Preparing students to be Israel advocates on campus seems to me to be part of Rav Hirsch's definition of Chanoch LeNaar Al Pi Darko, which he translates as prepare a student according to what they will face in the future. I can share what we try to do in case it is helpful.
With all due respect to the Jimmy Carter school of history, I would hope that it is self evident that any school that debates whether Israel is an apartheid state isn't aligned with the classical definition of Zionism.
I think there are at least three areas of Israel related curriculum every school must address, the null curriculum, the hidden curriculum, and the overt curriculum.
The null curriculum is the most subtle. Basically students may develop a negative instead of neutral opinion about any topic left undiscussed by adults around them in school. The logic is basically if it were that important someone would be discussing it with them so they conclude it must not be that important.
This means leaving Zionism out of the curriculum and/or the discussions that regularly take place in school could inadvertently lead to the interpretation of what Israel is all about based on Wikipedia, the White House, or in the New York Times. This could be the vacuum that apartheid state debates will fill if we don't interpret Israel data for students.
The hidden curriculum is the subtle or not so subtle symbolic communication of the Israel component of the mission and philosophy of the school that should permeate the background of all areas of school including secular studies whenever possible. Hatikva is sung along with the pledge of allegiance every morning, both the American and Israeli flags are presented at the entrance to the school, etc.
Simply put our school's mission statement espouses fealty to the State of Israel unapologetically. Aligning the school with that mission requires us to give clear direction to all staff about the expectations of an employee in this area. If teachers can't overtly support the Zionist mission of a school at the very least they shouldn't undermine it.
In the overt curriculum broad and deep knowledge about Israel's history and Religion is woven into the curriculum whenever possible. Modern Jewish History and multiple years of Ivrit are not elective courses. Positive or at least balanced news reports about current events, literature choices such as Chaim Potok's The Chosen help tell the heroic story of the struggle and development of the modern State of Israel, non-revisionist history texts such as Paul Johnson's History of the Jews, countless Torah topics in Parsha and Judaic studies, and many other choices are made partially through the lens of Israel education.
For example, if someone has a problem with Israeli occupation of captured lands, it is incumbent upon the school to educate our community about how and why we support the Israeli people and government. This doesn't mean that diverse views on prisoner exchanges or land for peace discussions are off limits, it just means they should be expressed respectfully and in a tone supportive of Israel in a general sense.
This also includes hiring and training teachers and students who can debate Israel bashers via guest speakers and training programs like the David project where Camera resources are shared with students. They need to learn how, as one of our local representative from the Israeli embassy's ( which is a great resource for pro-Israel speakers) guest speakers to our school put it, "to get away from the rhetoric and look at the facts on the ground" when someone screams that Israeli soldiers are baby killers. We work with national organizations like JNF when they are doing programming in the vicinity and send students to participate. We send students to rallies on behalf of Gilad Shalit.
The last two points I have to make about experiential Israel education are practical. It is vital to have our students and families visit Israel both as tourists and as learners. Gap years, class graduation trips, Bat and Bar Mitzvot as well as holidays should be encouraged and whenever possible be held in Israel. Aliyah should be applauded and celebrated when students and families move to Israel.
On the other hand it is important for Israeli educators to personally do shlichut outside of Israel to serve as educational ambassadors for the State of Israel. I almost wept when I visited a large Modern Orthodox synagogue in Israel while celebrating our daughter's Bat Mitzvah on Succot. I was very discouraged to see a veritable who's who of superstar anglo educators now living in Israel who are not currently having any direct impact on the diaspora. Colleges have scholars in residence for a year or two, why shouldn't Jewish schools.
Shalom,
Elisha Paul
Atlanta
