ea_ 0 u c. Teens 9th-12th Grades 00 0 8- 1, O ° 0 0 0 0 .0 0C EDUCATION 0 ,..00, ° 0' 0 -.',, 0 .., 0 0 0 00 0 - 0 0 07 0 * 0 0 X 00 - o 0 00A THE JCC MONTHLY TEEN DANCE CLUB presents A TOTALLY ROCKIN' FEATURING TEEN BAND "The Originals" with Mark Leuchter, Scott Glickman and Justin Feldman ALSO FEATURING THE HOT SOUNDS OF "The Class Act DJ's" with Paul Niser and Eric Golden MARCH 4 9-12 Midnight JCC/JPM Building 15100 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park (JCC Members $4.00/Non-Center Members $5.00. You must bring your JCC membership cards with you.) r -coupon This entitles you to 50% Off of the admission price to the Students in Shir Tikvah's high school class watch an instructional video. 9 P.M.-Midnight Teen Students Are Retained Through Creative Programming MARCH 4 HEIDI PRESS JCC MONTHLY TEEN DANCE CLUB JCC Ten Mile/JPM Building L News Editor I GET READY TO ROCK! coupon If you are not wearing it . . . sdll it! You can't enjoy jewelry if it's sitting in your safe deposit box. 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Do I have to go?" "Yes. You have to go. Let's get moving?' For parents of teens in Con- gregation Shir Tikvah of Troy's high school program, the scenario takes a different look. "Mom, Dad, get up. I have to go to Hebrew school." "Rmph, mumble, grumble!" "Come on, Mom. Come on, Dad. I really want to go. We have a field trip today." What makes Shir Tikvah's high school program so at- tractive that the kids want to go? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that its approach is a little offbeat. Meeting every two or three weeks, depending on the availability of Rabbi Arnold Sleutelberg — he splits his time between the Troy con- gregation and Temple Beth El in Traverse City — the high school program strays from the traditional classroom set- ting and ventures into field trips and meetings in classmates' homes. However, when there is no field trip planned the class may meet at the Hamilton School in Troy, where the younger children attend the United Hebrew Schools branch. Shir Tikvah's Sunday-only program, which lasts about two hours, could be in the form of a discussion led by the rabbi or a field trip to a local Jewish communal institu- tion. Prior to the discussion and field trip the teens have a bagel breakfast. Where the traditional classroom situa- tion shuns socializing, the Shir Tikvah program en- courages it. "They (the students) really enjoy each other and they are very lively and enthusiastic," explained Phyllis Wenig, one of the three coordinators who also has a teen enrolled in the high school. "When they're on the field trips they ask very good questions and are very intent on what they're doing?' Wenig, a psychiatric social worker, created the cur- riculum with Shir Tikvah members Ruth Zendel and Ruth Kranitz. Rather than textbooks, the program created by the women and the rabbi makes use of packets of materials comprised of newspaper and magazine ar- ticles and items from Reform Jewish resources, particular- ly from the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The creation of these packets as opposed to the use of textbooks was deliberate, Wenig said. "We're being realistic about the fact that these kids aren't going to read and they aren't going to do too much homework preparation. We're having class sessions, audio-visual stuff and ex- , periential stuff. We're hoping by building on those different types of experiences this will make some sort of indelible impression!' For Kenny Zendel, son of one of the program coor- dinators, having non- traditional Hebrew school class "isn't boring; it's fun." The 16-year-old Rochester Adams High School junior said he attended- a regular Jewish Sunday school but found it "pretty boring. You didn't want to wake up to go to it. None of the kids wanted to participate in the regular class. Here, everyone wants to." The attraction for 15-year- old Michael Grad is the infor- mality. "I like the way it's run," Grad said, "how it's so informal." It's not unusual to see the teens sprawled out on a floor in one of their living rooms watching an educa- tional videotape. "You don't have to read anything," said 14-year-old Tamar Galed, "but you want to. You don't only learn in class." Chad Witkow, 13, reads beyond the basic class materials. "Sometimes it's in- teresting to look up and see if there's more!' Rabbi Sleutelberg credits the relaxed atmosphere for in- spiring the students to in- vestigate the topics beyond the class time. "Our kids are learning a tremendous amount in -a relaxed, informal environment. A traditional classroom wouldn't go over on a Sunday morning. They're too sophisticated?' Sleutelberg sees the Shir Tikvah program as a last .