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November |October | Aug-Sept | June-July | August | May | April | March | January-February | November, 2006
ELCJHL schools celebrated their Christmas programs as usual this year, with a mix of songs, instrumental music, manger skits and Santa Clauses.
Since our last newsletter, the Schools and Educational Programs of the ELCJHL have participated in various school, community, national, and church events that promote our educational objectives for a holistic education. The annual Reformation Day celebration and school holiday took place at the end of October. Bishop Younan and Director of Education Dr. Charlie Haddad welcomed the eighth graders from the Lutheran Schools to the Evangelical Lutheran School of Beit Sahour, this year’s host. After an opening assembly, music, and prayers, students formed five separate groups representing all four ELCJHL Schools and the Good Shepherd School in Bethlehem, a new Lutheran partner in education. A rotating set of activities included more music, a dramatic presentation on Martin Luther’s trial, a video on Luther’s life, a game show format that quizzed teams on Reformation facts, and group games. These activities gave students from the five schools a chance to meet and talk with each other personally and encouraged a sense of identity with the Lutheran tradition.
Students and staff from the Lutheran Schools were also part of the Seventh Annual Olive Harvest Festival held at Manger Square in Bethlehem November 3. Simon Award, Director of the Environmental Education Center, an educational program of the ELCJHL, joined the officials on the speakers’ podium. Dar al Kalima Lutheran School in Bethlehem and Talitha Kumi Lutheran School in Beit Jala brought their musicians and singers; ELS Beit Sahour and the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah sent their Debkeh folklore dancers. In addition to the program, visitors to Bethlehem toured the exhibits illustrating the importance of olives and olive wood to Palestinian culture, browsed the crafts booths, and sampled Palestinian cuisine.
Later in the month social studies classes and morning assemblies studied and discussed the National Palestinian Declaration of Independence in preparation for the celebration of Palestinian Independence Day November 15. The Lutheran Schools are committed to prepare leaders for the day when this hope becomes a tangible reality, free from violence and occupation.
The next day the Lutheran Schools’ annual soccer tournament took place again at Beit Sahour. The teams and guests from all four Lutheran schools enjoyed the games, conversation, and food before returning to their schools and preparing for the end of the first semester in early December.
In addition to the two volunteers from North America featured in the October newsletter, the Lutheran Schools are also happy to have six volunteers from Germany. At Talitha Kumi, Wieland Seibt , Peer-Daniel Krause, Sarah Wabbel, and Anna Richter assist with German tutoring and sponsorship programs and work in the guesthouse, kitchen, and boarding home. At Beit Sahour and Dar al-Kalima, Wiebke Kappus assists with kindergarten and German classes and teaches ballroom dancing in the extracurricular program after school. She is also helping with the Challenge 20/20 project that pairs international and US schools who study together global issues. A gymnasium graduate, she has not yet decided what she will do when she returns to Tubingen next year. She does know, however, that she will miss the warmhearted and helpful people she has met here.
In addition to these German volunteers, the Lutheran Schools are fortunate to have the two DSD German teachers on a special contract sponsored by both the German government and the ELCJHL. These partnerships and joint projects with local and international groups help to open the world to our students by building windows within their walls of isolation.
The first two months of classes in the Schools of the ELCJHL have flown by. In addition to new classes and new teachers, students have already participated in some special events that have enriched the regular school calendar.
The four schools have conducted elections for student councils, parents’ councils, and teacher advisory groups. These representatives provide a bridge of communication with the local administration at each school. Such activities help to promote peaceful conflict resolution and build leadership skills in the democratic process for our staff and students. At the School of Hope, representatives from Trondheim Commune in Norway, a sister city with Ramallah, came to explain their Youth City Council, soon also to be a part of the city government in Ramallah.
