A group of 16 students in grades 5-6 participated in a unique course at Hayovel, in which they studied the fundamentals of city planning with an emphasis on environmental and nature protection.

The Young Architects course is part of Hayovel School’s activity designed to foster values of responsibility, caring and social involvement, both at school and in the community, in the spirit of the school’s curriculum – “Looking Ahead-Thinking Green.” 

The course is the cooperative effort of both the school and the engineering division, designed to include students in the planning of the green ring currently under construction and which will surround Raanana.  Also partners in this effort are the Education Division, Eshkol Hapais and the Regional Department for Environmental Protection.  The course is given by the D.M.R. Architect Firm, and supervised by Roi Hido.

The program includes 10 sessions, in which students were introduced to the fundamentals of city planning, basic concepts such as TAZA and TAMA and they gained experience by planning part of the green ring in the area of the Small Forest and the winter puddle.  The students toured the area, outlined a building and development plan that is in keeping with the vision and basic principles that they created.

To mark the end of the program, an exhibition of the students final projects was presented, which included construction and development suggestions for the area in question.  The students also presented their work and expressed their desire to ensure open spaces.  The event was attended by Mayor Nahum Hofree and the director of the education division, the director of the sustainability administration, the city manager, the school faculty and the students’ parents.

Mayor Nahum Hofree:  “I was profoundly impressed by the students’ creativity and ideas and have instructed the city architect to consider integrating their suggestions in the existing plan in order to ensure open green spaces.”

Thanks to the success of the school pilot program, other options of cooperative efforts between the engineering, education and sustainability divisions are under consideration to increase the students’ involvement and to instill them with an sense of active citizenship and social and environmental responsibility