Part of AMIT’s mission has always been to help Israeli children reach their fullest potential by encouraging them to pursue their dreams. A group of boys at AMIT Dvir Beit Shemesh not only went after their dream—to build a specialized music room at their school—they recently made it come true by raising money for it themselves using an online funding website.
Inspired by their 11th-grade Tanakh teacher Refael Ish-Shalom, who began incorporating music into his lessons and exposing them to different instruments and singing, the AMIT Dvir students decided they wanted a music room in their school.
“We dreamt of building a music room, but very soon realized we don’t have the money,” Ish-Shalom told a local newspaper in Beit Shemesh. “So we asked ourselves, ‘Will the fact that we don’t have the money make us quit our dream?’”
The boys’ answer was an unequivocal “no.” They decided to launch a campaign using HeadStart, a fund-raising website for creative projects, and they set a goal of 50,000 shekels (almost $14,000), the minimum necessary to renovate the room and buy basic equipment and a sound system.
They compiled a list of what instruments and gear they needed and produced a video that they uploaded to the HeadStart website with the help of Ish-Shalom and the school’s guidance counselor. Then they did what teenagers do best: They spread the word using social media, telling all their friends about the campaign on Facebook and WhatsApp.
At first “the students didn’t fully believe they had the power to change reality,” Ish-Shalom said. “They saw other children playing instruments and singing and they dreamt of doing the same. So they worked hours and hours to raise thousands of shekels.”
When the campaign ended, the students had raised 50,531 shekels. They used the money to buy guitars, mandolins, a xylophone, high-quality microphones and other gear.
“They fought like lions and never gave up,” Ish-Shalom said of his students.
Once the room was set up, the students decided to dedicate it to the memory of Naftali Frankel, Gil-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, the three teens who were kidnapped by Hamas and killed in the summer of 2014. Frankel’s mother, Rachelle, attended the dedication ceremony, along with some of the donors and the school’s staff and students. The music students also performed songs they composed and played their new instruments.
The school’s principal, Dr. Yitzhak Lev-Ran, said that the room will be a source of inspiration for everyone, not just because of the music played there, but also because, “everyone who visits it will know that when students want to achieve something, nothing will stand in their way.”
Lev-Ran is one of the new music students who is learning to play guitar along with “four of his most challenging students.” Together they sit as beginners, learning to play together.
Supervised by a music teacher, the room currently operates twice a week and enables students of different ages and backgrounds to unite over their shared love of music.
Since the room was created, “entire classes play music during their recess, and students roam the halls carrying instruments,” Ish-Shalom said. “The school has undergone a significant transformation. It’s truly amazing.”
The students’ next goal is to raise additional funds that would allow for longer hours of operation and for more students to take advantage of the room and the instruments.
“We ran out of money, but we’ve only just begun this process,” Ish-Shalom said, adding that the students want to buy additional instruments and that more of the children would like to take advantage of the room and develop their musical abilities.
Without the special room at the school, some of the students who come from lower-income households wouldn’t have the opportunity to study music otherwise.
Ish-Shalom said there is nothing more inspiring than seeing students achieve their aim. “I believe that a person who believes [in something] doesn’t give up,” he was quoted as saying. “If he stays focused on the goal, he will succeed in realizing every dream.”
