FRIENDS OF ISRAEL SCI-TECH SCHOOLS

Students in the Aerospace Track Get an Innovative Learning Environment

12/8/2011 10:55:01 AM

The Aerospace study track at Zimmetbaum Sci-Tech School in Arad was officially opened two weeks ago with a festive ceremony attended by donor Dr. Charlotte Frank, municipal representatives, Zvi Peleg, Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Director General, and the track students. The ceremony included the inauguration of a new learning center containing a planetarium, a stellar observatory and a study and research lab.

The study track already has some 40 students in grades 10-12, who passed challenging entrance exams,

including some select students who returned bearing prizes and titles from the Space Olympiad Studies involve field trips to the nearby Nevatim Air Force base, learning aerodynamics from pilots, and the study of electronics, algorithms and programming. This is the second aerospace study track in Israel

and the first in the south of the country.

The new learning center has a highly advanced telescope, an innovative planetarium and sophisticated computer lab, thanks to the generous donation of $100,000 from the American Frank family. At night the views from the new stellar observatory on the roof of the school building promise to be spectacular.

Tali Pluskov, Mayor of Arad: "The opening of the aerospace study track at the high school is yet another step in the development of the city and its positioning as a center of educational excellence in Israel.

These students, who have been very carefully selected, are the future generation of Israeli science. It is they who will lead academic research at research institutes and may even have the privilege of becoming Israel's next astronauts. We can already see the fruits in the outstanding international achievements they reached at the Space Olympiad in Moscow. I would like to thank Dr. Charlotte Frank, whose donation has made it possible for Arad students to have the most advanced conditions in which to learn and develop. May there be many more in the world with her vision and actions."

Zvi Peleg, Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Director General noted; "From the early age of 16 we are encouraging our youngsters to reach space. The Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network is at the forefront of science and technology education and will continue to provide its students with the best tools and skills to enable them to fully realize their potential. The aerospace track is an example of a successful investment, as we welcome the return of the first ever Israeli delegation, from Sci-Tech School in Arad, to take part in the International Space Olympiad in Russia. These students have brought honor to the country and to the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network through their innovation, initiative and creativity."

2011/12 School year Launched

9/6/2011 4:31:59 PM

Israel Sci-Tech network wishes its 100,000 students, 7,000 staff members and 55 local authority heads and staff – its educational partners - a very fruitful and successful school year.

We are delighted to welcome five new schools to the Israel Sci-Tech network:

Bustan el Marj – a six-year comprehensive

Rogozin Kiryat Gat – a six-year comprehensive

Growing high school in Mulda

Naomi Shemer – six year comprehensive in Gan Yavne

Growing Arab high school in Lod

Israel Sci-Tech network will continue to uphold its two principal banners:

Education for values alongside science and technology education

to strengthen the moral, social and economic power of the State of Israel

1 elementary school

56 middle schools

72 high schools

15 industrial schools

31 practical engineering colleges

8 centers for diploma studies

2 academic colleges

12 Eshkolot Payis

197 institutions

“Smart House” - Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Students Invent iPhone Application to Control Electrical Appliances

5/19/2011 12:13:13 PM

Students at the Sci-Tech Astronomy and Space High School in Ma'ale Adumim took away first prize honors in the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network “Young Engineers” competition for their "iStart" group's iPhone application project that allows phone users to remotely operate small electrical devices. The June 1st event which drew 100 student competitors presenting some 40 different projects, was held at the Hermelin College of Engineering in Netanya.

The “iStart group”, students, Ronen Ohad, Shachar Davidovitz, Dani Zebranin and Kobi Bass planned a technological integration between the iPhone and a “Smart House”, which allows electrical components in the home to be operated remotely via the internet. The application makes it possible for the phone user--across town or abroad--to switch on the lights, turn on a hot water boiler, air conditioner, television or any other electrical device.

Using a WiFi internet database the iPhone user securely connects to the service assuring that no one other than the approved user can activate the home devices. Once the modification order is received by the network database the computer transmit instructions to a controller, connected through the USB, to operate the electrical devices in accordance with the order from the user. The iPhone interface is amended in accordance with the change made to the electrical device.
Izhar Shay, joint CEO at “Caanan Partners” Venture Capital and a member of the Friends of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Association, who has reviewed the project believes it has business potential.

