UJC's Israel Emergency Campaign funds enrichment activities and an extended school day, keeping children safe all over Israel.

The children and staff of Jerusalem's Gilo C Elementary School are inextricably entwined in the pain of the conflict and the distress of Israel's economic situation. They live, study or work in a neighborhood that has witnessed gunfire and painful losses – of both young and old – in terror attacks, and growing impoverishment.

The regular school day in Israel ends at 12:00 or 1:00. Now, instead of returning home to empty houses, or wandering the now-threatening streets of their neighborhood, the children of Gilo C remain safely on school premises four days a week until 3:30, taking part in a wide range of educational and enjoyable activities including creative math enrichment, computer classes and nature study.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," said Ruti Rahav, the school principal. "If I could, I would give them even more hours like these."

The Gilo children, along with thousands more all over Israel, are reaping the benefits of additional school hours and enrichment activities thanks to "Keeping the Children Safe," an Israel Emergency Campaign program managed by JDC and funded by UJC and the Federations of North America.

The principal and staff of Gilo C Elementary School were well equipped to take full advantage of the funds immediately upon notification: The school participates in JDC's pilot ADAM program, which works with school staff to better enable them to deal with schoolchildren, especially children at risk. The program encourages a comprehensive approach to individual children, including consideration of emotional, educational, social, familial and communal aspects of their development. This approach contributed to Rahav's decision to rearrange the entire school schedule so that the new, creative programming would take place throughout the course of the school day, and not just at the day's end.

"It is clear that the children enjoy the hands-on activities tremendously, are learning a tremendous amount, and would not give up these activities for the world," observed Ita Shahar, deputy director of JDC's Youth and Education Division, who recently visited the school. "What most impressed me was two sixth grade students who replaced a computer club instructor who had called in sick. They taught a captive group of second graders the computer skills they had recently learned."

For at least a few hours every day, these children perhaps can forget about where they are and concentrate on what they are doing.