How can our teens “find themselves”? Read about one congregation’s approach to a service learning journey to Haiti, building homes for the locals, celebrating Shabbat together, and discovering what a transformational Jewish experience can really be.
Our younger youth look up to their older siblings wearing camp t-shirts at the congregational “Camp Shabbat” and wonder – what’s this all about? Learn how one congregation designed an integrated program that gets the kids writing letters home during the school year.
America’s millennial generation now numbers 83.1 million. Understanding them is the latest buzz. But why does this matter to us as youth professionals?
If a peer Israel trip is the culminating experience of young adulthood, it is imperative for the Reform movement to figure out how to ensure that our youth participate in a Kesher Birthright trip and that after their Birthright experience, they are re-engaged with Judaism.
This fall, the afternoons seemed darker than I remember. Family and friends also noticed that on some days, sundown seemed to come along as early as 3:30 or 4 p.m. On Thanksgiving, I even said, “We’re still three weeks from the equinox. Why does it seem so dark?”
There’s a lot of discussion in Jewish circles about how to attract and engage youth. Synagogue leaders implore, please don’t have a b’nei mitzvah and take off – stick around and be a part of organized Jewish life.
Andrew Keene, a graduate of Nicolet High
More than four decades after his own tentative step into the world of the Reform Movement's youth programs, Rabbi Michael White reflects on what we can do to inspire and empower today's teens.
In the worthy endeavor of making our Religious School programming as meaningful as possible for our children, we struggle with questions. How can we tweak our program to engage more families? How do we compete with other extracurricular activities?
The stone passes, from student to teacher and back to the student again. They speak softly and listen well.