International partnerships are important to the Lutheran Schools where students and staff often feel isolated and bound by the Israeli Occupation and the Separation Wall. In addition to the visit from the Norwegian partners, each school is participating for the second year with US school partners as they study together selected global issues in the Challenge 20/20 project. This research project involves class discussions, internet research, interviews with community resources, and using technology to learn and communicate by email, PowerPoint, and websites. An added feature planned for this year is a joint presentation where participants will present their work to all four Lutheran Schools.
This month we also welcomed two volunteers from North America. Donna Finch from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada works with teachers and students of English. Her husband Dale is a retired pastor and a volunteer at Augusta Victoria Hospital. Marcia Holman, a specialist in learning and behavioral problems, will serve as a consultant and resource person in her area. She moved here from Minnesota when her husband Mark became pastor of the English-speaking congregation of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. Next month’s article will include information about our volunteers from Germany.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended in mid-October. Since our Muslim students represent 40 percent of the school population, this observance provided an opportunity for dialogue in our religion classes. Muslim and Christian students study their faith in separate courses but meet together regularly to share interreligious dialogue. In one such class at Dar al-Kalima, Anton Nassar, a teacher of Christianity, and Inam al-Dalu, the teacher of Islam, led joint class discussions that illustrated the similarities and differences about the custom of fasting among Christians and Muslims. A group of religion teachers and students from Dar al-Kalima School in Bethlehem and the Evangelical Lutheran School in Beit Sahour also attended a three-day international conference on Christian-Muslim relations sponsored by Bethlehem University.
The school staff and administration are busy implementing new organizational and instructional activities from the Schools’ Action Plans, and the first two months of the school year are proof that the Lutheran Schools take seriously their educational goals. Explained briefly and not ranked in any order they are as follows:
1. To develop wholesome, creative, and innovative students in an ever-changing world 2. To integrate peace values, reinforce democracy, and encourage respect for others. 3. To promote communication and cooperation with the schools and local and international groups 4. To mold and reinforce Palestinian and Christian identity 5. To provide quality education through innovative methods 6. To create a healthy and stimulating school environment 7. To provide for students’ individual differences and special needs 8. To reinforce and support the role of women in Palestinian society 9. To practice financial responsibility
These goals appear also in our new brochures, which are now available upon request. Please contact the Office of the Director of Education by mail or email as indicated on the ELCJHL web site.
One of the special programs at the Lutheran School of Beit Sahour is the vocational arts program. Students learn and practice a variety of local Palestinian crafts and skills. Candles, olive wood ornaments, pottery and mosaics are some of the items available. More photos and prices and contact information soon up on http://www.elcjhl.org/ed/schools/sahour/sahour.asp.
What Did ELCJHL Students Do Over the Summer?
Students and teachers from the ELCJHL were busy traveling this past summer, thanks to partner churches in Germany and Switzerland. Choirs from Beit Sahour, Bethlehem and Beit Jala attended "KirchenTag" in Germany, a church festival sponsored by the Lutheran Church in Germany every two years that gathers churches from across the globe for workshops and festivals about worship.
The Beit Sahour School alone had 50 students and 10 teachers in Europe learning and getting to know their partners. There was a choir and debkha dance tour in Switzerland and Germany for 6 teachers and 24 students and another 14 students and 2 teachers, in addition to attending KirchenTag in Koln, Germany, were guests of the Evangelical Firstwald School and a new partnership of the YMCA of Moessingen. Another group of 3 Beit Sahour students were guests of the Wiesloch Gymnasium School for almost a month where they attended classes and studied German. One student – the best German student at the school – earned a tour of Germany with 16 other international students.
Nine singers from the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala were hosted for a month at the Kirchentag in Koln and elsewhere in Germany. The Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah had similar experiences. Students at Dar al-Kalima also went to Germany this summer, also staying with families and attending classes. Students from Dar al Kalima also participated in the Bright Stars summer camp sponsored by Dar Annadwa and held on the school campus.
