Breaking Barriers, Building Futures
Project Excellence:
Graduating Pupils and
Mentoring Students
with ESRA Haifa Team
How Intel and ESRA are transforming STEM Education
By Yolanda Woolf and David Toubkin
Photos by Richard Halon and Kylie Cohen
FROM YOLANDA WOOLF
On January 28th ESRA proudly celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of the Excellence Project in the North. The project has opened new opportunities for junior high school children who may not typically have access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The project emerged from the success of "Students Build a Community", where students mentor and support children from various backgrounds, from grades 4-6.
In collaboration with Intel, the Technion, the municipalities of Haifa and Akko, and the Engineering College, in partnership with both the Israeli Air Force and ESRA, which has been working for 45 years to promote equal opportunities and reduce social disparities in Israel, this initiative provides participants with valuable skills and exposure to technology. By building and programming their own computers with kits provided by Intel, the children gain confidence, curiosity, and the foundational tools for an exciting professional future in the tech world.
Over 10 weeks, 21 participants working with ESRA-funded students, received programming, algorithm design, and game development training at the Technion, alongside English lessons to familiarize them with essential STEM terminology. This initiative is more than an academic program—it is a pathway to equal opportunity, ensuring that any child, regardless of background, can access Israel's thriving technology sector. By fostering curiosity and breaking down barriers, ESRA and its partners are helping shape a more inclusive and innovative future for Israeli society.
Eileen Martell, Liat Elkaher and David Toubkin
FROM DAVID TOUBKIN
Illustration credit: Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay
ESRA Haifa and it's role in the project
The new ESRA Haifa Committee started working in 2022. Since then, the 10-member committee, led by Chair Eileen Martell, has organized well over 300 events, attended by almost 4,000 people. In August 2024, the committee opened a second-hand English bookshop, the 4th such ESRA bookshop joining Raanana, Modiin and Zichron Ya'acov. Today, the committee organizes almost daily events ranging from a weekly Meet & Greet, weekly discussion groups and knitting groups at the bookshop, hikes and tours, lectures, poetry appreciation and gardening clubs as well as a series of "Meet the Author" at the bookshop. We have a dedicated Facebook Group with 440 members as well as a 200-strong WhatsApp group. In addition, ESRA Haifa Northern Befrienders is run by an ESRA Haifa member.
For Project Excellence, ESRA Haifa was pleased to be able to donate a total of NIS 10,000 which provided scholarships for two students, Liat Elkaher and Matanel Vaanunu, who each received a grant of NIS 5,000.
We hope to be able to continue funding additional students in the next phases of this project from the funds raised by our varied activities.
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