Some 100 students from schools across Israel, presented their projects at the competition. Students had to design projects that integrated scientific, technological and social elements. The competition encouraged students to create projects based on scientific engineering, good planning and surveying and build projects that demonstrated innovative and creative engineering, construction and operation solutions --all important basic tools needed to excel in the field of engineering.

A project that helps clear the lungs of severely retarded children lacking the cough reflex and who suffer from a buildup of mucus and fluids in their lungs won second place in the competition. The students' solution offered a system of audio speakers that attach by belt to the patient’s back and serve as vibrators causing the release of mucus from the walls of the lungs, while larger speakers function to remove the mucus from the body.

Third place honors went to a student group that developed a water purification system using the UV rays of the sun. The system operates by creating a cascade of drops and - making use of the special properties in one drop of water -concentrating the sun’s rays onto each drop using a sunlight reflection system. The students developed a complex analytical model outlining the system's efficiency to purify droplets of different sizes under different environmental conditions. The model permitted the selection of optimal conditions for purifying the water. Using this model, computer software was also developed to allow complete control over the system.

Dr. Meir Fershtman, head of the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Goralnik Institute for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, commented: “ We instructed students to choose innovative projects that would represent a contribution to the community, to the environment and to society by using advanced technologies. This program offers students an enjoyable experience where they get to construct models and conduct practical experiments based on the assumption that successful business leadership is dependent on professionalism as well as social sensitivity. The scientific-technological field is the direction of Israel’s future; we are happy to be training the future generation and, by doing so, positioning Israel technologically in first place worldwide”.

The Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network offers a wide selection of innovative areas of study: physics, chemistry, advanced-level biology, electronics and computer sciences, robotics and artificial intelligence, bio-medical engineering and aerospace.

Studies in the Scientific Engineering track are based on teaching through analogy - basic concepts or logical thinking patterns that are common to diverse fields of science and engineering. Learning through analogy facilitates a broad understanding of the fields of science and engineering and gives students the scope and perspective needed to make decisions about the academic pathways they choose to follow.

Greening Israel’s Cities: Sci-Tech Schools’ Students Feature in Prestigious Business Competition

5/19/2011 12:12:07 PM

Among the bright ideas: showerlight water –saving device for fitness centers, dog leashes integrating excrement collection, and recycling bank

Two students chosen to represent Israel at the International Finals in Serbia, April 2010.

The British Council, partnering with Bank Leumi, Junior Achievement [Israel], Microsoft and Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network recently launched the 2010 Skills@Work competition in high schools across the country.

This year’s competition will focus on environmental quality in daily life. More than 100 Israel Sci-Tech Schools students were offered the opportunity to improve our quality of life through original ideas for innovative products or services using advanced technology.
February 10th saw these students teamed up at Microsoft Israel headquarters, channeling their talents into designing products or services that could contribute to raising awareness and changing our daily lifestyle schedules. Their challenges were revealed to the students only on the actual competition day, necessitating creative thinking and problem solving within defined time limits. Senior Microsoft professionals joined the competing teams, contributing their time and expertise to build a viable business plan for each product.

The committee of judges was composed of representatives of the four sponsoring organizations; their task was to evaluate both the creative process and the business plan parameters, based upon criteria of quality, innovation and creativity. The committee noted the exceptionally high level of inventiveness, ultimately choosing the Showerlight gym shower, the dog leash with its in-built excrement bags, and the recycling bank as winning ideas.

Two members of the winning group will represent Israel at the international finals in Serbia, April 2010.

Over 100 competitors were chosen from among dozens of groups participating in the Doing Business program of Junior Achievement Israel, which is active in schools across the country – including 13 Israel Sci-Tech Schools.

InFocus

5/15/2011 2:01:24 PM

The network provides the critical knowledge base and values from which these youth will continue to develop and contribute decisively to the country’s intellectual capital.

Dr. Edna Pasher
Organizational Consultant

Israel Sci Tech Youtube

5/15/2011 10:06:32 AM

YouTube Sci-Tech

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Bringing Educational Excellence to the Periphery

5/1/2011 11:37:30 AM

Periphery Initiative:

The Challenge

Once recognized as a leader in education, Israel is failing to provide its youth a quality education. As social gaps between the diverse sectors of the population widen, those at society's margins are being left even further behind. Decline in educational quality also means that Israel risks losing its critically important position as a highly advanced society.

