One Story

Each year, a portion of Federation’s annual campaign dollars are donated to our overseas partners doing vital work in Israel and around the world. Here is one story about how an Israeli all-girl robotics team came to Massachusetts and took home a coveted prize.

WORCESTER – There are thousands of miles between the communities of the Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires and the award-winning World ORT students visiting them from southern Israel, but the kinship between them is a strong and historic one.

The visiting Israeli students are an all-girl robotics team from Dimona, a traditionally overlooked city in Israel. But PowerPuff Team #900, students from the YOUniversity Center in Dimona, an extracurricular STEM enrichment program run by World ORT Kadima Mada, World ORT's operating arm in Israel, showed the world what expert training can do.

The 9th-graders took part in the prestigious international FIRST LEGO League at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester from June 12 to 14. The girls, who won the national finals in Israel, competed against more than 100 teams from all over the world and took first place in the Innovation award.

Participating and winning at such a high level is a huge achievement. Dimona is a small desert city of roughly 35,000 residents in Israel's Negev region that has traditionally been underserved educationally and socioeconomically. Thanks to a partnership between World ORT Kadima Mada and the Municipality of Dimona, roughly one in four children in Dimona now participate in robotics groups that run from kindergarten through high school.

But equally important as winning an international accolade is being held in a collective embrace by the Jewish community abroad. Ahead of the competition, supporters from Springfield Jewish Community Centre (JCC) and the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts welcomed the girls and enjoyed a meal together, followed by a Q&A session. The Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires have a long history and involvement with ORT. The region’s Women's American ORT chapter was a vibrant one for many decades and the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and Jewish Federation of the Berkshires has consistently been great supporters of ORT.

And in 2014, Heritage Academy Day School in Longmeadow, which placed a strong emphasis on technology, partnered with World ORT to become the first pilot school in the United States to implement its outstanding technological program. World ORT Kadima Mada provided cutting-edge technological tools and pedagogical training to enrich the teaching and learning environment within the classroom.

Otis and Longmeadow resident Suze Goldman, World ORT Board Member and former president of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and former Executive Board Member of the Springfield JCC, said: “As members of the Jewish community, we have a connection to our Jewish families around the world. Our history instructs us that community is powerful and significant and necessary. When people were in need in Europe after the war, the Jewish community was there to help them. Whether we live in Vilnius, in Israel, or in Mexico City, we are extended family.”

There are other connections too. The Federation's Anna P. Housen Fund for Israel, Fred & Ruth Weiss Fund for Israel, and the Sylvia Zucker Children's Fund has made a joint gift of $10,000 to support World ORT Kadima Mada's YOUniversity in Dimona for the upcoming school year, ensuring students such as the PowerPuff team can have similar experiences.

Springfield and the Pioneer Valley has a community of Holocaust survivors; ORT played a significant role in educating survivors and refugees in the Displaced Persons' (DP) Camps in Europe after the Second World War. A number of the children born and educated by ORT in the DP camps live in Pioneer Valley.

“When there is distress to Jews locally and around the world, our community is there. People are suffering now, and World ORT is helping them, for example in Ukraine and in Israel,” explains Goldman. She is also an Executive Board Member of Jewish Family Service, which serves Jewish community members in need in the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley.

In Israel, World ORT aims to reduce socioeconomic gaps in underserved communities through STEM education, leadership, and innovation. Dimona is now a nationally recognized robotics hub, and investment in education in this region is helping to improve the opportunities for its students.

Adi Cohen, the YOUniversity Center of Excellence Manager for the Dimona and Be'ersheva regions, said: "This team has proven, once again, that girls can lead, create, innovate, and succeed at the highest levels in science and technology. Their hard work, dedication, curiosity, and determination paid off.

“These young girls are champions, and they are a powerful example for other students, especially young girls, who dream of taking part in the world of robotics, engineering, and innovation. I am extremely proud of them, of their journey, and of everything they represent.”

The girls told the Springfield audience: “Robotics for all of us is much more than just a team. It's like a family. We learn, grow, argue but, most importantly, we love unconditionally. Everyone of us brings a different colour, a different strength, a different story and together we became something powerful.”

ORT works to impart Jewish values such as tikkun olam to all students, and the PowerPuff Team #900 were mentored by RoboActive #2096, the team that won a special award at the First International Robotics Championship in Houston, Texas, last month.

Moshe Leiba, World ORT Kadima Mada’s Deputy Directory General and Chief Pedagogy and R&D Officer, said: “These remarkable young women are proof that talent is universal, even when opportunities are not. Through dedication, expert mentoring, and access to high-quality STEM education, they transformed curiosity into innovation and brought pride to their community, to Israel, and to the entire ORT network.”

The PowerPuff Team #900 visit was generously supported by the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and the Springfield Jewish Community Centre.

To learn more about supporting transformational educational opportunities like this one, please contact Chief Development Officer Allison Baumwald at [email protected].