Arriving to Beit Shean with Lindsay and Alex about a month ago, we came directly to our apartment for the next few months. It was amazing! Beautiful, new, big, and filled with umbrellas (it was raining that day), chocolate, and fruit. Chen (our amazing coordinator!) was there to welcome us, feed us, and show us around Beit Shean. After about a week of visiting lots of different volunteering opportunities Chen made us each a schedule of different places to go every day. My schedule includes 3 different elementary schools, a cooking/English extra-curricular activity, a high school, and an English class for adults.
In the elementary schools, I help teach the English classes of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. The most significant contribution I have made to the elementary schools is through teaching the kids fun songs from camp. It is really amazing how much the kids love singing the songs. I have become famous in Beit Shean as the girl who sings with the kids. I love doing the songs with them at the beginning of class and then hearing them sing the songs later down the halls or during hafsakas. Liat, one of the English teachers I work with, says I have made my mark, contributed my part to Beit Shean through the songs.
In the high school Lindsay and I work with the 12th graders to prepare for their oral exams coming up. Their range in levels of English differs from person to person, but all of them like getting the opportunity to practice speaking English, since there are not many English speakers in Beit Shean. We also sometimes work with the 11th graders, giving them presentations about life in America. They are very interested in an assortment of topics from fraternities/sororities to racism and anti-Semitism.
The English/cooking activity is one of our most fun activities- that Alex, Lindsay, and I do together along with Moriah (our awesome soldier friend). Together we teach the kids how to cook fun American foods, while playing games to teach them English. It’s a really great activity and lot of fun, but most importantly it targets a population in need. The kids we work with for this activity are all from broken homes with difficult families. They don’t have the opportunity to do a lot of after school activities at all, never mind one as cool as this. The positive feedback that we get each week from working with these kids is incredible. Each one of them gains so much in a session, not necessarily the words we teach them or the food they eat, but in being apart of something special, something fun, something they can look forward to.
Lastly Lindsay and I have just started an English class for adults who were formerly part of an English program called Engliyada that has been extremely successful in connecting Cleveland volunteers with the people of Beit Shean. The people in the region wanted more practice with their English because they believe it’s such an important language. We will work with them on their conversational English
In each place I volunteer, I do different tasks and work with different people, but there is one thing that all the places have in common- appreciation. Everyone I work with is so appreciative of the help we are giving, it’s amazing. From the little kids who love singing with me to the adults who want to improve their conversational English, It really makes a difference when people say thank you, and truly appreciate the work we are doing. Beit Shean is a wonderful city filled with wonderful people and it has been a true joy to volunteer here.
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