Beit Sahour Principal Salameh Bishara said it is very exciting that this summer so many students were able to go abroad, since most of them will not have the chance again without similar opportunities:
"We are so grateful to our partners, because our students are exposed to other cultures and people and they learn so much. Most of these kids would not otherwise be able to leave the country."
For seniors Ihab and Yacoub, for example, this was their first trip to Switzerland; they really enjoyed hiking and camping in the Italian Alps. The young men found the busy concert performance schedule tiring, but they appreciated the hospitality of the families who hosted them. They were surprised that most people did not know about the political situation here in Palestine. Mariam, also in Grade 12, commented on the kindness of their hosts:
"they treated us like their own children."
Peace
Camp at Ramallah School of HopeJuly, 2007 - Ramallah School of Hope children and teachers participated in a two-week peace camp in July facilitated by Love Thy Neighbor, a non-profit group dedicated to educate and raise awareness about the Palestinian situation and help facilitate creativity and peace-building skills. For more information, watch this video by Tim Frakes
A delegation of youth and adults from the Southeast Michigan Synod of the ELCA visited the ELCJHL and its youth in late June. The group spent three days with the youth of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, first working at the Beit Sahour school, painting lines for the soccer field and planting/cleaning the grounds. They toured the wall in Bethlehem and a refugee camp there and together they added their creative expressions to the wall. In Jerusalem, they helped with a day camp, were invited to a home for a meal and were led on a tour of Jerusalem by Shukri Merizian, tour guide extraordinaire. They worshipped in Ramallah and went with their youth group to a local village park and pool.
Youth from several ELCJHL schools and churches are in the midst of international exchanges in Germany and Norway this summer for general partner visits or specialized visits, such as musical events. Women from Redeemer Church are in Austria, invited by partners there. Stay tuned for reports.
and Best Wishes for Tawjihi Results!
The graduation festivities are past, the graduates have survived the grueling Tawjihi exams, which are given for several hours for about two weeks, and most will have a well-deserved rest before finding out their results.
My school was my second home where I spent most of my time…nobody knows what will become of us; however I hope the best for everyone in this bewildering world. The next step is hard because we have little knowledge and experience although I know that we will succeed: we were taught here that with perseverance and courage nothing can stand between us and our goals.
Right now, I am standing here in front of all of you to tell you how much I am proud to be a girl from this school. I am so happy to graduate and proceed with my life and achieve my goals and dreams but in the same time sad for leaving all of you. We were born in the midst of the first Intifada .We grew up with the hope of having a Palestinian state, but our political situation did not prosper for peace and statehood. We keep our hopes high as we will become future leaders of this country.
Finally, I would like to extend my deep appreciation and gratitude to our school principle Mrs. Naila Kharoub, our teachers for their unlimited support and their guidance and to our parents who bare the hardships and patience of our long study.
Goodbye my school, goodbye my teachers, goodbye my fellow mates. Thank you.
Lena Abed-Rabbo, Graduating Senior giving the English Commencement Speech at Dar al Kalima Graduation
Sister Sylvia Countess, Ass't to the ELCJHL Schools' Director
The spring months are always busy ones for the Schools and Educational Programs of the ELCJHL. This year, as teachers and students prepared for the end of classes, final exams, and school summer tours, they also welcomed their families and friends to special school events. Each school held its own festival, but all four Lutheran Schools joined others in the area to participate in the Spring Festival sponsored by the Environmental Education Center (EEC), one of the educational programs of the ELCJHL.
This year the students of the Evangelical Lutheran School in Beit Sahour held an exhibit of their arts and crafts for the community. On display were thousands of samples of student-made work representing kindergarten through high school levels: drawings, icons, ceramics, candles, carpentry projects, copper work, mosaics, olivewood products, and recycled glass art objects. Students also demonstrated for the public their creativity through various arts and crafts. The exhibit also included holiday decorations and a book fair.
