Hosted by the iCenter for Israel Education, iCamp, the only conference dedicated solely to Israel education, kicked-off on December 1 in Las Vegas, with the support of local communities. A group of 250 educational leaders from North America and Israel assembled for an interactive, dynamic three-day gathering, to learn new approaches and skills to help youth in all kinds of educational settings connect to Israel in personal and authentic ways.
Educators routinely utilize iCenter resources to develop Israel experiences that build connections to the Land, to the people, and to the state of Israel.
From sessions on the emerging culture of Israel education, to Sipur Yisraeli—a live show based on This American Life—to designing moments of impact for learners, iCamp advances the important work of creating a culture of Israel education.
“iCamp focuses on the educators as they interact directly with experts and learn how to help learners build meaningful relationships with Israel,” says Anne Lanski, iCenter Executive Director. “Effective Israel education reflects excellent education. It starts with talented educators—individuals who are knowledgeable and deft story tellers, who know how to tap into their students’ passions, and are able to bring Israel to life in nearly any educational environment—be it in a classroom, at a camp, on a bus, or elsewhere.”
A highlight of iCamp this year is the launch of the Aleph Bet of Israel Education – 2nd Edition, representing a set of 12 core principles, approaches to content, and essential pedagogies that together constitute the building blocks of the field. Chapters include “Israel as a Cornerstone of Jewish Identities,” “A Learner-Centered Approach,” “Eretz, Medina, Am Yisrael,” “Modern Hebrew,” “Israeli Arts and Culture,” “Relating and Relationships,” and “The Educator.”
iCamp presenters include Lisa Kay Solomon, author of the bestselling book Moments of Impact that Accelerate Change and teacher at San Francisco’s interdisciplinary graduate Design MBA program; Rabbi David Ellenson, Director of Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University; Dr. Barry Chazan, Professor of Education and the Founding Director of the Masters in Arts for Jewish Professional Studies at Spertus Institute; Dr. Len Saxe, Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University; Dr. Zohar Raviv, Taglit-Birthright Israel International Director of Education; and Dr. Sivan Zakai of American Jewish University.
Conference participants also will experience leading Israeli arts & culture and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiatives. Mishy Harman and Yochai Maital will share their unique combination of radio-style storytelling, live collage animation, music, singing, video, and other multimedia magic to provide an intimate glimpse of modern Israeli life in Sipur Yisraeli. A representative from SpaceIL, Israel’s answer to the Google Lunar X Prize challenge, will discuss their innovative efforts.
“The premise of iCamp can really be summed up in one word: ‘relationships,’” says Dr. Barry Chazan, the Founding Director of the Masters in Arts for Jewish Professional Studies at Spertus Institute. “Whether it’s the relationship between educators and learners, educators and Israel, learners and Israel, educators to one another, and the educators with themselves, good education requires deep, authentic, personal relationships. iCamp moves us further in this direction, building these relationships and helping educators understand how these relationships are so critical to effective Israel education.”
“I look to connect students to Israel through their own interests because this type of connection truly is the most meaningful, says Matthew Kramer-Morning, Director, The Hillel Jewish Student Center at UNLV. “At iCamp I get to learn directly with experts who champion this approach and have refined it from years of experience. This is the chance for all of us here to expand our expertise, to more deeply understand how Israel education can be a part of everything we do.”