FEATURE One Heart, One Family To Grow with Love, Courage and Humility A PRINCIPAL WITH A MAGIC WAND By Helga Abraham

Whatever she touches turns to gold. “When I first came here,” recounts Eti Zabary, the bubbly 54-year- old principal of AMIT Kennedy Junior and Senior High School in Acco, “I found broken chairs and tables, black-stained floors, rooms with no windows and pools of rain in classrooms and corridors.” This was in 2013. Within a couple of years, Zabary succeeded in transforming the run-down premises into an attractive educational institution that is fast gaining recognition in the Western Galilee. As she shows me around the school, she is clearly proud of her achievements, pointing to a former garbage dump now transformed into a pretty courtyard with plants and decorative pots, brightly painted classrooms, curvy green tables

continued on page 10 PHOTOS: REBECCA KOWOLSKY REBECCA PHOTOS: continued from page 9 my head.” She fell into education soon that can be used individually or joined after gaining her BA when a religious together for group work, and attractive boys’ high school close to where she work-stands equipped with computers. lived, Yavne Haifa, asked her to teach “In 2013, the school There is also new flooring, air a biology class. Just 23 years old and conditioning, and a large wall-to-wall already a young mother, she was put had no more than a carpeted music room. in charge of large classes of 15 year- old boys. She sailed through. “I was How did she do it? “As soon as never afraid of a class and never had 57% Bagrut (high I arrived, I began fundraising. I disciplinary problems,” she says. “I introduced many new educational always knew how to set boundaries and projects, and each project brought was never forced to punish anyone.” school matriculation) in new funding. Within a year I had a proper working budget.” Most While Zabary’s science classes kept important, Zabary succeeded in raising getting larger and larger, the other achievement level; the school’s academic achievements classes at Yavne Haifa were losing from the nadir to the heights. In 2013, students. The school officials considered by 2015, the figure the school had no more than a 57% appointing Zabary as principal but the Bagrut (high school matriculation) suggestion was rejected by the Israeli achievement level; by 2015, the figure Ministry of Education, which refused had shot up to 88%. had shot up to 88%. “AMIT Acco is now to approve a woman as principal of a among the top schools in Israel for religious boys’ school. “AMIT Acco is now academic achievement,” says Zabary At this point, Zahalon Siri, then proudly. coordinator of AMIT’s school among the top schools Ironically, Zabary never aspired to principals, interviewed Zabary and be a teacher. She studied biology and offered her the post of principal at wanted to do research but, she admits, AMIT Kennedy Acco. in Israel for academic teaching was in her DNA. “My mother On taking up the reins at AMIT was a teacher and teaching came Kennedy, a junior and senior high achievement” naturally to me. When I was a little girl, school with separate boys’ and girls’ I used to line my siblings up in a row wings, Zabary completely revamped and teach them whatever came out of the curriculum, introduced new

The Ninth grade Project Based Learning biology class. I want to teach young Principal Eti Zabary people to dream and expose them to as many fields of study as possible.” Thus, during regular school hours, the students at AMIT Kennedy can attend two two-hour courses from four tracks: sport (sailing, biking, martial arts, basketball or soccer), arts (musical instruments, zumba, painting, cooking), REAPING AWARDS IN science (medicine, advanced physics, PHYSICS hothouse planting, robotics, recycling) and academia (law, Veteran science teacher Ora Eisenberg finance, sociology, greets me in one of AMIT Kennedy’s debate, or Torah). tracks (computer science, physics, communications, information Not suprisingly, Zabary is hugely new physics labs. “You have come to technology), appointed new teachers popular among the students. the top place in physics,” she says en- and created myriad new projects. Eleventh-graders Ofek Amran and David Menahem were among the Close to her heart is the PBL (Project thusiastically. “When Eti arrived here, Based Learning) program, which large group of boys that followed encourages students to be actively Zabary to Acco from Yavne Haifa. she caused a revolution. I never saw engaged in the learning process. Both say the move was worthwhile “PBL merges knowledge and skills,” because the school offers them a high a principal like her. She enabled us to explains Zabary. “Students research standard of learning, and they still do all the projects we had dreamt of, a subject, write up programs, build have Zabary as principal. “She is very professional,” says David, “and she products and present their projects in and the standard immediately rose.” front of teachers and students.” also listens to us.” Under science teacher Ora Eisenberg’s For their PBL physics project, The school’s staff are also enamored of their principal. English last year, seventh-graders Noga guidance, a group of eighth-graders Ben Shoshan, Sarah Amar and Lior teacher Ariel Freedman, originally from Los Angeles, appreciates the Yaakov built structures aimed began, in 2014, an innovative project at enabling them to learn about professionalism he has found at AMIT materials, construction, insulation Kennedy: “Eti is a great principal; aimed at examining the effect of a and conductivity. Noga built a kennel she is always looking for new ways constant magnetic field on the growth with a yard, fence, lawn and fountains, to develop the school and raise standards.” Veteran teacher Michal while Lior and Sarah built houses of plants. The result was astounding: equipped with hot-cold water pipes Raviv notes that Zabary is in a league of her own: “I worked with many and electrical conduits. “It was great not only did the magnetic field not fun,” says Sarah. “Instead of just principals who had no vision, dreams listening to the teacher and writing or passion. Eti has vision, enthusiasm have a harmful effect, it boosted plant notes, we built something and learned and faith, and she understands that growth. The experiment won AMIT from the experience of building.” her strength lies in her staff and does her best to support us.” Another pet project of Zabary’s is Kennedy second place in the interna- the program of elective courses. “My Zabary is proud of the new dream,” she says, “is to enable every atmosphere of success that permeates tional Globe Program competition, child from the periphery to study AMIT Kennedy: “Seeing the spark in partially sponsored by NASA. < whatever subject he or she loves… the eyes of my students and my staff < irrespective of the school curriculum. makes it all worthwhile.”