Later in the month, at Dar al-Kalima School in Bethlehem, the community attended a musical concert by the band and choir, who performed religious and patriotic selections. At the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah, an art, science, and technology exhibition extended throughout the classrooms of all three floors. Student guides from various subjects and grades participated in displaying and explaining their projects. Among them were a lab demonstration, an exhibit of folk traditions and costumes, a construction engineering display, charts on environmental studies, and computer programs and projects that spanned the curriculum.
Over 600 people, including church, government, and community representatives, attended the ELCJHL’s EEC Spring Festival located on the campus of Talitha Kumi in Beit Jala May 4. Members of the environmental clubs at each participating Lutheran and non-Lutheran school presented dramatic skits, folk dances, and musical selections for the public. The program concluded with a public pledge administered by EEC Director Simon Awad that students in the environmental clubs would commit themselves to promote environmental awareness for “a green Palestine,” a serious challenge in the face of water deficits and deforestation resulting from forty years of Israeli Occupation. Then the public toured multiple rooms of exhibits, including the special arts and crafts competition using recycled paper products collected at each school. Other activities included face painting for the younger children and sampling regional foods. The staff saw the increased attendance and positive comments as encouraging signs of growing interest in environmental issues.
The second half of May includes graduation ceremonies for each of the four senior classes and the five kindergarten programs. However, the school year does not end here; teachers and staff have already begun to plan for summer study and concert tours. Three student groups from Beit Sahour will travel to Germany and Switzerland in June and July. Twenty-four students and seven teachers will be part of the choir and Dabke dance tour while two other groups will participate in home stays and German instruction. Dar al-Kalima School will send twelve students and two teachers to Germany; the School of Hope in Ramallah will have two groups traveling: fourteen students and two teachers will go to Germany and Holland and a second group of ten students and two teachers will visit Berlin. Such travel experiences are part of the efforts of the Lutheran Schools to encourage dialogue and to open windows of cultural awareness and international communication.
Please keep the ELCJHL students, teachers and staff in your prayers as they say goodbye to seniors who will also be preparing for the two-week long arduous Tawjihi Exam in mid-June.
Dr.Charlie D. Haddad, the ELCJHL Director of Education (Superintendent) affirms the commitment of the ELCJHL Schools and Educational Programs to integrating peace education in curricular and extra-curricular activities as part of their mission. He stresses that the future of the area will be in the hands of the next generations, who have to be trained and cultured to coexist harmoniously and peacefully regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. The ELCJHL Schools and Educational Programs are striving to be role models for other educational institutions and for the community at large by working diligently towards achieving their mission.
Sister Sylvia Countess, Ass't to the ELCJHL Schools' Director
Although the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land was officially recognized as an autonomous church in 1959, it traces its history to German mission work in the mid-nineteenth century. The schools founded at that time were the first to provide education to Christian and Muslim boys and girls on an equal basis.
Today the Church sees its educational ministry as more important than ever before, especially in light of the present state of life for Palestinians. Israeli military occupation and travel restrictions make it increasingly difficult for families to choose good schools for their children. In addition, the economic conditions resulting from the political situation have limited parents’ incomes and their ability to pay school costs. Operation and development of school programs are serious problems in such a situation, but committed sponsors and partners overseas provide much needed support and funding to alleviate this dire situation.
Approximately 2100 students from pre-school through Grade 12 receive education at four campuses: Dar Al-Kalima Lutheran School in Bethlehem, the Evangelical Lutheran School in Beit Sahour, Talitha Kumi Lutheran School in Beit Jala, and the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah. The Church also supports four educational programs: a preschool and kindergarten program at Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, the Martin Luther Community Development Center in Jerusalem’s Old City, a boys’ home, and the Environmental Education Center, both in Beit Jala. All the schools and programs are located within a twenty mile area of occupied Palestine.
The students in our schools come from varied backgrounds. Some families have long histories in their towns; others are political refugees from the Palestine-Israel area now living in UN-administered refugee camps in the Bethlehem and Ramallah areas. Most of our students receive financial aid to cover their tuition fees, but none is refused because of inability to pay. All the teachers and administrators except one are Palestinian.
