Last week on Wednesday, September 21, Ramaz had the honor of being visited by Dr. Yifat Shasha-Biton, Israel’s minister of education, as well as other members of the Ministry of Education and Israel’s New York Consulate. Ramaz was the only school included in Dr. Shasha-Biton’s visit, which was primarily to participate at a forum on education at the UN General Assembly. Minister Shasha-Biton met with Ramaz’s senior leadership to learn about Ramaz’s history, educational philosophy and the State of Israel’s prominence throughout the curriculum and learning environment. The minister visited ECC classrooms to see the emphasis placed on Hebrew and to wish students a Shana Tova. The minister also visited classrooms in the middle school and even walked the halls during breaks between classes in order to meet students and see how they interact with each other.
The highlight of her visit was the launch of the Ministry of Education’s school twinning program where 500-day schools around the world will be paired with 500 schools in Israel. The inaugural event of this international program took place as Ramaz eighth graders Zoomed with ninth graders from the ORT Psagot school in Carmiel. Students from each school introduced their respective schools to each other and gave brachot to each other for the new year, 5783 (“a good year in school with little homework!”). The minister introduced herself and facilitated a discussion between the students.
To those present, it was clear how moved the minister was by the school. The delegation stayed for almost two hours, well past the time allotted for the visit. As the visit only materialized in the last few days, and was impacted by security considerations, preparation was limited. Yet, it didn’t matter. Ramaz on a typical day, shines, and the minister saw it, felt it and expressed immense gratitude. It is no question that she chose well when deciding on which school to visit and in which school to launch an international initiative to connect and strengthen the Jewish people.
A special thank you to Ruth Gafni, Jennifer Bernstein and the leadership, educators and operations teams of the middle and lower schools.
