Rochester educator Andrea Paprocki, with the assistance of Marina Maymin, compiled a book reflecting the way her trip to Modi'in (via the Education Bridge) helped her to bring Israel to her students. She offered these sentiments about her experiences; click the "My Trip to Israel" link to view the book:
 
"I always loved Israel. Because of the opportunity the federation gave me I was able to experience Israel first hand. I am in awe of Israel, it's people - my people, and what it means to so many. I can never repay the Federation/P2K committee for giving me such an enormous gift. That mitzvah has enriched my life. My co-teacher Emily Fishman and I love Israel for different reasons. Because of that we taught from our hearts and our individual experiences. Maybe that is why this unit held the children's' interest and motivated them to learn more and experience more. I wanted Israel to touch the children's souls and to show them it is a place like America, a free country that embraces and includes them: people of all religions, backgrounds and cultures. I wanted to show them the commonalities between our countries. I believe we need to show similarities first so the children are comfortable enough to appreciate the differences. I hoped for the children to feel a warm, positive connection to Israel. So when they are older and hear things, they would be open to finding out the real history, judge accordingly and support Israel, no matter what their religious affiliation. Emily's goal was to show the children that Israel is a spiritual, holy land. I believe we were able to accomplish all. My next goal is to one day go home to Israel and have my children in a classroom there make a book about America!"  download "My Trip to Israel (pdf file - 26 Mb)