Life here grows more difficult as each day passes. Since 2000 the area has experienced increased political restrictions and growing economic hardship. Explained briefly, the “prevailing conditions”, a euphemism Palestinians use to describe their stressful existence, include an increasing Israeli military presence, tighter restrictions on movement and residence, and lack of jobs because of difficulty receiving permits to cross into Jerusalem for work.
Israel plans to complete its construction of the Separation Wall within two year, which you see here in red. The towns that have ELCJHL ministries are marked. The black line marks the 1949 Armistice Line (known as the Green Line) which marks what was Palestinian land and has now been occupied since then. Most of the land between those two lines, then, has been confiscated for illegal settlements or to build the Separation Wall. This complex installation of twenty-foot concrete walls, electric fences, barriers, access-limited roads, and de facto borders, heavily guarded by the Israeli military, isolates West Bank towns and communities from each other and from Israel and Jerusalem. Ostensibly built in the name of Israeli national security, its eventual route will absorb 40 percent of Palestinian-controlled lands and isolate Palestinians not only from Jerusalem and Israel, but also from nearby communities in the West Bank itself. Trips that once took fifteen minutes can now take hours. New roads connecting the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are off-limits to Palestinians who cannot use them or even cross them to access their farms.
Consequently, many Palestinians are no longer able to work in Jerusalem and other areas of Israel. Many are cut off from their former farmlands and work places. Others are scrambling to find appropriate housing because of threatened zoning, road closures, changing boundaries, and encroaching illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. Bethlehemites, for example, describe their town as a six- square mile wide prison. Unemployment and poverty levels are growing at alarming rates and in certain areas of the West Bank may soon reach 70 percent. The most recent socioeconomic crisis occurred after the Palestinian elections in January, 2006. International reactions to the democratically chosen Hamas Party majority in the Palestinian legislature have placed the economy in even greater jeopardy. Because of fund cut-offs, the government’s ability to pay salaries and health insurance is drastically restricted. Consequently, basic necessities for one million Palestinians no longer include assured access to health care, police or fire protection, or education.
These facts, distressing from a distance, become family nightmares lived out daily in the Lutheran Schools. Students and staff, whose permission to cross checkpoints is refused or delayed without explanation or advance notice, miss classes and school events. The schools’ director, delayed at a checkpoint for three hours, was unable to speak or distribute diplomas at a high school graduation last year. A deacon of a Lutheran congregation and his wife, both teachers in our schools, risk losing their home because it is too close to an illegal settlement built after their house was constructed in compliance with municipality permits. Some school administrators sadly note they are the single members of their extended family still living here after ten years of increasing emigration because of the “prevailing conditions.” Teenaged daughters of a Lutheran pastor in the West Bank have never seen the holy sites in Jerusalem, six miles away; their father is often denied travel permits to Jerusalem and outside the country, supposedly for security reasons. Congregations contain married couples who may no longer live together with their children because of permit restriction changes.
Episodes of violence are part of the group memories of local schools and congregations. Teachers and students in Ramallah and Bethlehem still remember the vandalism, thefts, and needless destruction of property that occurred in their classrooms and offices when Israeli soldiers shot their way into their school, “looking for terrorists,” during a curfew. They used the Lutheran pastors there as human shields during their armed searches of their churches. An American pastor residing in Jerusalem describes such incidents of stress and violence with which Palestinians live as “death by a thousand cuts” that slowly but repeatedly deplete their life blood and energy.
However, despite the grim reality of life for families in the West Bank, visitors to the Lutherans schools often express their surprise at the friendliness and joy they find among the students and staff. Hospitality is a hallmark of Palestinian culture, but the attitudes of the students and staff of the Schools of the ELCJHL indicate also the commitment to dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and bridge-building fostered by the church and its educational ministry.
