Day 8

Wednesday Feb 22:  INNOVATION IN EDUCATION

• Milo- Art center- workshop at the art center that offers workshop for children and the teachers. Rachel Solomon, Director of the center is a long time member at the Boston Haifa connection
• STEM early learning center- Director Eti Appelboum- explore and learn the emphasis Israel is putting on STEM education. Visit this new site that opened last year in collaboration with the Haifa Science museum and guidance by Nobel Prize winner.(Kiryat Hayim)
• Akko- visit the ancient city and learn about its history and people

Our Haifa partners joined our visit to the Milo Art Center, a center that provides workshops for preschool students and professional development workshops for preschool teachers.   

Rachel Solomon, the director of the Milo art Center, is a long time member of the Boston-Haifa Connection. She explains how she encourages students to think about visual perspective and spatial reasoning through art.

We had a chance to try our hand at an art project related to umbrellas and rain, pertaining to winter in Israel.

In the corner of the Milo Art center, Rachel Solomon has brought the rain indoors with a tree, clouds and rain falling from the ceiling.  The tree will stay in the room all year round and transform according to the seasons.

Some of our artwork. We concluded our workshop by enjoying a youtube video of "Singing in the Rain," a video that Rachel Solomon shows to all of the students to wrap up their winter art experience.

The STEM early learning center under the leadership of Eti Applebaum  is only one year old and was opened last year in collaboration with the Haifa Science museum and guidance by a Nobel Prize winner. It features an emphasis on STEM education and close parental involvement.

Inside a STEM center classroom.

Two children enjoy a sensory guessing game. One child is blindfolded and
guesses what number her friend is placing her hand on.

The STEM center has several outdoor playgrounds, including this sand playground.
Thick plastic sheeting on the fence protects the sand from cats. (Cats roam wild in Israel.)

Our visit to Akko.

The market in Akko.

We visited a Tunisian Synagogue near Akko that was decorated on the floors, walls and ceilings with beautiful mosaics.