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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/29898/full/29898/havurah-high-gives-teens-a-place-to-talk-and-make-a-difference/ <br /><br /> <b>Havurah High gives teens a place to talk — and make a difference</b> <br /> Friday, July 28, 2006 | by <p>jill suzanne jacobs </p> <br /><br /><p>What’s the secret for getting teens to carve time out of their busy schedules and make some time for Jewish education? <br /><br /> Give them space to be with their friends, and give them a program that’s somewhere between engaging and relaxing, says Peninsula Havurah High Principal Claire Mikowski. <br /><br /> “And a little bit of encouragement from parents doesn’t hurt either,” says Havurah High student Adam Herzog, who will enter 11th grade in the fall. <br /><br /> For Herzog and fellow student Allison Hoffman, Havurah High was just the spot for trying out their budding philanthropic tendencies.<br /><br /> “We thought we should do a project together, and we thought Havurah High would be a good place for it,” said Hoffman, speaking on a cell phone from Jerusalem, where she spent time on a teen summer trip.<br /><br /> The two arranged to have speakers from local organizations like Second Harvest and Jewish Family Service of Silicon Valley come and talk to the teens about topics from AIDS in Africa to homelessness and hunger. The teens then divided into groups and discussed the issues.<br /><br /> Both Hoffman and Herzog certainly have their plates full already. Hoffman plays tennis and softball, is involved with the yearbook and student government, and is the head of the Darfur Club at Castilleja School in Palo Alto. Herzog is busy with college prep classes at Palo Alto High School, soccer practice, vice presidency of his temple youth group and involvement with Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation, a philanthropy run by Jewish teens.<br /><br /> But on Wednesday evenings during the school year, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., you’ll find them at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills — the site of Peninsula Havurah High — along with approximately 165 other Jewish teens.<br /><br /> The program serves South Peninsula residents in grades 9 through 12 and is a project of the Bureau of Jewish Education and congregations Beth Am, Kol Emeth, Etz Chayim and Keddem. <br /><br /> Mikowski aims to create a “second home” for area teens. To that end, the Wednesday night program starts off with dinner and a half-hour of socializing before classes begin. <br /><br /> Classes are taught from professionals of the sponsoring synagogues, which affiliate with the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements. Students come from all four synagogues, and about 10 percent of the students come from families not affiliated with any synagogue. <br /><br /> Classes last for 70 minutes and are taught in eight-week units. Subjects run the gamut from “Chicks in the Bible,” “Israel and Zionism” and “Jews in Film,” to “Jewish Cooking around the World,” to name a few. <br /><br /> Hoffman found her open-forum discussion class perfect for letting off steam. “It was all confidential — we could talk about anything,” she said.<br /><br /> In addition, Peninsula Havurah High has a service-learning component where students study Jewish texts and perform community service. “They understand what they are doing through a Jewish lens,” says Mikowski. <br /><br /> In 11th grade, students have the option of learning about Jewish civics through a Washington, D.C.-based program called Panim. And in their senior year, they can take a two-week trip to Poland and Israel in the spring. <br /><br /> “These are teens who are looking for who they are and who they will be as adults,” says Mikowski. “We send them off to college with a strong Jewish identity.”<br /><br /> Herzog’s interest has been so piqued by his studies at Peninsula Havurah High that he already has declared his intent to major in Jewish studies at college, and is toying with the idea of the rabbinate. <br /><br /> Hoffman, 16, is already exploring the possibilities of a life in Jewish social action. She has begun to try out Jewish philanthropy through her involvement as a board member on the Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation, and says she feels a calling to educate her peers on global issues.<br /><br /> “A lot of the world’s problems come from a lack of education,” Hoffman says.<br /><br /> And, she adds, the Jewish community can change that. “We’re a thoughtful, giving people that give back to the community.”</p> <p> </p>

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