The Center for Youth
Leadership is built to enrich leadership and community involvement among Rahat’s
youth and build a program of community leadership and connections. The project
aims to create an informal social group whose members will establish community
service projects fitting their personal interests. The Center provides an
opportunity for youth who are not labeled as “gifted” by Rahat’s formal
education system or the general community, giving them the chance to recognize and develop other talents within themselves that are no less important.
The program
participants will study the power and influence of leaders in Israel and around
the world, identifying characteristics required to lead and finding those within
themselves and their friends in the group. The project’s aim is to cultivate
local groups of young leaders, develop a strong leadership program, motivate
youth to become active within their community, and develop a culture of
democratic leadership and involvement in community partnership.
This program includes
two youth groups who specialize in certain subjects particularly important to
the community: “Action Rahat” and “Ruad al-Mustakbal—Future Generation.”
This group includes 20
youth from Rahat who display leadership characteristics, such as charisma. They
meet once a week and their activities focus on subject such as identity and
individualism. The youth groups travel to meetings with activist and youth
groups from all over Israel and tour cities including Acco, Nazareth, Haifa,
Jerusalem, and Kfar Kara’a. They initiate joint projects with international
youth groups, including the establishment of a summer camp for at-risk children
in Rahat.
The group includes 15
youth from different high schools in Rahat who meet once a week and discuss the
following subjects: individual and group empowerment, identity, individualism,
success, values. They visit different civil society organizations and advocate
active voluntarism. At the conclusion of the yearly project, the group organizes
one activity day in collaboration with Shatil Be’er Sheva featuring many
different Step Forward programs: plays for children, contests and games, art
production, sports and karate.
This unique program
serves 60 youth in the 6th grade from schools throughout the Negev who meet once
a week. Several organizations collaborate in this project, including Step
Forward, AMEN- Youth Volunteering City, Amal Schools from throughout Israel,
Desert Shape Group, and Baran Group.
The community
leadership project is a social initiative to develop community activism in the
region’s youth. The project is designed to fill the lack of programming that
exists teaching youth the values of active communal voluntarism. The program
builds connections between Bedouin and Jewish residents of the Negev, who
understand the geography and environment of the region, and encourages them to
implement different methods of communal activism and present solutions to social
and environmental questions within their communities.
The program is a
combination of seminars that take place throughout the Negev and volunteering on
behalf of the community. The project operates three two-day seminars and tours
of the region. Program leaders include certified youth counselors and
professional advisors with experience relevant to the program’s subject matter.
In addition to the tours and seminars, the students meet one afternoon a week to
implement community service activities they design through their own
participating and leadership.
The Academic Guidance
Center is located in the center of Rahat and
serves as an informational center with higher education and career counseling
services for high school students in the Negev. The Center has a professional
library and as well as a library of higher education institutes. Computers are
available as informational resources and personal advisors and social workers
are also on-hand to provide advice on higher education and careers. The Center
also operates a hotline for telephone calls for individuals who cannot reach the
offices.
Throughout the year,
the Center operates a number of programs for youth and students in the Negev:
Seminar for Higher Education
Close to 45 students
each year participate in this two-week seminar. During the first week, the
seminar focuses on lectures on higher education such as psychometric exams (are
the barrier preventing the largest number of students from reaching higher
education), dealing with obstacles to reaching higher education, and success
stories of students studying at universities through programs which directed
them to professions they fit best, and criticism of regional academic
institutions (Kaye College and Ben Gurion University in the Negev).
During the second
week, students go on special tours of Jordanian universities and hear lectures
about the variety of departments in which they can enroll as well as admissions
requirements. This week of programming is a recent addition to the seminar,
caused by increasing rates of Bedouin students enrolling in Jordanian
universities.
High
School Students Tour Institutes of Higher Education
During the tours,
participating high school students meet with admissions representatives and
students who expose them to different aspects of studying at universities. These
tours provide high school students with the opportunity to get information and
answers to their questions and concerns before they transition from high school
to higher education. The Center operates 4 tours each year so students have the
opportunity to personally experience the academic environment at institutes of
higher learning and analyze the difference between university or colleges and
their high school experiences.
