They visit each other after-hours or over the weekend on their own. The Hagar Association also provides opportunities or events to encourage this as well.
Uri believes that if you take out any of these three foundational elements there is some synergy that is missing that helps them to be better.
He said what they do is lay the foundations to get through or be better equipped to cope with the reality of difficult situations like the Gaza war.
Their first graduating class this year, a 6th grade class, had to do a project looking at their family roots, as many other public schools are also required to (in Jewish schools, when the children hit the age of bat and bar mitzvah).
Throughout the school year, Hagar’s 6th graders chose one member from their family, researched that person and shared his or her story in class. Towards the end of the year the students published a book of their stories, in which they also included their reactions towards other’s stories that resonated with them.
To conclude the year the students presented their stories to the parents and they sat down in small groups and facilitated a dialogue between the parents about what they heard.
Uri said this is an experience that most children in Israel simply do not have an opportunity to experience.
“My own daughter is going into the 2nd grade at an Arab-Jewish school. Whenever they receive these assignments I always tell her to listen very carefully to what other classmates are sharing, because when you grow up you may not be able to hear each other in such a natural way.”
He added, “I say this because for many years I have facilitated Arab-Jewish dialogue groups in which we always incorporate personal storytelling as a means to break the ice before we dive into complexities and the political situation that stands in the middle of these encounters.
There has always been something artificial about it when such activities are not structured in a continuous way like when your classmates are real peers getting the same assignment that you work on, rather than a group that just forms for how long the workshop is and then they are dispersed.”
Measuring Success
The Hagar Association is looking to measure their impact in various arenas. First they try to ensure what they do is effective for the people in the program. They have qualitative and quantitative means to measure, and rich information to understand the growth of the program.The more important metric is how they can bring the impact of the program to the greater community. This is more difficult to achieve, as well as to measure, as it is very hard to attribute anything in the chaotic environment in which they operate to the work that they do.
They are looking more to be out there part of the discourse involving media, other schools, government and other parties so that their work is acknowledged and emulated.
Hagar Association
DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE
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