HIP(Hebrew/Israel Immersion Program) Home Page
The Hebrew/Israel Immersion Program is designed to raise the profile of Hebrew language and Israel in both the personal lives of our students and the life of the school. The 10th grade spend six weeks studying Hebrew and living with Israeli peers from the Environmental High School which is located in Ramat Negev on Midreshet Ben Gurion.
Hebrew Language Immersion
Six weeks of ulpan study, coupled with the natural socializing with their Israeli peers, has a dramatic impact on the studentsÕ confidence and ability to use Hebrew: In the first year of the program the gains in oral proficiency of four of the sixteen students was the equivalent of two years of classroom instruction; and on average, students gained the equivalent of 4.8 to 10.3 months of classroom instruction (Results from pre-and post program testing by an outside consultant, Dr. Vardit Ringvald of Brandeis University). Some students move from ulpan to regular high school classes taught in Hebrew.
Israel Immersion
The HIP students live in a part of Israel that most tourists pass through very quickly: The Negev. The Israelis teens have that intimate connection with the land that characterized earlier generations of Israelis. Our students joined their Israeli peers on hikes in the desert to see it slowly and up close, in the heat and in the rain. Not one student complained of isolation or boredom during this program.
Impact on Individuals
Israel has become a real place with real people that they are personally connected to. Every student agreed that the worst part of the program was coming back to Denver. Their immersion in Israel is now driving them to figure out how they can return for an extended stay, whether for a gap-year program before college or study at an Israeli University.
Impact on Herzl/RMHA
The impact of this program on Herzl/RMHA is just beginning to be felt. This year for the first time, Hebrew can be the language of instruction in a course other than a Hebrew language course. When the first three years of the program will have run, there will be a cadre of high school students with Hebrew skills that will allow us to expand infuse the general school environment with the sound of Hebrew: classes, guest lecturers, plays and cinema.
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