r : feature: teen profile Danny Burnstein: competitive wakeboarder by Avi Buckman here can you find Danny Burnstein, 16, throughout the year? Not always in a classroom — more often on the water. That's because Danny, a junior at the Roeper School in Bloom- field Hills, does not do what the average Jewish teen does. He's a competitive wakeboarder. Wakeboarding is a relatively unknown sport. Danny describes it as "going on a snowboard behind a boat and using the wake to get air" to do tricks that involve going upside-down and rotating more than 360 degrees, such as "inverts" and "stems." Danny, son of Michael and Debby and big brother to Ja- son, 13, and Andrew, 8, is in the Junior X Series on the Pro Tour, a wakeboarding league made up of up-and-coming pro- fessionals. Just nine points from third place, Danny is ranked fourth in his league. No one expected a Midwestern boy who doesn't practice all year to get so far in front of kids from Florida who practice year-round. "We pretty much travel around the world to do what we love to do," says Danny, who was in British Co- lumbia recently. Danny's father or his Florida or Michigan coaches accompany him to competitions. Competitive wakeboarding can be a costly sport, especially with all the traveling. The better he gets, the more traveling he does. A sponsor supplies him with boards — five or six annu- ally — and also chips in for the family boat. A member of Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield, Dan- ny knows of only one more Jewish participant in his league. It all started with a girl who invited Danny to a water-skiing camp when he was 7. When skiing was unsuccessful, enter wake- boarding. He started competing at age 9. Practice is essential to being a top contender. In the summer, he practices on Walnut Lake, which is very close to his home, or Brighton Lake. During the winter, he trains in Orlando, Fla. Dur- Danny Burnstein, 16, of West Bloomfield shows off his wakeboard in style. ing practice, he goes through his runs for competition and tries to learn new skills. His practices last as long as his endurance can carry him. To stay in shape, he weight trains. To learn skills, "you start a lot on the trampoline and use the trampoline for muscle memory. You usually tie a wakeboard rope to a tree [while on the trampoline] so you get used to having the rope in your hand." Then it's just a matter of guts when Danny speeds behind the boat and does a new trick. If he gets hurt he gets hurt, he says. This attitude brings success, but also a record of breaking his tibia, fibula and ankle. The Roeper School works with Danny around his competition schedule. "My school just tells me that I have to have pretty much a certain grade before they'll let me go, and I just have to do the homework while I'm gone," he says. t:77 Will wakeboarding be a new Olympic sport? Danny says the committee is interested but unsure because it's a motor sport and relies on a boat. Avi Buckman, 14, attends the Frankel Jewish Academy, West Bloomfield. T2T torah: shoftim intern insight Aug. 18, 2007 — by Carly Cykiert by Hadas Corey When my parents sat me down and told me who shall lead us? Parshat Shoftim starts off with something people of that I had to get a summer job, I was more than unhappy. rules, everyone would act like this. all ages have to deal with — the need to have judges For example, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton drove and police officers in all our cities. People learn from while drunk. Paris and Lindsay are both role models a young age to follow the rules. They know that there to teenagers around America. Both were given re- are people who enforce these rules and are in charge duced sentences for their actions. No one should get of punishing anyone choosing to break them. special treatment because they are rich or famous. The Jewish people have a rule book of their own When teenagers attempt to copy celebrities, they — the Torah. The Torah tells us what to do in particular could be putting themselves in danger and putting situations and what not to do. The Jewish people don't other people in danger. choose to follow the rules because it makes sense; they follow the rules because the Torah says to. Some celebrities know the right thing to do. They donate charity, adopt homeless children and help re- In ancient days, judges, courts and officers en- build destruction after natural disasters. Those celeb- forced the laws of God, which formed a moral code rities should be the ones we look up to. Other celebri- for the Jews to live by. The judges interpreted the laws ties need to feel the full weight of the law. and also dealt with those who broke them. These of- As Shoftim says, the system of leadership should ficials formed a system of leadership the Jews could be the judges, courts and officers of look up to. law. We need that system of leader- In today's world, many teenagers look up to ce- ship to teach us right from wrong. lebrities. Every day, we see celebrities breaking the Carly Cykiert, 15, attends the Frankel rules, especially by drinking and driving or with drug Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield. possession. If we didn't have anyone to enforce our 2 This meant no more West Coast Adven- ture with my best friend, Megan. I started to imagine a summer full of stocking products and ringing the register in my grandfather's drugstore – until a great opportunity came along. This summer, I became the Detroit Jewish News' first Teen2Teen intern. Meeting new teens that all shared a passion for journal- ism, I got the chance to write articles and learn what it takes to work for a newspaper. With plenty of help from Keri Guten Cohen, T2T intern Hadas Corey helps style a photo shoot with model Samantha Chyette, 16, of Birmingham. my editor and adviser, I had a summer full of knowledge and fun. The internship gave me experience that I will have forever; and after hav- ing a cubicle at the office, it will be hard for me to return to my classes in high school. I am extremely grateful to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and all of the staff members at the Detroit Jewish News for giving me the chance to learn and grow this summer. The education I received was invaluable and I am eager to see the T2T staff continue to develop and grow. Hadas Corey, 16, T2T intern, attends Birmingham Seaholm High School.