Kadoorie offered much of what the new school needed. As an
agricultural high-school with 1,600 students, one of the oldest in Israel,
founded back in 1933, it has an educational ethos of accepting children
from diverse backgrounds and bringing them together. It also has
experience in integrating special children in classes for students with
attention disorders and communication disabilities. And crucially, it
offered the infrastructure and space for a new purpose-built structure
within its existing campus. “Multi-culturalism and welcoming children of
all religions and social backgrounds has always been part of Kadoorie’s
DNA” says Roy Bar Ilan, the current CEO of Kadoorie. “It was a natural
for us to take on this project”.
But while Kadoorie provided the site and infrastructure and the
government funded the building and the staff to work at the new school,
any additional equipment or special training for the teachers, beyond
the ministry’s basic standards, would have to be funded externally. The
standard funding would have been sufficient to get the new school up
and running, but all those involved at that stage believed that this was
an opportunity to go much further and build something truly unique.
They began casting around for partners.
One of those partners was Robert Singer, CEO of theWorld Jewish
Congress, who in his previous role as head of World ORT, had
pioneered innovative educational initiatives around the world. “This
was an opportunity to fulfill the ideals we have always believed in that
society is only as strong as its weakest link and that is where we are
truly tested - how we take care of the most vulnerable members in our
society,” says Singer. Together with Sonia Gomes de Mesquita, the
WJC Chief ProgramOfficer, who had worked with him at World ORT,
they joined the group of founders and a teamwas formed to guide the
faculty of the school which was then still only on the drawing board. The
Alumot Or (sheaves of light) foundation was set up to fundraise and
provide technical and logistical support to the new school.
“They were recruiting great people to run the school” says Nisim Barda,
Alumot Or’s project manager. “But there was a need for another level of
guidance to push forward long-term infrastructure programs, prepare
proposals for donors and cooperate with the education ministry and
local authority. This is where Alumot Or comes in”. To make all this
happen, a key donor would be necessary.
A partnership
is born
“Our ideal has always
been that society is only as
strong as its weakest link
and that is where we are
truly tested - how we take
care of our society’s most
vulnerable members”
Robert Singer, Alumot Or Chairman