Recently published reports by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)--the highly respected international organization of industrialized, market-economic countries that reports on nations' educational, scientific, economic and other key performance indicators-- have been highly critical of Israel's education system.

According to the OECD, the gap between rich and poor, in those countries it follows, narrows as the percentage of students who study technology rises. Since the 1960's Israel has seen a steady decline in the number of students who study technology. Today, fewer than 37% of Israeli students are on technology tracks. In Europe's developed countries, the average is 70%.

The Israeli Defense Forces and industry report that Israel will face an acute shortage of technicians, practical engineers and engineers over the next decade if the nation's educational performance does not improve.

The Periphery-- Students and Schools At the Margins

Israel's most vulnerable youth live in its poorest communities, where distance and economic disadvantage can be overwhelming obstacles to a quality education and a hopeful future.

The Israel Sci-Tech Schools Periphery Initiative aims to dramatically change some of the country's most disadvantaged, underperforming middle and high schools. In partnership with Israel's Ministry of Education, its major industries and private funders, Israel Sci-Tech Schools will transform, at minimum, 50 schools in the periphery region of the country over the next decade. The Initiative will bring the most advanced and effective science and technology curricula to existing schools in the region, and will motivate their students by providing them the knowledge and skills needed to become educated, productive citizens of Israel.

The Periphery Initiative will provide:

State-of-the-art science laboratories and improved and upgraded curricula and pedagogical teaching methods.

Intensive school principal and teacher training to bring proven educational methodologies into classrooms.

A new model of school-community partnership

The Periphery Initiative will:

Double the number of students who study technology and the sciences.

Improve students' success rates on the matriculation exams (bagrut) by 10 %.

Increase students' volunteer activities in their communities by 30%.

Strengthen students' knowledge of their respective heritage by bringing heritage programming to 75% of students in the schools.

Engage important Israel industry leaders as partners in the participating periphery schools.

Israel Sci-Tech Schools -- Ready to Meet the Periphery Challenge

Israel Sci-Tech Schools, now the largest system of schools in the country, serves close to 100,000 students - 65% are studying on a science-technology track. Only 35% of students at other schools in Israel are on this special track. Schools in the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network have demonstrated marked improvement in student performance.

Increased students' national matriculation rates

More students are choosing to study in the technology track

Dropout rates have decreased significantly

Israel Sci-Tech Schools has been effectively educating and motivating Israeli youth--many living in disadvantaged, impoverished communities--since 1949.

Now, it stands ready to meet the greatest educational challenge before the nation--transform 50 schools in the periphery and give the youth in the region struggling to find their place in society the education they deserve.

The Cost of Moving Youth From the Margins Into the Mainstream

Each participating school in the Periphery Initiative will require a one million dollar investment over the first three years. The entire Initiative will require a ten year, fifty million investment for the targeted 50 schools.

Funds for the Initiative will supplement the annual government-allocated Israel Sci-Tech Schools budget -- which averages approximately ILS 750 million.

The Government of Israel has agreed to match — dollar for dollar — every private gift to the Initiative (at least $25 million) and provide strategic guidance in the identification of the priority areas in the periphery region to be included in the Initiative.

What the Investment Will Provide

Each Periphery Initiative school will be transformed within three years into a high-performance center of learning using a curricula that integrates values with science and technology education.

Israel Sci-Tech Aviation and Space High School in Ma'ale Adumim

3/22/2011 2:44:09 PM

A special article about the Israel Sci-Tech Aviation and Space High School in Ma'ale Adumim ,From "Education Update" March/April 2011

http://admin.israel-scitech-schools.org/Apps/Public/getfile.aspx?inline=yes&f=files/ba3c28fc-8c3e-46d9-b4f3-effda4c7e27b/2182fac8-ece1-474b-a76f-aad8a96de4b5/c1cfd697-137d-4b74-a164-edcf3aa759c8/04e43e6a-a83b-47a7-8175-6f47970548dc.pdf

$50 MILLION INITIATIVE IS LAUNCHED TO TRANSFORM SCHOOLS AND BOLSTER EDUCATIONAL AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES IN ISRAEL’S PERIPHERY REGIONS

1/24/2011 10:22:54 AM

Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Partners with Israeli Ministry of Education to Close Educational and Income Gaps, Secure Country’s Science and Tech Future

New York – Jan. 19, 2011

The Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network and the Israeli Minister of Education – Mr. Gideon Saar - have announced a joint venture to transform schools in the country’s periphery regions in order to close social and economic gaps there and to create a new generation of skilled and educated Israelis.

