January 11, 2009 / 15 Tevet 5769

A dozen leading public and private high schools in North America represented

Career advisors from leading high schools across the US and Canada visited Israel for a week-long tour of gap year study and volunteer opportunities in Israel, as part of an initiative by MASA – Israel Journey to familiarize high school counselors opportunities for students interested in taking a year off before attending college. MASA was established as a joint project by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Prime Minister's Office under Ariel Sharon in 2004 to encourage Jewish young adults to spend a semester to a year in Israel on over 150 approved programs.

This 'gap year' for study or volunteering abroad after high school is a trend which is growing and becoming mainstream in North America as high schools and universities are actively encouraging high schools students to take a year overseas before entering college.

Significantly, half the schools represented in the current mission to Israel are leading public or private secular high schools from across the US. Among these schools are the Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Springs, Maryland, North Spring Charter School for the Arts in Atlanta, the Ellis School in Pittsburgh, and, in the New York area – Stuyvesant, Mount Clair, Great Neck South, and Millbrook high schools. The director of a company specializing in educational consulting also participated. (See full list of participants below.)

"The purpose of the trip is to present the wide variety of gap year programs available in Israel so that these advisors can go back to their high schools and recommend these programs to interested students," said Ayelet Shilo-Tamir CEO of MASA.

Today worldwide, there are 100,000 pre-college North American students on gap year programs in 50 countries; the interest in North America in a gap year abroad has increased significantly in recent years. The number of students from abroad choosing to spend time on programs in Israel immediately after graduating high school has more than doubled since the year 2000, from 1,000 to 2,500 this year.

The advisors on the mission in Israel visited the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design as well as a variety of alternative programs, including the Conservative Movement's Nativ program, the Reform Movement’s Netzer program and a kibbutz program which immerses students in Israeli life.

To encourage students to study in Israel, MASA provides automatic grants ranging from $2,000 to $4,500 for people under thirty working or studying in Israel for at least 5 months, through the support of United Jewish Communities/the Federations of North America and Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal.

LIST OF PARTICIPATING HIGH SCHOOLS BY STATE