14 April 25 • 2019
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continued from page 12

Evan was on the Jewish Fund’
s 
Detroit Teen Board, a member of stu-
dent leadership, a Peer-to-Peer com-
mittee leader with the National Honor 
Society and co-president of the school’
s 
Volunteer Club.

JILLIAN LESSON
 
Jillian Lesson of West 
Bloomfield is a soph-
omore at Frankel 
Jewish Academy and 
belongs to Aish 
HaTorah. She was 
recently accepted to 
a writing/journalism 
program at the 
School of the New 
York Times. 
Jillian used writing as a tool for getting 
through hard times. As extreme emo-
tional and social issues began in middle 
school, Jillian relied on her writing — 
prose and poems about losing friends, 
struggles with body image, feelings of 
depression and anxiety and loneliness, 
her love/hate relationship with social 
media, and other issues that affect ado-
lescents. 
In eighth grade, Jillian began pub-
lishing a blog called Journey to Jillian 
(journeytojillianblog.wordpress.
com). There, she began writing about 
her challenges, about lessons that 
came from her challenges, about her 
thoughts and dreams and struggles, 
about her hardships and triumphs. 
Teens began writing to Jillian, wanting 
advice or support. People she didn’
t 
know would come up to her to tell 
her how much she was helping their 
child. The openness and candor Jillian 
expresses in her blog posts helped 
teens become more open with their 
own struggles. The message she hopes 
teens will get from her is that everyone 
has their challenges, no one is alone 
and finding a way out is most always 
attainable. 

SARAH MEADOWS

Sarah Meadows of 
Mount Pleasant is a 
senior at Mount 
Pleasant High 
School; she belongs 
to Temple Benjamin 
and Shaarey Zedek 
of East Lansing.
Sarah is a member 
of National Honor 

Society, doing volunteer work such as 
peer-to-peer tutoring and working on 
school blood drives. Last spring, she 
went to Washington, D.C., for L
’
Taken to 
learn about social justice and advocate to 
legislators.
Sarah is on her high school honor 
roll as well as a scholar-athlete for each 
sport season. She’
s done competitive 
cheerleading and swim and dive for 
four years (earning varsity letters all 
four years in cheerleading and the last 
three years in diving) as well as tennis 
for two. She is also a violist in her high 
school orchestra.
She’
s the Class of 2019 secretary, a 
co-captain for the swim and dive team, 
and was honored as the Rotary Citizen 
of the Month, in recognition of service 
to her school and community. She is also 
the committee chair for NFTY-MI, help-
ing to lead events for Jewish teens and 
working to rebuild NFTY-MI. 
She attends religious school and is a 
teacher’
s assistant for preschoolers and 
kindergartners every Sunday.

PAUL SIEGEL NADIV

Paul Siegel Nadiv of 
Huntington Woods 
is a senior at Frankel 
Jewish Academy and 
a member of 
Kehillat Etz Chayim.
 He is active in 
BBYO and has held 
several leadership 
positions, including 
two on the regional board, with an 
emphasis on community service and 
teaching and performing Jewish rituals 
for Michigan BBYO Region (Shaliach). 
He also served as a vice chair for BBYO 
Global Network and was involved 
in raising awareness and money for 
Jewish people in other countries. He 
was a coordinator of a two-week trip 
to Bulgaria and led programs engaging 
teens from the U.S. and Europe.
While in BBYO, he has mentored 
younger teens who have taken on 
leadership roles in their chapters or 
regionally. He has helped younger teens 
write speeches, create platforms and put 
together meaningful programming. 
Paul sits on the Jewish Historical 
Society Board and has been to several 
AIPAC teen conferences in Washington, 
D.C. He has lobbied Congress multiple 
times and acted as head delegate. He is 
also senior class president at FJA and 

has been part of student government 
for several years.

LINDSAY RANDEL

Lindsay Randel of 
West Bloomfield is a 
freshman at Frankel 
Jewish Academy and 
a member of Adat 
Shalom Synagogue. 
She is a fierce 
advocate on behalf 
of all people liv-
ing with Type 1 
Diabetes. After her 
diagnosis in 2014, she engaged with 
JDRF and supporter of all its efforts 
to turn Type 1 into Type None. She 
chairs an annual One Walk Team and 
has raised thousands of dollars to help 
research for a cure. She speaks regularly 
and publicly about her experiences of 
living with Type 1. Lindsay was selected 
to represent JDRF at its Congressional 
Congress this summer and is hoping to 
speak before Congress. She also makes 
herself available to speak to newly diag-
nosed kids to help them to adapt to 
their new normal.
She is an avid soccer player, who 
must sit out this season because she is a 
mid-year transfer to FJA. Still, Lindsay 
participates in every practice and plans 
to attend every game to cheer on her 
classmates. 
Lindsay is an active member of 
BBYO. She was recently selected to 
chair the chapter’
s upcoming Bittker 
Weekend. She will attend BBYO’
s CLTC 
Leadership Camp this summer and was 
selected as a scholarship winner based 
on her video application.

BENNY SHAEVSKY

Benny Shaevsky of 
West Bloomfield is a 
junior at Frankel 
Jewish Academy and 
belongs to Adat 
Shalom Synagogue 
and Temple Beth El. 
Since he was 
an infant, Benny 
has suffered from 
life-threatening nut allergies. He has 
risen above the bullying to be an advo-
cate for those with food allergies. He has 
organized fundraising walks sponsored 
by the national Food Allergy Research 
& Education (FARE) and has spoken 
at several FARE teen summits and at 

several local fundraising luncheons 
sponsored by the University of Michigan 
Food Allergy Clinic. He has served as a 
general FARE teen ambassador. 
He leads the Anti-Defamation Club 
at his school, is a minyan leader, plays 
varsity tennis and is a member of the 
National Honor Society. He is spear-
heading the first-ever tutoring by FJA 
NHS members of Hillel Day School 
students. 
He’
s serving his second year on the 
Teen Board of the Jewish Fund, helping 
to allocate grants totaling $50,000. Last 
summer, he interned with the Jewish 
Fund. 
Benny participates in Tech Connect at 
Adat Shalom to provide free computer 
tutoring to senior citizens. He recently 
established a new tax-exempt organiza-
tion called Tech 4 Seniors to visit home-
bound or mobility-challenged seniors 
and assist them with computer/Internet 
training.

TOMMY SHERMAN

Tommy Sherman of 
Bloomfield Hills is a 
junior at Bloomfield 
Hills High School 
and a member of 
Temple Beth El and 
its youth group, 
BETY. He’
s been a 
madrich since eighth 
grade for Sunday 
school.
Tommy participated in JServe and 
volunteers at Beth El’
s Chanukah party 
and Purim carnival. He participated in 
a Birmingham Bloomfield Community 
Youth Action Board event focusing on 
the impact of substance abuse on teens. 
He also volunteered as a counselor 
at Roeper Day Camp and as a tutor 
through National Honor Society.
In December, the New York Times 
held its annual “connect what you’
re 
learning in school with the world today” 
essay contest. Out of 2,000 students 
nationwide, Tommy’
s essay “Who Cares? 
Immigration Reform: Who Cares? 
Crumbling Infrastructure: Who Cares? 
Climate Change: Who Cares?” qualified 
him as a semi-finalist. 
Tommy plays junior varsity tennis and 
is the section leader of his school’
s drum-
line. He plays in two jazz bands and in 
a rock band and plays percussion in the 
school band and orchestra. He also runs 
a small business making videos for bar 

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