The $50 million investment in the Israeli Sci-Tech Schools Network Periphery Initiative will bring 50 schools in the periphery regions into the existing charter school network and revitalize them over the next decade.
Schools will be equipped with new curricula, tools, infrastructures and technologies to provide students living in these economically lagging areas with highly valued and marketable science and technology backgrounds and credentials critical to their own futures and that of Israel.

Fueling the Periphery Initiative is a $25 million fundraising campaign by Israeli Sci-Tech Schools Network and a dollar-to-dollar matching program by the Israeli government, which has committed at least $25 million for the project. Corporate and industrial partnerships also will be forged with each school.
“It is one of the most important challenges for the future human power of Israel, taking on schools in the poorest socio-economic areas of the country that have been failing for years, and turning them around in the direction of values, innovation and excellence in science and technology,” said Zvi Peleg, director general of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network, as he announced the initiative.

“These designated funds will provide some 45,000 youngsters in 50 comprehensive schools in the country’s social periphery a brighter future and more promising horizons that will take them out of the cycle of poverty and ignorance.”
Peleg made the announcement with Israeli Minister of Education Gideon Saar during a event Tuesday evening in New York honoring American philanthropist Edith Everett, who has made education of Israel’s immigrant, impoverished and minority youths a priority, and who chairs Friends of Israel Sci-Tech Schools.
“Some years ago, education was considered one of Israel’s greatest strengths, but not anymore,” Everett said in remarks at the announcement. “Given this condition, it is hard to overstate the importance of the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network. The initiative will create new schools in underserved neighborhoods. A total-school approach will create significant change.”

Citing the Network’s emphasis on science and technology curricula, she said that “students educated in these schools are crucial for Israel’s growth and security” and that their own long-term career tracks are greatly enhanced, an especially crucial issue for those living in periphery towns.
Spurring the initiative are statistics revealing Israel’s decline in comparison to other countries in 21st century technological training and education, and a consequential widening income gap, threatening the country’s place as an advanced society.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, gaps between rich and poor fall as the number of students studying technology rises. Yet only 37 percent of Israeli students are on technology tracks today and the number is steadily declining.

In addition, the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli industries report that Israel faces a shortage of adequately educated technologists, technicians, and practical engineers.
“Israel Sci-Tech Schools will bring the most advanced and effective science and technology curricula to existing regional middle and high schools and will motivate and provide their students with the knowledge and skills needed to work in the advanced fields that will support Israel’s economic growth for decades to come,” Minister Saar said.
“Students will study computer science, nanotechnology, biotechnology and other important subjects preparing them for advanced university education and for placement in competitive positions in the military and in leading industries.”
The initiative targets some of the weakest middle and high schools in the periphery regions, largely populated by the most economically and socially vulnerable citizens.

Improvements will include construction of advanced laboratories and scientific and technological infrastructure, application of upgraded and improved study programs and teaching approaches, training and development of teachers and principals, and formation of school-community partnerships.
Officials point to the success of schools already existing within the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network, including middle schools, high schools and technological and academic colleges. The Network serves nearly 100,000 Israeli students and a majority of them are on science and technology tracks.

The initiative is expected to markedly increase the number of students studying technology and the sciences, improve success rates on matriculation exams and deepen students’ involvement and stake in their communities and the country.
“The main educational challenge Israel faces is to strengthen the science, technology and value-laden orientation in high schools in the social periphery in order to release thousands of youngsters from the cycle of poverty and offer them, and Israeli, a more promising future,” Peleg said.

