Henry Ben Ezra ... handing over the Right Track reins to someone else

Story & photo by Nina Zuck

ESRA’s Right Track Centers in Netanya have been helping the kids from Netanya’s weaker areas to get the grades to succeed in their matriculation exams since 1998, almost twenty years.  These centers are in partnership with the Youth at Risk Division of the Netanya Municipality. 

For the past eight years, Henry Ben Ezra has been our dedicated ESRA volunteer in these projects.  He has very professionally guided both the teachers at the centers and ESRA through the challenges and successes of these centers.  The centers are run as “warm homes” for the teenagers from the distressed areas. The Youth at Risk Division of the Municipality provides the teenagers with a computer room, activities, sessions with social workers and simply a place to hang out, while ESRA’s participation is in providing professional teachers, to give the students either one-on-one help in English, Math, Bible and Hebrew, or in small groups. 

Under Henry’s careful and caring supervision, we have terminated our participation in two of the four centers, due to lack of supervision by the coordinators in the centers, or lack of pupils.  ESRA still has two centers – in Hefzibah and Neot Shaked – which are successfully run. 

Henry has decided that the time has come to pass this project on to a new ESRA volunteer, Doron Ziv, whom we welcome into the ESRA Projects Family.  We will miss Henry – his serious professionalism, his dedicated visits to the centers and his “extras” for the kids. He has always brought games and equipment to the centers for the teenagers to use, and he is always conscious of their needs. 

So, a very big thank you to Henry, for his eight years of leading this project for ESRA.  He is not leaving us, but concentrating on his other activities in ESRA Netanya, which are numerous and growing.  And as a farewell, I’d like to quote a letter received from the mother of one of the teenagers, who come to the centers and participate in the Right Track Learning: 

“Shalom to one and all, 

I would like to thank Valeria, the Mathematics teacher at the Neot Shaked Right Track Learning Center for her efforts. With her capable teaching, my son Lior attained a grade of 100 in the recent bagrut (matriculation) examination in Mathematics. Thanks also to the entire staff at Neot Shaked, Orian and Rachel, both of whom always encouraged the youth at the Center to attend the various lessons financed by ESRA. It's great that the Learning Center exists for those who require help with their school studies. I believe that without ESRA's help, I would not have been able to give my son this valuable tool as I cannot pay for the necessary private lessons. Great thanks”. 

So Henry, we wish you much joy and success in your future ESRA activities, and we say a very big thank you for your eight years of dedication to the project. 

Doron, we are glad to have you on board and hope that you will get as much satisfaction from your new volunteering service as Henry did in the past.