ORT America Mission to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile: ORT Members recently for a first-hand look at how ORT programs in Latin America are preparing students to succeed in a complex world (Read the full mission recap.)

ORT America's Humanitarian Mission to Cuba:

See more pictures from the Cuba Mission!

ORT Argentina High School Student Wins the Gold at International Math Olympiad: Ariel Zylber, a talented and gifted 16 year-old student studying Electronics at ORT Argentina’s Almagro High School in Buenos Aires, has just won the gold medal at the Sur Mathematics Olympiad and is looking to repeat that feat at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Kazakhstan in the coming week. 

ORT Argentina Students - Finalist in International Business Competition: Students at ORT Argentina’s Belgrano High School outperformed more than 1,200 teams of undergraduates and professionals from across the Americas to reach the final of an international business competition.

ORT’s Partnership with Oldest Jewish School in Mexico City Officially Begins: The historic partnership between ORT and Mexico’s oldest Jewish school, Colegio Israelita de Mexico (CIM), began with a ceremony in Mexico City that represented the realization of a long-held desire by ORT Mexico to have a school in country, allowing Mexican Jewish students access to ORT’s high-technology based teaching programs.

ORT Argentina Gets a Citroen C4: One of the world’s leading car manufacturers, Citroen, has donated a C4 sedan to ORT Argentina’s Comprehensive Centre of Design, Art and Technology (DAT).

Excellence as Usual at ORT Argentina: ORT Argentina ended 2009 on a high note, with a magnificent ceremony for 789 graduates. Among the high achieving students have been some exceptional ones, such as Sebastian Vishnopolska, who graduated from the chemistry track at the Almagro High School. He qualified to join the team representing Argentina at the 20th International Biology Olympiad in Tsukuba, Japan – no mean feat in itself. However, despite stiff competition posed by 221 contestants from 56 countries, he went on to win a bronze medal. Such results go a long way to explaining why there is such great demand among parents to find a place for their children at ORT Argentina’s Belgrano and Almagro high schools.

More students than ever at ORT Brazil: The ORT Technical High School in Rio de Janeiro has enrolled the highest number of students ever in its 65-year history, less than a year after the school was ranked by the Ministry of Education, making it the top technical school and highest ranked Jewish school in Brazil.

ORT Argentina:  One of the country’s largest providers of education and the third largest area of operations in the ORT Network and the first in Argentina to offer studies in mass media, biotechnology and information and communication technology (ICT).

ORT Uruguay: From humble beginnings in 1943 with courses in metalwork, electricity, electronics and mechanics, ORT Uruguay developed into the largest private university in the country with more 6,000 students getting advanced degrees in architecture, engineering, management, economics, international relations, media studies, advertising, journalism, design and education.

ORT Chile:  Widely prasied for projects that have helped thousands of people in the country’s Jewish and non-Jewish communities, including training of special needs students, providing school laboratories, training faculty in new teaching strategies, and providing technical support for the two Jewish schools in the capital, Santiago.

ORT Venezuela:  Operates three technical training schools; one in the north western town of Cabimas and two in the industrial town of Moron and in Paraguaná. The schools in Moron and Paraguanás specialize in short courses including informatics, mechanics, metallurgy, administration and industrial maintenance.

ORT Brazil:  In the first ORT school in Latin America to operate in a building of its own, early offerings included practical courses in the field of mechanics but course offerings have expanded dramatically since then.  ORT Brazil’s School for Science and Technology (Instituto de Tecnologia ORT) in Rio de Janeiro is recognized as one of the best schools in the country and, despite Brazil's economic problems, is growing each year.

ORT Mexico:  Mexico City’s Jewish community has undergone major changes socially and economically over the past ten years and ORT Mexico has adapted to meet these new demands. In researching how best to tackle this issue, ORT Mexico has identified a shortage of young Jewish professionals who specialize in the fields of communication and digital media two of Mexico’s fastest growing industries.

ORT in Panama: The Jewish community of Panama is estimated at 10,000 and to help them meet demands of a changing marketplace, a science and technology laboratory was established at the Jewish schools in Panama City - Albert Einstein School and Yitzhak Rabin School. At the same time, ORT works with these schools to ensure their students receive the Jewish education they will need to ensure the future survival of their communities.

ORT in Bolivia, Costa Rica and Peru: ORT in Bolvia, Costa Rica and Peru: These are countries with small, often isolated Jewish communities and all are experiencing severe economic difficulties as the region struggles to recover from economic recession. ORT’s goal is to help these communities by improving the educational standards at its Jewish school thereby improving employment prospects for the next generation of young Jews and fostering a sense of community and connection to the larger Jewish community worldwide.