From TBS to NFTY Mitzvah Corps Costa Rica, Youth Engagement Conference gave us the time to connect and reconnect with friends and teens from all around the country!!
This past week I had the fantastic opportunity to participate in the Union for Reform Judaism’s Youth Engagement conference in Los Angeles. This conference ran parallel to NFTY convention, which is a convention for over 800 reform Jewish high schoolers throughout the country. My conference was a conference for the professionals that regularly work with engaging high schoolers. As many of you know, I love working with the high schoolers at TBS and was the assistant BESTY advisor last year; however, working with high schoolers is not currently a part of my job. So why was I at this conference? The answer lies in a single question that is being asked by educators everywhere, “How do we keep children engaged in Temple youth programming?” The answer to this is often similar no matter your age most studies have shown that it is the relationships, both peer relationships and relationships with positive adult role models that encourage students to participate in temple events no matter how old they are.
One thing we discussed at the conference was the difference between simple participating in an activity and truly being engaged in an activity. I want my students to always be engaged, to feel as though they have ownership over the activity and to feel as though what they are doing is meaningful to them.
During the conference I participated in workshops that I knew would be applicable to the work I did at TBS. I attended multiple art workshops where we discussed the benefits of visiting artists and workshops within Temple communities. We also talked about how to use found objects and cardboard boxes (my favorite!) into Jewish lessons. Our team created a beautiful cardboard sukkah and then we work-shopped our experience and altered the program and ran it for teens. Who knows, maybe my pre- schoolers will be making cardboard sukkot in the fall! It was a great team building exercise!
I also went to a GREAT improv workshop with song leader and educator Noam Katz. We talked about how to teach prayer and Torah stories through drama. It was a great continuation to the story telling workshops the Mayim and children center teams have been participating in.
In addition I took a workshop with Cathy Rolland who is the head of the Early Childhood division of the URJ. We talked about engaging young families and how the best way to have engaged teenagers is to have them engaged as pre-schoolers. I felt like this had been a missing voice throughout the conference and I am glad that the early childhood perspective was included! I was surprised at how many individuals throughout the country work with both teens and pre-schoolers! I was also able to hear a lot of ways that individuals had created programming that bridge the age gaps between youth in their congregations. it was a great workshop with ideas from temples throughout the country!
The Youth Engagement Conference was a great opportunity to learn, to collaborate, to listen and to share. I was proud to be coming from a community that is so creative in our ways of engaging and I am eager to continue this in anyway I can. If you have any ideas or suggestions of ways to continue to engage your second and third graders please send me an email! I am looking forward to the rest of our year together!!
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