End-of-year celebrations at the Primary School

The end of the school year came with exciting celebrations for the children, staff, and parents of the Neve Shalom - Wahal al-Salam Primary School. Each of the classrooms put on performances for their parents that they had been planning for weeks beforehand with their teachers. These included dances, slide presentations, and skits, with presentations of their art work in the hallways of the school to show off to proud parents.

For example, the kindergarten kids watched slides of the highlights of the school and relived it all with lively giggles from the front row of the audience.

The little ones in the first grade gave a minimalist – you could even call it avant-garde - dance show with masks and slides, followed by a rousing musical recital (with recorders), and then a play about the animals of the wild (with costumes!), in a mix of Arabic and Hebrew.

The older kids in the fifth grade put together an elaborate skit representing the UN nations debating numerous topics such as the use of Arabic language in the UN meetings. They displayed their skills in both languages and had a chance to put on some spirited dance numbers. It was inspiring to see how easily they took on the roles of men and women trying to create some order in the world. At the end of their skit, the children had speeches and gifts, with flowers, for their two teachers, Hezi and Reem, who were clearly touched by the gestures. The parents too made speeches to express their thanks to the teachers.

As had become a tradition, the sixth grade put on a spectacular performance at the end of the day with singing and dancing in mixed dialogue, Arabic and Hebrew, in front of a large audience of parents, teachers, and NSWAS residents, to conclude their years at the NSWAS Primary School. This year, the students chose a West Side Story theme and performed a story of two rival groups: the nerds only love to study and read and the tough kids only love to dance and play. They challenge each other to a dancing duel and in the end, the tough kids teach the nerds how to dance cool and the nerds teach the tough kids ballet, and they all learn how to live together, nerds and toughs side by side in peace. Could it be a metaphor…? Either way, the story was a perfect way to highlight the kids’ enormous creativity, each of their lively personalities, singing and dancing skills, and their impressive facility in both languages. More than that, it was fun to watch the kids have so much fun up there on the stage.

We said goodbye this year to two important figures at the Primary School. The first is the principal Fayez, who is stepping down after four years. The second is one of the founders of the Primary School, Ety Edlund, who has served in almost every position at the school in her twenty-three years of working there. Fayez and Ety were given warm goodbyes during the end of the year celebration. We wish them both happiness and success in all of their future endeavors!