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. CONTACT: KCOHEN@THEJEWISHNEWS.COM teen2teen staff • Party Pages' Teens, we want you in the party rages! hotline: (248) 351-5144 • kcohen@thejewishnews.com Reporters I Gabriella Ring (Berkley); Nechama Tawil (Beth Jacob, Oak Park); Jake Wayne, Spencer Wayne, Sydney Wolf (Birmingham Seaholm); Seth Samuels (Birmingham Groves); Teddi Cantor, Alexa Eisenberg, Lauren Lewis, Sara Smoler, Rachael Vettese, Rachel Wein (Bloomfield Hills Andover); Jordan Birnholtz, Abby Hyman, Jessica Singer (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood); Adina Applebaum, Rachel Brown, Avi Buckman, Carly Cykiert, Hillary Dorman, Rachel Goutman, Jessica Kahn, Michelle Kappy, Atara Lakritz, Rachel Margolin, Andrew Milgrom, Blake Orman (Frankel Jewish Academy, West Bloomfield); Benjamin Cher (Hillel, Farmington Hills); Mitchell Barnett, Sam Gdnglas (North Farmington); Laura Katsnelson (Walled Lake Western) Ben Eilender, Jennifer Finkel, Bridget Labe, Rebecca Liebman, Shaye Winer, Ariella Yedwab (West Bloomfield); Stephanie Steinberg, Danielle DePriest (University of Michi- Let us know when your party is and we might catch you on film or send us your pictures at partypages@thejewishnews.com images must not exceed 5mb, images will be edited by the T2T staff This section is sponsored by Party Layne® Party Pages., You've been Spotted!. and PartyrazziT'' are trademarks of Party Layne. B4 teen2teen June 25 • 2009 gan); Brett Alpiner (U-M-Dearborn); Mackenzie Coden (West Bloomfield Walnut Creek); Eryn Fox, Molly Grossman, Elizabeth Kirshner, Ruthie Lehmann, Avielle Movsas, Stephanie Schulman, Sarah Spitzer (Yeshivat Akiva, Southfield). Photographers I Jessica Polk (Frankel), Colton Graub (Hillel) Cartoonist I Josh Loney (Bloomfield Hills Andover) supervising staff Chief Operating Officer I F. Kevin Browett Editorial Director I Robert Sklar Executive Editor I Keri Guten Cohen Copy Editors I David Sachs and Alan Hitsky Creative Director I Deborah Schultz IT Director I Deanna Spivey Teen Consultant I Jon Layne Jewish Renaissance Media — 29200 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034 :91Jewish Supported by a generous grant from Federation Detroit the Stephen H. Schulman Millennium Fund. of Metropolitan ALLIANCE FOR JEWISH EDUCATION AJewish Renaissance Media publication © 2009 DETROIT JEWISH NEWS