Shalom and Shana Tova
to you and your family!
The new school year
is at hand, and we are extremely excited about it.
During the summer we
installed several ImagineBox classrooms, and we are continuing to
install more. During this school year, thousands more students will enjoy
innovative learning in this futuristic immersive classroom. By the end of 2023,
some 50 ImagineBox classrooms will operate from Eilat in the south to Gesher HaZiv at Mate Asher Regional Council in the north.
Yachdav School in Tel
Aviv became the first special education (SPED) school where ImagineBox
was installed. Not only will its special needs students enjoy learning in ImagineBox,
they also will receive paramedical treatments in the immersive room.
We also installed the
first stand-alone container, designed and built specifically for ImagineBox,
at the Negba School in Rishon LeZion, which became the first Israeli city with
three ImagineBox classrooms.
Teachers at the
schools with new ImagineBox classrooms will soon begin their training
and learn how to use its immersive technology. This training will give them a
substantial advantage in their professional advancement and will make it
possible for them to strengthen their roles as mentors to their students.
Of course, educational
directors of ImagineBox classrooms installed last year are continuing to create innovative lesson plans. They continue to “dream big” and do great things in order to implement current technologies in the Israeli education system. The Athena Fund team continues to accompany and support them in every step as they make their dreams a reality.
Side-by-side with all
of the above, we continue to create new content for ImagineBox – content that gives students the pedagogical advantages of interactive learning. Students benefit from both increased effectiveness of memorizing the learned material through experiential learning, and the acquisition of 21st
century skills needed today for success in the future.
But that’s not all. Our dream is that the immersive interactive content created in Israel for ImagineBox will be available at ImagineBox classrooms that will be established in the future at Jewish schools all over the world.
As you can see, we
continue to move forward so that every Israeli teacher and student will soon
have access to ImagineBox classrooms, where they can teach and learn in
a way befitting the 21st century.
I invite you to join
us and take part in implementing our vision for the classroom of the future.
Your donation today will help us empower teachers and provide advanced,
innovative and effective learning to Israeli students.
Shana Tova and happy
holidays,
Uri Ben-Ari
Founder & President
Athena Fund
RISHON LEZION: FIRST CITY WITH 3 IMAGINEBOX CLASSROOMS
Rishon LeZion recently became the first city in Israel with three ImagineBox classrooms!
In March 2022, we established the first ever ImagineBox at the WIZO Nachalat Yehuda Youth Village in the city. Students there have been enjoying immersive, interactive and innovative learning since the last school year.
In August 2023, we held ceremonies to launch two other ImagineBox classrooms in Rishon LeZion. The first is at the Pisga center for the development of teaching staff. The second at Negba School, where we placed the first ImagineBox container in Israel, is a separate stand-alone building that was designed and built specifically for ImagineBox.
The cooperation between Athena Fund and Rishon LeZion started several years ago with our "Digital Toolbox for Every Teacher" flagship program. In fact, Rishon is one of the cities with the highest number of teachers who have received a laptop computer and professional training from Athena Fund.
Now, with ImagineBox entering schools and starting an educational revolution, the city's leaders see great importance in establishing ImagineBox classrooms in their schools and giving teachers techno-pedagogical tools for immersive teaching.
The Pisga ImagineBox will equip all teaching staff in the area to use the immersive technology of ImagineBox, in anticipation of additional ImagineBox classrooms in the coming years.
Both of the latest ImagineBox classrooms in the city were made possible thanks to the support of Rishon LeZion and donations from Athena Fund and our donors.
FIRST SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL LAUNCHES IMAGINEBOX
On July 16, 2023, we launched the first ImagineBox classroom at a special education school – Yachdav School in Tel Aviv!
For years now, advanced technology has been changing the lives of special needs students – giving them a voice and access to education adjusted to their particular needs. The ImagineBox immersive classroom will serve as another giant, reality-altering step for every student at Yachdav, opening countless experiences previously inaccessible to them.
The program was made possible thanks to generous donations from Plus500, Epson, the Peretz family, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, and Athena Fund with our donors and partners.
Other special education schools will be joining our ImagineBox project soon.
In addition, the Education Faculty at Bar-Ilan University is currently conducting a study that focuses on the effects of the immersive classroom on education of children with communication difficulties. We will share its results with you as soon as they are published.
MERKIN IMAGINEBOX FOR PROMOTING SPOKEN ENGLISH
By Bracha Vaknin, English Language Pedagogical Advisor at Darca Network
Merkin ImagineBox, located at the Darca Hammer High School in Netivot, is the only one of its kind in the world. Darca Network's Merkin ImagineBox was established in partnership with Athena Fund in order to promote spoken English.
ImagineBox creates a unique sensory experience. You can find many disciplines and lesson plans in English at ImagineBox, including a dialogue-promoting AI-based avatar, and it's all available without leaving school. After a lesson at ImagineBox, students come out feeling that the entire world is at their fingertips.
The exposure to immersive environments (and learning in an interactive environment) encourages conversation skills. The aim of this project is to expose students to as many opportunities as possible to learn vocabulary, strengthen their confidence and speech fluency, and create situations where they need to speak in English.
ImagineBox facilitates a weekly period that is dedicated entirely to spoken English for students from 7th to 10th grades. These classes are being measured and evaluated throughout the school year. As a regional ImagineBox, Merkin ImagineBox is also hosting students from elementary and middle schools in town. All students have fascinating feedback when they leave, and they want to continue learning only at ImagineBox.
This year we are entering our second year of research at Darca, expanding the program to include teacher training on the importance of spoken English today as a global and future skill. We also are continuing training for teaching in the immersive room and adjusting lesson plans according to the Ministry of Education's national program for teaching English.
