Student-led campus tours, info sessions with college admissions and Hillel professionals, workshops on college search and maintaining wellness all through month of June

High school students and their families can explore college and Jewish life on campus on a  Virtual College Road Trip, the second annual month-long series.  Each day from June 1 – June 30, the Virtual College Road Trip will offer student-led college tours, virtual information sessions with university admissions and Hillel professionals who will share insights on Jewish and general campus life, new engaging webinars, and other resources. For a comprehensive list of the 40 plus participating campuses across the country, visit roadtriptocollege.org.

Teens are invited to #JumpOnTheBus where they can follow college student “bus drivers” for insider guides sharing the highlights of their campus and college towns—what they love, what makes the place special, and what Jewish life is like there.  New this year are webinars for teens and parents on:

  • supporting wellness and mental health during the college years
  • the myth of college rankings and finding your right fit
  • gap year opportunities and realistic alternatives to a traditional campus experience
  • “launch logistics” for parents seeking to set up their teens up for success
  • exploring how LGBTQ+ identifying students have found diverse Jewish places to call home on campus

The Virtual College Road Trip also provides formal information sessions featuring over 40 diverse US colleges and universities.  Participants can connect directly to admissions and Hillel professionals, interact with current students, ask questions and get a sense of each school’s unique flavor.

“This past year, teens have missed out on so many milestones – including college visits which are very much a rite of passage and often something they do with their parents,” said Rabbi Dena Shaffer, Director of Learning and Engagement at the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative.  “Selecting colleges and transitioning to campus life can be challenging for any teen; the Virtual College Road Trip is a support system and a new way to navigate the challenges presented by COVID-19 and the changes we face.  This month of interactive learning elevates key elements of the college search and helps make campus exploration more accessible and affordable for all.”

The Virtual College Road Trip is offered to the community for free by the Jewish Teen Education & Engagement Funder Collaborative, a network of national and local funders working together to develop, nurture and scale new approaches to teen engagement.

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The second annual Virtual College Road Trip will take place from June 1-June 30, 2021.  Inspired by an event from Springboard Chicago in partnership with JCC Camp Chi, the road trip quickly expanded to six Funder Collaborative communities – Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver and San Francisco. The Jewish Teen Education & Engagement Funder Collaborative is an innovative philanthropic experiment. In an unprecedented collaboration, national and local funders work together to develop, nurture and scale new approaches to teen engagement. Informed by up-to-the-minute research and data, and drawing on the collective strength of local organizations, multi-faceted initiatives in ten communities across the country aim to create meaningful opportunities for teens to engage in Jewish life.