US Superintendents visit the Maaleh Adumim School

12/26/2010 11:55:35 AM

Last week, Ma’aleh Adumim Sci-Tech School for Flight and Aerospace hosted one of the most prestigious educational delegations to visit Israel in recent years. Nine US superintendents, members of AASA, the American Association of School Administrators, visited the technology school in order to learn from the teaching staff and their students how it should be done.

The delegation of the superintendents, each from a different city, was accompanied by the renowned Dr. Charlotte Frank, Vice President of McGraw-Hill, the educational publishing house giant. Dr. Frank also has special, long-standing ties to Israel and to the Israel Sci-Tech Schools network as she is a member of the American Friends of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network.

During the visit, the American visitors met with teachers, students, pedagogical directors and senior network staff in order to hear about the developments in technology education in Israel. Both parties shared information about teaching and learning methods, innovations in education, and the groundwork for future collaboration was laid down.

The school in Ma’aleh Adumin was chosen as the first school in Israel to host the delegation as it is the flagship of innovative advanced technology education in the country.

During the visit, Dr. Frank said: “The students at the Sci-Tech school in Ma’aleh Adumin offer an optimistic glimpse into the future of technology education in Israel and prove that one can reach scientific achievements through perseverance and determination.”

Nissim Iluz, the school principal said: “It was both enlightening and exciting to meet with senior officials from the AASA. There was a sense of the mutual desire to learn from each other: areas in which we showed them new ideas and other areas where we can learn from them. They expressed interest in future collaboration and I am sure we will find a way to channel our knowledge and enthusiasm into joint projects that will benefit the students both in Israel and in the US.”

The Israel Sci-Tech Schools network wins another EU project

11/2/2010 3:13:49 PM

Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network will train students in Israel and Europe to produce scientific study content in the field of nano-technology that will be published in leading newspapers across the EU.

The EU has chosen the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network to head an innovative and unique project entitled NanoChannels in which the EU will invest € 900,000. The aim of the project is to disseminate knowledge about the science of nano-technology, making it accessible to the general public.
In this project, students from Israel Sci-Tech Schools and schools across Europe, together with professional journalists and scientists, will write high quality scientific content to be published in the prestigious daily newspapers such as The Guardian in England, El Mundo in Spain and La Stampa in Italy. The content will also be broadcast on the radio (Radio 24 in Italy) and through social media.

Winning the current bid follows on the heels of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s success in a previous European project NANOYOU, which it headed some 18 months ago. The NANOYOU project, which has been running successfully since then, has trained hundreds of teachers and instructors from various European countries in science teaching and provided 50,000 students in the EU with knowledge and experience of nano-technology. This project received EU funding in the amount of € 1,500,000.

Many students, mostly graduates of the NANOYOU project, will take part in this new endeavor. They will undergo professional training in writing scientific articles together with top-class scientists and journalists who report on science and technology. The aim of the project is to create an awareness of technology education and to make information accessible to the general public, as well as to create a database of technology-oriented content to be used by tens of thousands of students. To make sure the youth receives sufficient exposure to this kind of content, the project will also make extensive use of social network media.

Managing these two projects is part of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s policy of exporting its science and technology knowledge, as a result of its expertise in curricular development, teacher training, sophisticated educational management and learning environment development.

Zvi Peleg, Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Director General: “In the coming year, we will also be working on a number of new opportunities in Africa and Latin America where we will take advantage of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s pedagogical and organizational knowledge to offer solutions to education systems in countries in these areas. Exporting technology education knowledge is one of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s strategic goals and we are on the brink of a new era in which the network will impact not only the science and technology future of the State of Israel, but also the future of young people in other countries. Our second success in winning an EU bid to develop and implement technology information throughout Europe is a source of pride for the whole country and is indicative of Israel’s position at the forefront of the of advanced world technology.

CEO of Bank Hapoalim, Zion Kenan, joins Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s “Meeting Point” project at Zeil School, Lod

10/27/2010 10:34:54 AM

The technology and computers division of Bank Hapoalim will adopt the Zeil Technological High School in Lod as a long-term move that will involve, among other things, financing extended-school-day program at the school.

Bank Hapoalim CEO, Zion Kenan, met on Monday (4.10.10) students at Zeil Technological High School, Lod as part of the network’s Meeting Point project aimed at creating ties between the business leadership in Israel and school administrations to inspire innovation in education.

