Books Galore Bloomfield Hills Schools "Make A Difference" for young people at the Detroit Public Library. Joanna Loney Teen2Teen Staff Writer 0 n the morning of Saturday, Oct. 22, from about 8:30-11:30 a.m., anyone entering Bloomfield Hills Middle School would have found books. Lots and lots of books. Enough books that the boxes lining three walls of the school gym were overflowing. They also would have found about 175 students and parents of the Bloomfield Hills School District working diligently for the community as part of USA Weekend maga- zine's national program, Make A Difference Day. The Bloomfield Hills schools participate in this program annually, selecting a differ- ent charity each year with whom they can coordinate a project involving both collecting donations and providing a community ser- vice opportunity for kids. This year, the beneficiary chosen was the Detroit Public Library, specifically the Children and HYPE/Teen Centers of the main branch. These newly renovated cen- ters were in need of books as well as col- orful rugs and furniture. The Bloomfield Hills Schools PTO Council teamed up with the library to ensure that the children of Detroit have access to a safe and positive environment for reading. For most of October, students, under the guidance of their teachers and student leaders, collected and donated new or used books in droves. The Book Beat, an independent book store in Oak Park spe- cializing in art, photography and children's books since 1982, supported the project by offering a 20 percent discount on chil- dren and young adult books purchased by Bloomfield Hills Schools families in October. While emphasis was placed on the chil- dren and teen centers, books of all genres and for all age groups were accepted. By the time Make A Difference Day arrived, nearly 18,000 books had been collected. Students also brought in items such as large stuffed animals, colorful posters and child-sized furniture for decorative use in the children's library. Monetary donations were also encouraged, and the schools raised more than $3,000. Saturday morning was spent sorting and packing the donated books. Books were first separated by genre and age group, and then sent Joanna Loney, junior, and Mlle Silberman, sophomore, both at Andover to the cor- High School, and Ben Kaufman, seventh-grader, West Hills Middle responding School stations, where they were alphabetized and packed into boxes for transportation to the library. The system, while mostly a smooth pro- cess, was at times overwhelmed by the multitude of books flowing through it. In categories such as picture books, where the piles of books were literally pouring off of tables onto the ground, the alphabetizing process had to be eliminated in order to finish the project on schedule. But stay on schedule it did, mainly thanks to the hard work and incredible organiza- tional skills of the Make A Difference Day parent coordinators. PTO Council Community Service Chairman Sarah Saltzman, who helped Josh Balan, third-grader at Lone Pine orchestrate the entire event, felt very Elementary, makes bookmarks. moved by the efforts put in by the schools, parents and student volunteers to make "This is a wonderful community that I'm the day a success. proud to be a part of?' I I "The generosity and involvement of Bloomfield Hills students and their Joanna Loney is a Junior at Bloomfield Hills families continues to amaze me',' she said. Andover High School. Israeli actress Naomi Ackerman speaks to a group of BBYO girls about domestic abuse. Israeli actress-educator teaches BBYO girls there are options. Lauren Yellen Teen2Teen Staff Writer I attended the teen workshop on domes- tic abuse awareness led by Israeli actress and educator Naomi Ackerman on Oct. 26. This program was presented by the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Detroit Section and co-sponsored by BBYO and Temple Israel Sisterhood. 46 November 24 a 2011 Instantly, we were on our feet jumping, dancing and following what our peers were doing to create a comfortable atmo- sphere for all. We then started talking about relationships and how they affected our lives. We tossed a ball to the person to our right as we stated the first thing that came to our mind when Naomi prompted us with a word relating to relationships, love and boys. Naomi made it very clear that every single person in the room deserved to be in a good relationship. Naomi is an actress — a good one at impersonating different things and emo- tions. She asked two eager volunteers to come up and act out the girl's side of the story and another two girls to translate what they were saying to the audience. Watching hand gestures and facial expres- sions, the audience and "translators" could tell what they were trying to say. It was a very neat way to see how body language affected a conversation. After acting out the girl's side of the story, it was time to play the male side of a rela- tionship. During this presentation, Naomi gave us two large phones. We pretended we were talking with friends who attended a party the night before. It was interesting to see some of my friends display the way they thought boys would act on the phone. Our closing role-play was the most memorable! Naomi tossed wigs all over the floor, and we were all split into three groups. One of the groups was a girl- friend and a boyfriend, who where in the hallways of a school. The girl acted very rudely to her boyfriend, making him carry her books and do everything for her. They had two endings to the story. One where the boyfriend broke up with the girl after some advice from friends, and the other where the girl had seduced him into not doing anything about the little scene in the school. With this role-play example, we saw firsthand what we should do to if we were in this situation. The next group had a skit dealing with a girl who dyed her hair and her boyfriend didn't like it, so they argued. She had to decide what to do. The story ended with her dying her hair to its original color. The sec- ond ended with her breaking up with her boyfriend because he wanted her to change. The third and final group had two girls playing basketball. Two other girls wanted to play. After a bit of teasing, the original girls stole the basketball. The second time around, a girl playing by herself jumped in and advised that they should all play together. I am so glad I had the chance to attend this program, and feel both my peers and I gained a lot of new knowledge and skills. II Lauren Yellen, 15, is a sophomore at North Farmington High School. National Council of Jewish Women, BBYO and Temple Israel Sisterhood sponsored Naomi Ackerman Oct. 27 in her one-woman show, "Flowers Aren't Enough," a program about domestic abuse.