MEGIDDO, Israel — The road into Megiddo runs past roads, fields and small villages in northern Israel. Low hills break up the farmland. On a bright day, it could be middle Missouri.

It does not look like a place living under constant tension.

But inside the schools here, educators say the pressure on young people is unmistakable.

“When you live all the time with the feeling that tomorrow you could lose everything, it becomes very hard to plan a future,” said Shai Sabag, head of the Education Department in the Megiddo region.

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Across the communities scattered through this rural area, teachers say many teenagers are trying to do something difficult: imagine adulthood while the country around them feels uncertain.

Some of the programs helping them do that are supported through Partnership2Gether, a long-running connection between the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and communities in northern Israel.

The partnership helps fund education and community programs across the region. Over the past several years, additional support has been needed, and the Federation steps forward to:

• Put a therapist in a kindergarten classroom.
• Provide a youth counselor after school.
• Help a teacher create a plan when noticing a student starts to withdraw.

Inside the schools

Megiddo is not one city, but a cluster of communities spread across northern Israel.

Students travel between villages for school. After-school programs operate in community centers and youth clubs.

Inside those classrooms, educators say the emotional impact of the past year is visible.

“In Israel today, there are more than 20,000 wounded people,” Sabag said during a presentation about the region’s new resilience initiatives. “Fifty-six percent of them are psychological casualties.”

Research presented by educators showed more than 80% of Israeli children and teenagers have been exposed to severe terror events through media coverage.

Nearly half reported high exposure to difficult events connected to the war.

During the first months of the after Oct. 7, referrals for teenage anxiety treatment rose sharply.

Teachers say the effects often appear in small ways.

Students struggling to focus.

Teenagers pulling away from friends.

Young people who find it harder to picture the future.

Kindergarten classrooms

Some of the response begins before children even reach elementary school.

In two communities across the Megiddo region, therapists now spend time inside kindergarten classrooms. They observe how children interact. They speak with teachers. They meet with parents.

The goal is to identify emotional or social gaps early and provide support before those gaps grow larger.

“This intervention program for early childhood has been a dream here for many years,” Sabag said.

Local leaders hope to expand the program across the region. Educators say it gives kids more stability.

After school

Support does not stop when the school day ends. Youth counselors who run programs in villages across the region now attend resilience workshops designed to help them respond to the challenges young people are facing.

They learn practical tools for recognizing emotional stress, guiding conversations and supporting teenagers who may be struggling.

“Our understanding is that strengthening the resilience of the adults who work with our children will ultimately strengthen the resilience of the children themselves,” Sabag said.

The St. Louis connection

Several of these initiatives began moving forward after funding arrived through the St. Louis Megiddo Partnership, supported by the Federation as part of its 30-year relationship with the Yokneam and Megiddo regions through Partnership2Gether, an initiative of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

“Funding that arrived through the Federation served as a major catalyst that allowed the program to begin,” Sabag said.

Support from the partnership has helped fund early childhood intervention programs, youth resilience initiatives, educator training and community support efforts meant to help the region handle stress and uncertainty. Local leaders say the funding allows them to test new programs, expand pilot efforts and build systems that can support students and families over time.

That support matters even more now.

“Our friends and partners in Megiddo have shared that they live their daily lives constantly aware of where the nearest bomb shelter is and how long it would take to reach it,” said Elliott Kleiman, chair of the Federation’s Israel & Overseas Committee. “Many of their friends and relatives have been called up for reserve duty for the third or fourth time in the last couple of years.”

Kleiman said the partnership helps communities respond quickly during moments of crisis.

“Our partners told us that when this crisis broke out, thanks to our support, they felt they had the resources to immediately respond,” he said.

Federation President and CEO Danny Cohn said the relationship also provides reassurance during uncertain periods.

“Our partners in Megiddo have shared that the past month has created a constant undercurrent of uncertainty in daily life,” Cohn said. “Even in communities that don’t appear in the headlines, there is a very real emotional strain as families try to maintain a sense of normalcy.”

For residents of the communities that make up Megiddo, the results show up in ordinary places.

In a kindergarten classroom.

In an after-school youth group.

In a conversation between a counselor and a teenager trying to make sense of the world around them.

In a rural region of northern Israel, far from the donors who helped fund it, the St. Louis Megiddo partnership shows up in classrooms, youth centers and counseling offices.

Places where adults are trying to make sure kids can still plan a future.

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