Schools open with Peres memorial

Schools around the country dedicated the first hour of studies to discussing Peres.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES speaks with a first-grader in Sderot. (photo credit: REUTERS)
PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES speaks with a first-grader in Sderot.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Educational institutions on Wednesday opened the school day by marking the contributions and work of former president Shimon Peres.
Schools around the country dedicated the first hour of studies to discussing the vision and legacy of Peres and his influence in shaping the country through his numerous positions as a statesman.
“Shimon Peres is a oneman education system,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett said. “Peres was my education minister, the man whom I consulted, from whom I learned, despite the generation gap between us, and perhaps because of this.”
“He was a man of most practical vision, a security man who strove for peace, a courageous leader who represented the State of Israel with pride with every fiber of his being and everywhere on the globe,” he said.
Bennett said he met with Peres often in recent years, hearing of the former president’s vision for the country as a “light to the world, exporting to the world our most powerful product: the Jewish mind.”
The education minister said he was “very moved” when Peres agreed to join the public campaign to promote the sciences. “He readily agreed, and as always – did it in his own unique way,” Bennett said.
The Education Ministry noted that it had formulating appropriate lesson plans for all grade levels from elementary through high school. During the next few days the lesson plans will be updated and other materials will be made available to teachers to further commemorate Peres.