Vision
A Chance to Succeed enables Lifta students to carry the personal and creative progress they make at school into their future lives. Through guided creative production, students transform growing confidence, self-expression and initiative into practical skills, disciplined work habits and independence. The project aims to help each student recognize the value of their abilities and use them to build opportunities for participation, employment and self-sufficiency.
Activity
Lifta High School was founded in Jerusalem in 1971 as an educational framework for adolescents unable to succeed in conventional systems. It serves approximately 50 students in grades 10 to 12 through small classes, individualized learning plans, professional arts education and personal support. Many students arrive following prolonged disengagement from school, emotional distress, family instability, learning disabilities and social isolation. The Friends of Lifta School Association enables the school to provide the therapeutic, developmental and individualized support unavailable through public funding.
A Chance to Succeed extends Lifta’s structured and productive environment beyond formal school hours. An intensive summer program provides supervised activities, including visits to museums, galleries, performances, nature and cultural sites across Jerusalem. During the academic year, students participate in twice-weekly workshops across creative mediums, leading to the supervised production of their own artwork and crafts within the school’s workshops.
Working with institutions such as the Ginogly Center for Visual Arts and the Tower of David, students move from cultural research through design, production, promotion and sales. Their work is displayed, commissioned and purchased by organizations. Through this process, students develop routine, independence, creative confidence, practical responsibility and experience of contributing work that has public, social and economic value.