BASIS, a four-year initiative aimed at integrating Israel education into the curriculum and culture of Jewish day schools, has launched a website to document its recently completed pilot project, which took place at 11 Northern California schools.
The initiative — a joint program of Jewish LearningWorks and the Jim Joseph Foundation, both based in San Francisco — provided educators at local Jewish day schools with techniques and resources for “reimagining” Israel education both in and outside their classrooms, said David Waksberg, CEO of Jewish LearningWorks. BASIS stands for Bay Area Schools Israel Synergy.
“It was a huge initiative, and when you do something like that you want to take the opportunity to reflect and say, ‘What did we learn from this? What can we share with others?’ ” said Waksberg.
The website is www.BASISIsraeleducation.org.
From 2009 to 2012, the Jim Joseph Foundation provided $7 million in funding for the initiative, which covered more than 2,000 students at schools from San Jose to Sacramento. A network of consultants and experts worked with each school to help craft an Israel education program that allowed students to connect with Israel and Israeli people through history, politics, arts and culture, travel opportunities and twinning with Israeli schools.
Waksberg said he was grateful to the Jim Joseph Foundation, the iCenter (a national hub for Israel education that provided support for the project) and the staffs at the 11 day schools for their leadership. “We’re hopeful that other communities will follow our lead and adapt what we’ve learned,” he said. — emma silvers