Remnants of Qassam rockets. Photo: Bukvoed via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Many high school students in Sderot were forced to sit through their matriculation exams on Thursday under continual Color Red sirens as rocket fire continued from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel.

Aviv Levy, a 10th grader who took his communications exam on Thursday, told Israel Hayom, “The exam was stressful, because of the material and also because of the Qassams. There was a Color Red siren just before the test started. Before that, they gave us instructions about what to do and how to stay calm, and that’s what we did.”

Mori Arbel, principal of the national-religious Amit high school in Sderot, was initially concerned that students might not show up for exams.

“In the end, only one student didn’t come,” he said. “The students’ strength is admirable. Our students and their families have great fortitude.”