401111011101.011111440mpowaiwoosimmoisw teens in action teens at work by Nate Strauss by Eryn Fox Volunteer Corps Class of 2010 Adat Shalom group helps teens make volunteering part of their lives. Akiva's pre-Pesach carwash effectively got the crumbs out. abilities. have always volunteered and This year, the K.A.T. Carnival had fun with it. The same old raised money to send kids with projects, however, were getting special needs to camp. Having pretty boring. Going into my second been to camp, I felt incredible year as a member of the Teen Vol- helping this great cause. Every unteer Corps at Adat Shalom Syna- kid should experience the op- gogue in Farmington Hills, volun- portunity to go to camp and teering has become a regular part of make a lot of new friends. my life. At the carnival, I was stationed The Teen Volunteer Corps is a at the Big Slide, one of five inflat- group of teens who plan and partake Noah Newman and Jonathan Schiff, able games set up in both JCC in different community service proj- both 15, Bloomfield Hills; Heather ects around Metro Detroit. We are Rosenbaum and !liana Woronoff, both gyms and the lobby. Along with the inflatables, there were activi- always looking for new projects. Last 15, West Bloomfield ties such as face painting, mak- year, I volunteered at the K.A.T. (or ing buttons and wax hands, coloring, a magic show Kids All Together) Carnival. I enjoyed the event and wanted to volunteer again. When I walked and a dance party. An amazing lunch was provided into the Jewish Community Center in West Bloom- by Jerusalem Pizza. Overall, it was a really great field, I was blown away. This year's event was big- day. This event made volunteering more than just ger and better than ever. It definitely wouldn't be "work." It made it fun and 150 percent worth my Sunday afternoon. All teens are wel- boring; it was going to be a blast! come; contact Jodi Gross at jgross@ K.A.T. is an award-winning program that pro- adatshalom.org. vides inclusion support for children with disabili- ties so they can participate in youth programming Nate Strauss, 15, is a freshman at North at the JCC. It's run by the JCC Special Needs De- Farmington High School and a student partment, which provides recreation programming at ATID (Alliance for Teens In Deroit). for kids, teens and adults with developmental dis- I join other teens by Jamie Rashty and Hannah Korelitz 1-Serve give back, take part: teens can make a difference! 0 n Sunday, April 25, hundreds of teens from all over Metro Detroit will join with Jewish teens around the world to volun- teer in service to their communities through the an- nual J-Serve, the national day of Jewish youth ser- vice. Teens will join each other to make their commu- nity and the world a better place. Twenty-one orga- nizations sponsor the day locally. Come and earn community service hours while gardening with residents at Teitel Apartments in Oak Park, baking challah with JARC participants, making blankets for children in need, walking to raise money for Jewish Family Service of Metropoli- tan Detroit's Project Chessed, a referral network that provides free care to Jewish adults without medical insurance — and much more. Projects will be available for sixth- and seventh- graders as well as other projects for eighth- through 12th-graders. There is a project for everyone! We hope teens who aren't associated with any Jewish youth organization also will decide to par- ticipate! Join us from 11:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on April 25 at the Jewish Commu- nity Center in West Ben Eilender of West Bloomfield Bloomfield and works on a project during last bring your friends year's J-Serve. for a day of fun and excitement while contributing to your community. Register no later then April 18 by going to www. jserve.org . For more information, contact Jared Roth- berger at BBYO, (248) 432-5685 or jrothberger@ bbyo.org , or Jodi Gross at Adat Shalom Synagogue, (248) 626-2153 or jgross@adatshalom.org . Jamie Rashty and Hannah Korelitz are ninth-grad- Clockwise from left: Akiva seniors Eryn Fox of Oak Park, Noah Spalter of West Bloomfield, Michal Wrotslaysky and Molly Goldmeier, both of Southfield, and Mindy Schneider of Oak Park S ponges, glass cleaner, paper towels and vacuum cleaners. Sounds like spring clean- ing? Not exactly — it was Pesach cleaning. Every year when Pesach time rolls around, the Jewish community embarks on the sometimes- daunting search for chametz (leavened bread) in preparation for the holiday. While the kitchen is usually the first place people search for chametz, cars can often be overlooked. Especially with all the other prepa- ration necessary for Pesach, it is easy to forget about that half-eaten bag of pretzels left under- neath the backseat. So, on March 21, Akiva Hebrew Day School's senior class hosted a pre-Pesach carwash to assist people in the difficult task of cleaning for Pass- over. After five hours of constant washing, scrub- bing and vacuuming, more than 30 cars drove off completely prepared for the Pesach holiday. By hosting this event, the Southfield school's Class of 2010 was able to raise more than $600 for its yearbook as well as a class trip in June. Akiva senior Ruthie Lehmann said, "Even though the work was difficult at times, the end result made it so worth it. I had so much fun with my friends, all while working for a good cause." There were even some volunteers at the car- wash who were not seniors, but simply wished to take part in an important mitzvah. "The dedication and teamwork was incred- ible," said Akiva teacher and mother Leah Sand- ers. "My car looked practically brand new," she said. "Now all I had to do was convince my kids not to eat their cookies in the backseat!" ers at Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield. Eryn Fox, 17, is a senior at Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield. iN teen2teen April 15 . 2010 TT3