"I'm proud of my students who learned that everyone can do it"

 “I’m proud of my students who learned that ‘everyone can do it”

 Ruth Biton
 Tafnit “Start” Program coordinator
 Zayin Comprehensive School, Beersheba

And in conclusion… 

Three years ago I was chosen to coordinate a new, unfamiliar program – the Tafnit “Start” Program.

I had no idea what I was getting into, although I understood that the job required enthusiasm, motivation, and belief that we were right. 

I was thrown into a whirlwind of work and activity in front of a group of students whose only connection to school and studies was purely coincidental.

The students lacked study skills and belief in their abilities. School was at best .a social club for them, or otherwise just a place to “mess around”. 

For the school these students were a bothersome, annoying nuisance without any suitable framework, and the greatest aspiration for them was that they wouldn’t disturb others, and maybe even complete 12 years of school. 

The Tafnit Program methods are special and unique. The requirements from the teachers, the coordinators, and primarily from the students, are demanding and rigorous. However the support and advice from the program advisor – Mr. Motti Shitrit – was of great help. Every problem, whether from the teachers, school management, parents or students, was solved by him. Without such help, I am in no doubt that I would have been unable to do my job. 

After three years of dealing with a large number of difficulties, sometimes progressing and sometimes regressing, I finally reached the finishing line with 35 students most of whom will be eligible for a full matriculation certificate, with the others missing one or two subjects. In any event, I am proud to have completed three years as a coordinator and proud of my students who have learned an important lesson in life including ‘everyone can do it’ is not just a cliché. 

I am full of pride that I have played a part in a true revolution in the system, a revolution that devotes much attention to the pupils who have fallen between the cracks, who have minimal self-confidence, with the program concerned with improving their status in their own eyes and that of society around them.