International Chapter of the Year Award Application

Transcription

1 International Chapter of the Year Award Application Region: Seaboard Chapter: BIOM USY (Beth Israel Owings Mills) Please list the following: Total USY Membership as of June 30th 2012: 34 Total USY Membership as of June 30th 2013: 36 How many 6th graders are in your synagogue religious school? 28 How many 6th graders from your synagogue are in Jewish Day schools? 2 Total Tikun Olam monies raised between July 1st 2011 and June 30th 2012: $ Total Tikun Olam monies raised between July 1st 2012 and June 30th 2013: $ Per Capita Tikun Olam Total between July 1st 2012 and June 30th 2012: $19.81 Per Capita Tikun Olam Total between July 1st 2012 and June 30th 2013: $22.72 Did your chapter allocate its Tikun Olam money? Yes we did. As a chapter we identified 7 charities we were interested in supporting. In the end we voted on both the ALS Foundation in honor of our advisor s aunt who tragically lost her battle to ALS at the end of the summer, and also to Sandy Hook and Boston charities to help the families who were effected by those two situations. Chapter Board 1. List and describe in 1 sentence all Executive Board positions. Josh Rosenbaum - President: Besides supervising and planning the Board meetings, the President helps to plan all events. Miles Greenspoon - Executive VP: The Executive Vice President works cooperatively with the President in leading our chapter in successful activities and participation locally and regionally. Jordan Burt and Josh Danoff - Israel Affairs Co-Vice Presidents: Our Israel Affairs Vice Presidents plan Israel programs for our chapter in a variety of ways which are inspirational for people to enjoy Israel both locally, regionally and as visitors. Harris Himelfarb - Religion/Education Vice President: This Vice President helps our chapter to see the religious and educational component of each event in fun subtle ways including services and holiday celebrations.

2 Maddie Schwartz and Jessica Schwartz - Membership/Kadima Vice Presidents: These Vice Presidents encourage membership & work with the staff to create membership discounts and incentives while focusing on Kadima members as future USYers. Julie Cohen and Rachel Balenson - Social Action/Tikun Olam Vice Presidents: These Vice Presidents coordinate our Tikun Olam and Social Action monetary and time goals through many projects. Michael Baumhol - Communications Vice President and Andrew Burt - 9th Grade Communications Vice President: These Vice Presidents divide communications responsibilities such as meeting minutes, creating Facebook events and promo videos, sharing information in our Facebook group, coordination of picture sharing, 9th grade outreach and planning our Yearbook page. In addition, all of our board members help plan events. 2. Does your chapter have a General Board or any yearlong committees? We have an informal General Board and many co-chairs of events. All of our events are co-chaired by a board member as well as at least one member of the chapter. Our yearly Shabbaton, the Claire Sodden Memorial Weekend, is filled with a variety of leaders from our Tri-Chairs, to our CSMW committee and program chair people. In addition, most of our Board meetings have been open and allow chapter members to help plan events in a low key way. 3. List an approximate number of board meetings held per year. Ten board meetings scheduled and many other meetings to plan events. 4. Is your Youth Director/Advisor full time or part time? Our Youth Director, Sheri Knauth was Full Time and USY Advisor, Becca Rosenfelt worked 15 hours a month paid and many more hours by volunteer. 5. Are there any other staff members in addition to your Youth Director/Advisor? We hire additional staff as our attendance requires at our events including many chapter and regional alumni.

3 Chapter Activity and Programming 1. List 15 chapter programs held in the past year with a 1-sentence description of each program. 1. Ace of Oogot: At this delicious Israel evening we decorated 8 cakes, each representing a region of Israel but when placed together created the complete map, and learned about Israel s culture, geography, products and much more that we did not know before. 2. Dancing with the Jews: Whether you could dance for real, or just made fool of yourself and busted a move this was a great event to come to and see the 8 dancing acts that danced for charity on Purim, and contribute to TO. 3. Toy Drive & Delivery: USYers went to Kennedy Krieger Institute, a local children s therapy center, and delivered toys we have collected from previous events throughout the year in a one-on-one experience of the joy spread by giving tzedakah. 4. SA/TO Bunny Silent Auction: USY and Kadima members decorated ceramic bunny (our chapter mascot) tzedakah boxes, at home and at various USY and Kadima events, with variety of themes such as Spiderman, Ravens, and Schrödinger's box which were then auctioned for Tzedakah raising $ Bus SATO Auction: This tzedakah auction (raising $103) took place during the bus ride at our annual Mystery Bus Ride and included almost free items from our youth lounge closet or donations such as use of an air mattress during an overnight. 6. Beth Israel s Night at the Drive-In: The Kickoff event, Night at the Drive-In, included Havdalah under the stars, an inflatable movie screen showing The Hunger Games, an inflatable obstacle course, board games and snacks as we opened the year in a relaxed, fun setting. 7. QR Code Scavenger Hunt: Teams participated in the scavenger hunt where by scanning QR Codes, they were asked to complete a variety of tasks such as supply the lyrics to the #1 song on itunes, or pose with friends to recreate the iconic image of General Washington crossing the Delaware River. 8. Fear Factor Shabbat: Following a congregational Kabalat Shabbat Service and a freaky foods meal, ruach and USYers participated in Fear Factor posed obstacles such as identifying baby food, retrieving and solving a tangram puzzle that was

