The Charlotte Jewish News - October 2009 - Page 5
Youth Visions
The Summer Journey
What Every High School Student Should Do Next Summer
By Brenden Carol
Let me see, what did I do this
summer? I hung with friends,
played video games, chased girls.
Oh yeah ... I also went to 15
cities, stayed in hotels for 22
days, argued with officials from
the NRA, Kaiser Permanent
Healthcare systems. Focus on the
Family, met Martin Luther King
Jr.’s right hand man, learned about
every social justice issue under the
sun, plus made 45 new friends, all
while riding a bus from sea to
shining sea and having the time of
my life.
I went on Etgar 36, a Jewish
Journey focused on social justice
issues. For me it was a Journey of
a lifetime. I traveled with the
group for three weeks, but some
were lucky enough to travel for six
weeks. My trip began in Atlanta,
and went all the way to San
Francisco. The trip focuses on
important social issues ranging
from gay marriage to gun control
to health care and much more. On
all of these issues, we had speak
ers from both side. For example on
gun control, we met with Tom
Mauser, a pro-gun control advo
cate whose son died at the
Columbine shooting. But we also
met with the anti-gun control
advocates from the NRA. Visiting
the Columbine High School
memorial was incredibly moving.
best times of my life. How many
other 14-year-olds can say they
traveled the country in a coach
bus meeting movie directors, civil
right leaders, and politicians, all
while making great friends and
watching roaming buffalo in
Nevada. Etgar 36 is a life chang
ing experience.
I guess I should end this article
by telling you what my favorite
experience was, but I cannot think
of just one. There are too many.
Please check out the Journal we
wrote at Etgar36.org. You can get
more information on their
website. ^
THIS IS A
TOYWATCH
Having fun with Etgar 36 during the summer of2009. Brenden Carol is in the
middle at the back.
Even though I was only four when
the shootings took place, I now
feel like I better understand what
happened and how seriously it
impacted individual families and
the Nation.
I also learned a lot about my
Jewish identiy during the trip.
After all, I was traveling with
Jewish kids from around the coun
try, plus I spent each of my
Shabbats observing a different
type of Jewish service. Reform,
Reconstruction and Renewal. We
spent one Shabbat with a Reform
gay temple in Dallas, and another
at an outdoor service in Zion
National Park. Surprisingly, the
most interesting was with a
Renewal Temple in San Francisco.
If I am making this frip sound
Congressman Eric Cantor
Addresses Teens in Eastern
Region BBYO
The newly elected
youth leaders of Eastern
Region BBYO attended
their first convention of
the year in late August.
This convention focused
on leadership training,
goals setting, chapter
assessment and setting
priorities for the upcom
ing programming year.
Sixty teens from VA and
NC attended the weekend
which included eighteen
youth leaders from Charlotte. The
keynote speaker for the weekend
was Congressman Eric Cantor
from Virginia. Eric Cantor is a
fifth-term congressman represent
ing the seventh district of Virginia
and currently holds the highly
esteemed position of Minority
Whip. Congressman Cantor spoke
to the teens about his personal
journey from being one of very
few Jews in his community to
becoming the elected official of
his district. He spoke about the
importance of connecting Judaism
with your personal sfrengths when
leading others.
Charlotte BBYO:
Charlotte BBYO kicked off the
programming year with our annu
al Back to School Pool Party
where we collected new school
items for Huntington Farms
Elementary School. Our four
944-6734
bbyo.org. ’
or email eastern@
e
Sh
too serious, it wasn’t. Every day
we had free time, where got to
choose any restaurant to eat, or an
hour or two to shop and explore.
What could be better than spend
ing time at Venice beach in L.A.
after meeting with the movie pro
ducers of Food, Inc. and having
time to explore Castro and
Berkeley in San Francisco after
learning about literacy in
America? We also got to go to see
some fiin museums like the Rock
‘n Soul and visit some awesome
outdoor sites like the Garden of
the Gods, Zion National Park and
my favorite the Grand Canyon.
We also saw shows likes the Blue
Man group (in Las Vegas) and
movies, bowled, and went to an
old fashion amusement park in
Denver The best party inevitably
was in our bus as we fraveled
across American - great conversa
tions, eating, dancing in the aisle
and of course sleeping half the
time.
Etgar 36 really was one of the
TOYY ITATCH
TIME IS PLASTIC
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Eric Cantor (R-VA) spoke with BBYO’s teen
leaders from VA and NC.
chapters, Chai Chaverim BBG,
Ohavim BBG, Hank Greenberg
AZA and Mickey Barak Aberman
AZA have already begun pro
gramming on Tuesday nights and
welcomed the more than forty new
members to Charlotte BBYO. Our
new members are looking forward
to their first BBYO convention
which will be held the weekend of
October 16-18. It’s not too late to
join BBYO which is open to all
Jewish teens in 9th-12th grade.
For more information, please
contact the BBYO office at 704-
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