NCJW honors 10 teens at
Youth Award ceremony.
Diana Lieberman
Special to the Jewish News
T
he National Council of Jewish
Women-Greater Detroit Section
awarded a total of $6,500 to 10
Oakland County high school students at
its annual Jewish Youth Award ceremony
held April 19 at the NCJW's Southfield
offices.
In all, the 2009 scholarship competition
drew more than 50 applicants, many more
than the NCJW had seen in recent years.
Each submitted a one-page essay on the
topic "What experience has had the great-
est impact on your Jewish identity?" Other
criteria include involvement in formal
Jewish education, community service and
a record of leadership. A letter of recom-
mendation and a personal interview with
a panel of judges rounded off the scholar-
ship application process.
"We were gratified to see such a large
pool of highly qualified applicants," said
Irma Glaser of West Bloomfield, NCJW
vice president in charge of this year's
awards.
"We worked very hard with the educa-
tion programs at synagogues and temples
as well as at day schools to let all qualified
applicants know we were here,' Glaser
said. "We made personal visits and did fol-
low-up, and we got results."
Glaser gave special thanks to donors
Janet and Henry Moses of West Bloomfield
and Dina Brodsky of Franklin and the
late Herman Brodsky, whose support
makes the Jewish Youth Award program
possible as well as to award chairs Leslie
Moskowitz of Bloomfield Hills and Liz
Leshman of Huntington Woods.
Winning first prize, a cash award of
$2,500, was Stephanie
Horwitz of West
Bloomfield, a senior
at the Frankel Jewish
Academy in West
ft, Bloomfield. Stephanie
was unable to attend the
awards ceremony; she
Stephanie
has been traveling in
Horwitz
Poland and Israel as a
NCJW Jewish Youth Awards winners include (front row) Sarah Silver, Hayley
Mandell, Ariella Yedwab; (back row) Alyssa Phillips, Brad Verona, Rachel Malerman,
Allison Berman, Morry Hutton, Joseph "Yossi" Lichterman
participant in the March of the Living, the
international student commemoration of
the Holocaust and rebirth of Israel. In her
absence, her award was accepted by par-
ents Gina and Arthur Horwitz and grand-
parents Sally and Morton Horwitz.
The second place award of $1,500 was
presented to Joseph "Yossi" Lichterman
of Huntington Woods, an FJA senior. The
judges selected two students for the third
place award: Brad Verona of Bloomfield
Hills, a senior at Birmingham Seaholm
High School, and Ariella Yedwab of
Commerce Township, a senior at West
Bloomfield High School. Each received a
check for $500.
Six students received honorable men-
tion awards of $250. They are Bloomfield
Hills Andover High School seniors Morry
Hutton of West Bloomfield and Alyssa
Phillips of Bloomfield Hills; Birmingham
Groves High School seniors Sarah Silver
of Beverly Hills and Rachel Malerman
of West Bloomfield; Hayley Mandell
of Farmington Hills, a senior at North
Farmington High School; and Allison
Berman of West Bloomfield, a senior at
West Bloomfield High School.
Conference helps students develop
scholarship project.
S
ix ninth-graders from Yeshivat
Akiva in Southfield joined 70
peers from eight day schools
across the U.S. and Canada to participate
in the Eimatai community/school leader-
ship conference sponsored by Yeshivah
University in Baltimore in early March.
Students Ilana Goldmeier, Leah Berlin,
Gabi Schwarcz, Shiri Wrotslaysky, Estee
Levi and Elizabeth Kirshner, along with
Assistant Principal Kathy Sklar made the
trip.
With the help of a YU student advi-
sor, the goal was for the group to develop
a project at the Eimatai conference and
carry out back at school.
Throughout the three days, each school
group took part in activities that fostered
team building, action planning and values
discussions, all based in Judaic learning.
"We discussed the values that make up
our belief systems, American and Jewish,
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April 30 2009
and we also tried to come to conclusions
as to which part of this dual identity we
felt a closer connection to:' Kirshner said.
"This program taught me how I can be
a leader in my community and help the
neighborhoods in Michigan grow:' said
Goldmeier. "I really enjoyed being able to
work with others in order to come up with
an idea on how to improve our communi-
ties."
The six girls developed Inside Out, a
scholarship fund for Akiva students by
Akiva students with the goal of retention
and recruitment. They understand that
Metro Detroit is being hit hard by the
economy. The students wrote a 60-second
"elevator speech" delivered to the leader-
ship of Eimatai and also at their school. A
faculty member from another school was
so moved that as the groups parted at the
airport, she handed them money.
Kickoff events back home included a
Yeshivat Akiva ninth-graders at the conference were Leah Berline, Oak Park; Ilana
Goldmeier, Southfield; Estee Levi, Oak Park; Shiri Wrotslaysky, Southfield; Elizabeth
Kirshner and Gabi Schwarcz, Oak Park. All are 15. Matt Schwartz, 22, of Brooklyn
was an adviser from Yeshivah University.
pre-Passover car wash and all-day baby-
sitting so cooking and cleaning could be
done. The car wash netted $1,000 plus
another $1,000 from a matching donor.
Including some initial donations, the
scholarship fund is up to $2,500. Now the
group is looking for more fund-raising
projects for Inside Out.
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