4 lodged in Jell-O, drinking a red hot Kiddush a cup of hot sauce and salsa, passing eggs down a line using only a spoon, walking on broken glass (Potato Chips) while blindfolded, and retrieving toy bugs from a pool of ice by only using your feet th Annual Claire Sodden Memorial Weekend Shabbaton: The teen led shabbaton offered the thematic Around the USA in 39 hours and was packed with amazing programming including themed USY meals, open mic, Respectful Disagreement sichot, a professional comedian, teen led congregational services & d var torahs, a presentation by our regional shaliach, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? the off-the-board game and ended with a Game show, Karaoke and Dancing. 10. Pajama Shabbat: Pajama Shabbat was intended to offer the joys Shabbat with a Dr. Seuss Bed Time service & story time, a finger food dinner, ruach and rotational sleep over game challenge complete with humorous fashion show for tzedakah. 11. Curling: A Unique USY Sports Event: USYers got together to try Curling, a challenging (yet loads of fun) Olympic ice sport which brought us together with brooms and sliding. 12. Go Karting: As an easy, yet exciting Sunday afternoon challenge the chapter went Go Karting. 13. Haunted Hay Ride and Optional Overnight: This event was a multichapter event which attracted 30 people from local shuls joining us for Havdalah and then on a haunted hay ride along with a corn maze and bonfire, for those that chose to we returned to the synagogue for more hanging out and little sleep. 14. Mystery Bus Ride: Our third annual, Superhero themed Mystery Bus Ride started off with a Havdalah service at the shul, and then 40 USYers boarded a bus and headed toward Rebounderz trampoline venue, Walmart for a HUGE Tikun Olam scavenger hunt (over $400 worth of toys and supplies were bought), a diner for a late night dinner and back to Beth Israel for a sleep over, decorating bunny tzedakah boxes and hanging out. 15. Iron Chef: Chanukah Edition: Our second (bi-annual) Iron Chef event, this year with a Chanukah theme, was a huge success (SOLD out!) included olive oil and a different secret ingredient each round as a challenge to the three teams in three competitive meal rounds.

5 2. List the average number of attendance at each chapter program. Average of 27 teens 3. List approximate number of programs or events per month. 2 Events per month 4. List the number of Regional Conventions held per year and attendance from your chapter. USY Encampment/Kamp Kadima 2012: 5 USY LTI 2012: 5 USY Fall Convention 2012: 15 USY International Convention 2012: 7 USY Formal 2013: 14 USY and Kadima Kings Dominion Day 2013: 8 USY Spring Convention 2013: 12 In 200 words or less per topic, please describe your best: Israel Program Name of Program: Ace of Oogot Description: An amazing Israel event where we decorated 8 cakes each based on a region of Israel, including The Negev, Mitzpe Ramon, Eilat, and Masada. It was not only about art but really about learning aspects of Israel s culture, geography, products and things we did not know before. We used frosting, graham crackers, candy, and almost any other dessert you can think of! Teams presented their cakes and talked about how they decorated their cakes and why. And last, of course, we ate. We took this Israel program one step further than the tradition Israel cake decorating event by including a great deal of Israel information required. Once the teams came together - their cakes brought Israel to life. It was our goal to allow people to learn interesting facts about Israel while having fun. This was a quality program that raised awareness about Israel. Cakes were baked in advance and outlined with the shape of Israel. Please see the following example of one of the fact sheets we handed out.

