When Sarah Gordon went on maternity leave from teaching at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), she never imagined it would mark the beginning of one of the most impactful grassroots educational initiatives connecting Canada to Israel — one that the Jewish Federation of Ottawa has supported from the very beginning.

Today, Israel Connect is the largest non-governmental supplier of educational services in Israel — an achievement rooted in a deeply personal story and a pressing national need.

“I had a friend who made aliyah and began teaching in Ramla,” said Gordon. “She was working in a low-income school, facing the impossible task of getting her students to a high level of English proficiency despite systemic disadvantages and few opportunities for language immersion.”

While children in North America absorb English naturally from birth, in parts of Israel, students are expected to compete for university admissions and job opportunities without the same access to resources across the country.

Gordon’s solution: connect students in Israel with retiree volunteer mentors who could offer one-on-one English conversation. The results were immediate and profound.

The program has become even more necessary as many students in Ottawa’s partnership region, Etzba HaGalil, have not been able to attend school in a traditional setting due to the war.

Etzba HaGalil is located in the northern part of Israel. It shares a border with Lebanon and Syria. Because of the fighting with Hezbollah, many of the area’s residents have had to relocate in order to continue living, working, and learning during this tumultuous time.

The mentors that teach the students English are instrumental in providing a bridge between them and a sense of normalcy.

Gordon spoke of the huge civilian cost of war, and how that greatly impacts students in their day-to-day lives. Between running to bomb shelters and being displaced from their homes, many students suffer from post-traumatic stress. The connections the students make with their mentors are often helpful not just for learning English, but also provide them another adult to whom they can express their feelings.

“We've seen … in the last couple years a lot of mental health challenges,” she said. “We can just be another empathetic ear. Putting an adult into a kid’s life has always been an important and big piece of what we did — now it has become critical.”

The Jewish Federation of Ottawa, which was supportive of the initiative from its inception, began mobilizing community members and other Jewish Federations to get involved with this critical program.

Now, with another $8,000 allocated to the program by Federation through the Partnership2Gether initiative, Israel Connect is able to stretch a bit further in their offerings.

The extra funds will allow Israel Connect to reach more students across Israel and to equip them with the tools they need to learn English throughout the year — even when schools are closed during times of war. It will also allow more students to use this service and more mentors to get involved.

“I think Ottawa is really trying to show up in a big way,” said Gordon. “It punches above its weight.”

While registration to participate in Israel Connect is closed for the year, you can learn more about this program by clicking here