At the meeting, attended by mayor Ilan Harari, Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s Director General, Zvi Peleg, and principal of Zeil multi-disciplinary campus, Mr. David Levi, Zion Kenan, Bank Hapoalim CEO said the following: “Meeting the wonderful teachers and students was a very moving experience. I am amazed at the student’s deep desire to succeed. Education must head the country’s national priorities. I am convinced that a high level of education for every girl and boy is the best key to creating real equality of opportunity. A coordinated effort from all of us – the government, the education system, the principals, teachers, parents and students – is the basis upon which we may ensure that the Israel of the future of our children and grandchildren, will continue to be a progressive country offering a high quality of life for all its citizens. I am proud that Bank Hapoalim is contributing both funds and the volunteering activities of its employees to strengthen initiatives aimed at promoting education in Israel, and I promise that in the future we will continue to make our contribution in this vital area.”

David Levi, principal of Zeil multi-disciplinary campus : “We were delighted to host the CEO of Bank Hapoalim, Zion Kenan, together with Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s Director General, Zvi Peleg and the mayor of Lod, Ilan Harari. As someone who believes that education is one of the main goals of the country and one of the most significant keys to sustaining a functioning society, we must do everything we can to place education center stage. I welcome the positive response of leaders in Israeli economy that are willing to join hands with us to promote our educational endeavors. The visit from the Bank Hapoalim CEO and the bank’s assistance offer an extraordinary opportunity for growth to our students, and more broadly to the growth of education in the city of Lod, in which our school is a key player. Having the economy’s top institutions join forces in this Meeting Point project with the country’s education system, as stressed so clearly in Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network’s goals, may constitute a successful model for the promotion of other successful educational moves, especially in the periphery.

New Year

9/1/2010 8:47:40 AM

May the New Year bring you bountiful blessings
A year of light of renewed unity, understanding and acceptance, A year of love and sharing,
A year of living life to the full, of enjoyment, of deepened sensitivity to, and understanding of, the needs of others
A year in which our actions, mission and initiatives will be blessed with success
A year of good health, happiness and deepened friendship.

Zvi Peleg
Director General Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network
And the entire multifaceted Network

2010/11 School year Launched

9/1/2010 8:39:26 AM

New School Year:

Israel Sci-Tech Schools network sends greetings for the New Year and for the 2010/11 school year to its 100,000 students, 7,000 staff and the heads and staff of 53 local authorities around the country, all of whom are partners in our 190 educational endeavors.

Israel Sci-Tech Schools network will continue to promote the two main facets of its vision:
Education for values together with science and technology
to reinforce the value-laden, social and economic strength of the State of Israel.

JEWISH CAMP—FORGET COLOR WAR. IT’S TIME TO BUILD YOUR ROBOTS.

9/1/2010 8:32:04 AM

JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood Partners with Israel Sci-Tech Schools to Bring Robotics to Summer Camping

For the campers at the JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood in southern Maine, a very hot summer just got very cool. The camp invited a team of Israeli high school students and their teacher to bring their technical and scientific expertise in robotics to the camp and teach campers, between the ages of 12-15, how to build small programmable robots that follow commands and complete assigned tasks.

Working in two and three person teams with their Israeli student teachers, campers use computer software to develop and program their robots and construct motors that propel them toward a set destination. Based on the computer programs the students create, the robots “learn” to respond to light, ultra-sonic and touch sensory commands so they can follow a color-coded path, anticipate obstacles in their path, change direction, and plot a course to a destination.

The campers create a smart, working robot and enjoy the process of collaborating with each other to brainstorm and create solutions to the technical problems before them.
They showcase their newly-developed robotics skills at the end of the program when they put their robot creations through their paces.

The program is taught by two 15 year-old 11th grade Israeli high school students, Gil Geker and Ksenia Barabash, who attend the Israel Sci-Tech Habonim High School in Bat Yam during the school year. Ksenia immigrated to Israel from Siberia in 2002.

In Israel, Gil and Ksenia study the A.I. Robotics and Neural Network Systems, an advanced, theoretically-based science and technology course. They travelled to the JCC camp with their teacher, Tsafrir Shlomo, who is head of the school’s robotics department and an expert in artificial intelligence and neural network systems. He is leading this initial robots program with the JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood and looking to expand the program to other camps next year.