6 Bruchim Haba im l emtza b yisrael. (Welcome to the middle of Israel!) Dead sea Jerusalem (Ben Yehuda Street) Tel Aviv Ashkelon Picture yourself, you re standing in Israel on a beautiful sunny day. You re riding in your tour bus and all of a sudden you think you re in a chemistry lab but really you re entering Yam HaMelach, also known as the Dead Sea. You are now standing in the lowest place on earth. What you re smelling is the sulfur from the high salt levels in the water. The Dead Sea is 42 miles long and 11 miles wide. Now, we re all from Baltimore here, we are very lucky to have a sister city in Israel! Our sister city is Ashkelon! Ashkelon is very similar to Baltimore. The city has 19 elementary schools, and nine junior high and high schools. The Ashkelon Academic College opened in 1998, and now hosts thousands of students. Harvard University operates an archaeological summer school program in Ashkelon. The ancient site of Ashkelon is now a national park on the city's southern coast. The walls that encircled the city are still visible, as well as Canaanite earth ramparts. The park contains Byzantine, Crusader and Roman ruins. The largest dog cemetery in the ancient world was discovered in Ashkelon.

7 I m sure you are all very familiar with Tel Aviv. They re known for their night life! Of course we all like to party, well this is the place to go! Also in Tel Aviv is the Ben Gurion International Airport! (BEN GURION BANEGEV!) Tel Aviv is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 405,000 and a land area of 52 km². The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in central-west Israel. Yerushalyim Shel Zahav, a song most of us know. Jerusalem city of gold, it really is. At night, the stone shines gold from the sunset. Jerusalem is the center of Judaism, some even think it is the center of the world! Jerusalem houses multiple things including the Kotel. Going to the Kotel is such an amazing place to visit, knowing that there is still part of our past in our homeland. Also in Jerusalem is Ben Yehuda Street! On Ben Yehuda you can find everything! From street performers to crepes to kippot to hassidic rabbis handing out kabbalah bracelets.

8 Rel/Ed Program Name of Program: Pajama Shabbat Description: For our first chapter wide Shabbat celebration of the year, we decided to return to our childhood. Participants were encouraged to come in their (Shabbat appropriate) pajamas for an evening filled with ruach and fun. We started the night with a Dr. Seuss themed Kabbalat Shabbat service and Ma ariv. During the service, different Dr. Seuss quotes about relaxation and taking time for yourself were inserted. Following services, and a quick bedtime story we ate a Shabbat dinner of our favorite sleep over finger foods including French fries and chicken nuggets. After ruach and Birkat Hamazon we played a tournament of traditional sleep over games, Apple to Apples Jewish Edition, Twister and Taboo. The participants were spilt into 6 teams so that they had an opportunity to play every game against different teams. Following the games, we had a humorous fashion show where participants voted (with tickets) for the best dressed USYer. Part of everyone s admittance fee went towards tzedakah. Social Action Program Name of Program: Toy Delivery at Kennedy Krieger Institute Description: USYers went to Kennedy Krieger Institute and delivered toys we have collected from previous events. It was a great experience to see the kids really happy when they got to play with all the toys. Mary Glazer, a chapter senior, said. They also played the game SPOONS, and gave the children great joy and smiles. Our collection of over $400 in toys will make many kids happy. This project culminated in an act of Gemilut Chasidim and helped to BIOM USY promote the knowledge that there are many organizations which need donations of toys. We hosted toy drives during a variety of times during the year. It was our goal to make the toy drive part of our year and grow our collection which was prominently displayed in our youth lounge. Tikun Olam Program Name of Program: Bus SATO Auction Description: This program took place during our Mystery Bus Ride. In between each stop, we auctioned of random toys or food for USYers to bid on. All of the money ($103) raised went to our USY Tikun Olam Fund. We found collected the items from our youth lounge storage closet so that it didn t cost us any money. In addition, we offered special auction items like the use of an inflatable mattress during the overnight & a giant homemade cookie (once we returned to the synagogue). Tzedakah giving can be fun and even make you bid on silly things that you don t even need. Here is a list of some of the things we auctioned off and how much each raised. Blow Up Mattress for use at Shul $25 Giant Cookie $15

9 Mini Skeleton Puzzle $3 Clue to first location $7 Coupon for 2 slices of pizza and a drink $4 Light up slim ball $1 Flying Monkey $3 Vintage BIOM Shirt $5 Social Program Name of Program: Curling: A Unique USY Sports Event Description: USYers got together to try this challenging (yet loads of fun) sport. Curling, is an Olympic sport in which you push a stone and aim it at a target on the other side of the ice. In order to make it faster or slower, you must sweep the ice with a broom. Everyone fell quite a few times, but got right back up and kept going!! One participant said, I loved curling because it was a social event that combined sports with originality. Everybody got the chance to learn something new and we all had fun slipping on the ice. Another said that he was going to check it out for a summer activity. Curling was an excellent event, and was a great experience! We were introduced to this sport by two Jewish participants - one, a member of our synagogue and the other, a friend of our advisor. TJ Casser (the congregant) was one of our coaches on the night of the program and is a big fan of USY in our shul. In addition to each write-up, feel free to include supplies list, notes, program outlines, and/or any other pre-planning tools used to prepare for your program.

