GAIA Partners with TowerJazz Semiconductor
by Dr. Stuart Fleischer – GAIA Israel Director
EVEN YEHUDA, Israel — The Global Awareness Investigation and Action (GAIA) program sponsored and directed by WBAIS Students received its first Corporate Donation last week. Russell Ellwanger, CEO of TowerJazz Semiconductor, presented Dr. Stuart Fleischer with a check for $5,000 for their commitment to the GAIA ‐ Israel Project. The funding will sponsor the Kfar Galim Foster Care School near Haifa on the Carmel Coast. Kfar Galim is one of the six participating GAIA Schools in Israel.
Students from Kfar Galim are jointly researching Biological Pest Controls with our students at WBAIS. TowerJazz has committed another $5,000 for 2012‐13. They will also send their top engineers and other personnel to Kfar Galim to set up a mentor program with students.
Russell Ellwanger’s approach is not to just send funding but to establish a relationship with the Kfar Galim’s teachers and students and provide opportunities for growth and integration into the high tech work force here in Israel.
So if the funding is going directly to Kfar Galim, how do WBAIS students benefit? Our GAIA team benefits because we have a sharing partnership with each of the GAIA schools. At Kfar Galim, they have some top facilities that our students can visit and participate; such as the student’s GOFt dairy farm, aquaculture, agriculture, food and biotechnology center, robotics, astronomy and more.
The WBAIS Board and Administration have been very supportive of the GAIA Project. WBAIS has enabled GAIA to flourish and become a serious project among grass root, environmental initiatives.
If your company would like to become a GAIA Corporate Donor and sponsor a GAIA local school, support the purchase of equipment or joint field trips, please contact Dr. Stuart Fleischer: sfleischer@wbais.net.
GAIA – Israel continues to open avenues of opportunity for our students through our unique partnerships with universities, environmental agencies, technology and engineering companies.