Kathy Jonas, JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood director, was attracted to the idea of bringing the Israeli robotics team to the camp as a way to broaden its programming and attract a new kind of camper. “Campers and their parents, especially older campers, are looking for something different and challenging in their selection of a summer camp. We see the Israel Sci-Tech Schools robotics initiative as a wonderful way to give campers something fun and exciting to do and, at the same time, have the opportunity to get to know their Israeli counterparts in a very personal and enriching way.”

Shlomo, who helps his Israeli students and the robotics program campers with their projects, also works with the teens to build important ties between them that can last well beyond the summer experience. “I see not just the successful creation of robots happening here, but more importantly, the budding of important friendships between young Israelis and American Jewish teens. I know that this is the kind of experience that we should be investing in.”

The idea for the Israel/US camper robotics program started with Dr. Lynne Harrison, a longtime supporter of Jewish camping in the US who saw the value of bringing Israeli’s science and technology expertise into the camp environment. She recognized that a robotics program could help create important ties between Israeli and American Jewish youth. Through her efforts, plans for the robotics program collaboration between Israel Sci-Tech Schools and the JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood started in the fall of 2009 and led to the launch of the program this summer.

JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood is an overnight camp of the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston serving boys and girls entering grades 3-11 from the Eastern US, Canada and Israel..
www.kingswood.org.

“Smart House” - Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network Students Invent iPhone Application to Control Electrical Appliances

6/20/2010 2:53:19 PM

Israel’s High Tech Education / Izhar Shay

5/31/2010 12:29:57 PM

Before the Passover vacation I was invited to attend the practical matriculation exam of Israel Sci-Tech Schools network students in the Science & Engineering Track. Dr. Meir Fershtman, Head of the Goralnik Institute for the enhancement of teaching and learning, invited me to observe the students, who had been working on projects in engineering and electronics, constructing an engineering prototype on which they were being examined. If you happen to be a reader of this column, you will know that it rarely pays the educations system any compliments. But there is nothing like a day such as this to fill you with optimism. Among the projects for the recycling of black water in the home, a computerized greenhouse and an autonomous robot fireman, I wandered around with great enjoyment and watched the next generation of Israel’s hi-tech.

Take, for example, the “Eyes for the Blind” project from Habonim Sci-Tech School in Bat Yam. Four girls, Heli Bas, Mayan Gendelman, Adi Filosof and Moran Aharon, developed a robot designed to replace seeing-eye dogs. The project was the brainchild of one of the students who has a blind family member. Dr. Shlomo Tzafrir, the project supervisor, is a expert in brain research, the development of computerized models of neural networks and system management. Under his guidance the girls built a robot with a GPS, sensors, an electrical engine and controls. The girls were examined on their knowledge of the system’s definitions, its various components and their underlying electronics. As far as I can recall from my Technion days, their answers were spot on.

Every house can be “smart”
Another team came from the Sci-Tech School for Flight and Aerospace at Maaleh Adumim. Just like, any group of entrepreneurs that turns to a Capital Venture Fund, they developed an iPhone application that remotely controls the turning on and off of many electrical appliances in the modern home. Their iStart project, supervised by Eli Cohen, can turn any house into a Smart House. Shachar Davidovich was responsible for the databases and market survey conducted at the start of the project. Kobi Bass handled the TCP-based communication between the various project components and the iPhone. Danny Zebrenin was in charge of the iPhone software which he wrote in Xcode, “which only few understand and no one was able to help me”. He was alone throughout the learning process, working via the web and by trial and error. “This learning process was not easy and included many difficulties in the transfer from C# to Xcode, which I think is quite primitive.” Ohad Ronen, the initiator of the project, was a broadcaster on the local radio in Maaleh Adumim and even worked on some TV programs. He is also the founder and director of a private company that accompanies projects to leverage the achievements of young students by accompanying high schoolers in order to “create a better quality of community socially and scholastically.”
In addition to his preparations for the matriculation exams and transition to the role of company director, Ohad is currently getting ready for his military service. “It is a great opportunity to confront new challenges that I have never faced before”, he says, “I plan to give the army my all, no matter where I am stationed”, he told the examiners.

