18 | JANUARY 6 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

eens: Get your pens (or keyboards) 
at the ready. With some thought 
and effort, you can win some cash 
and great leadership experience for col-
lege. Here are three opportunities you 
need to know about. 

COHN-HADDOW ANNUAL 
WRITING COMPETITION
The Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic 
Studies at Wayne State University is 
holding its seventh annual writing com-
petition for Metro Detroit high school 
students. Submissions may be essays, 
short stories, or one or more poems relat-
ing to some aspect of Jewish life, culture 
or history. 
The goal of the competition is not 
only to encourage high school students 
to think and write on matters of Jewish 
importance — past, present and future 
— but also to cultivate fresh perspec-
tives on what are often well-trodden and 
time-worn conversations, discussions and 
debates. 
Winning entries will be published 
online by the Cohn-Haddow Center. 
Deadline for submissions is March 1. 
First-place submissions in each catego-
ry will be awarded a cash prize of $500, 
with cash prizes of $100 for honorable 
mentions in each category.
For more information on competition 
guidelines, rules, suggested themes and 
where to submit entries, visit judaic-
studies.wayne.edu/writingcompetition.

NCJW/MI JEWISH YOUTH AWARDS
National Council of Jewish Women, 
Michigan, an organization guided by 
Jewish values and dedicated to social jus-
tice for women, children and families, will 
once again continue the tradition of hon-
oring exceptional high school seniors who 
demonstrate strong leadership within the 
community. 

 All Jewish high school seniors are invit-
ed to apply. To be eligible, an applicant 
needs to fulfill the following require-
ments: 
• Complete the online information sec-
tion of the application form at https://
ncjwmi.org/jewishyouthawards. 
• Complete the online leadership section 
of the form. Identify and describe leader-
ship positions or other involvement in the 
Jewish and/or secular community during 
high school. 
• Upload a typed essay (600-800 words) 
on the following topic: What experience 
or person has had the greatest impact on 
your Jewish identity? 
• Be available for a personal interview 
by a panel of judges on Sunday, May 1, 
at 10 a.m. at the NCJW | MI Office in 
Southfield. 
• All application materials must be sub-
mitted on or before Feb. 22.
Awards totaling $6,000 will be distrib-
uted to the finalists as follows: 1st place: 
$2,500; 2nd place: $1,500; 3rd place: 
$1,000; and four honorable mentions: 
$250 each. Finalists will be recognized at 
an Awards Ceremony Wednesday, May 11. 

TEEN ISRAEL 
LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
Applications are due Feb. 4 for the Center 
for Israel Education’s (CIE) next virtual 
Teen Israel Leadership Institute (TILI), to 
be held from noon to 3 p.m. ET on con-
secutive Sundays, Feb. 20 and 27.

TILI’s interactive presentations not 
only enhance ninth- to 12th-graders’ 
understanding of Israel, its complexity 
and its role in Jewish identity, but also 
provide skills for sharing that knowledge. 
Learning with and from peers, college 
students, communal professionals and 
CIE’s own experts, teens make valuable 
friendships and gain important critical 
thinking abilities they can apply across 
future endeavors.
Hundreds of high school students have 
attended the intensive teen institute since 
spring 2018, joining more than 3,000 
teens who have participated in online CIE 
programs in 2021 alone.
Among other topics, TILI sessions will 
address:
• Zionist and Israeli culture and politics 
through music.
• Israel’s Jewish and democratic origins.
• Identity and religion in Israeli society. 
• The process of state building for 
decades before independence.
• Arab-Israeli relations and negotia-
tions.
• Being a critical consumer of media. 
• Israel on campus.
Teens across the Jewish spectrum with 
any level of knowledge and perspective on 
Israel are welcome, but the most success-
ful attendees are willing to engage with 
their peers and bring an open mind. The 
teen institute connects them with con-
tent and context to build their individual 
capacities to learn, own and be a part of 
Israel’s story.
The registration fee for the institute 
is $54, and applications are accepted on 
a rolling basis. Access the application 
at israeled.org/teens, where you’ll find 
more information, including testimoni-
als from participants and insights from 
CIE’s director of teen initiatives, Michele 
Freesman-Levenson, on the benefits of 
the program. 

A chance to earn money and leadership training in the new year.

JN STAFF
Opportunities for Teens

PIXABAY.COM

