frontlines

11-Year-Old Leads
Online Book CIO

Fifth-grader Claire Wolfe helps lead
national PJ Our Way pilot program.

I

Josh EI'Chonen

JN Intern

C

laire Wolfe, 11, of Royal Oak,
has been selected by PJ Our
Way to help lead discussions,
write reviews and conduct interviews
on authors through its website portal.
PJ Our Way started last November
in an effort to engage children ages
9-11. The organization was launched
by PJ Library, a nonprofit program of
the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in
Agawam, Mass.
Claire is in the fifth grade at Norup
International School in Oak Park; she
loves reading and has been receiving
books from PJ Library for many years.
She is one of 11 kids between ages
9-11 on the Design Team, working on
the new website.
"To be part of the Jewish community
nationwide, I feel is a tremendous honor
for Claire," said Marla Wolfe, Claire's
mother. "Her dad and I are very proud
of her."
PJ Library operates across America

Claire Wolfe

and is implemented by local organiza-
tions for children ages 6 months to 8
years. PJ Our Way's website is the next
venture for kids who graduated from the
PJ Library program.
"To get to know other people who
you wouldn't have known otherwise is a
really great opportunity," Claire said. "It's
like one community."
PJ Our Way is a pilot program and is
currently available in the following com-
munities: Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland,
Miami, Boston's North Shore, Seattle,
Silicon Valley, St. Louis and Brooklyn.
The members of the Design Team
meet with Saskia Moss, the head coordi-
nator, via Google+ Hangouts.
For Claire and others on the Design
Team, the responsibilities will include
many opportunities to engage with oth-
ers.
"We will write book reviews, some
written out and some as videos," Claire
said. "We will also interview authors."
Claire encourages kids to join PJ Our
Way so they can start receiving great
Jewish books.

JN CONTENTS

"If you read these books and pay close
attention, they'll tell you a life story with
a good life tip that you could use later on
in your life."
Last month, Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills received a grant
from the Mandell and Madeleine
Berman Foundation to create a local
child-parent interactive book club for
kids in the PJ Our Way program.
"Claire is a very bright young lady,
who is a wonderful asset to PJ Our Way,"
said Debi Banooni, family educator at
Adat Shalom. "We are so lucky to have a
Detroit representative in this program,
and that it is Claire."

❑

To learn more about PJ Library
visit: www.PJLibrary.org . Kids
interested in joining the PJ Our
Way book club at Adat Shalom
should contact Jewish family
educator Debi Banooni at
(248) 626-2153 or email
dbanooni@adatshalonn.org .

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Jan. 15-21, 2015 1 24 Tevet - Shevat 1 5775 1 Vol. CXLVI, No. 24

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January 15 • 2015

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