Location:

Karmi'El, Israel

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

High School

Term:

Fall Semester, Spring Semester

Program Overview

Program Description:

Explore Israel: With thousands of years of history and an abundance of natural beauty at your fingertips, ancient sites and the natural landscape are your classroom. We aim to touch, taste, smell, hear and see all that Israel has to offer. In doing so, we will engage ourselves with the Jewish homeland, creating a life-long connection with Israel and with the Jewish people. At Dror Leadership High School, we will attend school and volunteer with Israeli peers, learn intensive Hebrew, travel through Israel's beautiful landscape and explore the obstacles facing Israeli society.

Experience Judaism: Whether you are standing on top of Masada, walking through Karmiel's shopping mall, or lying on Tel Aviv's sandy beaches, Israeli is a unique Jewish experience. We aim to strengthen your bond with your Jewish identity - celebrating a pluralist and open Jewish lifestyle, making Jewish history come alive, and exploring Jewish dilemmas and questions pertinent to your life. At Dror Leadership High School we will travel throughout Jewish history, actively shape our Shabbat and Jewish festive and holy days, discover how our Jewish identity compares to that of our peers and connect our Jewish practice with the Jewish homeland.

Become Leaders: A Jewish leader requires knowledge of current reality, a vision for the future, and a plan for how to bridge the gap. Jewish leaders are not only those on TV, in the news or in politics. Jewish leadership is the exploration of Jewish values, the development of critical thinking skills, independence and responsibility and the skills required to lead others. We aim to encourage today's youth to become tomorrow's Jewish leaders.

Academic Excellence: Academic excellence is a priority at Dror Leadership High School. We aim for every student to fulfill his/her academic and social potential, while feeling discovering and becoming confident in their abilities, talents and skills and while learning to love to learn. At Dror Leadership High School, class sizes are small and teachers are motivated to stimulate and excite the students in all areas of study. DLHS's unique courses incorporate hands-on learning through extensive, trips, hikes and seminars and every experience is an opportunity to learn something new. At DLHS, students will finish with critical tools to prepare for the self-discipline and self-reliance necessary for life at college.

At Dror Leadership High school we believe that academic excellence is of the utmost importance and encourage our students to reach their full academic potential. We offer a list of core courses that will fulfill students' requirements for their schools. We will work with each student and each school to create a personalized schedule. If there are specific courses that we do not offer in the general school day, there will be time in the weekly schedule for studying and extra course work to ensure that students excel in their school work and are able to integrate back into school.

At DLHS we understand that developing Jewish leadership means holistic Jewish learning – including the study of Hebrew, Israeli Culture and Society, and Jewish History and through the multi-faceted spiritual and philosophical lenses of Judaism. By studying ancient and contemporary sources dealing in Jewish religion and spirituality you gain new insights and understandings of the meaning that Judaism holds in the world today. Through the study of the major Jewish philosophies together with in depth exploration of the Jewish calendar and life cycle in order to confront the major question of what it means to be a Jew and what is the role of Judaism in Israel and the world today. The Judaic Studies include our unique Jewish History Course, Israeli Culture and Society Course, and Intensive Hebrew, as well as a number of different hikes and seminars.

At DLHS you will gain invaluable leadership skills, confidence, and a connection to Israel and Judaism. What is unqiue about DLHS is our emphasis on daily interaction with Israel. By being in an Isaeli school and weekly volunteering placement we encourage our students to really connect and understand the real Israel. Through our extra curricular educational activities we encourage and foster critical thinking which will help our students excell in college and beyond.

Setting Description:

The school is located in the beautiful Galilee city of Karmiel, in the picturesque Beit HaKerem valley, that has been a hub for immigrants from around the world since its founding in 1964. On its streets, many languages can be heard each day. This “development town” is the perfect location for the Dror Leadership High School program, as it is small, friendly and quiet and affords many opportunities for varied volunteer placements, learning about different Israel populations, and quick access to historic and other sites around the north of the country. In addition, the town boasts two shopping malls, and easy public transportation to centers around the country. The school itself operates as an individual, English-speaking, American class within Karmiel’s Hebrew-speaking, Israeli High School, Adam Hevra Ve'Teva. This partnership affords the opportunity for Israeli and American students to spend time together, in accordance with the program’s mission to integrate our students into Israeli

Cost:

15,000