Samuel Green – a London-born rapper better know as Antithesis – is scheduled to perform in Ma’ale Adumim Mall next Thursday to kick-off a one-month read-a-thon benefiting A.H.A.V.A., a nonprofit providing extra-curricular English classes for Israeli children.
“”The world is more competitive than ever so it’s important that Israeli kids have the opportunity to get off to a good start, and English is a big part of that,”” said Antithesis, who moved to Tel Aviv last year and whose lyrics mostly deal with Zionist topics.
Now in its sixth year, the A.H.A.V.A. read-a-thon annually attracts hundreds of local school children. Students are sponsored to read as many English books as they can over the course of a month, culminating with a community party and award ceremony to be held on April 4. “”Kids who read just 20 minutes a day are in the top 10 percent of language students. English literacy is so important for our children and so we hope that the read-a-thon inspires them to get reading on a permanent basis,”” said A.H.A.V.A. director Gaila Cohen Morrison, a mother of five who founded the organization 11 years ago.