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team.
Jonah’
s true passion is music. He 
plays the piano and cello and compos-
es classical music as well. He earned 
a scholarship to attend Interlochen, 
where he is majoring in music compo-
sition and continuing his study of piano 
and cello as well as more traditional 
academic studies. While at home, Jonah 
studies composition with a graduate 
student from U-M, takes weekly pri-
vate lessons on both of his instruments 
and plays the cello in both his school 
orchestra and the Detroit Metropolitan 
Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Jonah has also participated in 
summer composition programs at 
Interlochen and the Curtis Institute of 
Music. He has had several of his origi-
nal works performed and recorded and 
has won several competitions for young 
composers. While home, Jonah also 
participates in Monday night school at 
Temple Israel and serves as one of the 
Madrichim each Sunday.

MORGAN COOK

Morgan, 16, of West 
Bloomfield is a junior at 
the International 
Academy and a member 
of Temple Shir Shalom, 
where she belongs to 
SSTY. Morgan is not the 
kind of student that 
cares about what the “cool kids” are 
doing, she just cares about what the 
right thing to do is, say the leaders at 
Shir Shalom. “She is accepting of every-
one that crosses her path and, although 
she can be soft spoken, it is because she 
is a deep thinker,” they note.
Morgan not only worked hard to 
go to International Academy but 
pushes the boundaries of her sched-
ule by involvement with Biff Radio at 
Bloomfield Hills High School and the 
International Academy News. She is on 
the Jewish Federation Teen Board and is 
the social action vice president of SSTY.
She is a writer for her school news-
paper, and she still finds time to pursue 
music, playing piano competitively for 
the MSBOA solo and ensemble, the 
Federation Competition at Schoolcraft 
College and the American Guild of 
Music Regional Festival. 

ELISHA COOPER

Elisha, 18, of West 
Bloomfield, graduated 
from Frankel Jewish 
Academy this year. She is 
a member of Adat Shalom 
Synagogue. At FJA, Elisha 
was involved in the 
National Honor Society, 
was the captain of both the Girls Varsity 
Soccer and Girls Varsity Basketball teams 
and founded the Girls Basketball Club. She 
was chosen by the head of the science 
department to be his lab assistant and a stu-
dent chemistry tutor. Elisha also coordinat-
ed a school-wide fundraiser for the 
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the 
Deaf and Hard of Hearing, an organization 
that supports a cause that is very important 
to her personally.
Last year, she spent her summer intern-
ing for FRIENDS of Jewish Senior Life and 
was later chosen by FJA as one of the eight 
high school students to present at the Eight 
Over Eighty event at Jewish Senior Life. She 
also attended the RoboTraffic competition 
at the Technion in Israel last year with the 
FJA Robotics Team, winning first place for 
her and a fellow student’
s design of a fuel 
injector, which the judges deemed “profes-
sional quality.
”
Outside of school, Elisha is a technology 
tutor, helping an elderly couple with any 
technology questions they may have. She 
was the vice president of the Teen Volunteer 
Corps at Adat Shalom Synagogue, as well 
as an event chairperson for Tech Connect 
at Adat Shalom and a three-year Madricha. 
She was also a two-year Teen Board 
Member for the Jewish Fund and a Because 
We Care Fellowship Board Member with 
Jewish Family Service. She was also a two-
year member of the JSERVE Teen Board 
and a recent first-place winner of the 
National Council of Jewish Women essay 
scholarship competition.

ALYSSA DISKIN 

Alyssa, 18, of Commerce 
Township recently grad-
uated from Walled Lake 
Northern High School. 
Since she was in the 
eighth grade, she has 
been a Madricha (teen 
teacher assistant) at the 
Adat Shalom-Beth Achim Learning 
Community. She is passionate about help-

ing kids with special needs learn Hebrew 
and actively participate in the community.
In addition to actively participating in 
Madrichim trainings, she has participated 
in the JCC Opening the Doors communi-
ty-wide Madrichim Leadership Training 
program since eighth grade. She is always 
willing to help others and solve problems 
and is passionate about being Jewish and 
nurturing Jewish kids’
 identities.
Because of her experiences at Adat 
Shalom and through the Opening the 
Doors program, she is now majoring in 
education with a focus on special educa-
tion at Eastern Michigan University.

MICAH EIZEN

Micah, 18, of Southfield, 
graduated this past June 
from Farber Hebrew Day 
School. With his family, 
Micah is a member of 
Young Israel of Oak Park, 
as well as being an active 
member of NCSY and 
B’
nei Akiva. Last summer, he worked at 
Camp Stone assisting in daily operations 
and general maintenance. Last year, he 
served as the regional vice president for 
Central East NCSY while also serving as 
the president of the Detroit Executive 
Board.
At Farber, he was the president of the 
student government and a former grade 
representative. Micah participated in 
Model U.N. for multiple years, even serv-
ing as the captain during his senior year, 
and represented the school at the annual 
AIPAC policy conference. Additionally, 
he was editor-in-chief of the school year-
book and team captain of the varsity bas-
ketball team. 
He was the commissioner for two 
years of the David Tanzman Memorial 
Tournament, a varsity basketball tourna-
ment that honors the legacy of a founding 
member of Yeshivat Akiva-Farber HDS, 
David Tanzman. The annual tournament 
was initially started by his brother, Ari, 
three years ago with four teams. Micah has 
since expanded the tournament to a total of 
six teams this past year. 
Micah is a true leader and has been 
devoted to making a difference as a com-
munity leader. Throughout high school, 
Micah was extremely active in NCSY as 
a youth leader who works hard to help 
other teens see the beauty in Judaism and 

