Sharon Rahamim

The successes of the"Gateway to Graduation" program light a big light like the small lights of Hannukah.

Rabbi Kook said that "Everyone must know and understand that within burns a candle..."(Orot HaKodesh)

And what is that candle? For us at "Gateway to Graduation" the light is education, carrying with it the potential within: the hope for growth, development, realization of dreams and success; and as educators we know that "there is no human being without a candle", that "no one's candle is identical with the candle of another" and that we must educate a child according to their way, encourage them, offer alternatives so that they can excel and allow them the chance to light their torch bright.

Our first mission is to light the teachers' candles, to give them the tools they need to succeed so that they themselves can light their students' candles.

Our challenge is to find the hidden candle and give it life: "one needs to ignite one's candle and make of it a great torch" and turn the potential into reality to "enlighten the whole world."

And the candle light is everywhere: It is seen when the management staff of the Mikve Israel Secular School looked at the Matriculation results and saw that 88% of students were eligible for a full Bagrut diploma, with 52% of them excelling at an average grade of over 90.

The light illuminates when a student, who struggles with their learning, stands up proud at the Rabin memorial ceremony and moves the entire crowd with their beautiful singing voice, remembering all the lyrics.

The light is seen when a home-room teacher visits her students at their dormitories, equipped with gifts and feels like a proud mother.

The light shines when the Kiryat-Gat "Shal'on" school staff restores the school to its original splendor by raising the percentage of children matriculating to 76%, through hard, teamwork.

The light glows when a troubled study group meets after hours at their teacher's home and drink up every word she says.

The light is felt when a student succeeds in an exam, and is grateful through a smile, a cry of joy and optimism.

The light is clear when the staff of the "Ramon" Gadera school, who prepared their students for matriculation for the first time, knows that it is on the right path, when 94% of the students completed the exams successfully.

The light is lit when veteran teachers at a maths staff training session are excited by the privilege to understand their subject through a new perspective, and teachers at a language staff training session testify that the professional skills they acquired will lead to their students' success.

The light glitters when civics teachers light each other's candles though mutual thinking and assistance, or when a video presentation is shown at a motivation evening on a stormy night - a small light in a child's heart, a large light in their parent's heart and an abundance of light in ours. The candle light is lit through the knowledge that, as Francis of Assisi said: "All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle".