A 6,000-mile face to face connection

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW Video conferencing is often used by television news broadcasts for international interviews and for celebrity acceptance speeches when they're on set, but Heritage Academy is using the technology for something a bit more personal.

The middle school students are speaking with students of their own age at a school in Afula, Israel.

Located in the North District of Israel, Afula has a population of approximately 39,000. There are 24 schools filled with nearly 8,900 students, according to CBS. It is considered a sister city to Springfield, according to Shimon Shushan, Jewish Life Director at Heritage Academy.

"The whole process started at the beginning of this school year," Shushan explained. "Our first video conference took place on Dec. 4, which was also the first day of Hanukkah."

Lara Temkin-Pisani, admissions director at the academy, said the two groups of students, 6,000 miles apart, lit candles together to celebrate the holiday.

"The idea is to connect two communities," Shushan told Reminder Publications. "They are learning together about bar and bat mitzvahs [a religious initiation ceremony into adulthood]. They are learning the meaning of mitzvahs."

The groups are connected through an organization called Gesher Shel Zahav, or "Bridge of Gold." Shushan approached the organization about videoconferencing because he knew it had been running for a few years in places around the world and he wanted to bring the experience to Longmeadow.

"It's obviously very expensive to do this," Shushan said, "so we need to thank the Jewish Federation and the help of Maniaci family for their help connecting us at STCC."

The next conference will take place March 19, the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim. Shushan explained that Purim is kind of like American Halloween -- costumes and masks are worn to disguise the wearers' identities, which played a large role in the deliverance of the Jewish people from Haman's genocidal plot to annihilate all of them in the ancient Persian Empire as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. Shushan added the two groups of students will be discussing what they've learned so far during this video connection.

"The seventh and eighth graders will be traveling to Israel next February to meet the class face to face," Shushan stated. "They will celebrate their mitzvahs for one or two days and will use one day to do a community service project together."

Seventh grader Naomi Cohen said she was pleasantly surprised by what she learned from the first video conference. "At first I thought they'd be a lot different but they're a lot like us," she said. "They're just from a different environment. They connect with people the same way we do."

She added that she was nervous about the first conference, however.

"I think the younger you are, the easier it is, though," Cohen said. "When you're older, people expect more of you."

She said she is excited to be traveling to Israel for the first time next February but she's nervous about meeting her video and e-mail pen pals. "I don't know what they'll think of me," she stated.

Devorah Pava, who has already visited Israel a few times, said she thinks the video conferencing is really cool because this is the first time talking to Israelis like this.

"We introduced ourselves in Hebrew and they introduced themselves in English," she explained. "It's easier to talk to people when you can see them." She hopes the two groups will be more conversational the next time they connect.

During the Dec. 4 conference, there were opening speeches from school leaders, the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle and a PowerPoint presentation.

Fellow seventh grader Ronen Wesley, who was born in Israel, said it's been "pretty cool talking to people thousands of miles away."

"I want to talk with them more," he said, echoing Pava's sentiments. "It's cool to meet new people ... but it's not as exciting when you only get to talk to them every two months."

He added he is looking forward to the trip next year and visiting Israel with his friends.

In addition to the video conferencing to learn about mitzvahs, the Heritage Academy students are using computer courses to learn about the rite. The two groups of students e-mail each other as well.

"They're experiencing the learning process together," Shushan said.

Right now, the middle school students are the only ones involved in the video conferencing, but Shushan said it "would be a dream" to expand the program to fourth and fifth graders too. The fourth grade class currently writes and e-mails fellow students in Israel.

"This is a good experience for students," Shushan said. "Traditionally, middle school students are very sarcastic, but this left them feeling very impressed."

For more information about the program, visit www.geshershelzahav.org.