I know how difficult it can be to find meaningful summer opportunities in the era of Covid-19, so I wanted to highlight some interesting virtual opportunities for teens. However, please note that I cannot vet these programs! 

​The Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU is offering an online professional development summer program geared towards high school and college students. Rewired is a compilation of professional, leadership, and identity development seminars  adapted for online, independent learning. The program also includes two hours of 1-on-1 coaching with a member of the Bronfman Center team.  After completion of the modules, each student will receive an NYU Rewired Certificate. The cost to participate is $180. For more details, visit http://www.bronfmancenter.org/rewired or contact Beckie Hamroff at [email protected].

For students in the NYC area, the Bronfman Center also runs a Summer Excelerator Internship program, which appears to be running in a hybrid format for Summer 2021. 

Oberlin College to open certified kosher kitchen (Cleveland Jewish News) - "With approximately 23% of Oberlin students identifying as Jewish, the college recognized there was a need to expand its dining options."

Now leasing: New Jewish student housing at UI (The News Gazette) - "[T]he living space is intended to provide a home-like environment in which Jewish students can live with others with like-minded traditions."

Penn refuses to move 2021 commencement from Jewish holiday despite student pleas (The Daily Pennsylvanian) - "Eligible Orthodox students who choose to attend the ceremony in person will be provided with accommodations, and the event will be recorded for families to watch at a later date."

Pomona Student Gov’t Passes Israel Boycott, Bans Future Investment (The Claremont Independent) - "ASPC will join Pitzer Student Senate as the second student government of the Claremont Consortium to enact an Israeli boycott."

Jewish students find community amid anti-Semitism (The Daily Orange) - "[S]he and other Jewish students have been working to develop and implement anti-Semitism training for student organizations across [Syracuse's] campus."

California Court Upholds Right for New Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center at UCSD to Move Forward (Hillel San Diego) - "The $19 million project consists of three state-of-the-art buildings totaling 6,500 square feet, and will serve the Jewish students of UCSD each year by hosting worship, Jewish learning, and community activities."

Yeshiva University students file lawsuit to get LGBTQ student club recognized (Washington Post) - "The lawsuit against the New York City-based school of about 3,000 students is expected to surface tensions over LGBT issues at the Modern Orthodox Jewish university, which aims to keep one foot in the Orthodox tradition of Judaism and another in modern American education."

This looks like a great panel, and it happens to be co-sponsored by my kids' school! 

I conducted this interview for an IECA conference presentation several years ago, and it is interesting to hear Isabelle explain that it is possible to have a robust Jewish experience even at a school with a very small Jewish population. Many thanks to my co-presenter, Michelle Jacobs, and her husband who edited the video for us! 

Moving Tradition’s Kol Koleinu fellowship, offered in collaboration with NFTY and USY, invites young Jewish feminists to explore and deepen their feminist knowledge, channel their voices to share their beliefs, and use their skills to create tangible change in their communities. Open to Jewish high school students nationally, this year-long fellowship brings together teens to learn about gender analysis, feminism and social change, to use their expertise to teach their peers, and to complete projects that share their learning and leadership with their greater Jewish communities. For more information, visit: https://www.movingtraditions.org/kol-koleinu/. Hurry! Deadline to apply is May 2, 2021.