Jordan Valley College officials visit P2K partners in Milwaukee
“It’s a wonderful experience to come here,” said Dr. Peter Pezaro, executive director of Jordan Valley College, located in the Partnership 2000 Sovev Kinneret region in Israel.
Pezaro, along with Dov Wolpe, C.F.O. for the college, visited Milwaukee for two days last week on their way to the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities, which took place Nov. 14-17 in Cleveland.
Pezaro and Wolpe made stops in St. Paul and Tulsa before arriving in time to attend the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Rothschild Society Inaugural Event, held Thursday, Nov. 11, at Congregation Shalom, where Pezaro spoke briefly on some of the things going on at the college.
The trip has been “a real eye opener,” said Pezaro, who added that visiting the P2K cluster communities “allows us to understand better what the partnership is all about.”
This was Pezaro’s second visit to Milwaukee, which he called “a wonderful experience. It’s like coming to visit old friends.”
Pezaro talked about some recent developments in programming at the college, as well as its involvement in the P2K program with cluster cities Milwaukee, St. Paul and Tulsa.
Calling Milwaukee the “leader in the cluster in P2K,” Pezaro said, “Through the partnership we have come to view ourselves as part of the [same] community.”
Part of Pezaro and Wolpe’s visit consisted of discussions for “new ideas and programs” for Jordan Valley College’s involvement in the P2K program.
These ideas included increased cooperation with the Hillel Foundation to involve more Jewish students and to offer extended birthright israel programs.
Ideas for volunteer programs in Israel for people other than students who wish to go to Israel have also been discussed.
“We have a lot to add to groups that come to the region and to the college,” Pezaro said.
Wolpe said students at the college are just starting to realize what a learning experience the encounters are for both groups.
Having students meet with Americans to converse and discuss backgrounds, said Wolpe, is beneficial “for Americans, but also for [the Israeli] students.”
Pezaro talked about the possibility of creating a program similar to birthright that would “facilitate the visit of physically challenged and disabled youngsters to come to Israel.”
The college itself, said Pezaro, has undergone “great progress” recently, including becoming recognized as an independent academic institution.
Jordan Valley College was formerly “under the auspices of Bar Ilan University” in Ramat Gan, he said. As an independent institution of higher learning, the school is now eligible to award their own degrees.
The college is now offering a track of technological studies, because, as Pezaro said, “We believe the future of Israel is technology.” This track encompasses the fields of information technology and electronic and mechanical engineering.
Currently, there are approximately 4,000 students attending the college, some of whom are working on two-year degrees and others who are taking preparatory academic courses, said Pezaro.
Some students, however, have recently experienced financial difficulties that made it impossible to pay for their college tuitions, said Pezaro, who then decided to “send out a call to communities” for help.
He noted that a $12,500 grant from the Jewish Community Foundation awarded to the college last year was a “critical turning point” for some of the students who received the scholarship money.
“The help was instrumental in keeping kids in school. We had people we could rely on to enable some of these students to finish their degrees.”
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