When UGA sophomore Ilana Sturisky, 19, signed up for a Birthright Israel trip she coordinated her travel with a friend from Washington University in St. Louis so they could be on the same bus. Even before Ilana left for Israel, something on the itinerary – a stop in Yokneam-Meggido -- sounded familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

It all began to click the day that Ilana’s Birthright Israel bus, filled mostly with Washington University students, was welcomed to the Yokneam-Meggido region by Bernice Malka. Yokneam-Meggido is the partnership community for both the Atlanta Federation and the St. Louis Federation. At that moment Ilana realized there was an even deeper connection. Her mother Lauren Sturisky, a pre-K teacher at The Epstein School, had been collaborating all year with the pre-K class in Yokneam called Gan Tamar, building bridges between classrooms in Israel and Atlanta.

Lauren says, “I’ve never met Bernice Malka face-to-face, but later that day, when our class was Skyping with Gan Tamar, Bernice told me she had just met my daughter! Suddenly the distance between our classrooms shrank even more.”

Another memorable encounter for Ilana was a game of pick-up baseball. “Playing an American sport in Israel was a great way to relate to Israeli kids, but one child, a third grader named Micah, left a big impression. It was a true highlight of my day.”