Update #8 From AMIT

This weekend, AMIT’s Director General, Amnon Eldar and his executive team traveled around Israel to visit with Sderot evacuees, hear their stories, and activate plans to address the ever-changing needs of Israel and its children.

When Amnon arrived in Eilat, he was enthusiastic to see students enjoying outdoor activities and with smiles on their faces for the first time in two weeks. He let them know that they will move forward, return to Sderot, and that no one will defeat the people of Israel.

AMIT’s New Operating Model Goes into Effect

1 Teacher to 15 Students

AMIT is doing a wide rollout of its Tatzam methodology, of one mentor working with small groups of 15 students. As we have seen with the Tatzam program, these small groups quickly become a place where students feel safe, comfortable, belong, and can express themselves openly. They will also serve as a platform to introduce new support services, like trauma therapy.

 

Joining AMIT Teaching Staff: National Service & Pre-Army Volunteers

With education teams spread across Israel and teachers having their own children to care for, AMIT is pairing up national service volunteers (female) and pre-army volunteers (male) with our educators.

This model comes with its own challenges and expensive costs – we need to identify national service and pre-army volunteers who can commit for several months. AMIT needs to fund this concept and find accommodations for this new staff.

Reliving October 7th

Hearing the horrors that our educators lived through on October 7th and since, is unimaginable. One teacher shared about a duel between terrorists in her backyard; another shared how a drone landed on her balcony and started shooting at her family; an AMIT teacher’s husband and son had gone to shul without their phones…for 12 hours, she had no idea if they were still alive. Teachers spoke about being evacuated from Sderot without army assistance or protection because the armed forces are overwhelmed. They shared about begging their kids to keep their eyes shut as not to see the bodies – both Jews and Arabs – strewn on the streets.

Despite their own unthinkable personal hardships, our AMIT educators shared that they are fully committed to providing stability, warmth, acceptance, and love that our displaced and traumatized students desperately need.

Update on Displaced Sderot Students

AMIT now has 140 Sderot students living temporarily in the Dead Sea region and 250 in Eilat. Amnon appointed one school leader in each location with educators from the other schools working as organic units. The goal is to bring the best to our students regardless of which school or track they were originally enrolled in. Having AMIT kids and teachers together and seeing familiar faces for the first time in two weeks was meaningful to students and staff alike.

 

Schools to Become Temporary Centers

There are currently 120,000 evacuees across Israel, and no place to accommodate them. Schools are now being prepared to receive the next round of evacuees. AMIT schools are on this list and need to be prepped to become temporary homes and gathering centers for active soldiers and reservists. For security reasons, we cannot disclose specific locations.