Scholar volunteer groups - in cooperation with the Branco Weiss Institute

 IsraCorps joined forces with the Branco Weiss Institute to run groups of volunteers comprised of graduates of schools for youngsters who had had a history of dropping out or being expelled from regular education frameworks. The volunteers work mornings in the local elementary schools, narrowing learning gaps and in the afternoons (about four times a week) study for their own matriculation and psychometric exams under the tutelage of instructors and mentors from the Branco Weiss Schools. Twice a week the volunteers operate a clubhouse for youth at risk inside the school they volunteer during morning times.

The goals of the project are: to create a strong young leadership from among the residents of the periphery who will later take part in effective and professional volunteering in the periphery of Israel, to assimilate volunteerism as a norm in all strata of society and use it as a tool for building a generation of leaders transcending sectors and cultures, to enable the volunteers to complete their matriculation and psychometric exams and to encourage them to enroll in institutions of higher learning combined with social action even after completing their "Community Service Year".
In 2007-8, 46 youth participate in this program in 5 local municipalities (Kiriyat Shmona, Tiberias, Hadera, Be'er Sheva and Beith Shemesh)

Academic Preparatory for Girls of Ethiopian Origin

Many teens in Israeli society are not recruited to the Israel Defense Forces or to National Service due to a lack of motivation on their part or to the relative ease by which the Israeli establishment gives up on these populations. Some 500 girls of Ethiopian origin are among the teens that are not given an equal opportunity to serve in the National Service.

During the 2007-8 school year IsraCorps, in cooperation with the National Service, the Ministry of Education and the Tafnit Association for Education, is striving to recruit about 88 girls of Ethiopian origin who reside in the periphery, lack a matriculation certificate or have one that is insufficient for acceptance to institutions of higher learning. These young women will participate in a combined community service year and an academic preparatory program:

• 4 Preparatory programs – aimed at girls at risk from families suffering from severe hardships. Educational process implemented by Tafnit Project who has proven great success in closing educational gaps within youth residents of the periphery. The Tafnit staff carries out thorough and professional work that not only enables the young women to complete the basic matriculation (Bagrut) subjects, but more important, to undergo a profound change in their study habits and to realize that they are capable of aspiring to and achieving high scholastic and personal goals.)
• 1 Paramedical preparatory – a comprehensive framework aimed at girls with stronger abilities including a year of volunteering combined with preparation for academic paramedical studies.

The project's goals include creating groups of leaders from the Ethiopian ethnic group by using volunteering as a means to this end. The focus is on education, children and youth at risk and informal educational activities, along with improving or completing matriculation and psychometric exams and encouraging the volunteers to continue on to academic studies. In addition, they will be able to complete the National Service requirements, an important element in facilitating their integration into Israeli society.

Volunteers from the Arab Sector

In accordance with its principle of egalitarianism IsraCorps is working in 2007-8 with 160 volunteers from the Arab sector in 24 Arab communities. The volunteers come from different ethnic or religious groupings, Christian, Moslem, Druze and Bedouin, and they participate in the same training program together with all the other IsraCorps volunteers.

The goal of the project is to create young leadership groups in the Arab communities who will engage in effective and professional volunteering in the fields of education, children and youth at risk and informal frameworks. Emphasis is also placed on supporting the creation and expansion of volunteerism as a norm in minority sectors in Israel.

Of utmost importance is the fact that the volunteers from this sector are active in their own surroundings, develop leadership skills and social involvement, and are an integral part of a group similar to other groups active in the different sectors of Israeli society. This unique project in the Arab sector is a pioneering effort that makes a significant value statement.


Pre-Army Preparatory Program

The Pre-Army Prep Program is intended for 18 year olds who completed high school and decided to defer their military service for a year. The goal of the prep program is to form and train a group of teens that will focus on Israeli history and geography and Judaic studies, develop leadership skills and social awareness, and prepare them for meaningful service in the Israel Defense Forces.

Currently, there are some 40 pre-army prep programs with 800 – 1000 high school graduates participating. An examination of these programs showed that the vast majority of the participants come from the more elite of Israeli society, with barely any involvement on the part of the residents of the periphery in this leadership-molding experience.

Participation in the pre-army programs carries the weight of a status symbol in Israeli society since they serve as incubators for nurturing social leadership. As part of IsraCorps vision- the existential need to develop a strong local leadership and as part of it's goals- to boarden the profile of volunteers in Israel - IsraCorps plans to establish 2 pre-army programs: 1 in Acre at September 2008, 1 in Be'er Sheva at September 2009. It is intended to act as a foundation for developing strong local leadership in the periphery. The participants of the Program will be trained, guided and mentored with all the volunteers of IsraCorps that represent different parts of the Israeli society. The prep program is authorized and coordinated with the Education and Defense Ministries.