10 Kadima Involvement with the USY Chapter Do you have a Kadima Chapter? Kadima Advisor? If yes, is he or she Full time/part time/also your USY advisor? Kadima Board? If yes, what positions? Yes, we have a Kadima chapter and part time Kadima Advisor. We host planning meetings and intend to host a Kadima board during Describe in 200 words or less the relationship between your USY and Kadima Chapters. (If you do not have a Kadima Chapter, please write No Kadima Chapter ) Our USYers spread the love of USY through our Kadima chapter and Kadima aged classrooms throughout the year with visits to classrooms and by staffing events. Our USYers are well aware of the importance of Kadima to the future and longevity of USY. We welcome our 8th grade Kadimanicks into BIOM USY at the most important juncture of the year- Claire Sodden Memorial Weekend. This process of introducing USY shows our incoming class the respect and joy with which we bring them into USY. Welcoming our Kadima 8th graders to USY in February allows these tweens to be easily transition from one group to the next. In addition, the USYers host two Sunday Shacharit Live programs for Kadima during Sunday School. The USY presence is strong as a majority of the 28 madrichim. They wear their shirts, talk about events and create a bond with these students. Note: Success in the Kadima Chapter will not have weight in the final evaluation of the USY Chapter of the Year, however, the interaction between the USY Chapter and its Kadima counterpart will play a role in the judging. Communication Describe in 300 words or less your chapter s means of communications. (For example, USY Chapter Yellow Pages, Chapter Newsletters, Chapter Webpage, listserv, phone calls, etc.) Description: BIOM USY keeps in touch in many ways including s, Flyers. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Events, our Facebook group and a Parent s Facebook Group. Our Facebook group is a source of announcements and conversation. There are 66 members who keep track of what s going on and what s next with BIOM USY. Our Twitter page is a new source of information for at BIOM USY. We ve tweeted 130 times since last June including fun things like pictures, Birthday greetings and other notes. Follow us at:

11 For our Facebook Events we try to add some creativity with great pictures and all the important details. Conversations are sparked about who is going and what s happening at the program. Then, there s our YouTube page with funny memories of our events in actual video and some slideshows. It s wonderful to remember the fun times with friends by looking back at this YouTube collection. Follow our page at: And, you ll want to watch some of the 12 additions from so you can laugh and smile with BIOM USY like you were there with us. This year, we ve started a Parents Facebook Group. Our parents hear about our events and lots of other BIOM USY information. You can find it at Our advisor also stays in constant contact with the parents, and teens without Facebook through s, at least twice a month. We also make flyers for all of our events that we hand out at Hebrew High School and hang in the Youth Lounge. Feel free to include up to THREE samples of any Newsletters, phone call trees, Flyers, etc. (If any sample is longer than one page, i.e. chapter newsletter, please include a sample of up to three 8.5 x11 pages) In addition, if you have a chapter website, please include ONE screenshot of the homepage.

12 CURLING: A Unique USY Sports Event Try this fun sport if you have a good sense of humor and sense of adventure! Saturday, December 15 6:00 to 11:30pm For all BIOM High School Students and their Jewish Friends We will be carpooling from Beth Israel to Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, MD $25 for BIOM USY Members $32 for non-biom USY Members Snacks and Pizza will be served Mandatory Response date: November 30th with fee to Becca at biomusy@bethisrael-om.org This is a firm RSVP Date due to the need to reserve ice time. What is curling? Seemingly simple. A granite rock, a sheet of ice, a target 42 yards away. Finish with your rocks closer to the target than your opponents, and your team of four wins a game in which keen competition mixes with a wonderful social atmosphere. But wait: this is an Olympic sport, played by people across the world from ages 8 to 80. Curling is a game of strategy, and of finesse.want to know more about curling? Go to: Thank you to the Potomac Curling Club for a greatly reduced rate for this event.

