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Teenager looks forward to a rocket-proof classroom
For Asher Wolfe, as for thousands of other youngsters in the western Negev, playing too far away from concrete cover can be a life-threatening luxury.
Asher was five years old when the rockets from Gaza started. Now 16, he is majoring in biology and communications at Sha’ar HaNegev High School, where World ORT is helping to build a new, safer campus. In the intervening time some 10,000 rockets and mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip, just a couple of kilometres from his home, killing 35 people, injuring 1,500 and traumatising many more.
"I have friends who have panic attacks when they hear the alarm – for some people it's really serious," he said. "I'm somewhere in the middle because there are people who take it less seriously than me. The more you hear the alarm the more you get used to it and the more you learn that if you follow the rules and run to a bomb shelter and get cover then you'll be safe. But there have been times when we've been out in the field and there's nothing you can do except pray."
After Operation Cast Lead the situation improved and Asher and his friends felt freer to enjoy the wide open spaces as well as to focus on their studies without the Code Red alarms which used to disrupt their schooling almost daily. However, the situation has deteriorated.
“There’s been a lot of tension. It’s disappointing but you learn to live with it,” he said.
Disruptions to lessons are fewer than before because the terrorists have been targeting the major population centres of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be’ersheva which now fall within range of their larger Grad rockets. But Asher and his friends are still looking forward to moving into the new campus, which includes a science centre built by World ORT, this Chanukah – and not just because it is rocket-proof.
"We're all excited about it. Everything will be very modern with Interactive Whiteboards for everybody. At the moment only the middle school has them," he said.
Asher has been a big fan of the Internet-connected whiteboards since World ORT installed 10 "smart classes" at Sha'ar HaNegev in 2008, part of a pilot project which proved so successful that now World ORT is installing 1,000 throughout the country's periphery.
"There was great excitement when the Smart Boards were introduced. Each year we'd ask if we were in a Smart Board class because it makes each lesson more interesting," he said. "It's definitely an easier tool to learn with; we see videos and slide shows and that really helps us to understand things more quickly."
Asher also likes the flexibility which the Smart Boards provide.
"If we want to study for a project or revise for an exam then at the end of the lesson we can put a disc-on-key into the board's computer and download the whole lesson. I now prepare for exams by scrolling down lessons on my computer at home," he said.
"I have friends who have panic attacks when they hear the alarm – for some people it's really serious," he said. "I'm somewhere in the middle because there are people who take it less seriously than me. The more you hear the alarm the more you get used to it and the more you learn that if you follow the rules and run to a bomb shelter and get cover then you'll be safe. But there have been times when we've been out in the field and there's nothing you can do except pray."
After Operation Cast Lead the situation improved and Asher and his friends felt freer to enjoy the wide open spaces as well as to focus on their studies without the Code Red alarms which used to disrupt their schooling almost daily. However, the situation has deteriorated.
“There’s been a lot of tension. It’s disappointing but you learn to live with it,” he said.
Disruptions to lessons are fewer than before because the terrorists have been targeting the major population centres of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be’ersheva which now fall within range of their larger Grad rockets. But Asher and his friends are still looking forward to moving into the new campus, which includes a science centre built by World ORT, this Chanukah – and not just because it is rocket-proof.
"We're all excited about it. Everything will be very modern with Interactive Whiteboards for everybody. At the moment only the middle school has them," he said.
Asher has been a big fan of the Internet-connected whiteboards since World ORT installed 10 "smart classes" at Sha'ar HaNegev in 2008, part of a pilot project which proved so successful that now World ORT is installing 1,000 throughout the country's periphery.
"There was great excitement when the Smart Boards were introduced. Each year we'd ask if we were in a Smart Board class because it makes each lesson more interesting," he said. "It's definitely an easier tool to learn with; we see videos and slide shows and that really helps us to understand things more quickly."
Asher also likes the flexibility which the Smart Boards provide.
"If we want to study for a project or revise for an exam then at the end of the lesson we can put a disc-on-key into the board's computer and download the whole lesson. I now prepare for exams by scrolling down lessons on my computer at home," he said.