Bridge to America: ENP's New Partnership

There can be no better time to introduce ENP's Bridge to America program and announce our exciting new partnership with the US Embassy in Israel than Black History Month. In 2020-21, ENP is partnering with the US Embassy in Israel to deliver ENP Bridge to America, a spoken English program aimed at empowering and inspiring Ethiopian-Israeli youth to reach their full potential by enhancing their proficiency in spoken American English while exposing them to meaningful content from American culture and history. The program is designed to enable students to utilize their spoken English – learned throughout their school career -- in creative and innovative methods, making students more motivated, inspired and comfortable speaking English and ultimately empowered to succeed. As part of the program, ENP, with the help of volunteer and Masa Teaching Fellow Rose Reiken, has sculpted a unique curriculum centering on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s seminal 1963 "I Have A Dream Speech", which will see students prepare and record their own "I Have A Dream" speech. The focus on MLK's inspirational speech is designed to inspire and empower Ethiopian-Israeli youth while introducing important themes associated with social justice and the ability of every individual to make a difference in this world.

Indeed, the Bridge to America program is ever-more relevant today with the growing awareness of current challenges still facing all societies, both Israel and the United States, pertaining to race, equality and the topics that MLK relayed in his historic speech.

With the support of the US Embassy’s Public Diplomacy grant, in the 2020-21 school year, ENP is providing the pilot Bridge to America program to 40 9th grade students in Beer Sheva, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Petach Tikva and Hadera.

“MLK is an inspiration for leadership and the fight for justice,” says Elizabet Legesse, ENP’s field coordinator of the program. “I think his life story, his activism, and his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech can inspire our students in their personal and communal lives. It is an excellent tool to develop leadership and activism on local, municipal, national and the international level.”