13 PAJAMA SHABBAT Come in (appropriate) PJs for Kabbalat Shabbat on OCtOber 26th, a yummy dinner of sleep over-type foods and a great evening of slumber party games!! Please rsvp by October 23rd $15 for the evening Plus additional money for tzedakah if you wish Please send a check to biom Youth by the 23rd Please bring toiletries or a new pillow or

14 Come celebrate Purim and share your dancing skills or just vote for others at at Beth Israel Dances can be goofy, funny or serious! Share the fun of Purim with your friends! Purim, Saturday, February 23 7:30pm Megillah Reading 8:30pm - 10:30 pm Event ALL friends in 8th through 12th grades are welcome! $13 a person with aportion going to Tzedakah Dances should be performed in pairs and you should provide your own music by CD or MP3. Sign up your dance today by ing Becca (biomusy@bethisrael-om.org) or at tinyurl.com/dancingwiththejews by February 19th at midnight

15 Optional: Is there anything else we should know? (Please limit to one page, 12 point font, Times New Roman). This portion must be written by either the Chapter President or Chapter Executive Board. Ladies and gentlemen of the awards committee, Please allow us to explain why we, the chapter board members, believe that you should consider BIOM for International Chapter of the Year. This past year, we have had 36 teenagers pay to be registered members of BIOM USY. Although that membership is not extraordinarily high in Seaboard, we believe that quality outweighs quantity. And trust us, you won't find more quality USYers anywhere else. Not only have we increased our membership from last year, but we have made efforts to make that membership as active as possible. We average more than 25 USYers per event, more than 70% of our total membership. In addition, we have a dedicated chapter board of eleven people (and people were still unsuccessful in their elections last year), and many of our chapter events have been chaired by USYers not on board. Over 50% of our chapter membership has served in some leadership capacity this year. We also show our quality through our commitment to SA/TO. We have raised over $800 for tikun olam, and we allocated that money ourselves through the international USY standard procedures. We have also asked that in lieu of certain program costs, USYers bring small toys for children. We collected a couple hundred dollars' worth of toys, that we have donated to local children's hospitals. To even further demonstrate our commitment to these sacred Jewish values, we have had many programs this year that incorporate social action themes such as our Toy Drive and delivery. Last but certainly not least, we want to say how proud we are to be a members of BIOM USY. Every USYer is so amazing, inclusive, and enthusiastic; every staff member is so dedicated and caring (especially our advisor, Becca Rosenfelt, and our youth director, Sheri Knauth). We have been fortunate enough to call BIOM more than our chapter - we can call it our second home. We appreciate your consideration. Respectfully, Beth Israel Owings Mills USY Chapter Board

16 Dear Awards Committee, As President and self-proclaimed super hero, I genuinely believe Beth Israel Owings Mills deserves International Chapter of the Year. In my opinion we had the most unique events which include going Curling, an all-out pajama party and our entire Mystery Bus Ride event. BIOM has earned most improved chapter and chapter of excellence in past consecutive years in Seaboard and last year's board worked so hard for Seaboard Chapter of the Year. Going into last year we all felt like we had the momentum behind us and now looking back at all of our amazing events and programs I honestly believe that people could look to the year BIOM had as an example of a great year. We've all worked so hard for this and it shows our TO skyrocketed, so did our Israel Challenge participation, and our attendance at both chapter and regional events. We had a great year and got the great ending we deserved. Now we would love to add to that momentum and become International Chapter of the Year. Thank you, Joshua Rosenbaum BIOM USY President

17 Shalom International Chapter of the Year Committee: After twelve years of working with teens in the Midwest and on the East Coast I can tell you that hard working and committed teens are few and far between. You can clearly tell that the Beth Israel Owings Mills teens are the teens you are searching for as award winners. The diverse and creative USY programs are the result of planning meetings and hard work from the teen population at BIOM USY and the broader group of teens from our synagogue. In BIOM USY, the attendance is due to the goal of attracting many different types of people from athletes to dancers and artists to chefs. The varied membership and attendance is due to excellence in programming. I have personally felt the thrilling vibe they seek to convey in incredible Shabbat & Holiday events. Our adult congregants would benefit from the feelings which our USYers pull from your neshama. The USYers strive to connect their peers to Israel with the joy and excitement they ve experience in Israel. In the end, the most important aspect of our chapter comes back to Social Action and Tikun Olam. It is clear to see that the BIOM teens are focused on making the world a better place through funds and action. Beth Israel Congregation makes USY a priority and encourages our USYers to shine during services, holidays and beyond. From Simchat Torah through Purim, the teens are on the Bimah and in the forefront of congregational activities. Beth Israel s Religious School hosts 28+ madrichim of which the majority are USYers or Kadimaniks. The Religious School Director is confident to give her students to the hands of the USYers for a semi- annual Lag BaOmer program (three to date). She trusts that our USYers will work alongside her Emet (11th & 12th Grade program) students in hosting a quality program. BIOM USY welcomed me as a new Youth Director in June 2007 and continues to welcome teens and tweens to each event throughout the year. This award winning chapter is a light among our nation and an example of good humor, good fun and quality program. Though small, they are mighty and worthy of your recognition. Sincerley, Sheri Knauth Youth Director, June 2007-August 2013

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