This program seeks to help disadvantaged children from Israel’s geographic and social periphery realize their potential through intensive intervention, mentoring, and enhanced educational opportunities . The program began in 2005; evaluation of the program started in January 2007 and is being conducted over the course of three years by the Center for Enhancement in Education of Ben Gurion University.

The evaluation of the first year praised the program for its growth and for successfully positioning its activities in every town in which it became active, as well as for working in full partnership with many other organizations. Specific indications included:

• Children indicated an extremely high level of satisfaction with mentors – 4.4 on a scale of 1-5
• 97% of the children and youth perceive their mentors as positive role models
• At the start of the year, 41% of the participants intended to be conscripted into the IDF, by the end of the year, 59% indicated their intention to enlist
• At the start of the year, 17% of the participants responded that they intended to study in an institute of higher education, by year’s end, this had grown to 25%
• The participants’ sense of coherence (measured by the degree to which they rate their life as meaningful and their ability to cope with pressure) grew from 4.2 to 4.7
• 74% of parents reported that the program had impacted the personal lives of their children
• 77% of parents reported that the program had impacted their children’s social lives
• 48% of parents reported that the program had impacted their children’s academic achievement
• Teachers assessed the impact of the program on students’ potential to complete high school at 4.1 on a scale of 1-5