City: Wellesley, MA
Auspice/Sponsorship: Temple Beth Elohim
Contact
Information:
Website:
Year Established: 2004
Category:
What are the goals of the program?
- To help teens experience joy in Jewish learning, pride in being Jewish, and commitment to participation in Jewish life.
How is the program organized?
- This program is for students in grades 8-12. Havurot meet approximately twice a month for anywhere between 1 and 5 hours. Themes vary from year to year but some that are offered annually include Jewish Actors' Workshop, Youth Choir, Tastes of Judaism (cooking), Madrichim (teaching assistants) and Sherut (social action). Students may participate in more than one havurah and post-Confirmation students in 11th and 12th are eligible for the leadership havurah.
What was the genesis of the program and what need was it meant to serve?
- The Synagogue education team wanted to work on ways to increase post Bar/Bat Mitzvah retention
What other factors make this program successful?
- Directors of this program teach in the BM3T program (grades 6-7) so that they can develop personal relationships with students at an earlier age. A youth lounge was also created as a true refuge for teenagers to hang out in. Further, all parents at the synagogue were reached out to, including those who were not actively involved in the synagogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment