The Metro-West High School in Ra'anana has suffered a heavy blow in this war. Six school graduates have been murdered or fell in battle, and another graduate was kidnapped to Gaza.

Roee Marom, 21, a combat soldier in the Haruv patrol unit, fell in battle in the Gaza Strip. Shirel Mor, 20, fell while serving as an observer in Nahal Oz. Sagi Golan, 31, a reserve combat soldier in the elite anti-terror unit, fell in battle at Kibbutz Be'eri. Alon Werber, 26, was murdered at the Nova music festival. Antonio Masias, 28, was murdered at the Nova music festival. Guy Iluz, 26, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival and murdered in captivity by Hamas. Naama Levy, 20, was kidnapped to Gaza during her service as an observer.

Photos of the six graduates have been placed in a commemorative corner in the hallway of the school. The hostages' corner, on the other side of the corridor, next to the staff room, also displays Naama's picture. In addition, several female students have spouses or brothers serving in Gaza, teachers have family members who have been recruited and teachers have taught students who were murdered or fell.

New principal

The principal, Ran Goland Horvitz, who took his position only this year, had to face this difficult reality. "I found myself going to more funerals of graduates than I had been to in the past ten years. Even though I didn't know them personally, I found myself crying at funerals. It was unimaginable. It was a hard blow, so many. Losing six graduates from one school is tough.

"Ro'i Marom was killed three weeks ago. It was the day before we held a study day for teachers on resilience. The next morning all the teachers were crying on each other's shoulders and then they had to go into the classrooms and teach. It's not easy. This struggle is on a daily basis.

Student Amit Levy: "It's a feeling that can't be explained. It really brought us together and you can feel the sadness and grief throughout the school, even if we didn't know them personally. Lots of students from the school came to the funerals."

"When we set up the commemorative corner, we had only four students. It was on a small stand. Then another one joined, and we realized we needed to buy a bigger stand. Then we just put it on the wall. We said we hoped it would be the last, but we can't know. It was very difficult for us to move the pictures from the side of the hostages to the side of the fallen – for example, Guy Iluz whose picture was hanging on the side of the hostages, and we had to move it to the commemoration corner. I really hope that we will not have to enlarge this corner. We have a corner to commemorate the fallen of the IDF, and we will have to replace it because there is no more room there."

Teachers who are graduates

Lital Kedar and Tal Shiber are graduates of the school who came back to be teachers there. Ro'i Marom and Shirel Mor were their students. "One of the things that characterizes this high school is our relationship with the students," says Kedar. "When we walk down the corridor and see the commemoration corner, I can see those moments that are missing in the hearts of the children who are walking here. We lost children with a lot of light, very special people, who gave a lot to everyone around them. You can stop by their photos and see the light emanating from these youngsters' eyes. We are graduates of the school, and when we walk around here, we are experiencing it from the same place. The first time you see the corridor as a student, the second time you see the corridor as a teacher and the third time as a bereaved teacher, a teacher who lost something. We are teachers, but we are still mourning what we have lost."

Shiber: "There is a tree in memory of the fallen at the entrance to the school, and every time I enter the school, I say to myself, 'I hope this tree doesn't grow,' and all of a sudden, we suffered this terrible event. A student you know and follow through with for several years, through very critical stages of their maturity. You get to know the parents and the siblings. These are children to whom you give from yourself. It's a labor of love, and you give them love and help educate and raise them and then they move on. Every now and then they come back and say, 'Hello, how are things?', and sometimes they consult with you. When something like this happens, I don't know how to describe it. It's not the bereaved parents, it's not the loss of friends – it's someone to whom you were a significant adult in their life, without being their parent or relative, and that's hard. It all comes back to you at night. They come; they are with me all the time. And now we have to continue seeing the families, continue talking to them. As a teacher, I now have a responsibility as someone who is a part of this family's life. We have something in common. We are all the adults who loved this boy or girl. This is someone whose life I was a part of, and he or she was a part of mine. Someone I loved, a very special love, someone who does not have the same love for them, who is not a teacher."

