News from Kol Ami

on Sunday, 29 September 2013.

FROM TAL SCHIERAU

It was great to see all of our kids back at Religious school again. Their faces were full of smiles as they sat with their friends and sang together during T'fillah. Our school welcomed many new faces in our younger grades and we kicked off our first Kol Katan class, which is introducing children as young as two years old to interactive Jewish learning.

Our madrichim have jumped right back into the school and reconnected with many of the children. It was nice to see the hugs and smiles exchanged between the students and our madrachim throughout the day.

We have been fortunate to have so many of our post B'nai Mitzvah kids return to help out in the classes. In today's world, where there are so many distractions, we have created a space where the focus is on our learning and our community. It is a place where Facebook, video games and texting can wait, and where interacting with friends encourages strong bonds to be formed.

For many years we have had a vibrant youth group (TAKAY) for our teens in grades 8 to 12, which has also provided a place for our teens to meet and build relationships with their peers. They have a full schedule of programming and have kicked off the year with their first event where they invited new teens to join them for a fun afternoon. This is a great group of kids who welcome new members with open arms. If you have a teen that may be interested in meeting other teens in our congregation, and attending many fun events, I encourage you to reach out to our Youth Advisor, Aron Katz, to learn more.

TAKAY has been such a success over the years that our school has decided to introduce a Junior Youth Group for grades 5 to 7, named TICKY. Our Junior Youth Group Coordinator, Alexa Rubin, has planned a number of fun and engaging events for our TICKY youth this year. If you have children in grades 5 to 7, we hope they will join TICKY and continue on to TAKAY in the future.

Through our Religious school and youth groups, you can see that Kol Ami has a lot to offer our children. This is where we will find many of our future leaders and I am excited about the journey that they are taking.