In the face of social, political and financial challenges, the Schools and Educational programs of the ELCJHL struggle to provide quality education through various means. First, the Lutheran Schools offer an alternative to the traditional regional system of memorization and lecture. Modern educational concepts which emphasize participation and creative thinking are the heart of a holistic approach. Teachers and administrators see their pupils as individuals with needs and gifts, not simply academic performers valued only for grades and test scores. Through interactive class instruction, class research and study projects, the Lutheran Schools strive to prepare their students with the necessary tools to resolve conflicts and solve problems creatively, effectively, and peacefully.
Exposing students to the larger world is also essential in such a politically restrictive climate. The Schools encourage cooperation and communication with international groups and partner churches to expose students to a wider world view than isolation and military occupation allow. Pen pal correspondences and joint study projects with international schools, twinning programs, pupil and teacher exchanges and visits exemplify deliberate efforts to open windows within walls. Believing that lack of knowledge about the other creates mistrust, tension, and often violence, those charged with the educational ministry of the ELCJHL encourage communication with the outside world and view dialogue among people of different cultures and traditions as essential.
The staff and teachers respect the varied religious backgrounds of their students and do not aim to convert anyone; they do offer, however, an environment in which the Christian core values of non-violence and forgiveness are promoted and encouraged inside and outside the classroom. Children are taught to accept each other, regardless of religious, social, and ethnic differences. Extracurricular activities encourage students to channel their energy and emotions in positive outlets like sports, music, dance, and environmental awareness. Student councils at each school are learning responsibility and leadership. School counseling programs attempt to address the needs of a school population marked by life in a stressful and violent atmosphere; daily assemblies led by students, staff, and local pastors offer ethical and spiritual guidance.
“Teaching peace” occurs both indirectly through daily interaction among Christian and Muslim students and staff and also in specifically planned school activities and programs. Students and staff participate regularly in conflict resolution training that teaches nonviolent and constructive dialogue. Joint religion classes led by Christian and Muslim teachers meet twice a month to discuss common values and traditions. Lectures, summer camps, and workshops sponsored by the Arab Educational Institute (AEI) promote mutual respect for ethnic and religious differences.
The ELCJHL believes that peace and justice can prevail only through constructive dialogue and nonviolent action. We believe and teach that, as written in one of our schools, "Violence is the tool of incompetence."
The vision for the Lutheran Schools in the Holy Land is to produce leaders who are open-minded and capable of engaging in constructive planning for the future of Palestinian society. As we promote the Lutheran value of education, we are shaping the Palestinian Christian identity of future generations in love and strength. We see education as a direct mission of this church, giving hope in a hopeless situation. The future is at present a fragile dream, but Palestinian Christians, like their beloved olive trees, have maintained their presence here for thousands of years, and it is hope which sustains them. Both the people and the olive trees of Palestine have suffered great pain and loss, but they also bear witness to the will to survive in hard living conditions. Salaam Bannoura in her graduation speech at Beit Sahour Evangelical Lutheran School in June, 2005, said it well.
We have tasted a harsh bitterness: the bitterness of occupation, of seeing our people being killed, homes destroyed, lands confiscated, and this apartheid wall being built on our own soil. But let us not give up hope. Justice will prevail, and freedom will come. All we have to do is to stand together, to keep the candle of hope burning, and to work and struggle for our freedom.
Mother's Day, March 21, is a big day in Palestine. All the schools have special programs for mothers. Children at Al Mahaba Kindergarten sang songs, gave a small gift to their mothers and they all had a party. Students at each of the four Lutheran Schools prepared speeches, music, refreshments, and gifts to honor mothers.
Dar al-Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School in Bethlehem combined their festivities with an open day, when special school-wide activities replaced the normal class schedule. Kindergarten classes had a bus excursion to an amusement center for games and a picnic. After sharing class breakfasts with their teachers, students displayed their arts and craft projects from the extra curriculum program, and later participated in a special assembly with songs and music. Playground activities and games between students and teachers took place later in the morning. Similar activities took place in the Beit Sahour and Ramallah schools.
