It's called "LINK – Discovering Your Israel Connection" and was developed by StandWithUs. Mina Rush, director of middle school education for the pro-Israel organization, says the outcome of the year-long pilot program – conducted at 20 schools across the U.S. – exceeded their expectations. Analysis of data afterwards showed that students gained a marked increase in knowledge and understanding about:
The six-lesson, online unit, Rush says, is needed among Jewish middle schoolers.
"What several studies have shown – and they're very well-known studies," she emphasizes, "is that the connection that young people had to the historic Israel, as well as [to] the modern state of Israel, has been diminishing over the years."
According to Rush, Christian and public school students can benefit from the series as well.
"We really purposely developed this without any agenda," she tells OneNewsNow. "There's no religious agenda, there's no political agenda. It's primary goal is to connect today's youth to Israel based on their core values."
More details about the curriculum, as well as a sample lesson, are available online at IsraelLink.org.
America's unemployment rate continues to tick down as the economy recovers from the shutdowns. But scores of jobs remain unfilled as people take advantage of free income from the government instead of going back to work.
News stories each weekday from reporters you can trust without the liberal bias found in much of "mainstream" media.
News stories each weekday from reporters you can trust without the liberal bias found in much of "mainstream" media.
A pilot program has just been completed of a middle school curriculum designed to help Jewish students explore their roots and connect to historic and modern-day Israel.
A public school school district in Texas has wasted little in welcoming transgender students to use opposite-sex bathrooms after the state legislature failed to pass the Texas Privacy Act.