ENP Carries On Through COVID Crisis

The coronavirus has not slowed us down! ENP is more determined than ever to making our SPACE students thrive and succeed.

As for many others, ENP too has been affected by the social distancing restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The lockdown enforced in March initially disrupted on-site learning activities, however ENP was able to quickly adapt and move the bulk of SPACE activities online thanks to the amazing dedication and creativity of our community coordinators and counselors. The crisis presents considerable challenges for the virtual provision of scholastic assistance, such as lack of adequate technology in students' homes, difficulty navigating learning with many siblings at home, and added pressures associated with parents' loss of income.

But where schools struggled to keep students engaged and motivated, SPACE teachers and counselors emerged as crucial resources ensuring students continue to take advantage of group learning sessions via the Zoom app and providing individualized emotional support by phone. They also helped students handle the great workload created by the distance learning system. The personal contact maintained by ENP professionals meant no student was left behind, and teachers' flexibility allowed for learning to continue even at late evening hours and on weekends. This way, 11th and 12th graders in the crucial stages of preparation for their matriculation exams received the much-needed support they require.

For Idan, a 10th grader from Ashkelon, the support provided by project staff was invaluable. "During the lockdown, the SPACE staff made sure we stayed on course and continued our classes through distance learning so we could go forward and not forget everything we learned. The classes and the amazing staff helped me and a lot of others to stay on top of our studies." Osher, a 9th grader from the same school, added: "Being in touch with all of the girls in my SPACE group really cheered me up and we learned something new with our counselor every day, which was really fun. Looking at the good things gave me a lot of strength."

SPACE coordinators have received countless messages of gratitude from students, expressing how useful and helpful the online classes were, and how thankful they are for still having them by their side. Rotem, a 10th grader, shared one such message, noting "we would never have passed our exams without our SPACE teacher." Indeed, many ENP supervisors themselves were in awe of the teachers' level of dedication and ability to maintain activities.

As restrictions are gradually lifted and schools reopen, SPACE staff are hard at work adjusting the after-school curriculum to the new reality, with the aim of fully resuming all on-site activities in the near future.