When junior David Khabie found out about Alexander Muss High School in Israel, he said he was intrigued.

“My freshman year, I went to an Alexander Muss meeting and it really stood out to me as it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and just sounded so interesting and fun,” Khabie said. “That’s why I chose to go.”

According to senior Leila Raymond, who will be going on the same program with Khabie, the experience will include regular schooling as well as unique learning opportunities based around Israeli sites.

“It’s basically an American high school, but it’s in Israel. I am going to be taking my high school classes — in addition to classes through the University of Miami, Florida — and participating in experiential learning opportunities and field trips,” Raymond said. “It will be a lot of historical perspectives, and nature and seeing the historical landscapes.”

Khabie said he will spend time in the dorms as well as with family while studying at Muss.

“I will be visiting with family, as I have tons and tons of family in Israel, and hanging out and finding other things that are cool about Israel,” Khabie said.

According to Raymond, she decided she would like to go to Israel because she wanted to spend time out of the U.S.

“I really wanted to have a fun abroad experience while I was still in high school, and I thought that during the first semester of senior year would be the ideal time to do that,” Raymond said.

Although Muss is located in Israel and mostly attended by Jewish students, the school focuses on mostly secular study, according to Khabie.

“It’s actually not a religious program so it has nothing to do with Judaism at all, but I think all the kids that go there are Jewish which I think is interesting,” Khabie said.

Khabie also said the session that the Park students are attending will include high schoolers from around the country and will be relatively small with just over 20 students.

“There are a lot of people that go from the West Coast and East Coast, and then for some reason, Minnesota has strong ties with Alexander Muss,” Khabie said. “You can go any year of high school — freshman to senior year — but typically people go sophomore or junior year.”

Despite the fact that she will be older than most others going to Muss, Raymond said she can’t wait for the opportunity.

“It is only different because the people I am going with are going to be juniors and I am going to be a senior, but I am pretty sure that is the only difference,” Raymond said. “I think that it will be a really good experience and I am really excited to see all that I can learn from it.”

Junior Miriam Hope, who will be going on the same trip, said she is looking forward to the trip as well and cannot wait to get to Israel.

“Honestly, I can hardly wait. I’m really, really excited and anxious to get there,” Hope said.

Khabie said he shares a similar sentiment to that of Raymond and Hope when it comes to Muss.

“To be honest, I am excited-nervous,” Khabie said. “I’m really excited to be there and meet new people. I think eventually I will settle in, it’ll just take a couple days to get used to me being in Israel.”