Aussie students arrive in Israel
The Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI) has announced the arrival this week of two large groups of Australian high school students on 6-week Israel study and tour programs.
Bialik and Masada students in Israel
The students are on two separate programs, 36 of them through BJE NSW (Board of Jewish Education), and 75 through a combined Masada College (6) and Bialik College (69) group.
The Alexander Muss High School in Israel has been providing unique educational Israel experiential programs for high school age students for 40 years, boasting an alumni network of over 20,000, predominantly from North America. In recent years, more and more Australians have come on AMHSI programs, with the numbers steadily growing each year.
The “BJE Emet Israel” program is a 6-week intensive journey for year 10 students in the land of Israel. BJE, now in its 5th year of joint programming with AMHSI, aims to provide quality Jewish education to children in state and non-Jewish private school systems across NSW. This year, several participants have hailed from outside of NSW, with 4 from VIC, 1 from QLD and 1 from SA. The group also has a set of triplets and a set of twins. They are keeping a daily blog, which can be followed at www.bjeemetisrael2012.wordpress.com
While this is the second year of the Bialik College “Chavayah” program in Israel with AMHSI, it is the first time students have joined from Masada College. Students on both groups will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in Israeli culture while exploring the land and history of Israel on a daily basis.
Although events in southern Israel in the recent past was cause for some anxiety and caused many to wrestle with the question of whether to send their child to Israel at this time, fortunately, all the participants who were scheduled to arrive have arrived and none pulled out. This is testament to the strong commitment of the Australian Jewish community to Israel.
About AMHSI: AMHSI’s Mission is to promote, build, and strengthen lifelong bonds between youth and Israel through study of the history and culture of the people of Israel. AMHSI offers high school students the opportunity of a lifetime to embark on an educational journey where education is taught through experience and history is infused into everything we do. The AMHSI program unfolds the living drama of Jewish history using the land of Israel as its classroom. Students enjoy independence and freedom within a structured and supportive system with professional staff, supportive teachers and dedicated counselors. The AMHSI program is the only non-denominational, co-educational English language study abroad program for high school students in Israel.
Gosh, smilling must be painful. I’d have a grim from ear to ear if I was given this opertunity to go back.