Chai Intern Israel Program

ler Can

Interns

Michigan young adults teach Israeli kids English.

Robert Sklar { Contributing Editor

niversity of Michigan senior Sara
Nathanson is studying to be an
elementary school teacher. A
summer spent helping Israeli kids on a
Central Galilee kibbutz improve their English
language skills strengthened that career goal.
Just as important, she relished bonding
with the elementary school students,
experiencing more of the bounty of the
ancestral Jewish homeland and contributing
toward richer Michigan-Israel ties, which the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
has long nurtured.
"I was able to hone my leadership skills
in the classroom, and I loved planning and
executing lessons for the students," wrote
the Farmington Hills resident in her end-of-
camp assessment.
Nathanson, a Tamarack summer camp
counselor in Michigan from 2009 to
2011, joined five other Michigan young
adults July 2-23 at Kibbutz Ginnegar in the
Jezreel Valley, part of Michigan Jewry's
"Partnership2Gether" (P2G) region.
Federation's Intern Israel program supports
the kibbutz's Central Galilee English Summer
Camp, which serves incoming sixth-graders
better versed in the English language.
In its 20th year, P2G currently builds
educational opportunities and fosters
interpersonal relationships between Michigan
Jewry and the Central Galilee areas of
Nazareth Illit, Migdal HaEmek and the Jezreel
Valley.
English language education is the largest
P2G initiative. It's not only easier to learn
English as a foreign language as a youngster,
but time has shown that Israelis who speak
fluent English secure better positions in
the Israel Defense Forces and have a better
chance competing in the global marketplace
of ideas and opportunities.
"As I reflect upon the past few weeks,"
Nathanson wrote, "I feel incredibly
accomplished. I have noticed such a

U

continued on page 12

8

Chai Israel Magazine •

September 2013

Left: Sara Nathanson
with Kibbutz Ginnegar

campers.

Below: Intern Israel

summer camp counselors
from Michigan: Cayla

Lusky, Sara Nathanson,
Erica Broder, Suzanne
Bosman, Julie Katsnelson
and Claire Fishman.

