The “Touching the Horizon” Educational Program "If you'd asked me 3 years ago if I'd ever finish high school, I would have laughed at you, actually I probably would have punched you too, that's how angry I was at that time in my life. The army draft wasn't even something I could think about: only normal kids get accepted into the army, and for sure I wasn't one. But then my whole class got adopted into the Touching the Horizon program, and for three years we took courses that helped us to supplement our normal studies, seminars where we talked about our frustration and how to deal with our anger, and through hands-on work in the community, we learned that we had the power to change our own lives and that of others. I think that for all of us, this was a real life-changing experience: we not only learnt what we needed to be good students, but also learned to trust, ourselves and others. It definitely changed my life - I finished high school and am now getting drafted. I'm hoping to go into the intelligence corps. Nobody's laughing at me now." Diana, a participant in the Touching the Horizon program The “Touching the Horizon” Educational Center is a 7 year innovative, comprehensive program established in 2002.
Grade 10 – This year is dedicated to "self focus" with the assumption that this is the basis of going from the inside to the outside. We help youth expand their self-awareness, become acquainted with practices and the personalities that characterize them, strengthen self capabilities and their abilities to help and advance themselves. The participants meet with the program moderator in a group for three hours once a week. Once per quarterly social/ cultural activities will take place. Grade 11 – This year focuses on the group and the expansion of a range of the social functions of the project's participants. This year's assumption is that man is a social creature who operates in a changing environment by carrying out interactions with significant "others." Hence the aspects of the group's influence on the participant's functioning, the improvement of the individual's ability to generate effective communication in the group and use of a secure group space in order to expand the individual's ability to operate in a true manner will be stressed over the course of the year. In order to ensure the implementation of results this year, the alignment of activity this year will include a variety of experiences that compel the participants to operate in the group leadership domain, and hence at every meeting one of the participants will be asked to officiate and guide the meeting according to the realm of knowledge that is found relevant to the group, and which he will choose to pass on to the rest of the participants. Grade 12 – This year focuses on the broad circle of participants and their active integration into the community they belong to, in parallel with the identification of their present and future place in society and with an emphasis on reducing the gaps between the ideal and the reality. Therefore the yearly activity will focus on preparation for Army service, this as a result of the belief that the Army is an opportunity and a necessary route for status improvement in Israeli society, and that correct preparation significantly increases the percentages of recruits and reduces possible obstacles and integration difficulties. This year is also dedicated to a summation of the contents of the program (stage 1) and to a real farewell to the group framework that accompanied the participants over the last three years. The objectives of the program will be measured according to meeting the study goals (finishing high school and success in the matriculation exams) and likewise gauging the percentage of Army recruitment. |
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