When evacuees from Kibbutz Erez arrived in the isolated desert town of Mitzpe Ramon on October 8th, Dror Israel's High School opened new classes to welcome the evacuated students. During the school's recent midterm ceremony, where students present to their parents and teachers the projects they have worked on so far this year, students from Erez took the opportunity to reflect on their experience at the school.
The ceremony also served as a farewell for the evacuees, who, in March, moved to temporary housing in Kiryat Gat with the rest of their Kibbutz community.
Mika and Galia, two displaced students from Kibbutz Erez, made a speech during the event, thanking their Dror Israel educators and their school community.
"It’s hard to go to school during a war. We arrived at Dror Israel’s high school in Mitzpe Ramon, which is completely different our school in Shaar haNegev. Right away we felt that the vibe and approach here were different. I thought I was going to come to a school that wouldn’t expect me, as an evacuee, to invest a lot and that would let me do whatever I wanted. But when we got to know the staff and the school, we were exposed to the different and experiential learning method. We really enjoy it here and have bonded with the rest of our grade, and the projects we’ve done here were very fun.
For example, in English class we learned in a totally new way, a creative and experiential way, where students and teachers shape the learning together, to learn a language by connecting it to our lives. In all the projects and all the classes here I managed to enjoy learning. We had a lot of flexibility to shape our studies, but with guidance and partnership from our teachers.
We felt that the teachers understood us and did not treat us as poor, pitied evacuees. We felt we belonged, which is a feeling we did not expect to feel here. I was even happy to go to school! I felt that I was going to a place that gave me the opportunity to express myself as I am and where I didn’t get lost among a sea of students.
I enjoy the lessons. In our class we are all from Kibbutz Erez, and it is a bonding experience for us. I feel much more comfortable here in class with my friends and Noa than I have before in school. It was very new and different for us that we are all in the same class. Even though we all grew up together on the kibbutz, we were always in different classes in school. It is a different experience to be in class together.
The relationship with my teacher, Noa, helped me a lot during this period. I felt that I could approach her for anything and that she would always be there for me. I feel that she really is here to help us however she can. She supports us, understands what we are going through and is sensitive to our situation as evacuees.
Because of the October 7th attack, we had to leave our kibbutz and live in a place that is far from everything we know and everything we are used to, with people we have never met before. It was a big challenge, and it continues to be a challenge. I feel that despite the challenges and differences, we are not treated differently from the other children at school.
It's hard to imagine what we would have done without this unique school. Thank you so much to all of our amazing teachers for all your support during this challenging time."