Israel Day 4: Frankel and Yad Vashem

This morning we returned to the Frankel school for another visit. This was way unique in the sense that we were there during a country-wide pre-planned emergency drill. I'm talking IDF members there to assess everything as kids and staff alike made their way to the basement bomb shelter.

Bomb shelter. Yes. You read that right. While we have fire drills, tornado drills, and lock down drills, schools in Israel have bomb shelter drills. Let me tell you- when in the classroom, my students were generally well behaved during drills. These kids? They knew exactly what to do and did so without printing. 

When we asked the principal about it, she explained that while we practice lock downs and fire drills, our kids have never experienced an emergency situation like that. For the kids in Israel, though, this is part of their world. She further explained that a few years back, they had three actually emergency situations where the school had to spend an extended period of time in the shelter.....

From Frankel, we headed to Yad Vashem. We scheduled the timing so that there would be enough time to get lunch from the Yad Vashem cafeteria before our tour began. Yad Vashem is on the same grounds as Herzl museum, which was a beautiful place to explore. And while Yad Vashem was beautiful, it was hauntingly so. 

The museum has only been units current building for ten years. Prior to that it was on the grounds in a different location. The building itself is a triangle, one half of the Star of David. The layout is such that you must weave back and forth through the entire unfathomable story until you end up in the Hall of Names. 

Jackie, our tour guide, was wonderful. He shared such insight on what I see as the greatest tragedy of the century. It was eerie walking through the rooms, knowing that every si for artifact was real, an original, fund or donated by a survivor or their family or those researching. Every artifact but one. And despite the heart wrenching sadness in the museum, it wasn't until we stood in front of the Auswchwitz arch, the one that translates to "work will set you free" that tears fu ally leaked. And when we entered the Hall of Names, looking around at the faces and the testimonials maintained the welling over of tears in my eyes. When we get home I will look to see if my uncle is in the Hall of Names, and if he isn't, I will see how I can help my cousin, his granddaughter, make it happen while he is still alive to see it. 

By the time we got back to the hotel, we were all quite spent. A brief rest before the evening, where we all wrapped up our last night in Jerusalem picking up any souvenir requests, sweet treats, and of course, shawarma on Ben Yehuda street before tucking in and packing up in preparation for tomorrow's adventure!

Israel Day 3: Frankel and Begin

Today was our earliest day of the trip so far. The only other early day we have is Masada, when we will be hiking before sunrise.  Today we spent most of our time visiting the Frankel School (I'll add the link when I get to my computer at home) in Jerusalem. The school is a first through sixth grade facility serving about 250 pupils. There is also a pre-school and kindergarten on the grounds.

It was fascinating getting a glimpse into an Israeli school! We noticed right away that kids are kids, no matter where they live or what language they speak! The principal, Dalia, went out of her way to welcome us into her school. She has been the principal there for six years and she speaks of the children as if they were her own. Everyone we met was very nice and greeted us with a smile- the hello that transcends languages!

We first saw a third grade music class, before heading to a third grade language class. The principal explained that most children eat breakfast at five or six in the morning and so the school implemented a 15 minute brunch time at 9:00. From there, the students had a lesson that included a brief video, some partner work, and brief role playing or sorts. It was challenging for us to follow exactly what was happening as very few people spoke English!

From there, the kids had a 15 minute recess which gave us some time to speak with Dalia, and the school English teacher, Donna. First, I have to say, recess was so organized! It was as if the kids picked am activity location (the playground had 6-7 distinct zones) and stays there for the duration. After recess, Donna took us around to a few more classes, and as she is fluent in Enflish, she was able to explain ,ore of what was happening. 

We saw a group of fourth graders practice a song for English day- a day they spend learning about different countries and doing so nearly all in English- which was awesome, since we all were able to sing along with them! I mean who doesn't know Hello Goodbye by the Beatles?!  The kids were working on the first verse and sounded adorable.  After singing, Dalia gave us a tour of the grounds. They have a really neat courtyard that used to be a dumping ground for everything trash.  Last year, the kids took it upon themselves to clean it up and beautify it with handmade sculptures and art. It was quite creative!

Our last class visit of the day was a creative design class.  It was basically a combination of art and Makerspace at Hiklel. The kids, fifth graders, we're working on designing a new tea bag and tea cup.  They had sketches overflowing in their sketchbooks, not just for this project, but for many others they've done throughout the year!  Donna had one of the students who is strong in English explain what the students were doing. Super creative. 

Dalia took us, Donna, and two other teachers to the Begin museum after our time at the school. She treated us to a delicious dairy lunch before we parted, and began our tour of the Begin Museum. I've never xperinced museums like this before- both the Herzl and Begin both were video based, moving us from room to room where artifacts supported the video documentary surrounding Begin. 

Sounds like a long day, right?  Except it didn't end there! We wrapped the day with a visit to Mamilla for some (window) shopping a dinner. I was fairly good with my shopping- only bought three scarves, something I had hoped to find as I love the Hoodie brand and it seems to be an Israel brand.  Dinner found us at a steakhouse and sushi place where the food was delish but the service left a lot of room for growth!  I was happy to fall into bed after this adventurous day, and grateful that I finally slept through the night!