Fifth Graders from L.A. & Shaarei Tikva Hold Unique Skype Meeting on Yom Haatzmaut
Source: Israel National News
Fifth graders from Beit Hinuch Ramon School in Shaarei Tikva held a virtual meeting through the Internet with pupils of the same age from Los Angeles' Tifereth Israel congregation's Hebrew school. The meeting was held with the aid of video cameras and the Skype application, to honor Israel's 64th Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration, which was last week in many U.S. Jewish congregations. Samaria regional authority head Gershon Mesika took part in Sunday's event. A recorded greeting from Yuli Edelstein, Israel Minister of Information & Diaspora was viewed by the participants during the festivities.
This is the third year in which virtual meetings are held between the schools. Pupils from the two schools have also held internet-based celebrations on Jewish holidays like Tu B'Shvat, Purim and Chanukah. The meetings are facilitated by Israel Connect, a service provided by the Melitz organization.
Amihai Bannett, Israel Connect's Educational Director, which runs school twinning programs in 50 schools around the world, noted that the video conference involved not only students and staff from the partner schools, but also members of both communities. "We were very happy to see how this connection has grown in the past 4 years, reaching many members of the communities in both Shaarey Tikva and Los Angeles".
Online educational programming between schools and communities in Israel and abroad is a great way of creating mutual understanding and emotional connections between Jews around the world.
See video clip and pictures of the virtual celebration here.