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By Marcia Tatz Wollner
 SAN DIEGO --This past week San Diego had the privilege of hosting one of the five top educators in all of Israel, Nurit Belkin.
Belkin happens to also be a first grade teacher in the Sha’ar Hanegev Elementary School- so it was due to the close relationship of our two communities that she chose to come to San Diego, visit our schools and teach and provide an activity for all of the classes in which she visited.
During the course of her three- day visit in San Diego, she visited five schools, worked with at least 15 groups of students, attended teachers' meetings, a UJF briefing, a gathering with community educators, and so forth. There was very little time for Belkin to tour ’America’s Finest City" but luckily, Belkin had been to San Diego in the past as a part of the UJF/ Sha’ar HaNegev Educators Exchange.
Her lesson to the students was twofold- she showed the students a power-point presentation about life in Sha’ar HaNegev, by introducing the students to her family including four children ages 18,15,11,and 6 1/2 and her husband Shahar. She also
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showed them what life is like in an Israeli school through holiday celebrations and activities.
Belkin explained the school's transition from a 50 year-old institution to the new, modern and Kassam rocket-proof school which funds raised by UJF of San Diego helped to build.
The Israeli teacher also told the students, at an age appropriate level, about captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and shared a story about a fish and a shark that Shalit wrote at age eleven.
Insightful at such a young age, Shalit wrote about how the fish and shark who were raised to be enemies became friends and taught their parents the benefits of such a friendship over adversity.
Belkin enabled the students to make doves of peace and blessing which she plans to present to Gilad Shalit’s parents in Israel. Some of these doves will also be on display at the House of Israel in Balboa Park and at the San Diego Jewish Academy.
Belkin's calm and relaxed demeanor, her ability to engage students and adults, and her goal for students of all ages to strive to strive for self-betterment and to keep a positive attiude proved her to be an educator and life coach, who leads by example and lives her life to the fullest.
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