ANN ARBOR
Panelists Barry Levy, Lara Weinman, Sharon Kileny, Emily Smith, Bari Simon and Dara Schwager.
Sharing Identity
Being Jewish in non-Jewish schools is discussed by six
Washtenaw County students.
SUSAN WDMER-GLIEBE
Special to The Jewish News
efore I went to Commu-
nity High Scho.ol I didn't
admit that I was Jewish,"
says Lara Wineman. She
feels different now, com-
fortable in her surroundings and with
her identity. "I can do so much. It's
like a college campus;' Winemd-n
says.
Besides her regular classes
Wineman writes songs and poetry.
has taken Hebrew and yoga classes,
and is active in B'nai B'rith Youth
Organization. Wineman's praise of
Community even extends beyond the
school doors. "It's right next to.
Zingerman's," she says, "where I go to
get kugel."
For Saline High School sopho-
more Bari Simon, being Jewish has
remained more problematical. "I'm
the only Jewish person at school," she
says. "I'm hesitant to tell people I'm
Jewish:'
Wineman and Simon and four
other Ann Arbor area high school
students explored their experiences
last week during a panel discussion
sponsored by Simcha Hadassah called
"Being Jewish in Our Local Schools."
The six students represented five riage? All agreed that that was a long,
public and one private school, and long way off.
though their experiences varied wide-
All of the students had some af-
ly, certain commonalities were shared filiation with a synagogue or Jewish
as well. With poise and a sense of organization.
humor they explained what it's like
Neither school officials, board
being a Jewish high school student members nor Jewish community
today.
organizations know how large the
"Having our own identity is nice;' Jewish secondary school population is
said Sharon Kileny from Pioneer in Washtenaw County. Extrapolating
from a 1987 United Jewish Ap-
High School
"I think being Jewish is in- peal/Jewish Community Association
teresting. It's a learning experience," survey provides an estimate of
seconded Emily Smith from Ypsilan- 200-350 Jewish high school students
in the Ann Arbor area.
ti High.
These students are not spread
"Everybody knows I'm Jewish;'
says Dara Schwager, a Huron High equally through the county; nor are
School junior, "and nobody really they a homogenous Jewish popula-
tion. Greenhills School student Barry
cares?'
All of the students agreed that Levy, for example, mentioned that
they would like to have more Jewish though there are other Jewish
classmates. They also agreed that students in his class he was the only
they wouldn't be intersted in going to one who didn't go on the class trip to
a school solely because its student Toronto, which was scheduled over
body was primarily Jewish. They ex- Passover.
pressed an open attitude towards
Levy was not the only student to
making friends.
encounter a conflict with the Jewish
"All my close friends aren't holidays. Smith described a tennis
Jewish;' said Simon. "My closest coach who, she said, couldn't or didn't
friends are Indian and Korean;' want to understand why she wouldn't
added Schwager. The lack of Jewish play in a tournament on Yom Kippur.
dating partners was not considered Though the students felt that there
problematical. And what about mar- was no evident anti-Semitism, Levy
said, "Somebody put a swastika on
my locker." He and the other students
felt the incident, by itself, was not
significant.
"People don't know what it
means;' said Wineman. Other in-
cidents described by the students
were considerably less serious, almost
amusing. "Awareness is so low in Yp-
silanti that nobody knows what a JAP
is," explained Smith, who often acts
as the unofficial "show and tell"
guide. "About once a week someone
comes up and asks me (about
Judaism):'
In those schools, especially at holi-
day times, where there is some at-
tempt at recognizing the small Jewish
minority, the students expressed
mixed responses. On the one hand
they wanted their holidays to be
recognized, but on the other, some felt
that their school's response was
sometimes less than enthusiastic.
"In Greenhills they had this huge
Christmas tree:' says Levy. "Finally
on the last day of Chanukah they put
out a menorah. I felt you should do it
right or not do it at air"' think that
most of our staff and a good portion
of our kids are very accepting of all
cultures," said Ann Arbor Public
School Board trustee Tanya Israel,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
77