teen activists
summer competition
by Carly Cykiert
teens earn award for their actions to help Darfur.
teens fundraise for JCC Maccabi ArtsFest in August.
A
he Detroit delegation to JCC Macca-
bi ArtsFest is off to an amazing start.
Fourteen talented, creative artists will
enjoy a week of master classes with their artists-
in-residence as well as performances and work-
shops at the Merage Jewish Community Center
in Orange County, Calif., Aug. 9-14.
Recently many of them held a car wash to
raise money for the trip.
Delegation members are Tilly Behrmann,
Rochester, Alex Levine, Farmington Hills, and
Alison Hacker, West Bloomfield, film and TV
production; Koby Berman, Farmington Hills, Jenna Sperling of West Bloom-
rock music; Emily Fishman and David Kaplo- field works hard at the car wash
vitz, both Bloomfield Hills, and Jenna Sperling, fundraiser.
West Bloomfield, musical theater; Jamie Hack-
er, Clarkston, and Erika Lowenthal, West Bloomfield, vocal music; Dylan
Keen, West Bloomfield, and Jessica Polk, Walled Lake, digital photography;
Ryan Simpson, Rochester, Rebecca Stroster, West Bloomfield, and Haley Ja-
cobs, Farmington Hills, visual art.
About 260 teen artists from all over the world will be participating.
A few spots still are available for dance, jazz and musical theater.
To sponsor ArtsFest or for more information, contact Dalia Keen at
dkeen@jccdet.org or (248) 432-5467 or Terry Hollander, Artsfest co-chair, at
tellifrog@aol.com or (248) 626-1000. { 1
ccording to dictionary.com, a hero
is a person who, in the opinion of
others, has heroic qualities or has
performed a heroic act and is regarded as a
model or ideal. This definition characterizes
Bri Dines, 14, and Hannah Fine, 13, both of
West Bloomfield, who dedicated themselves
to fundraising and educating people about
the mass genocide in Darfur, where 400,000
people have been killed since early 2003.
"In my history class, I asked the teacher Bri Dines and Hannah Fine
if we could do a day about Darfur, and she
said there was no time," Bri said. "That upset me. I knew something
had to be done."
The first step the girls took was education. At the annual Labor Day
picnic at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, they raised awareness by
hosting an interactive "Candy Walk" that was both educational and
interactive. Kids would go to a random stop on the walk and if their
stop was called, they would get a piece of candy. Bri and Hannah would
read a fact that corresponded to the spot called.
The next step was to educate their school, Orchard Lake Middle
School in West Bloomfield. Through WEB, a school district program
where older students teach younger students, the girls presented a Pow-
er Point presentation showing different facts about Darfur. The presen-
tation covered facts most people don't know about the mass genocide.
The third step was fundraising. The girls brainstormed different
ideas. Hannah found guitar picks and they made necklaces, which they
sold for $3 each. The necklaces were a huge success, selling out within
a couple of months. Their next idea was to have a dance on April 24,
charging $5 per ticket. About 75 kids attended to support the cause.
Still planning to continue their efforts, the girls said they would love
to have a car wash and continue to sell the necklaces.
For their dedication and initiative, Bri and Hannah were given the
West Bloomfield Youth Assistant Award in May.
The girls also want other people to get involved. "If
they can't sell something or create a fundraiser, they can
raise awareness so [the genocide] can be stopped and it
won't happen again," Bri said. { 1
T 2T sta ff p hoto by Jess ica Po lk
taking initiative
EEN2TEEN DOES SUMMER!
DON'T MISS THE CHANCE TO
E YOURSELF IN PRINT & ONLINE
'RE LOOKING FOR:
•Writers: Cover what's happening with
• Photographers: Tell stories
through photographs.
teens in the Jewisw community.
•Op/Ed writers: State your researched
• Web Editors: Work with a JN
opinion on Jewish topics of the day.
editor to update JNT2T.com .
Carly Cykiert, 16, will be a senior at the Frankel Jewish Academy in
West Bloomfield.
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gan); Brett Alpiner (U-M-Dearborn); Mackenzie Coden (West Bloomfield Walnut Creek); Eryn Fox, Molly Grossman, Elizabeth Kirshner,
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