Our foreign partners help us to keep the ELCJHL schools operating as a sign of hope for the community. Last fall, when the government schools did not operate for two months, the Lutheran schools were there, a steady presence in the midst of uncertainty. One of the ways this happens is through the scholarship programs, which help families pay the tuition costs. The costs are already heavily subsidized, but this past year the international boycott on aid to Palestinians worsened further an already dismal economic climate. The ELCJHL has found that families want to contribute to the tuition costs because it promotes a sense of partnership and self-worth.
According to Dr. Charlie Haddad, Director of Education of the ELCJHL, the average annual school cost per child is about $1600; because of the church’s support, tuition rates vary among the grade levels and schools from $430-$1000. Contributions come from individuals, church congregations, international philanthropic organizations, and international church partners.
FELM, the Finnish ministry that outgoing Deacon Pirkko Tuhkanen represented, has a sponsorship program that helps about 200 sponsored private students pay their tuition in the Ramallah, Beit Sahour and Bethlehem schools as well as the Boys’ Home in Beit Jala. The partnership is not just financial, but the partners write notes and cards to one another. The international partners often send birthday cards and small gifts, which gives the children a nice lift in their spirits. Through the notes written by the students, the people and congregations get a window into the reality of life in Palestine. It is a win-win program for all involved, and we thank those who are participating!
A recent publication for Palestinian children is the result of the teamwork of seven student editors in sixth grade from the Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah. Children from various schools in Palestine contributed articles, poems, stories, and art work for Al Raja al Sagheer, (The Little Hope), which may be one of the first children’s magazine in Palestine written by children in grades 1-6. According to the editors, only children younger than thirteen were allowed to submit entries. This is the fifth issue for this publication, which is underwritten by local donors and businesses. Such activities are important to the Lutheran Schools’ commitment to encouraging creativity and higher level thinking skills as part of a holistic education.
Like their counterparts in Europe and the United States, students and staff in the Lutheran Schools of the Holy Land come back to expect the usual school routine after winter holiday vacation. There were some differences this year, however. Teachers returned to their classes and also to help plan the educational ministry of the ELCJHL. Faculty committees and principals from the participating schools met during January outside regular school hours to complete the final phases of the Schools’ action plans. Each staff is now ready to implement and Beit evaluate activities that promote the goals and objectives of quality education for Christian and Muslim students in the Occupied Territories. These Action Plans will also serve as an effective self evaluation tool for teachers, administrators and support staff.
Another important element in the Schools’ action plans is teacher training and providing for professional exchanges of ideas on curricular innovations and student-centered learning. The Martin Luther Community Development Center, an educational ministry of the ELCJHL, is taking an active role in providing in-service training for teachers of English in our West Bank schools as well as those in the Old City and East Jerusalem. In December, twenty-seven teachers from seven local schools participated in the first session on structured group strategies to increase student participation and learning. Based on the teachers’ enthusiastic reception and suggestions, future workshops will discuss more grouping practices, teaching and evaluating speaking and writing skills, and providing for students with motivation and attention problems. These issues, common to students everywhere, are of particular importance to schools operating in areas subject to military, political, and economic stressors. Recent events in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have once again pointed out the challenges of providing safe and stimulating learning environments for the students of Palestine.
Also during January, teams of students and teachers from each school completed a pilot project that advances many of the Schools’ goals. They participated in Challenge 20/20, an international program sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools in the US. Each of the four local schools with a US partner school studied one of twenty global issues. Students conducted Internet and local research, used their English skills to communicate with their American partners, learned about community resources, and practiced higher level thinking skills to propose solutions. Subjects studied were education for all, international labor and migration, water deficits, and biodiversity losses. All found the cross-curriculum activities a new approach to holistic learning and the topics especially relevant to issues for Palestinian communities living in the challenges of the Occupation.