Session 1, 9am – 9:50am: Youth led – Sofa Chat
Bella Vasquez and Yaacov Hecht
(Continuation of Session 1: Saturday, November 21)
Isabella Vasquez
EZ Tutors Volunteer Director/ 11th grade student Isabella’s efforts are focused on youth engagement within the Houston, Texas community to advocate for ethnic studies in the curriculum, emphasize the importance of community sustainability, and provide students with free and accessible tutoring. She is a cofounder of the Action In Africa Houston Chapter that works towards promoting community sustainability for the Nakuwadde, Uganda village through quality education, medical assistance, and programs for women and children. She also co-founded EZ Tutors, a tutoring program that provides the elementary students of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) with free virtual tutoring from high school students. EZ Tutors is completely operated by the youth of the HISD community. EZ Tutors was created to serve the community during the COVID-19 outbreak but it will continue to operate for years to come.
Yaacov Hecht
Yaacov (married and father of 4 sons) founded in 1987 the Democratic School in Hadera, Israel – the first school in the world to be called a democratic school.
In 1993 he initiated IDEC – International Democratic Education Conference which convenes every year in a different continent. IDEC has facilitated the establishment of hundreds of innovative democratic schools around the globe, 30 of them in Israel.
In 1996, Yaacov Hecht founded IDE – the Institute for Democratic Education and within it a groundbreaking academic faculty for teachers training in the Kibuzim college, the biggest academic institute for teachers in Israel.
His book “Democratic Education – A Beginning of a Story”, which has been translated into English, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Korean, is a worldwide source of inspiration for groundbreaking educators and entrepreneurs.
In 2010 he founded Education Cities – the Art of Collaborations that weaves and maintains municipal collaborations that aim to turn the city into “one big school”. It also promotes collaborations and networking in the classroom, in the school, in the city, in the state, and in the world. WIRED magazine has chosen Education Cities’ MOOC learning model (How2MOOC) to one of the leading trends in 2015. In January 2017 Education Cities was chosen to one of the 10 leading innovations in the world, by HundrED the Finish initiative for globally promoting educational innovation.
Yaacov has served as an advisor to 6 Ministers of Education in Israel, as an expert in interfacing between the state and alternative education. He regards the preparing and directing of the educational system towards the future, as his main mission today.