A group of 15 outstanding High School students received the Ramon Award for the 2022/23 academic year in a festive ceremony held in the Nature Museum in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
The award, which is named after Ilan, Rona and Asaf Ramon, is awarded to students from all around Israel after a thorough screening process.
During this process, the students' academic achievements are analyzed but their social engagement and volunteer activities in the school and the students' communities, as well as their personalities, also receive scrutiny.
Recipients undergo a strict screening process
The recipients of the award then get a stipend in recognition of their voluntary activism and initiative in their communities.
During the school year, the students get to take part in a unique program including meetings and workshops, which are meant to build and strengthen their leadership abilities and deepen their acquaintance with the Israeli society in all its diversity.
The goal is to provide the young leaders with tools to help them lead and advance the Israeli society according to the spirit and image of Ilan, Rona and Asaf Ramon.
The Ramon Award recipients come from all sectors of the country's society. They include boys and girls, Arabs and Jews, immigrants and Israel-born "tzabarim," and those living in the country's periphery and the center.
The names of this year's recipients are Adi Zidan from Beit Jann; Timor Idan from Tiberias; Shaked Bachar from Kiryat Yam; Amit Algazar from Ashdod; Hirot Almayahu from Ashkelon; Nitzan Ezra from Beersheba; Shmuel Goldman from Elon Moreh; Ofri Lalush from Migdal Ha’emek; Noa Shabat from Bnei Dror; Pilar Atallah from Tel Aviv; Ali Kadamani from Yarka; Lior Khondiashvili from Kiryat Ata; Noa Amram from Ashkelon; and Matan Gerstman from Kiryat Bialik.
The Ramon Award is a joint program by the Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry, the Education Ministry and the Ramon Foundation, which commemorates Israel’s pioneer astronaut Ilan Ramon, his wife Rona and their eldest son Asaf.
Col. Ilan Ramon, a former fighter pilot, together with six other crew members, died in February 2003 when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas while re-entering Earth. His eldest son, Lt. Asaf Ramon, who wanted to be a fighter pilot like his father, died in September 2009 when his F-15 jet crashed south of Mount Hebron.
Greer Fay Cashman contributed to this story.