jews in the d SCAN THIS PAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION. Deepening Israel Education Israel education consultant spends time at FJA and Hillel. MICHAEL JACOBS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS A areas that we can get to, the depth and consultant visiting Detroit on the rigor in terms of Israel literacy, and Oct. 10 helped with the effort to how we can use that to actually address boost Israel education for day community needs and long-term needs,” school students. Grinfas-David said. “That’s exciting.” Dr. Tal Grinfas-David, a day school A grant from the Legacy education specialist for the Heritage Foundation enabled Atlanta-based Center for Israel CIE to launch its day school ini- Education (israeled.org), planned tiative last year. Frankel, which to spend two days working had sent educators to the Atlanta with teachers at Frankel Jewish center’s weeklong summer work- Academy and Hillel Day School shops on Israel education, was as part of CIE’s three-year initia- selected to participate. tive to bring resources and exper- Dr. Tal Seth Korelitz, FJA’s director tise to a national group of select Grinfas-David of Jewish studies, jumped at the day schools seeking more depth opportunity, which includes the in their teaching about Israel. use of CIE curricular materials and a CIE is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, inde- grant of up to $2,500 per year to help the pendent institution committed to using school meet its goals in Israel education. primary materials to teach students, “CIE is just a tremendous resource,” educators and the public broadly about Korelitz said, citing its summer work- modern Israel. shop, its curricular resources and Because most Hillel students go to Grinfas-David’s creativity. FJA for high school, “you’re able to The initiative’s timing was fortuitous look at the long-term experience of the because, in the curriculum cycle of students and think about the different 24 October 11 • 2018 jn implementation, review and revision, FJA had reached the preliminary stag- es of a re-evaluation aimed at making Jewish studies more meaningful for students. “I think the Israel piece is just critical in general, but also to who we are as a school,” Korelitz said. Frankel entered the initiative from a position of strength, including a col- lege-level 12th-grade course incorporat- ing CIE resources to produce graduates who are knowledgeable about modern Israeli history, Grinfas-David said. But the high school saw a need to bring that history teaching to earlier grades — enabling students to delve into the complexities of Israeli culture, democracy, diplomacy and conflict — and to integrate Israel across the curric- ulum, Grinfas-David said. She visited Frankel for two days last school year to meet with administrators and teachers, including those serving on a special Israel education commit- tee, and to lead an hour of professional development for the faculty. “How do we start thinking about integrating Israel into what we’re already teaching in other subject areas, and how do we ensure that the Israel education we are providing these students is what they need before they graduate from a Jewish setting?” she asked about the focus of the initiative at Frankel. “Are they Israel-literate and ready for the campus and beyond?” She and Korelitz are in continual contact about the ideal student experi- ence — what classes, what grades, what depth, when to take the traditional class trip to Israel. They are, Grinfas-David said, “looking at making everything spiral in a very deliberate way and some- times providing electives for students who want to go deeper into learning about Israel.” FIRST YEAR FOR HILLEL Unlike Frankel, Hillel Day School didn’t join CIE’s initiative last school year. It’s one of three Jewish day schools joining this year and thus cramming three years of work into two school years. Hillel learned about the program when two of its teachers attended this June’s CIE summer workshop. “It was beshert,” said Saul Rube, Hillel’s director of Judaic studies. “It’s a great time to take a qualitative leap for- ward.” Yifat Golan, the school’s Israel coor- dinator, said the school started talking with students and faculty last year about how Hillel alumni view Israel. That effort contributed to the portrait of a graduate as someone who has developed “a deep connection to and the ability to advocate for the State of Israel.” “We want kids who have a very strong commitment to Israel and Zionism from a position of knowledge,” Rube said. He said CIE is the perfect partner for the heavy curricular lifting needed to meet that goal. As a first step, Golan has launched an eighth-grade course to teach Israeli culture, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish peoplehood and other Israel- related topics with more depth and nuance. The bigger effort, Rube said, is to integrate Israel education throughout the curriculum. The work at Hillel could help schools across the country learn how to apply CIE’s document-based, context-heavy educational approach from kindergarten up. “How do you take some very sophis- ticated ideas and primary sources and make them age-appropriate and friendly for kids?” Grinfas-David asked. She split her time between the schools during her two-day trip. After her visit, the two schools plan to meet to discuss an organic continuum of Israel educa- tion from kindergarten through 12th grade, Rube said. Korelitz said it’s too early to project the outcome of the Frankel-Hillel con- versations, but the schools have a good relationship and try to talk frequently. “This partnership is a great example of making the most out of Jewish educators working together,” Rube said. “We could try to reinvent the wheel, but we proba- bly couldn’t make it as round or as good as somebody’s already made it, and it would take us a lot longer.” ■ Michael Jacobs is the communications director for the Center for Israel Education.