CHS students partner with students in Israel

March 4, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

By ABBY SLANKER

Canfield High School ninth-grade Honors English students will participate in the International Shared Reading Project while partnering with a tenth-grade class at Ort Gutman Comprehensive High School in Netanya, Isreal.

The International Shared Reading Project is an internationally recognized program which partners schools in the U.S. with schools in Israel to read and discuss literature on the Holocaust in order to break down barriers.

Jesse McClain from the Youngstown Jewish Community Center visited English teacher Meghan Shively’s class to discuss the project on Feb. 5. McClain provided a brief history of the Holocaust to the students and gave them advice on how to interact with the Israeli students throughout the project.

Both classes will read “Night” by Elie Wiesel and engage in discussions via Blackboard. Students will receive a ‘pen pal’ to communicate with during the project.

“The first thing you should do is introduce yourself to your pen pal and tell him or her about you. The students you will be engaging with are very similar to you. They like their technology and their music, too. But, you will have a different perspective on the book than the Israeli students. That will make for interesting conversations, I think,” McClain said.

Shively explained how she got involved with the International Shared Reading Project.

“My class was chosen for this project because over the summer I went to Germany and Czech Republic to learn about Nazi regime and the Holocaust, and I visited a concentration camp in order to gain more awareness. Additionally, my ninth-grade class reads “Night” as part of the curriculum. I was asked by Jesse McClain and the Youngstown Jewish Community Center to participate in this program,” Shively said.

The Youngstown Jewish Federation is sponsoring the project in conjunction with The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education in Cincinnati. The center will run the website the class will use to communicate with the Israeli students.