Anières Elite Academy, along with the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion, launched an enrichment program three years ago to teach youngsters the basics of aerospace engineering. This year, Anières and the Technion are proud to share that the graduates of the program are well on their way to reaching new heights.
Anières Elite Academy, which operates at the WIZO Nahalal Youth Village, was created by World ORT and Naale, where the most exceptional young minds from all over the world receive the highest quality of education available from 9th to 12th grade in science, technology, engineering and math.
The program, Aeronautics in the Valley, was formulated in cooperation with various organizations, including elements in the Air Force, the Technion, and senior officials at Rafael, World ORT, Kadima, Mada and the WIZO Nahalal Youth Village.
Ira Lotman, Anières Elite Academy Project Manager, points to programs like this as an example of what makes the High School especially unique, “Together with our partners, we strive to foster and enrich the program with additional activities and courses that are unique to the Anières program, which cannot be found in regular education. This program, ‘Aeronautics in the Valley’, is an example of an original program which is already seeing terrific results.”
Students join the enrichment program in the 10th grade and can continue to delve further into Auronautics in the following years. In their first year they learn about aviation through a series of lectures and educational tours. In 11th grade they are given the opportunity to study Sports Aviation at the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and in their final year, Introduction to Aerospace Engineering. The curriculum grants credits for a first degree at the Technion (subject to compliance with the admission requirements for the Technion and according to the program offered to the students) and was built to feed into an academic reserve where students’ degrees are funded before their military service, and go on to serve as part of the air force in engineering roles.
“These students are very important to our faculty and to the aerospace community at large” says Prof. Itzchak Frankel, Dean of Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion, “They are the best candidates for engineering roles in the aerospace industry and from what I can see, the students we’ve absorbed from Anières are top notch – our best students.”
Noam Hasin, born in Israel and raised in Los Angeles CA is an Anières graduate from the class of 2018, shared an example of the extra lengths Anières takes in order to give their students the best chances at ultimate success: “They provide a Psychometric course to prepare us for the Psychometric Exam, a very important standardized test in Israel. They provided this course, as well as tutoring, in my junior year, so that if I needed to take it again I’d have the time to prepare the following year.” He continued, “The Anières program provided a very structured framework which supported me academically, financially and socially. The program helped me get accepted into the Technion, which was my ultimate goal and where I am studying now.”
Noam’s fellow classmate, Luis Fernando from Brazil, says his experience at Anières played a major role in enabling him to thrive academically as well as in his personal journey, “It’s overall a great program, with a nice atmosphere. You don’t have to compromise academics or a social life.” The staff is supportive in both aspects as well – Luis shared how the staff cares for each and every student on a personal level, “They gave personal advice: if I had any doubts or trouble in the boarding school or academically, there was a person to go to for help.”
Dr. Yuval Levy, an Adjunct Lecturer with a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics points to the numbers to quantify the program’s success, just as you would expect from an engineer. “We have about 250 students in the academic reserve program at the Technion, and 15 of them are from Anières – to me this is proof of the program’s success.”
Dr. Levy discovered the Anières program from a friend and fell in love with it from the start. He connected with the school and started teaching an Introduction to Aerospace Engineering in Nahalal Israel, where the Anières students live and learn. A personal fascination is the diversity of teens the program brings to Israel from all over the world, “In my mind this is the Zionism of the 21st century,” he proclaims.
One of these shining examples is Anières graduate, Mercedes Voscoboinik from Concordia, Argentina. “So far it’s been really exciting, and my background at Anières has put me at a great advantage,” she says, as a current Technion studying aeronautical engineering, “the classes I took at Anières exposed me to material directly connected to what I’m studying right now for my first degree. Because of the aeronautic engineering introduction course I’m able to better understand what I’m learning now.”
For parents and students considering Anières, and specifically its Technion track, Prof. Frankel assures, “We promise to take good care of them and give them the best engineering education in our faculty or aerospace engineering.”
Learn more about Anières Elite Academy here.