[etni] Fw: Sederot and the bagrut
- From: "Ask" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 23:38:25 +0300
----- Original Message -----
From: "Esther Revivo" <estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Sederot and the bagrut
Good evening and good luck tomorrow to all our pupils. This is not a
political site, and I have no intention of dealing with anything political.
I simply wish to share my extreme frustration and I am sure that of other
teachers at schools "B'azor otef Azza" during this horrible last week:
On last Tuesday night my school had a program for Yom Yerushalayim that
included a holiday prayer for thanks and hosted a former general, now
Knesset member, who told what the fighting was like 40 yrs. ago in
Jerusalem. That evening a busload of our pupils had a miracle occur. As
they
were milling about a few meters away from the rented bus that was set to
leave in about 15 minutes to my school, the " Color Red" alarm sounded; the
girls dashed onto the bus and a kassam landed EXACTLY where they had been
standing. The 7th graders- 16 in all- were hysterical and thankfully some
15-6 year old girls were there as well to try and calm them down. The
little
ones were unable even to answer their pelephones when their worried parents
called.
Friday (my free day, by the way; we all do what duty calls for :) I was at
school giving another matkonet to my senior class. At 8:45 I got a phone
call from a very tense WONDERFUL pupil of mine of the past 3 years,
"Ha'morah!! Michal and I want SO much to come to the matkonet but every
other minute there is a rocket and we just can't leave the house!" These 2
girls live in "THE" area that gets the most rockets, and the above Michal
was a tenth grader 2 1/2 yrs. ago when she stood next to Ella Abukasis who
was killed by a kassam as both girls were returning from Bnei Akiva.
I am not an idiot. We all know that the factions in Gaza are desperate to
have us come in and "conquer" Gaza so that this will end their bloody civil
war; unite them and put us once more in the "bad guy" role. There are no
easy answers, but these poor kids are not getting enough slack for the
bagrut from the Ministry of Education as far as I am concerned. What good
is
extra time if you haven't been able to concentrate studying worrying about
family members; getting up and running to an Azor Mugan at 3:00 a.m.; etc.?
These kids should have "X" amount of points added onto ALL their exam
grades, as far as I am concerned. All those kibbutzim in the area (Nir Am;
Kfar Azza; Sapir College and it's nearby school) are getting so many
rockets, non-stop; how in heavens name can ANYBODY concentrate on math/
English/ Bible/ computer programming/ physics/ etc.?
When I was in the eleventh grade in the mid-1970's, some smart kids cracked
the safe in one of the schools and distributed the NY state regents exams
to
their friends. That year, the NY State Regents Board cancelled the regents
and schools were told to give internal exams in their place. My point is
that in extenuating circumstances "thinking outside the box" is crucial.
What would be so terrible to add "X" amount of points not to an entire
school, but to each and every child who lives in the areas like Kfar Maimon
and those other kibbutzim many of whom I haven't named (Sa'ad for
example)???? Here in Netivot we hear the BOOOOM of rockets, but thank G-d
since last August, although they fall in the area they don't land in
Netivot
itself.
I am also tremendously worried about the long-term psychological
ramifications: How will children (let's say my 7th graders) be able to lead
normal adult lives in the future and deal with the normal stresses of life
after 5/ 6 yrs. that has had so many horrendous periods like this?
I am sending a copy of this to Judy Steiner but my hope is not just
consideration for English, but for ALL of the bagruyot. Lets get real
folks!
I have a tenth grader who in the space of 3 months had her Mom "almost" get
killed twice: One morning at 6.30 a.m. a rocket caused the parents' bedroom
ceiling to collapse one minute after Mom escaped. (Dad was praying in
Shul.)
Then a couple of months later during a "Colour Red" alarm, Mom put the car
in park, ran out and the car got a direct hit and exploded. Kaput. How in
heavens name after that upset last summer can Chen not have all her fears
come to the surface now during these non-stop rocket attacks? How can she
possibly study for her history/ Lashon/ Bikiyut/ exams??????
Please, dear important folks upstairs--- please help these poor kids
out!!!!
They deserve it!!!! Believe me!!!
Esther Revivo, Ulpanat Tzvia Netivot
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