A major part of an AMIT education is the values that our schools instill, and serving one’s country is one of our core values. It is in the best interest of both the young person–who has a significant service role and gains marketable skills that will help when entering the employment market–as well as the country, which benefits from having a dedicated person committed to participating in an important task. Thus, all AMIT students are educated with the value of doing significant military service or the alternative National Service, an option for religious girls and, in special cases, boys. Furthermore, our students are prepared for significant military service through meetings with IDF representatives who explain various units, visits from alumni currently serving, trips to army bases, and–as the article highlights–interaction with teachers and other school staff who are on reserve duty and occasionally come to school in uniform.
If there is a school at which students are exposed to the importance of significant IDF service on a regular basis, it is probably the AMIT Mr. & Mrs. Lester Sutker Arts and Sciences Junior and Senior High School for Boys in Modiin. No fewer than ten of their teachers are reserve officers and three are lieutenant colonels. When they completed their military service they decided to invest themselves in another national endeavor — education.
The principal of the middle school is Shimon Weiss, who served for many years in the elite Duvdevan commando unit and currently serves as a company commander in the reserves. He is also the reserve commander of Yoska Yogev, his deputy in both the IDF and at the school. “When we are at school we run the company during school breaks, and when we are called up to the reserves we continue to help run the school,” Weiss said. “In both education and the military, people make the difference. I know that when Yoska is around I can sleep well.”
Yaki Batsh, a lieutenant colonel in the reserves, has been working for seven years as a homeroom teacher, bible teacher, physical education teacher, and curriculum coordinator. He served as a senior engineering officer and was in charge of camp defenses in the IDF. He earned a teaching certificate as part of his pre-military studies. “Education is something that was always a part of me,” he said. “In the army I dealt a great deal with training and education. While a school is not like a military unit, there are elements of military conduct that can suit the management elements of a school, on the organizational side.” According to Batsh: “Most of the teachers here at AMIT serve in the reserves, they occasionally come to school in uniform, the students see them, and it definitely interests them and piques their curiosity.”
Natan Leibowitz served in the IDF for 25 years and reached the position of deputy commander of the Artillery Brigade. He retired with the rank lieutenant colonel four years ago and trained as a teacher right away. “During my military service I studied law and completed two degrees,” he said, “but I chose education out of a sense of mission and a desire to work with youth.”
Lior Halevi, the school’s principal, said: “Military service and the reserves are an important value in our society, and even if it is difficult to find replacements when the teachers are called up to serve in the reserves, the fact that many of them are officers serving in the reserves conveys a clear educational message of giving and responsibility to the state.”
