Welcome!! (belated)

I meant to make this the FIRST post of the blog, but as you can see our group is very enthusiastic about posting here!

Welcome to the PSJC Teens (past and present) blog, what we are calling "One Step at a Time". Here the group will share their experiences, some Jewish and some maybe not so much. You'll hear about the Teen Social Action Group projects, you'll hear about their trips to Israel, you'll hear about some random experience on the subway, and who knows what else!

This is a little window into all of the great experiences and ideas coming from our Teens here at Park Slope Jewish Center. We hope you'll stick around and share it all with us.

-Dina Garfinkel
Teen Group Adviser

The Lesson Went Great!

Just checking in, today we read The Lorax, and though Kitah Gan didn't have the exact same reaction as I did upon reading the words of the Once-ler, it was fun. Everyone enjoyed eating our "dirt pudding" and I was surprised by all the reasons to be thankful for trees that our class came up with. Another interesting thing I took away was how the class picked up on how the Once-ler, someone who I had assumed was the villain of the story, was both good and bad. I asked the question assuming that everyone would answer that he's bad because he cuts down all the trees and opens the factory that ultimately destroys the environment. However, Kitah Gan noticed that he's also a good character because he gives the seed to the boy in hopes of starting a new forest of Truffula trees and because he seems to feel remorse for his actions. Wow! That totally changed how I saw the story and I was so proud that they caught that little detail. I guess I should never underestimate the listening and analyzing capabilities of Kitah Gan. I'm so glad the lesson worked out well and that I got to take something new away from it.

-Julie

Over $100!!!!

Today was a huge step for the solar cooker project. Today at the stzdaka fair we raised over $100 in donations. I am just glad that my parents let me kind of go back to Hebrew school again. Thanks all of the parents and kids that donated today, and every who made a spoon today because it was a big help. Now we know for next time to maybe bring a few more :D

Teaching Tu B'Shevat

Each year, the madrichim at PSJC have to plan lessons to teach to our classes on our own. This year, I plan to teach Kitah Gan about Tu B'Shevat, the birthday of the trees. In previous years, we have made seder plates or played Hebrew Boggle, so this year seems slightly boring in comparison. We will be making dirt and worms from pudding, Oreos and gummy worms, doing a sticker activity and reading The Lorax. What I'm most excited for is reading The Lorax, one of my ultimate favorite Dr. Suess books. While reading it for the lesson, I found myself with goosebumps. But, how could you not react to the words of the Once-ler, reflecting on his wrong doings and the lifting of the Lorax. He says, "UNLESS someone like you cares a who awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." And I think that pretty much sums up our role as teens, as madrichim, as Jews, as students and as people. I guess, in a very basic sense, it is my job to be passionate about something, be it learning or tzedakah. That passion, more than anything else, is what I hope to find and to teach to my students.

I'll let you all know how the lesson goes, and, of course, when I find things that I truly do care an awful lot about.

-Julie

A Sunshiney Day

I just got back from the Hebrew School's annual Tzedakah Fair. After a very very last minute organization, I pulled off a booth for the PSJC Teen Social Action Group's project for this year: The Solar Cooker Project. Thanks to Elisabeth, Julian (who surprised me by showing up) and I were able to talk to parents and kids about the project, which raises money to buy solar cookers for refugee women in Africa so that they can cook near their homes instead of traveling long distances for firewood, making them vulnerable to rape and attack. In addition, many kids were able to decorate their own symbolic spoons, representing the project. I had a lot of kids get involved, staying with me at the station and helping explain the mission. Other kids offered to take some spoons around the fair and attract people to the booth. It took a lot of standing, but I was happy to explain the project and was so thankful that we got such a great opportunity to further our teen group's progress on this year's project. I feel like it was a great success and we also did a great job soliciting our Parents' Night Out program; a lot of parents seemed very interested. The only thing that could have been better is if we had more blank wooden spoons for the kids to decorate, because a lot of them got really into it.

-Lucy