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14 | OCTOBER 8 • 2020
Jews in the D
increase their involvement. Micah
has an entrepreneurial spirit and
has always looked for ways to
help create new programs in his
school and the wider community.
Micah is now in Israel, learning at
Yeshivat Orayta.
ALEXANDRA FINKELSTEIN
Lexie, 18, works
tirelessly to
improve her
community and
help those
around her. She
is a recent grad-
uate of
Bloomfield Hills High School
where she was president of her
senior class. During her high
school career, she worked with
teachers, school administration
and fellow students to promote
events to address mental health,
bullying and student safety as well
as coordinate fundraisers and
spirit and political-awareness
activities. Her tremendous work
ethic led to her being selected as
the first intern for the Bloomfield
Hills School District Board of
Education. She was instrumental
in representing the student voice
during the selection of a new
superintendent.
During high school, Lexie
founded and operated two
charities. “BYOD” (Bring Your
Own Dog) is an annual fund-
raising event held at the Village
of Franklin park each spring,
raising money and facilitating
five pet adoptions in 2019 alone.
Her Project 1:1 idea grew out of
a school assignment and has led
to the donation of hundreds of
handcrafted bracelets, money and
notes of encouragement to pedi-
atric patients at the University of
Michigan C.S. Mott Children’
s
Hospital. Lexie is also a certi-
fied volunteer at the Friendship
Circle.
Currently, Lexie is studying
at U-M where she was accepted
into the Ross School of Business
and the Michigan Community
Scholars Program.
EMILY GOLDSTEIN
Emily, 17, of
Royal Oak is a
senior at
Berkley High
School and
member of
Temple Shir
Shalom, SSTY
and BBYO. According to the
youth professional at Shir
Shalom, “Emily is one of the most
responsible teens we have in our
program. She volunteers when no
one else does, and I can always
depend on her to do what she
says she is going to.
”
Emily was formerly the
Mazkirah for her BBG chapter,
the secretary of SSTY board and
a PeerCorps mentor. She is also
a member on the Peer to Peer
Board and participates in the
Link program. She was the JV
Tennis captain (2020) at Berkley
High School, is a member of
NHS and is on the highest honor
roll. She is a member of HOSA
and a graduate of the Perry
Outreach Initiative for aspiring
doctors. Emily is also a Tamarack
camper and was on its teen
board.
She enjoyed her service trips to
the Dominican Republic in both
2019 and 2020. In addition, amid
the pandemic, Emily volunteered
with Brilliant Detroit by tutoring
children in Detroit.
JACK HARRIS
Jack, 17, now a
senior at
Frankel Jewish
Academy, of
West
Bloomfield, is
an active partic-
ipant in Masa
Teens, TBE’
s Religious School
program, and BETY, its youth
group, and he volunteers his time
on Sundays as a Madrich in the
religious school office. One of
Jack’
s best qualities is his drive to
always learn more. He is con-
stantly asking questions on a wide
variety of topics, from interpret-
ing Biblical texts to translating
Hebrew.
In addition to his involvement
at Temple Beth El, Jack is very
involved with student govern-
ment at FJA and is the all-school
president. Jack is also a member
of the National Honor Society at
FJA and a member of the tennis,
quiz bowl and robotics teams.
Last year, Jack helped make the
notice of nondiscrimination pol-
icy for FJA more inclusive. Jack’
s
biggest accomplishment was
creating the young activist group,
Queer Not Quiet, or QNQ. QNQ
is a group of young activists that
meet to discuss their experiences
regarding their identities. Under
Jack’
s leadership, this group of
young people has begun meeting
to share experiences and support
each other in a safe space. They
can be followed on Instagram.
JADEN JUBAS
Jaden, 17 of
Southfield is a
senior at Farber
Hebrew Day
School and
member of
Tiferes
Nachman,
NCSY and B’
nei Akiva. At the
young age of 16, Jaden saved a
life. On July 16, 2019, while on a
summer program called Hatzalah
Rescue, Jaden found himself
using his newly learned lifesaving
procedures while on an ambu-
lance run in the Israeli city of Bat
Yam. He arrived on the scene to
find an 80-year-old man uncon-
scious with CPR in progress.
Jaden took over performing CPR,
and when other EMTs at the
scene told him he could stop and
were ready to call the man’
s
death, Jaden insisted on continu-
ing compressions. Jaden’
s per-
sistence paid off and the man’
s
heartbeat returned. Jaden
received a medallion from United
Hatzalah of Israel celebrating his
first life save as an EMR
(Emergency Medical Responder).
Jaden is also a member of the
National Honor Society and a
Dale Carnegie alumnus (he does
have a dual curriculum at Farber
Hebrew Day School). He is cur-
rently the student council trea-
surer. Jaden is one of two teens
chosen in the state of Michigan
to be a StandWithUs high school
intern. He has been a dele-
gate for the Yeshiva University
National Model United Nations
for the past three years.
He participated in the Chidon
HaTanach (National Bible
Competition) in 2015, 2016 and
2017. Jaden is also a member of
the Jewish Scholars Program and
afterschool Kollel learning. Jaden
is also a PeerCorps, AIPAC and
Bookstock volunteer and tutors
students in math and science.
IAN KRAFT
Ian, 15, now a
sophomore at
North
Farmington
High School
who lives in
Farmington
Hills, has
brought a breath of fresh air to
YFTI at Temple Israel. As a
freshman, Ian became a song
leader at YFTI and brought a
new way to celebrate Shabbat
and Havdalah. Ian now serves
as the Jewish Programming
Chair of YFTI and participates
in weekly Monday night music
class, learning to perfect his