Youth Group at Gator Lanes
Tracie Hurley and Bonnie Mazza
By Jill Schreidell
What is a “lock in sleepover?” Sound foreboding? It is really a lot of fun. The last one held at Temple Beth El was in June 2010. It began with dinner and was attended by over thirty Junior Youth Group students, their two Advisors, Tracie Hurley and Bonnie Mazza, other parent chaperones and Rabbi Barras.
After dinner games were played, movies watched, and finally, sleeping bags were laid out in the Dubin Center with girls on one side and boys on the other side. Sometime between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. the party quieted and sleep ensued. In the morning, after bagels and donuts, everyone left for home.
The Junior Youth Group is a great way for Jewish students in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 to have fun and socialize outside of Hebrew School. The annual “lock in sleep over” is one of many social activities enjoyed by the students. Some other popular events are roller skating at Bamboozles, pizza and bowling at Gater Lanes, fireworks and great seats at a Miracles’ baseball game and outings at Lakes Park complete with baseball, football, lunch and a scavenger hunt.
Youth Group at Miracle
The first fall event is always an icebreaker. The purpose is to partner each student with someone they do not know, someone they usually would not gravitate to. After the partners socialize, everyone stands in a circle and each student tells the group something about their partner. By doing this, each member learns more about every student.
When Hebrew school is in session, the Junior Youth Group sponsors a pizza fundraiser on Wednesdays before classes begin. This gives students of all ages a chance to socialize, and if they choose, time to do homework also. All the Junior Youth Group students are members of Temple Beth El except for a few. The group is open to all Jewish students in the appropriate grades whether or not they belong to Temple Beth El.
Tracie and Bonnie agree that the Junior Youth Group is a fun way for Jewish students to interact and bond outside of Hebrew school. Best of all, when the students enter high school they segue way into the Youth Group that meets at Temple Beth El for Jewish high school students.
Rabbi Barras said, “The Junior Youth Group provides a painless, fun education for our youth. It becomes part of the fabric of who they are. Our children are the future and we must connect them to Judaism or we will lose them. Bonnie and Tracie are doing a wonderful job as Junior Youth Group Advisors. The temple cannot afford to pay for full time advisors, so without their services, the temple would not have a Junior Youth Group. Like our other volunteers, they are a God send.”
There is another “locked in sleepover” planned for June 4, 2011. So if your child is in the Junior Youth Group and you plan to be a chaperone, you may want to get extra sleep the night before.
