When my kids were young, one of my favorite children’s books was Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. That’s probably an apt description for this whole year. But, with all the bad, let me share with you some not good, but great things, that AMIT accomplished because of you.
1. Of 620 AMIT students who applied to compete in the National Olympics in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Chemistry, 113 passed the first stage. That is roughly twice the number of students as last year. Most importantly, a significant number of these students came from disadvantaged communities and families, showing once again that “leveling the playing field” is not just a slogan, it’s a reality.
2. AMIT students make up 10% of the new recruits to the Air Force Officers Corps, the most selective arm of the Israeli Defense Forces. Just to give you a sense, roughly 750 of Israel’s top seniors, apply to become fliers. After a rigorous four-stage process, 270 remain and enter the officer training course. Only 35 graduate from this very challenging course: This year, four were from AMIT schools where one might not expect to see such “highfliers!”
3. Following up on my January message about Menorat Hameor- AMIT’s Haredi High School – the school reached its highest Bagrut (matriculation) level with an 88% pass rate. Because the school works with a challenged population they were able to open much earlier than other high schools, in line with special education rules. This was very important for our students because, although we lent out computers, for religious reasons, most of their homes don’t have WIFI. In addition, as they tend to live in small apartments with many family members, the stress of being cooped up could have led to an increase in alcohol or drug use. Happily, the only effect seems to have been some crazy hair.
4. Following up on my February message about Motti Arbel, the principal of Makif Ashdod, Motti brought “Tazam-personal professional growth plans” to both the leadership team and home room teachers in his school so that they were trained to hold meaningful conversations with their students. As we know, when teachers feel overextended, they don’t teach well. As we saw during Corona, if students’ emotional needs are unmet, learning doesn’t happen. This concern for both teachers and students may be one reason his school had its best ever Bagrut scores this year, and why they won the Ministry of Education award for best religious school in the south. This is especially impressive given the fact that this school is a religious “makif” which tends not to attract the higher caliber students. Score another one for AMIT.
5. Volunteering and community engagement at AMIT didn’t stop just because of a little pandemic. Whether on Yom Hazikaron (helping families get minyanim to say kaddish for slain soldiers), Rosh Hashanah (organizing shofar blowing), Chanukah (organizing small lighting ceremonies at firehouses and police stations to partially replace the past citywide celebrations), or any day (celebrating birthdays at senior centers, providing zoom tutoring and cleaning city parks), AMIT students did not forget their responsibilities or capabilities to make their communities the best they could be.
I wish you all a much better 2021 but hope that you get some comfort from the fact that, even in a pandemic, AMIT helped our students achieve their dreams.
Thank you for your partnership.
