making a difference by Gabriella Ring continuesfivm page B1 students learn to be 'ambassadors of righteousness' in Metro Detroit Beverly Prentis Wagner. A gift from the Bruce Frankel family also will help fund the project. Sachse Construction and Development Corp. of Birming- ham will do the construction. Berkley High School seniors Joel Kaatz, Scot McKee and Caius Schneider took their learning Gathering Ideas outside the classroom as part of a workshop on righteousness and altruism at the Holocaust The adults reached out to teens for input in various ways. Focus groups, com- posed of more than 50 Jewish teens, including middle-schoolers, were orga- nized to gather ideas for making the center a fun, worthwhile place to spend free time. Ideas also came from existing teen centers in southeast Michigan. Erica Sachse, a sophomore at Berkley High School, and Ben Goutkovitch, a junior from the Frankel Jewish Academy, are heading a steering committee of 15 teens from area schools. Subcommittees will focus on membership, de- sign, programming and information gathering. "The focus groups gave Ben and me a chance to hear the input and sug- gestions of many Jewish teens around the area," said Erica, daughter of Todd Sachse. "We covered topics ranging from the ideal 'empty room' to more seri- ous issues like membership." Memorial Center in Farmington Hills in mid-February. The Holocaust "stepped beyond a Jewish issue to an issue in humanity," said their teacher Cindy Allen, who teaches a Holocaust course. Many non-Jewish men and women — known as "Righteous Gentiles" — risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. What resonates now is that people can learn from those courageous actions and do the same for victims of current genocides. The workshop featured the Berkley students as panelists in a discussion about spreading the ideals of righteousness and altruism throughout Metro Detroit and beyond. This student-led program is part of an effort between the Berkley School District and the HMC launched two years ago. A special curriculum used by Allen during the fall semester features a 220-page textbook with relevant definitions, information about the times, righteous behavior and materials that the course committee assembled from various sources. Essays, fiction and non-fiction "acquaint the students with various aspects of the Holocaust and of the people who were rescuers during the time, too," said Guy Stern, director of the HMC's Institute of the Righteous. "What we hope to do is to start a dynamic that will talk to different high schools. While Berkley is our pioneer program, we also intent to involve other high schools and make this a vast network Berkley High School teacher Cindy Allen of people devoted to responsible actions. with seniors Scot McKee, Joel Kaatz and "I personally believe that the example of altru- Caius Schneider, who participated in the istic acts can inspire others to act as nobly," Stern righteousness workshop. said. Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, HMC executive di- rector, conceived this idea of using acts of heroism from the Holocaust to inspire positive attitudes among today's students. The workshop allowed students to practice for their presentations to other schools that will begin the first few weeks of April. Holocaust survivors also attended the workshop, and they will The committee presented ideas to Forest Levy, JCC youth director, and to the design professionals at Neumann/Smith Architecture in Southfield for approval and to be worked into the proposed plans. "With all the great ideas, there is no doubt in my mind that teens will find this place to be the next Jewish chotspot,"' Ben said. Expect to see state-of-the-art interactive arcade games, a full-service com- puter lab and tutoring center, a palladium-style surround-sound movie the- ater, a snack and coffee shop, open spaces, meeting rooms and plenty of large- screen TVs. A Jewish feel will be incorporated into the design, perhaps with Hebrew letters in signage and some rooms done Israeli-style. Plans call for moving the staffs of B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) and the JCC's youth programming department into offices in the teen center to provide easy access and supervision. Some kind of inexpensive youth membership will be required so who goes in and out can be regulated, Lit said. Scholarships will be available. eventually accompany the students on their actual presentations for added support. "We want the kids to feel at home," he said. At first, it was kind of difficult speaking, but when everyone came together and made us feel at Blake Orman, 15, Is a sophomore at the Frankel Jewish Academy. the same level, it was easy to voice our opinions," said student Joel Kaatz. "I've never been sur- rounded by so many prestigious people ever. How much they went through was unimaginable." Genocide now is going on in Darfur, Sudan, where thousands already have been Passover Recipe Cookoff! (ON killed. "We need to get people out, give speeches. If we don't raise awareness, we will Enter your best teen-friendly recipe. get more Darfurs and genocides," Joel said. For more info, visit JNi2ticom Gabriella Ring, 14, Is a freshman at Berkley High School. teen2teen staff • hotline: (248) 351-5144 • kcohen@thejewishnews.com Reporters: Gabriella Ring (Berkley); Jake Wayne (Birmingham Derby); Hadas Corey, Grace Klein, Jacob Rosen, Spencer Wayne, Sydney Wolf (Birmingham Seaholm); Ariel Mann, Seth Samuels (Bir- mingham Groves); Jamie Gorosh, Alexa Eisenberg, Lauren Lewis, Sara Smoler, Teddi Cantor, Rachel swood); Hannah Cohen (Farmington Harrison); Adina Applebaum, Rachel Brown, Avi Buckman, Teens, we want you in the party pages! Let us know when your party is and we might catch you on film or send us your pictures at partypages@thejewishnews.corn images must not exceed 5mb, images will be edited by the T2T staff Raquel Cohen, Carly Cykiert, Danielle DePriest, Rachel Goutman, Atara Lakritz, Rachel Margolin, Blake Orman (Frankel Jewish Academy, West Bloomfield); Jennifer Finkel (Hillel Day School, Farm- ington Hills); Mitchell Barnett, Scott Scher, Stephanie Steinberg (North Farmington); Kale Davidoff, Bridget Labe, Rebecca Liebman, Allison Shipper, Shaye Winer, Ariella Yedwab (West Bloomfield); David Lehmann, Sarah Spitzer (Yeshivat Akiva, Southfield). Photographers: Morgan Pomish (North Farmington), Allie Gold (West Bloomfield), Jessica Polk (FJA) Cartoonist: Josh Loney (Bloomfield Hills Andover) supervising staff Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett Editorial Director: Robert A. 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