The Strengths Were Already There

At WIZO’s youth villages, every part of the educational journey is guided by a clear vision of the graduate: a young person who leaves with resilience, self-awareness, confidence, practical life skills, meaningful relationships, and the ability to connect, contribute, and influence the world around them.

This vision is not only an idea about the future. It is a daily plan of action, shaped in classrooms, boarding school life, conversations with counselors, moments of responsibility, and opportunities to lead.

Omer Guttmann’s story is one example of what that vision can look like in real life.

When Omer arrived at WIZO Hadassim Youth Village in the middle of eleventh grade, he was 16, from Petah Tikva, and looking for something different. He had come to join the boarding school because he felt he needed more independence, more space, and a place where he could grow beyond the familiar patterns of home.

“I felt that it was right for me to leave home a little,” Omer says. “I wanted more independence, and Hadassim felt like the right place for me.”

At the time, Omer was shy. He had struggled for years with a stutter. He was intelligent and sensitive, but he did not naturally stand out. He was not yet the kind of student who would imagine himself speaking in front of a crowd, leading other students, or competing in a national championship.

But the counselors at Hadassim saw something in him.

“Omer came to us shy, with a stutter, and he did not immediately stand out,” says Eli Bezalel, Principal of WIZO Hadassim. “But first of all, there was a counselor who saw him, noticed him, and loved him. That is the first condition. Programs are important, but a meaningful counselor is the game changer.”

That counselor was Neguse Mekonen, a graduate of WIZO Hadassim, longtime counselor, and one of the leaders of the Sports Academy.

“Education is done with love,” says Neguse. “Or it is not done at all.”

Life in the boarding school began to help Omer see himself differently. He learned to manage his schedule, take responsibility for daily life, and make use of the opportunities around him. He joined the youth village’s leadership committee, helped operate a small student-run store, and suggested opening a chess group for other students.

The idea was accepted, and suddenly the shy student who once struggled to speak easily was teaching others.

“I was always very shy,” he says. “Even when I opened the chess group, it still took me more time to explain things. But people were patient. That meant a lot.”

Teaching chess gave Omer confidence, but it also taught him humility.

“You are supposed to be the teacher, and then you make a mistake or lose to a student,” he says. “But that taught me that it is okay to make mistakes.”

This year, WIZO Hadassim officially opened its Sports Academy, a new framework within the boarding school that gives students access to professional training, structure, mentorship, and meaningful challenge. The academy currently focuses on four fields: athletics and running, cycling through Bartali Youth in Movement, football through a partnership with Tubruk, and archery as an individual sport.

For Eli Bezalel, the academy is not simply another afternoon activity.

“It has become part of the daily rhythm of the boarding school,” he explains. “There are morning practices, afternoon practices, peak events, professional coaches, and continuity over time. It is much more than a class. It is not a class.”

More than 100 students are now involved in sports at different levels through the academy, with around two-thirds of the boarding school students taking part this year.

The goal is not only to create athletes. Through sport, students learn how to set goals, handle disappointment, build self-confidence, work as part of a team, and stay committed to a process even when progress is slow.

For Omer, the field that changed everything was archery.

“In archery, you have to really believe in the process,” he says. “Sometimes you want to see the result and hit the target, but in training you work on very small things. You learn that you do not always have to be perfect. Sometimes you work on one thing at a time.”

For Omer, that lesson went far beyond sport. Archery became a way to practice focus, self-control, patience, and the ability to keep going even when things were difficult.

In one competition, another competitor repeatedly interfered with him while he was shooting and eventually caused him to miss. Omer lost first place by only four points. It would have been easy to respond with anger, but he stayed composed.

“My coach told me afterward that he was proud of me,” Omer recalls. “Not because I won, but because I handled it as well as I could. I did not fight with the other competitor. I stayed sportsmanlike.”

Later, Omer competed in Israel’s national under-21 archery championship. It was his first national championship, and he was one of the youngest and least experienced participants. He finished in ninth place.

“I was very nervous,” he says. “I could barely eat, and I was shaking a little. But it was a huge honor to be there. I learned how to calm myself, how to meet people, and how to gain experience. Only good things came from going that day.”

For the educators at Hadassim, Omer’s story captures the deeper purpose of the youth village. Hadassim did not give Omer his abilities. They were already his. What the village gave him was the environment, support, and opportunity to discover them.

“We saw that Omer had above-average abilities, but they could not come to expression in his previous setting,” says Eli Bezalel. “In our framework, through the boarding school and the Sports Academy, those abilities were given room to break through. They are his. They do not belong to us. We simply gave them the place to come out.”

Today, after graduating from WIZO Hadassim, Omer is preparing to begin the Geva pre-military academy in Tel Aviv, a selective half-year program focused on leadership, communication, debate, independent thinking, physical training, volunteering, and preparation for meaningful military service.

The choice feels like a natural continuation of what he discovered at Hadassim: independence, responsibility, courage, self-awareness, and the ability to challenge himself.

“I wanted to extend the time I have to make mistakes and try new things before the army,” Omer says. “It is important to take these things now and challenge myself.”

Omer is a source of pride for WIZO Hadassim and a living example of the graduate profile WIZO’s youth villages work toward: a young person with resilience, self-awareness, confidence, meaningful relationships, dreams for the future, and the tools to face the changes and challenges ahead.

At WIZO Hadassim, the Sports Academy is becoming far more than a place for movement. It is becoming a path to confidence, belonging, and life readiness.

And for Omer, it became one of the places where he learned that he did not need to be perfect in order to aim higher.