Higher Education Fair
This fair takes place
each year at Ben Gurion University in the Negev’s sports center. Representatives
of universities and colleges in the Negev and throughout Israel attend and bring
promotional materials for students to answer questions and provide information
about their different programs, admissions requirements, registration,
scholarships, and more. The Fair is open to all regional students and applicants
to colleges or universities. Before the conclusion of the fair, representatives
give lectures to groups of students about subjects relating to higher education.
Lectures
The Center provides
lectures for schools and groups of students giving them a general perspective on
higher education.
Workshops
The Center operates 4
workshops on the practical and emotional challenges students face during the
process of enrolling in higher education. The Center is also developing a
program of 2 annual workshops to encourage high school students to apply to
universities and colleges. Another track includes 3 yearly workshops focused on
academic learning skills. In addition, the Center offers annual psychometric
courses.
Open
Days
During the year, the
Center holds seven “open days” in Rahat’s schools to which it invites
representatives of higher education institutions to provide the most up-to-date
information to students, explain the process of enrollment, and hand out
application materials.
Academic Guidance and Counseling
Through the year, over
350 students come to the Center to get help filling out forms, information about
application requirements and subject tracks, advice on selecting professions
that best fit their interests, and use the guidance program to fulfill their
academic needs.
ership and community involvement among Rahat’s
youth and build a program of community leadership and connections. The project
aims to create an informal social group whose members will establish community
service projects fitting their personal interests. The Center provides an
opportunity for youth who are not labeled as “gifted” by Rahat’s formal
education system or the general community, giving them the chance to recognize and develop other talents within themselves that are no less important.
oup includes 20
youth from Rahat who display leadership characteristics, such as charisma. They
meet once a week and their activities focus on subject such as identity and
individualism. The youth groups travel to meetings with activist and youth
groups from all over Israel and tour cities including Acco, Nazareth, Haifa,
Jerusalem, and Kfar Kara’a. They initiate joint projects with international
youth groups, including the establishment of a summer camp for at-risk children
in Rahat. 
once a week and discuss the
following subjects: individual and group empowerment, identity, individualism,
success, values. They visit different civil society organizations and advocate
active voluntarism. At the conclusion of the yearly project, the group organizes
one activity day in collaboration with Shatil Be’er Sheva featuring many
different Step Forward programs: plays for children, contests and games, art
production, sports and karate. 
The community
leadership project is a social initiative to develop community activism in the
region’s youth. The project is designed to fill the lack of programming that
exists teaching youth the values of active communal voluntarism. The program
builds connections between Bedouin and Jewish residents of the Negev, who
understand the geography and environment of the region, and encourages them to
implement different methods of communal activism and present solutions to social
and environmental questions within their communities. 
Negev and volunteering on
behalf of the community. The project operates three two-day seminars and tours
of the region. Program leaders include certified youth counselors and
professional advisors with experience relevant to the program’s subject matter.
In addition to the tours and seminars, the students meet one afternoon a week to
implement community service activities they design through their own
participating and leadership. 
The Academic Guidance
Center is located in the center of Rahat and 
the first week, the
seminar focuses on lectures on higher education such as psychometric exams (are
the barrier preventing the largest number of students from reaching higher
education), dealing with obstacles to reaching higher education, and success
stories of students studying at universities through programs which directed
them to professions they fit best, and criticism of regional academic
institutions (Kaye College and Ben Gurion University in the Negev).
During the tours,
participating high school students meet with admissions representatives and
students who expose them to different aspects of studying at universities. These
tours provide high school students with the opportunity to get information and
answers to their questions and concerns before they transition from high school
to higher education. The Center operates 4 tours each year so students have the
opportunity to personally experience the academic environment at institutes of
higher learning and analyze the difference between university or colleges and
their high school experiences.
center. Representatives
of universities and colleges in the Negev and throughout Israel attend and bring
promotional materials for students to answer questions and provide information
about their different programs, admissions requirements, registration,
scholarships, and more. The Fair is open to all regional students and applicants
to colleges or universities. Before the conclusion of the fair, representatives
give lectures to groups of students about subjects relating to higher education.
