16 | APRIL 29 • 2021 

RISING STARS

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teenage girls formed to teach future pro-
fessionals how to start a business, and has 
been participating in the online mentor-
ship and lecturing events for that group. 
She also competed on behalf of North 
Farmington High School in the Business 
Professional of America Presentation 
Management Competition this fall where 
she won the regional competition and 
placed seventh in the statewide competi-
tion.
Isabella also sought and found a part-
time job at a law firm because of her 
interest in becoming a lawyer. According 
to the managing partner, “She’s going to 
make a great lawyer one day.”

SAMMI DESMON

Sammi Desmon, 16, 
of West Bloomfield 
is a junior at 
Bloomfield Hills 
High School. She 
owns an apparel 
company called 
Sammi’s Sweats 
(sammissweats.
com). It began as a 
school project to raise funds for the com-
munity. Sammi decided to sell sweats to 
friends and family and donated the pro-
ceeds to an adopted family through 
Jewish Family Service’s holiday gift drive. 
Sammi bought the family everything on 
their wish list and more.
During the pandemic, she obtained a 
following from several influencers, and 
her brand took off. She now sells to stores 
and individuals throughout the country. 
Giving back to the community is very 
important to her. She has continued to 
donate profits to organizations such as 
the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to 
provide lunches to underprivileged chil-
dren not in school during COVID-19, 
and Black Lives Matter. Sammi created a 
Ruth Bader Ginsburg apparel collection 
and donated the profits to a college schol-
arship fund for underprivileged teens. 
She also donated and distributed back-
packs and school supplies to kids through 
the Oakland County Foster Closet and 
donated over 100 items of clothing to 
Alternatives for Girls in Detroit.
In addition, she is an involved student, 

a National Honor Society group leader, 
a Bloomfield Hills High School Student 
Ambassador, on the Youth Action Board, 
UMatter, Community Service Club and 
the Jewish Student Alliance. 

SKYLAR ELBINGER

Skylar Elbinger, 16, 
of Farmington Hills 
is a junior at Frankel 
Jewish Academy, 
where she is the 
lead student ambas-
sador. In this role, 
she hosts prospec-
tive students when 
they have their 
shadow visit at FJA; she attends Open 
Houses and other evening recruitment 
events to speak about her experiences at 
school and acts as an advocate, encourag-
ing other young Jewish students to attend 
FJA.
She is also a member of Student 
Government, National Honor Society, 
and plays on the volleyball and basketball 
teams.
Outside of school, Skylar is an active 
member of BBYO’s Ahavah chapter. She 
is a chapter mazkirah and is responsible 
for social media marketing. She is on the 
regional convention and spring/young 
leadership convention steering commit-
tees.
Skylar is involved in the first Michigan 
cohort of Leaders for Tomorrow, AJC’s 
leadership development program for high 
schoolers that empowers young Jews to 
speak up for Israel and the Jewish people. 
She is participating in a program called 
One2One, which is a virtual meeting 
for Israeli and American high school 
students; she is the only AJC participant 
who is involved in this program from 
Michigan.
Skylar was also a member of the ORT 
teen board and served as the social media 
coordinator for two years. She was a chair 
for two annual teen-led events and volun-
teered at Camp Hermelin and Rub-a-Dub.
Skylar volunteers at many of Temple 
Israel’s YFTI community service events. 
Last year, she was also a TITAN Teen 
Intern at Temple Israel where she worked 
in the Family Life Center.

LEV ERSHLER

Lev Ershler, 18, of 
West Bloomfield is a 
senior at Farber 
Hebrew Day School. 
He has served as 
co-president of the 
Detroit branch of 
Bnei Akiva for the 
past two years and 
has planned numer-
ous events geared toward educating his 
peers about Israel and Judaism while also 
adding in fun elements. He has attended 
many leadership development weekend 
retreats through Bnei Akiva that have pro-
vided him with tools to better contribute to 
the Detroit Jewish community as well as 
train the next generation of Jewish leaders.
Lev’s love of Israel has led to advoca-
cy via AIPAC, taking every opportunity 
offered to be involved, from attending the 
Schusterman Teen Summit to working at all 
local events sponsored by AIPAC and lob-
bying our congressional delegation. 
At Farber, Lev was the co-chair of the 
David Tanzman Memorial Basketball 
Tournament in 2020. He was involved with 
fundraising, committee chair check-ins, 
actively assisting committee chairs as help 
was needed, and manning the Livestream of 
most of the basketball games.
Lev is currently co-representative of his 
class in the Farber Hebrew Day School-
Yeshivat Akiva High School Student 
Government. He is in the top Talmud class 
in his school and often studies other Jewish 
texts that are not part of the curriculum. 
Lev will attend Yeshivat Har Etzion next 
year where he will continue his Jewish 
learning and leadership growth.

MANDI FEALK

Mandi Fealk, 17, of 
Commerce 
Township is a senior 
at Frankel Jewish 
Academy. 
Mandi has been 
a volunteer at the 
Friendship Circle 
since seventh 
grade, when she 
immediately felt connected with the chil-
dren there. She has been volunteering 

