To Life!

SURVIVING ADOLESCENCE

from page 31

"People used to think of self-esteem
and self-confidence as attitudes that
you either have or don't have," Rogers
told about 15 mothers. "Actually, it's a
set of skills you can consciously devel-
op. And that's good news."
•
Rogers, who has been a school social
worker in the Birmingham Schools
since 1980, encouraged the mothers to
plan many activities jointly with their
daughters, to keep the lines of com-
munication open. However, some-
times the "window of opportunity"
opens when driving to and from
school, watching television or cleaning
up the dinner dishes.
"Our children are influenced by the
Internet, radio, television, magazines
more than ever before," she said, stat-
ing that businesses annually spend
more than $15 billion on advertise-
ments that specifically target kids.
Parents have to be proactive to combat
this onslaught.
In their confidential discussion, one
of the mothers said girls today feel
pressure to grow up quickly. "Those
who don't want to grow up that quick-

ly feel like there's something wrong
with them," she said. "But they may
not feel they want to be so grown up
yet.
Another mother was troubled by the
opposite problem: "Those who look
more mature than they really are."
Other pressures include wearing the
"right" clothes, having the "right"
friends and, as one mother put it, "I'm
constantly hearing, 'How fat I am!'"
When the mothers and daughters
reunited for closing activities, each
group had prepared a message summa-
rizing the most important things
they'd learned. The messages were
almost identical.
All the signs pointed to a successful
evening, Rogers said. "At first, every-
one was so quiet and then we couldn't
get them to stop talking."
Ten-year-old Emma Drongowski of
Royal Oak said she was glad she came
"because I felt good expressing my
feelings to other kids."
"I thought it was wonderful that
everyone shared and opened up," said
Lewin, who earned a master's degree

in social work from the University of
Michigan in 2004.
Lynn Feinberg of Huntington
Woods said just coming to the meet-
ing was good for her relationship with
her daughter. "It shows her I care
enough to spend an evening doing this
with her." ❑

Exercise The Mind

JVS and Jewish Home and Aging
Services have created the Memory Club
for mature citizens who want to learn
how to maintain their memory power.
This club, located at JVS, 29699
Southfield Road, Southfield, provides
memory-enhancing tools to independ-
ent people who are concerned about
forgetting information they want to
retain, like names of persons they just
met.
In a living room-like setting, club
members practice mental and physical
exercises to stimulate the brain and
enhance memory.
Participants exercise their minds

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32

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through sharing simple pleasures, like
conversation about recent family events
and travel or recollecting fond memories
of long ago.
Participants play memory-enhancing
games like word searches, brainteasers,
Scattergories, Boggle and Scrabble. They
take field trips to sites including the
Henry Ford's IMAX Theatre in
Dearborn, Park West Galleries in
Southfield and the book fair at the JCC.
Then they focus on recalling what they
saw and what they find important to
retain.
Program coordinator Ronnie Berman
assists participants, every Tuesday
from10 a.m.- 2 p.m. at JVS. Cost is $40
per day, including lunch and field trips.
Computer programs help participants
remember number sequences, select
matching shapes and expand word recall.
The program is made possible
through a grant from the Shirley Harris
Fund with support from Elderlink of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit. Special funding for scholarship
is now available.
For information, call Ronnie Berman,
(248) 233-4247, or e-mail
rberman@jvsdet.org.

1/11

* * * * *
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979340

On Tuesday, July 5, Congregation B'nai
Moshe, in partnership with the New
York-based National Jewish Outreach
Program, will launch a new summer-
time "Learn to Read Hebrew" class for
adults who are beginners.
The course is being offered under the
auspices of the congregation's Kolel
Moshe Institute for Lifelong Jewish
Learning and will feature curriculum
developed by NJOP. The course is open
to the community and will meet in the
B'nai Moshe education wing on
Tuesday mornings from 11 a.m. to
noon, through the end of August.
There is no charge, but a weekly
learning commitment is required.
Brother-sister team Benjamin
Rosenberg and Allison Shatz will teach
the class.
Throughout the summer months,
Kolel Moshe will offer two Shabbat
morning adult study groups ("Torah
Portion of the Week" at 10 a.m. with
Barry Levine and "Beginner-Plus
Prayerbook Hebrew Reading and
Comprehension" at 10:30 a.m. with
Nancy Kaplan), which are free of charge
and open to the community. New stu-
dents are welcome.
For information, call Nancy Kaplan,
(248) 737-1931; visit the B'nai Moshe
Web site www.bnaimoshe.org ; or
e-mail kolelmoshe@comcast.net.