9th – 12th Grade New Orleans Service Trip
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FOR MORE INFO |
| Teens (and their parents) interested in the trip should plan to attend our information evening:
Tuesday, September 20, • Learn about the trip. To RSVP, email Gail Minkow: |
Teens. Service. New Orleans.
Are you a teenager who…
…loved your Confirmation trip to DC? (or are you pumped for your Confirmation class’ trip?)
…likes getting hands-on with a social-action projects?
…is eager to learn about what it means to really address the core issues behind injustice and inequality?
…is jazzed to meet people from different walks of life?
…likes gumbo and jambalaya?
…loves celebrating Shabbat with friends from Isaiah and members of a totally different Jewish community?
If any of this sounds appealing to you, and if you’re in ninth through twelfth grade, then you should join us on our
First Ever Teen Service Trip to New Orleans
February 8-12, 2012.
What’s This All About?
In partnership with Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ), a group of Temple Isaiah students and their parents will be traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana to take part in the massive rehabilitation still underway in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The trip is a chance for teens to get in-depth (and college resume-worthy) experience with social justice. As a participant, you’ll travel to see firsthand the connections between service, Jewish learning, and social justice. Teens solidify lifelong commitments to building a more just world and help strengthen Jewish ties within their communities.
We’ll:
- study Jewish and secular texts about justice, race, class, and social change;
- listen to residents of the Lower Ninth Ward share stories about Hurricane Katrina and their efforts to return and rebuild;
- celebrate Shabbat with a local Jewish community;
- spend some time as tourists playing in the Garden District and the French Quarter!
This incredible trip is designed for teens and is especially for graduates of our Confirmation program, ninth and tenth graders currently in the program, and teens who are involved in ITY and our Rishonim program. The cost of the trip (including airfare) will be approximately $1000 per person. Financial aid is available. In fact, participants in this trip may qualify for need-based financial aid from the Youth Opportunity Scholarship Fund and other sources. (Please talk to Rabbi Dara Frimmer or Josh Mason-Barkin if you have any questions.) Do not let cost prevent you from applying.
Common Questions
Hold on! Does this program require missing school?
Yes. We leave on a Wednesday morning and return Sunday afternoon. The kids will miss three full days of school. We know that’s tough, but we’re comfortable running a trip that conflicts with school days because of a simple truth: We think it’s worth it. That’s because the hands-on learning that will happen on this trip is deep, engaging, personal, and transformative. Opportunities like this don’t come along often.
(The clergy and/or director of congregational learning are happy to write notes to teachers. They can also connect you with the parents and students who missed school in order to attend this year. They’ll tell you about their choices and about the experience.)
Rebuilding? How hard is the work?
Each person works according to his/her own ability. On our recent recent trip, participants moved piles of rocks in a community garden. They painted and transported wood for a house being rebuilt. They cleared a backyard of debris. Everyone was able to pitch in.
What kind of financial aid is available?
Need-based financial aid is available from a number of sources, including the Youth Opportunity Scholarship Fund. Applying is simple, and we hope to do whatever we can to remove cost as a determining factor for families considering participating in the trip. For more information, contact Rabbi Frimmer or Lisa Greengard.
How do I find out more information?
First, you should attend the information session on Tuesday, September 20 at 6:15pm. Over dinner (provided!) you’ll learn all about the trip, hear from kids and parents who attended last year, and get answers to all your questions. To RSVP, please email Gail Minkow at gail@templeisaiah.com.
You can also express your interest and ask questions by contacting Rabbi Frimmer (dara@templeisaiah.com) or Lisa Greengard (lisa@templeisaiah.com).
What’s the learning like?
JFSJ’s service learning curriculum takes participants on a journey from understanding themselves as individuals to recognizing the connection between Judaism and social justice, to seeing their role as a social justice leader in their home communities.
Topics include:
- “Why are we here?”
- “Creating sacred partnerships”
- “Why is our society like this?”
- “Ways to make change”
- “What can we do together?”
- “Keeping ourselves going”
Are we working on the service project the whole time?
This is about more than service work alone. You’ll be immersed in the New Orleans community as a means to learn with and about new people and places. You’ll spend your days working alongside members of the community, hearing stories of what life is like there and gaining further understanding of what the communities need to sustain themselves. Then you’ll meet with local leaders and organizers who’ll explain what’s being done to improve life for the community. You’ll eat at local establishments, buy local food, and learn how local injustices are related to those throughout the US.
