SeniorITIS 2015!

3rd Cohort

What is SeniorITIS?Through JTEENgmw’s SeniorITIS program, rising and graduating high school seniors from the Greater MetroWest region of NJ are paired with a Jewish professional in a field of their interest for 15 hours a week of industry engagement during the month of July.  Participants are tasked with completing a tangible project goal during their placement while simultaneously attending meaningful training seminars and learning about Jewish workplace ethics.

Who organized SeniorITIS 2015 JTEENGMW

The Jewish Teen Educational Experiences Network of The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life

Serving Teens in the Greater MetroWest region to connect to Judaism

Michael Strom

Seminars

Participants of SeniorITIS engaged in a professional orientation as well as FOUR in depth seminars with talented speakers on topics related to professionalism, life transition, and ethics; all

through a Jewish lens!

Lisa Chenofsky Singer

Lisa engaged participants in a workshop on how to present yourself in a professional setting; focusing primarily on Resume format and online presence.

Executive Coach/ Career StrategistChenofsky Singer & Associates, LLC

Rabbi Asher Bush

Rabbi Bush presented on issues of Jewish business ethics; how to present yourself in business and Jewish codes of conduct

Rabbi Asher Bush is a teacher at Frisch High School, Rav of Congregation Ahavat Yisrael of Wesley Hills, author of Responsa Sho’el B’Shlomo and a regular contributor to scholarly articles and a Halachic articles on Jewish blogs. For the last number of years, Rabbi Bush has held the seat formerly occupied by Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik as the chairman of the Rabbinical Council of America's (RCA) Va'ad Halacha Committee.

Reflection: Rachel: “I had never thought that being Jewish made such a difference in the workplace.  Everyone arrives, goes about their work and at the end of the day, leaves. So why should being Jewish matter in that setting?  In one of our sessions, we heard from Rabbi Asher Bush  about Jewish business ethics.  He spoke about the high standards Jews, secular and religious alike, must hold themselves to.  When doing business deals we must be honest and forthright; upon establishing a deal we must follow through on our word. 

Before hearing this, I just assumed Jews, like everyone else, would be honest in their business.  I realize though, that unfortunately we live in a world where dishonesty is ubiquitous.  I am proud to be a part of the Jewish people, where honesty and being an upstanding character is a must in all aspects of life, including business. ”

Ariela Lovett

Ariela teamed up with Michael Strom to provide an insightful seminar on diversity and inclusion to provide for an easy and respectful transition into a college environment and wider world by understanding:

• Privilege• Micro-aggressions• Discrimination

Ariela Lovett worked as a Housing and Benefits Advocate at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a community-based social services agency on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where she advocated for neighborhood residents who are facing eviction from their homes as well as low-income people who need assistance navigating the public benefits system. In the fall, Ariela will begin with her graduate degree and is excited about this next step in her professional life.

Randy Nathan

Randy is a “life coach” and an “edutainer”, as well as a published author. Randy’s presentation focused on how participants can “brand” themselves to stand out amongst the crowds and get across their message in order to network to further their life goals!

President/CeoProject Next Gen

- Special focus was placed on how to utilize your contacts within the Jewish community to develop

Ari: “I truly feel like the Coach’s mere two hour presentation made a tremendous impact on my life going forward.”

ARI: “One of the most exciting parts of my participation in SeniorITIS so far would be the presentation given by the life coach that had just visited at the most recent SeniorITIS seminar on Wednesday, July 15th. Not only the lesson or the impact it had on me, but the fact that he was brought in specifically for me and my other SeniorITIS peers. I thought it was very interesting and helpful what he had told and explained to us in the two hours that he was here. I feel that I have gained a lot from this seminar, which will help me tremendously in the future, from

applying to college to interviewing to my first job.

Nathan had provided a great depth of information to help my future life as well, which improved my general knowledge on growing up, things to or not to expect later on, tips on being prepared, successful, happy, etc.”

