metro »

Exhilarating Forum

BBYO Regional Conference offers fun and games — and serious lessons.

M

ore than 350 Jewish teens gath-
ered in December over winter
break to experience exciting
competitions, meaningful moments and
endless fun at BBYO’s most highly antici-
pated annual event, Regional Convention.
RC 2015, coordinated by Lexi Michaels,
a West Bloomfield High School senior,
and Zack Kirshner, a North Farmington
High School senior, with the assistance of
BBYO Michigan’s Regional Director Katie
Fried, introduced seven new competitions
including an epic “Lip Sync Battle” and
“AZA/BBG Quiz Bowl.”
One of the most exciting additions
was the presence of two step teams from
Wayne State University, who opened this
year’s cheer competition.
“If you ask any parent, adviser or par-
ticipant, they will say that this RC was
special,” Kirshner said.
During RC, Michigan Region’s AZA
(boys), BBG (girls) and BBYO (coed)
chapters competed in more than 20 com-
petitions, including Iron Chef, talent show,
d’var Torah, basketball, whirlyball, handi-
craft and more.
The convention culminates with awards
and closing ceremonies, where chapters
eagerly await the announcement of which
AZA and which BBG chapter will receive
the top awards. This year, the General
Maurice Rose AZA Most Distinguished
Chapter Award went to Kishon AZA
#63, and Ahavah BBG #293 was awarded
the Hart Targan Family BBG Most
Distinguished Chapter Award.
“Somehow, each year RC just gets bet-
ter and better,” said Josh Cooper, a West
Bloomfield High School junior and presi-
dent of Kishon AZA. “RC is bigger than
BBYO; it is a chance for the whole commu-
nity to unite.”
Rachel Grey Ellis, senior regional direc-
tor of BBYO Michigan Region, said, “We
are so proud of the teens for all their hard
work and dedication to their chapters,

their sportsmanship throughout RC, and
their respectfulness of the people and plac-
es they went throughout RC. These teens
are exceptional, and our future is bright.”

TEEN SUICIDE PREVENTION
This year at RC, BBYO invited Rabbi
Yarden Blumstein from the Daniel B. Sobel
Friendship House in West Bloomfield and
college student Lizzy Kirsch to come lead
a presentation on the topic of teen suicide
prevention. Along with BBYO members
Brandon Rothenberg and Skylar Watnick,
they spoke about some of the startling
stats in regards to teen suicide in the U.S.
Each day, there are more than 5,400 sui-
cide attempts amongst teens in America
and four out of every five of those teens
gave clear warning signs before.
The teens learned about the power of
supporting each other when they are in
need and the importance of reaching out
for help. The presentation ended with a
stand-up to support and empower those
who are suffering.
From the teens relaying the message to
their friends who weren’t present to some
teens coming up, both then and later, with
questions and looking for more info, the
presentation was extremely successful in
getting a relevant and pertinent message
across to them.
“It was really cool to see the looks on the
kids’ faces when we were up there talking.
I could tell that they were deeply involved
in what we had to say,” Rothenberg said.
This was all part of a Umatter campaign
launched by the Friendship House at the
beginning of this past school year. Part
of this program includes a two-day train-
ing in February that teens can attend to
become empowered and train with real-
life tools related to suicide prevention.
Watnick participated in the last session
of the two-day training and really appreci-
ated it. She said she found the training to
be very practical and useful.

The girls of Aliyah BBG perform a Snow White routine during
the highly anticipated Talent Show competition.

16 February 4 • 2016

Seniors Ben Brockmeyer-Bernard, Tyler Weberman, Chase Rosett, Noah Bloom and
Andrew Katz celebrate Kishon AZA’s victory!

Lizzie Raider, Lexi Michaels and Josh Elias
cheer on their chapters during the basket-
ball and volleyball games.

“I appreciate BBYO being open and
willing to take time out of its RC schedule
to talk about such an important topic. It
shows on the focus and values of the orga-
nization. It was a real pleasure to be able to
partner with them on such an important
and substantial matter,” Blumstein said.

Ahavah BBG performs in the Song competition.

*

Shapiro AZA gathers before the Cheer
competition begins.

details

If you have questions regarding suicide
prevention, reach out to the BBYO offices
at (248) 432-5685 or the Daniel B. Sobel
Friendship House at (248) 788-8888.
If you have suicidal thoughts, call
Common Ground at (800) 231-1127.

Chloe Linkner, Nicki Borovsky, Mallory Einstandig and
Alexa Cohen get ready for the Cheer competition.

