On November 16th the opening ceremony of the new Net@ program in Kfar Saba took place involving the contributors (listed below), the families and of course the participating students. The city mayor, Mr. Yehuda Ben Hemo, honored the occasion with an enthusiastic speech he gave on the benefits of such a special program and its contribution to the community, praising P2K's involvement.
The Net@ program (pronounced 'neta' in Hebrew) was established in 2004 as a unique social initiative for the community by the collaboration of three firms: The Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal and Cisco Systems inc. The primary investors in the new Kfar Saba branch are Partnership 2000 (Columbus), the 'Shoshana & Pinchas Sapir' fund, and The Jewish Agency. Cisco Systems supplies the human resources and knowledge databases.
The vision and primary goal of the program is to bring a positive change to the lives of teens living in Kfar Saba by making them part of the new, high-tech Israel. The program combines technology and advanced English studies with personal empowerment and community involvement.
The activities incorporated into the program are to help teach social values such as: strive for excellence, leadership, personal and group responsibility, pluralism, multiculturalism, democracy and personal contribution and obligation to the community. The students meet twice a week after school for 4 hours each time in a specially designated Computer Laboratory and Lecture Room donated by the Shoshanna and Pinchas Sapir Community Center Organization.