Project Elkana: A Unique Opportunity for Orot Israel College’s Educational Counseling Students

By Bella Even-Chen – Lecturer and Coordinator, Educational Counseling Deparment, Elkana Campus

A child with a high fever who nevertheless insists on getting out of bed to go… no, not to the doctor, but to school?! Unthinkable? Well, not in Elkana’s local religious public school, where second-year students from Orot Israel College’s educational counseling department run a special program every Thursday.
Think back to your own school days. Did you ever have a chance to take a real look at yourself? To examine your family’s communication skills? To learn creative ways of dealing with complex social challenges? To participate, on a regular basis, in a small discussion group, where a professional listened, guided, responded, and directed?
If not, don’t feel bad! You’re not alone. Most educational systems leave little – if any – time for “trivialities” like these.
But if you’re one of the lucky few who were able to answer in the affirmative, you probably graduated from Elkana’s religious public school during the past six years and participated in this special program. Known as Project Elkana, the program serves as practical fieldwork for the Orot students.
Every week, each student (or pair of students) meets with two groups of six to eight third graders. During the course of the sessions, the Orot students help the children learn about their own personal character traits, their families’ dynamics, and techniques for handling school and social challenges.
In order to ensure the program’s success, the Orot students devote considerable time and effort each week to planning and implementing a wide range of original and exciting activities. For instance, children with special needs or attention deficit disorders play with various friendly pets – such as rabbits, hamsters, parakeets, and others. As a result, the elementary school children look forward to the weekly encounters and welcome the opportunity to talk about their concerns, frustrations, hopes, and dreams.
One of the program’s highlights is the emotional end-of-year party. The elementary school teachers, principal, and guidance counselor praise the talented and dedicated Orot volunteers, and some of the third graders share their experiences. Small gifts are exchanged, and the college and elementary school students promise to keep in touch.
Mrs. Bella Even-Chen, the project’s coordinator, reports that whenever she meets parents of children who were not privileged to participate in the program, they inevitably ask if the program can be expanded to include their kids as well.
Of course, the children are not the only ones who benefit from this unique program, which serves as excellent training for the young women as they embark on their chosen careers.