From Grant Funding to Sustainability, Life After “Start-Up”

2017-08-27T19:11:17+00:00August 27th, 2017|

By Adam Smith In 2009, Jewish Teen Initiative – Boston (JTI), then known as the North Shore Teen Initiative (NSTI), launched in the 23 cities and towns just north of Boston as an innovative, first-of-its-kind program aimed at addressing the alarming trend of teens disconnecting from their Jewish faith and community after Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Now, a little more than [...]

When Experiments Go Well: How a New Investment from the Jim Joseph Foundation Will Help Moving Traditions’ National Expansion

2017-07-18T21:46:57+00:00July 18th, 2017|

By Deborah Meyer and Jeff Tiell The teen years have always been a challenge. Figuring out who you are; navigating complex social systems; being pressed to succeed academically; a body that changes from day to day – almost no adult would willingly return to adolescence. In our intense modern world, with a 24/7 fishbowl of social [...]

Jewish Teens: Finding Activities After Bar/ Bat Mitzvah

2017-07-18T22:22:01+00:00July 18th, 2017|

By Darren Schwartz Darren Schwartz NEW YORK — In my last column I identified a major challenge in Jewish teen engagement the stems from a disconnect in the values and traditions associated with bar/bat mitzvah. The ceremony that symbolizes a child’s commitment to live a Jewish life relies on an implicit notion that he or she [...]

Putting Teens at the Center

2017-05-19T18:12:06+00:00May 19th, 2017|

by Reuben Posner Professor Eleanor Duckworth, a cognitive psychologist and educator, suggests that the purpose of all education is to encourage the “having of wonderful ideas.” She writes that these ideas “need not necessarily look wonderful to the outside world… The more we help children to have their wonderful ideas and to feel good about themselves [...]

In This Together: A Team Approach to Teen Engagement

2017-05-07T04:49:43+00:00March 21st, 2017|

By Malka Levitansky and Hallie Shapiro, March 21, 2017 We’re all looking for that magic formula. That unique program, experience or methodology that will somehow not only engage Jewish teens in the present, but also keep them Jewishly involved on college campus and beyond. Foundations, Jewish federations and individuals invest millions of dollars a year in [...]

DJDS Students Becoming Strong Leaders through jHub

2017-05-03T18:40:19+00:00March 21st, 2017|

At Denver Jewish Day School, we emphasize the importance of our school’s middot with our students so they will grow accustomed to incorporating them into their lives, both at school and beyond. The more familiar our students become with the middot as they continue to grow, the quicker they become leaders in their DJDS community and [...]

A Taste of the Real World: Lessons Learned from a Community Internship Program for Teens

2017-05-03T18:45:27+00:00February 23rd, 2017|

By Shira Rosenblatt and Stacie Cherner on January 3rd, 2017 The Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative invests, with local funders, in new approaches to Jewish teen learning and growth in ten communities around the country. One strategic element of this endeavor is that each community builds an approach to teen education and engagement custom [...]

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