Reflection:

Shaina Goldberg

Stress management workshop• Addressing causes of stress• Anticipating Stressors in College• Acknowledging negative ways to

cope with stress.• Identifying positive ways to

combat stress.• Exploring Jewish Stress

management techniques• Jewish Meditation (as compared to

Buddhist meditation)• Niggun – songs without words

Reflection:

Peri: “SeniorITIS has impacted my connection to Judaism in both the sessions and my placement. The sessions have opened my eyes to Jewish values and the way we see things. An example of this is how Shaina discussed Jewish meditation and how we watched videos on how Judaism and Buddhism can be related when it comes to this idea of meditation and finding the light inside yourself.”

NetworkingRACHEL: “It is one of the best feelings to be surrounded by people who share the same passions as you.  This past week I had the privilege to experience this because of SeniorITIS [through a meeting set up by Michael Strom to attend a networking session at the home of Jewish Environmentalist Mirele Goldsmith in NYC). I was able to hear Einat Kramer speak about her growing organization, Teva Yisraeli and all it is trying to accomplish for Jewish environmentalism.  I am passionate about environmentalism and about Judaism. Quite frequently though, in Jewish circles we are ignorant and uncaring about our environment. 

We have attached stigmas to "Going Green", and see it as a hobby for left wing hippies. In fact though, Judaism advocates for being kind and caring to our planet.  All the people who attended this meeting knew that and felt the same passion for spreading Jewish environmentalism. I was able to make new contacts in this field that I would have never otherwise met.  It was really my first networking experience and I enjoyed it immensely.  I left that night inspired and feeling hopeful and eager for the future and for all that we could accomplish together.”

Shmulie Greene

Placement Process Finding Jewish professionals to act as placement

mentors who could provide experiences that were of interest to each teen was not an easy task, and we appreciated the patience and flexibility of both mentors and placements to help make these pairings work!

It is now time to hear DIRECTLY from the teens to see how their experiences are.

Let’s Meet the Participants!12 Participants engaged in SeniorITIS 2015, our largest

cohort to date.

Peri

Interests:• Music Education,• Business

Placement:With Suzanna Berman at JFS.

And with Rachel Block at Daughters of Israel:

ZieselInterests: • Government • Debate• International relations• Israel AdvocacyPlacement:• With Melanie Gorelik at the CRC working with

Israel Advocacy

SaraInterests: • Political Science and activism • Museums• Israel AdvocacyPlacement: With Ms. Linda Forgosh at the Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey

DevorahInterests: • History Education• Israel AdvocacyPlacements:With Michael Strom at the Partnership And with Jamie Carus at the Holocaust Council

AriWorked with marketing and online presence at the Partnership for

Jewish Learning and Life.

BrittanyInterests: • Jewish Theatre• Dance/MusicPlacementShadowing two Cantors

Claire

Interests• Nonprofit Management• Phycology• Social Work • Journalism • Music TherapyPlacementsRandi Cohen, at ADDYE camp at Beth Shalom

Ben

Interests• Engineering• Computer SciencePlacementIDT in the City

Corey• Corey’s placement unfortunately backed

out at the last minute, but we have arranged a program to provide Corey with professional placement experiences throughout the year

• Corey’s participation and involvement in the SeniorITIS Seminars have been incredibly insightful and have greatly added to the impact of the program.

RachelInterests: • Marine Biology• Israel Advocacy• Non-Profit ManagementPlacement: With Susan Levine at Aytzim And Leora Krinksky at Jerusalem U

Leah

Interests: • -Community service• -Engineering• -Computer science• -Business• -Data EntryPlacement: Michael Strom, JTEEN

Yosef

Interests: • Marketing • StatisticsPlacementWith E.J Solomon Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey

Blog posts We have asked each of our participants

to answer blog questions to record and reflect upon their SeniorITIS experience.

The third and final blog topic (emailed out tonight) will be: When someone asks you what you did

this summer…how will you respond?

Your Participation has been Admirable

On behalf of the Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life, we would like to thank each and every one of you for defeating SeniorITIS (the impulse to check out on your senior year) by embracing JTEENGMW SeniorITIS – The Senior Institute for Teens In-Service.

We want to send you off prepared… https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R62kghFI3V4