fellow colleagues
while building deep relationships
among our community in Char
lotte and in Fladera. Throughout
the trip, educators felt the chal
lenges of Judaism, admiring the
vision, the dream and understand
ing and appreciating where Israel
is today.
In addition, to visiting class
rooms and meeting teachers and
students, participants visited
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and heard
from a wide variety of speakers
and topics such as Avram Infeld
and the complexity of the Jewish
Arab relationship as well as Jew
ish identity. The delegation visited
the Seam Line, introducing many
to the Arab minority, who live
among the Israelis, certainly a dif
ferent angle of Israeli so
ciety. This was a moment
of thought, realizing how
much the Jewish People,
have in common. Behind
the diversity of the Jew
ish people, scattered over
the world, lies a common
heritage between our
American and Israeli
families- the Jewish fam
ily tradition and the Jew
ish way of life.
Over the next few
months, Charlotte educa
tors will begin implementing joint
learning activities in their class
rooms connecting their American
students with Israeli students, fur
ther deepening “living bridge” ex
periences. The educators also had
the opportunity to meet up with
last year’s Shaliach, Dor Flollan-
der in Tel Aviv.
Rabbi Tracy Klirs, former Charlotte
shaliach Dor Hollander, and Liat
Gaby-Fisher in Tel Aviv.
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long connections. ’’ - Rabbi Tracy
Klirs
“This was the most amazing
journey of my life. From the mo
ment I got off the plane Ifelt like I
was where I needed to be; deep in
my heart this was amazing. Meet
ing all those passionate educators
and working with Yael and Maya
was life changing - they brought
life to wanting to do more in the
classroom. Working in the schools
in the region was so informative -
cultural differences were high
lighted (the informality of the
classes there compared to our
structure in the classroom) and
the similarities of children were
reinforced (those hungry for more
and those wanting only what is
given). The emphasis on sustain
ability was paramount and I am
hoping to be able to bring some of
the ideas to Charlotte Country
Day School - we are a pretty
‘green ’ school, but could always
improve. ” — Sherri Leonard
M mann
TRAVELS
If you are an educator and in
terested in learning more, please
contact Tal Stein, Director of
Community Relations and Israel
Affairs, at 704-944-6751 or
tal.stein@jewishcharlotte.org. ^
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The Charlotte delegates: Rabbi Tracy Klirs, Sheila
Spitz, Liat Gabay-Fisher, Sherri Leonard.
Educators shared the following
comments regarding their experi
ences:
“As an educator and as a Jew
this delegation trip was life alter
ing. Experiencing Israel as a na
tive with wonderful host families
and connecting with Israeli stu
dents and teachers was an unfor
gettable experience. lam bringing
back not only new and exciting
lessons but a renewed enthusiasm
to spread to my students towards
Eretz Yisrael. Morah Sheila
Spitz
“This was my 8th trip to Israel,
so at this point I’ve seen all the
major sites, most of them multiple
times. So I was very excited to see
some new sites and have many
new experiences while participat
ing in the Partnership2gether
Hadera region educator ex
change. I found the visit to the
First Aliy ah Museum in Zichron
Ya ’akov to be particularly moving
as it brought to life the incredible
hardships and sacrifices the first
settlers underwent to try to estab
lish a foothold in Eretz Yisrael. I
was inspired and uplifted by the
beautiful Neve Michael children's
home and the life-saving work
they do every day for children in
crisis. And the entire group was
moved to tears as we shared our
stories of our Jewish journeys and
identities through the meaningful
Jewish objects we brought to
share. I made new friends and es
tablished what I hope will be life-
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