“I never heard of such a thing before.”
AMIT’s Technological High Schools are “the last stop” for many students. The kids attending have not managed to create a path to success for themselves anywhere else, and they arrive after bouncing around from school to school. Along those lines, you might think they would be the last students who would assume leadership positions, taking on more responsibility than necessary. At AMIT Fred Kahane Technological High School in Ashkelon, you can see this is precisely what starts happening.
This AMIT school has a new leadership program led by Hen Ben Lulu, the social coordinator. What makes this program unique, is the students not only volunteered to join it but also committed to coming to school over their summer vacation to plan for the upcoming year.
Fifty students came to an information session about the program at the end of last year and 25 students decided to join. Their first meeting in June was only a week or two after the school year ended. Most students want to get as far away from school as possible, over summer vacation! At the meeting, they broke up into small groups with each group responsible for planning one month on the social calendar. Whether it is organizing Yom Rabin, Yitzchak Rabin Memorial Day, a day dedicated to the memory and values of Yitzchak Rabin, or the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the students must strategize everything from speakers, programs, workshops, posting on social media, etc. Typically, this job would fall on the social coordinator’s desk but now the students have direct input into the entire content of these events.
As Chen explained: “They got to choose what interested them and they have taken responsibility. At technological high schools, the students aren’t usually given responsibility, but we gave them the opportunity and they grabbed it. They created new programs – for example, an ODT (Outdoor Training) workshop for 9th graders together with the 12th graders so they could get to know each other better. In the past, the teachers would give a class in preparation for a program or a special day on the calendar. Now the students themselves will be doing this. And the most amazing thing about all of this is that the students are planning all of this during their summer vacation.”
Almog Dimri, the rising 12th grader, signed up for the program. “They asked us who wants to take a leadership role in the school. I signed up. At the end of the day, it’s for us. We’re getting to choose what we want to do and not have the decision made for us. This is my third school and I never heard of such a thing before. They are listening to our opinions. They even invited a few of us to speak at a staff meeting so they could hear what things we liked, what things need improvement and our opinions. It makes me feel involved, responsible and gives me a sense of belonging. It is very exciting and moving.”
Chen adds: “They wanted to plan a program for first thing in the morning one day to prepare for Rosh Hashana. I asked them – who is going to come and get the school ready at 6:00 am? And most of them raised their hands! One student from Kiryat Gat, an approximately 45 to 60-minute bus ride to Ashkelon, raised his hand. I asked him how he was going to get there at 6:00 am. He said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll sleep at a friend’s the night before.’ The leadership skills they will be developing will not only help them this coming year but will help them for life.”