Tal Shiber: "Being a teacher is not suffering the same bereavement as the parents, it's not the loss of friends. it's someone for whom you were a significant adult in their life, without being their parent or relative, and that's hard. That's hard. It all comes back to you at night."

Keidar remembers the moment when she received the message about Ro'i's falling: "I received the message at night. You are alone in this. You are a part, but you are not. You are not the family. At 10 pm you don't have anywhere to go and anyone to get support and a hug from."

Shiber: "The school becomes your family. When Shirel fell, I received many messages from teachers. Teachers here come and comfort and hug. They call and cry and bring up memories. This is a family. So, we are each other's family here. We support each other. When you come to comfort the family and they look you in the eyes – you see that they know that you appreciated, that you loved, that you know how great the loss is."

Recruitment to the IDF

Metro-West High School is one of the schools with the highest enlistment rates in Israel, and a very large number of its graduates join combat units. In a few months, the twelfth-grade students will remove their school uniforms and put on IDF uniform. "Most of the teachers here taught these students," says Amit Levy, a twelfth-grade student. "It's a feeling that can't be explained. It really connected us to each other and you can feel the sadness and mourning in the whole school, even if we didn't know them personally. I know that many students from the school went to the funerals. You can feel the unity between us. Suddenly you understand what a family is." His twin brother, Ran, adds: "The whole period recently is horrible and sad, especially when we see the pictures of the murdered and the kidnapped who were students in the school." Mika Maman, a 12th grader: "The atmosphere is bad. Even if I didn't know the fallen or the kidnapped personally, it feels extremely close. Every morning I go into the building and see the pictures of the fallen and the hostages. It's terrible. It doesn't make sense to me that people who a year or two ago were doing exactly what I am doing now were kidnapped or murdered."

"We are currently holding workshops with the students on how to deal with the situation that in a year or two they will be in the army," says principal Goland Horvitz. "The 11^th graders are preparing for their first army call-up. It is different now – this strengthens their ambition and desire to serve in the army. There are obviously some discouraging feelings, but there is an understanding that this is a battle that they want to take part in. They feel greatly strengthened by what has happened, even though most of them do not know the graduates who have fallen. I was also at Sagi Golan's funeral. I didn't know him, but I really cried and mourned. It shows how powerful emotions are in this school."

Teacher Kedar: "The percentage of recruits from Metro-West to the IDF is very high. It is part of the educational discourse. We talk about the significance of service and what I contribute and what I receive in return. We follow through with them during the recruitment process to help them when needed. We are aware of the fact that our students are being recruited to potentially dangerous places."

Shiber: "As a teacher, the bereaved family and I have something in common – we are all adults who loved the boy or girl."

Student Amit Levy: "All the time you hear stories of bravery about people who were at the Nova music festival and about soldiers who saved people in the kibbutzim. It only increases our pride and motivation to serve as best as we can and to help as much as possible. We have no other country, and we have no right to give up. I have no problem saying that I am also willing to sacrifice my life for this country. I am saying this from a very Zionistic and genuine place. Even if it costs me my life, I think it is our responsibility – to protect our country."

His brother, Ran: "The desire and motivation of students in the school to enlist in the IDF is very high, and the numbers are only increasing. Before the war, I had a very strong desire to enlist, and now I really want to enlist into a unit that involves meaningful combat service. It shows our love for the country and the land; to protect the citizens and to fight for something that belongs to us. It is our right and duty to serve in the IDF. Everything that happened has strengthened these feelings because it shows the importance of our army. If there is no army, then there is no one to protect us. For many years they have been trying to destroy our people, and time and time again we show them that it is impossible. And if we, the students who are going to enlist in just one year, don't – then there is no one.

Source - Israel Hayom/X - Image - Yossi Zeliger