I don’t know what grade he got on the exam, but I am more than willing to give him a score of 100 in Civics!

Izhar Shay is a General Partner in Canaan Partners and a member of the Israeli Friends of Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network

Published on ”Globes” newspaper in Hebrew, 11 April 2010, Translated by Israel Sci-Tech Schools network

Meeting Point – inspires innovation and transforms schools

5/31/2010 11:58:47 AM

The economic leadership of Israel, The Minister of Education and the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network mark the success of one of the most exciting new philanthropic partnerships in Israel

Meeting Point is a unique and innovative partnership initiated by the Israel Sci-Tech Schools network and the leadership of Israel’s business community. Led by Izhar Shay, CEO and Partner in Canaan Partners Venture Capital, Meeting Point is modeled on the acclaimed Principal for a Day Project (PENCIL) launched by Dr. Lisa Belzberg in New York in 1995.

Started in Israel in 2009 with the participation of 17 leaders of business and industry, Meeting Point has now doubled in size, bringing a cross section of 35 CEO’s of leading Israeli corporations to partner with Israel Sci-Tech Schools across the country.

“Meeting Point” inspires innovation by creating partnerships between leaders of the Israeli business community and the Israel Sci-Tech Schools . These encounters lead to the integration of creative ideas and management skills from the world of business and the educational system. It enables the building of long term relationships between business and education.

On Sunday, May 16, 2010, the 35 participating CEOs, their partner principles and network leadership gathered at the prestigious Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv, in the presence of the Minister of Education Mr. Gideon Saar, to mark the successful second year of the project.

The event paid tribute to the growing partnership between business and education in Israel, and highlighted the special relationship developed between Bank Hapoalim, headed by its Chairman, Mr. Yair Seroussi, and Israel Sc-Tech Schools network. In his address, Seroussi called upon leaders of industry and commerce to become more involved in education.
Together with Chairman of the Board of Israel Sc-Tech Schools network Dr. Uzi Tsuk, Shmuel Eilin, a student at the Sci-Tech Educational Center in Kfar Saba, presented Mr. Seroussi with his artwork entitled “I Have Value”- a picture chosen from amongst hundreds of submissions.

The event highlighted examples of the growing partnerships between industry and education, including, the development of an academic program for electro-optic studies developed in collaboration with Elbit Systems Electro-Optics and Rafael, a project where engineers from the Given Imaging Company train students in the scientific-engineering track, and the partnership with Genzyme Company that brings students into the laboratory.

“Meeting Point” focuses on the personal involvement of CEOs and business leaders, which results in a better understanding of the needs of the education system. Partnering CEOs included: Mr. Motti Zisser-Chairman of Elbit Imagining , Mr. Amos Shapira - CEO of Cellcom, Mr. Zeev Bregman - CEO of NICE Technologies, Mr. Moshe Lichtman - Microsoft Corporate vice president, Israel R&D, Mr. Boaz Maoz - CEO of Cisco Systems and more.

The event offered the leadership of Israel Sci-Tech Schools networks an excellent opportunity to highlight to the business community the growing market of export of educational knowledge. Mr. Yoel Rothschild, head of the network Moshinsky Center for Research and Development, highlighted market developments and laid out network’s success in achieving its first multi million Euro sale of Nano-technology teaching to the European Union.

InFocus

3/3/2010 5:23:25 PM

I see great significance in in the Air Force’s collaboration with Israel Sci-Tech Schools. It should be extended. When people see a fighter plane take off, they are not always aware of the fact that hundreds of soldiers worked hard to get it ready. That’s the significance of our joint venture in training cadets in partnership with the Israel Sci-Tech Schools.

Major General Ido Nechustan
Israel Air Force (IAF) Commander

Greening Israel’s Cities: Sci-Tech Schools’ Students Feature in Prestigious Business Competition

3/1/2010 5:19:02 PM

Among the bright ideas: showerlight water –saving device for fitness centers, dog leashes integrating excrement collection, and recycling bank

Two students chosen to represent Israel at the International Finals in Serbia, April 2010.

Two members of the winning group will represent Israel at the international finals in Serbia, April 2010.