[etni] Teacher of the Day

Adham Zoabi, the English teacher at ORT  El Hoashallah School is "Teacher of
the Day".....my own nomination for the yet non-existent title. Adham is an
earnest, motivated, caring and all-around wonderful educator. Let me tell
you a little about him and his work at this off-the-beaten-track Negev
Bedouin school. More on the school itself in a minute...

It's a pleasure to meet and work with such an open-minded teacher, willing
to try new things and reach out to his pupils. Today I was especially
touched by the project work he is doing now in both the 10th and 11th grade
classes, "Roots". We had discussed and looked for an engaging project for
these kids who have limited Internet access and no public library. We
decided to help them get to know themselves better, their family and
traditions. One source of information was an interview with a grandparent
about life in the past. They also recorded their grandparents' stories, a
few of which I read today. This project could prove to be more than just an
English Bagrut project, preserving a quickly disappearing
tradition. Selected excerpts of the projects will appear in the school
newspaper next semester.

Adham is presently preparing a card catalogue of all the new library books
we've received from Books for Israel and local publishers/importers. (Thanks
again to them all!) For the first time, his pupils will be able to fulfill
the Extensive Reading requirements of the Ministry; till now they had no
access to library books! Of course, Adham does all this library work in his
"free" time.

I've had the pleasure of observing and co-teaching with Adham and it's clear
to me that his pupils are very lucky!

About the school....El Hoashallah village and school is located near Dimona
Junction. The school is still housed in over-crowded caravans. Hopefully,
their new school building will be ready by the next school year. In the
meantime, and since it was established, they make do with the minimum.
Principal Yousif El Hoashallah does his best to keep things running
smoothly, advance his pupils and help his teachers who are all working under
difficult conditions.

So, despite gray skies today... rain and mud...I felt great coming home this
afternoon from my counseling day. Adham, keep up the great work! And Yousif,
too!

Laurie Ornstein

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