The Volunteering Begins

Today marked the first day of volunteering, and I woke up bright and early with my housemate/friend Talia to go to Weitzman elementary school in our neighborhood. I have been most excited about this place because firstly it’s in Jaffa – so it hits close to home on many of the controversial subjects such as Arab-Jewish coexistence and kids from low socio-economic backgrounds needing the support and confidence to move ahead to high school and college. However, I was most intrigued by this school because of its “experimental” approach. Although it is a Jewish school, meaning it has bible classes and Jewish related teachings, it has a large Arab student population and focuses on the values and commonalities that exist across religions. In many classes, there are Arab as well as Jewish teachers and they encourage diversity among the staff just as much as the student body. Some unique results from the school’s pluralistic values particularly piqued my interest. Supposedly, it has been observed that some Arab students will kiss the mezuzah and there was one Arab student who moved on to high school and then to the Israeli army, who recently fought in the latest war in Gaza. Interesting, right? Needless to say, I was eager to see the school in action and witness the interactions with my own eyes.

However, my first day sitting in on a 5^th grade and 6^th grade English class more closely resembled a chaotic free-for-all than an education class with idealists and humanitarians. It reminded me of my own 5^th grade class shenanigans … but 10 times worse. There was piercing screaming, running around, hitting, and blatant teacher disrespect. But, on the bright side, it was hard to differentiate between the Arab and Jewish kids and at least they seemed to be getting along in their trouble-making activities. Yet, even with all the yelling and play fighting, I picked up on a spark of genuine motivation to learn English (albeit mostly in the 5^th grade class). I got up out of my seat once and took on a more active role of walking around and checking their work. They seemed super excited to get to know me and Thalia, (e.g., “I like your earring!” I was born in California!”) and they proudly showed off their English skills. It may take some time to get used to the volume and hear over the screams, and I may never see an Arab student kiss the mezuzah, but I have faith that whatever will come will be enlightening and momentous. I think it will probably take some time, but I remain curious and interested.