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Last week, MASA and UJC launched Israel Teacher Corps (ITC), a 10-month program for North American college graduates to teach English in under-served Israeli public schools. Modeled after Teach for America, one of the largest recruitment organizations on college campuses that attracts young adults to the fields of education and service, ITC challenges Jewish college graduates to become part of the Israeli community by living in the peripheral communities in which they teach.
Part of MASA’s mission is to create new programs to meet the needs and interests of previously unengaged young adults. MASA North American Director Avi Rubel, himself a former United States Peace Corps volunteer, has worked for several years to launch ITC. He found an ideal partner in OTZMA, a 10-month service program in Israel funded by the United Jewish Communities of North America. Together, MASA and UJC have launched Israel Teacher Corps with the goal of bringing 100 volunteers a year to Israel within the next few years.
“When we first started developing ITC, the overwhelming reaction labeled young American Jews too spoiled to participate in such an endeavor,” says Rubel. “But the success of service programs like the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), among others, where young Jews make up a large percentage of volunteers, shows not only Jewish college graduates’ eagerness to participate in service programs, but the need for such opportunities in Israel. There, they can feel a unique sense of pride in making an impact in a country they can call their own.”
During their first six weeks in Israel, ITC participants take part in intensive pre-service training, which includes pedagogic instruction in teaching English as a second language, classroom management skill-building, and an intensive Hebrew Ulpan course. Additionally, ITC volunteers observe their classrooms before they begin teaching and become acquainted with their communities.
Following the initial training period, volunteers move to their Partnership 2000 communities in groups of three to four and serve as English teachers, teachers’ aids, and/or English resource teachers for approximately 35 hours a week. ITC participants also choose another volunteer project to pursue for three to five hours a week, with placements that may include after-school programs or homes for the elderly.
“The ITC program is not going to be easy, but many young Jewish Americans in the Obama generation are looking for a challenge,” Rubel says. “It’s time that we stop presenting Israel as a Disney World to young American Jews and open up the periphery communities to those who really want to make a difference.”
For more information on Israel Teacher Corps, contact MASA Director of Post-College Programs Aaron Goldberg at (212) 339-6077 or aarong@masaisrael.org. | 
