There are so many exciting things happening at Jewish World Watch when it comes to our student activists! We are working with students at UCLA who participate in the Challah for Hunger program. They  get a group of 30+ students together to  braid and bake all different kinds of challah, which are then sold on Bruin Walk. The proceeds support Jewish World Watch. This Friday I went to the UCLA Challah for Hunger Shabbat service in support of their wonderful program, spoke to the students about the situation in Darfur and Congo, shared Rene’s story, information about the Southern Sudanese Referendum, and about our experiences on the group in Congo. It was a wonderful evening!  

One student in particular, Lily Stern, created a photography exhibit about Congo last semester for a class and received a grant to take the exhibit to other colleges. In September, the exhibit was put up at Motley’s Coffee shop at Scripps College, one of the Claremont colleges. At the end of the run of the exhibit I was invited to come speak to their students about Congo – and I got some free delicious challah! We are currently re-organizing the exhibit a bit and are bringing it to USC soon – stay tuned!

Younger students are also making a great impact. A few months ago we launched our revised ACT13! 6-lesson curriculum for 7^th and 8^th grade religious school classrooms. We have over 30 religious schools using the program! It’s incredibly exciting to know that there will be hundreds of students in Los Angeles with the skills to be effective activists to end genocide and mass atrocities. The skills they learn through our curriculum – how to educate themselves and their communities, how to advocate for long-term change and how to fundraise to support survivors on the ground – are important skills for any activism in support of any cause. To learn more about our curriculum and see an overview of the program, click here . We will be hosting an informational webinar for teachers and youth educators who will be implementing the curriculum this coming semester on Wednesday January 19^th at 6:00pm, for more information contact me at michelle@jewishworldwatch.org.

Our high school ACT program is going well – Shanie from High Tech High and her club have already raised $300 at a potluck! Our ACT Intern Anjana shares her experience at Jewish World Watch so far:

“I can’t believe that it has already been two months since I started working for JWW as an
ACT intern! Time has flown by! My time working at JWW has been amazing. Through my work with the ACT program, I have met many young, passionate student activists. I was able to attend Mitzvah Day and work with ACT students from Milken High School to make signs for JWW’s annual Walk to End Genocide. I have also had the opportunity to help motivated ACT students plan various events.  On November 4^th, a group of passionate ACT students from different schools in the Los Angeles area met at JWW headquarters to plan an all-inclusive teen event to raise awareness about the upcoming Sudanese Referendum vote on January 9, 2011. The event looks like it’s going to be very exciting.”

Another great development in the area of Student Activism is our work with Jewish youth groups. As a part of our partnership with the Shalom Institute’s Sherut L’Olam program we’ve got about 15 students implementing JWW projects throughout Los Angeles. Our intern Rose has done a great job educating the students and getting them excited about working with JWW! We now have a turn-key program that synagogue youth groups can implement with their members and there will be many more to come – let us know if you’re interested! Currently, we are working on a program for BBYO’s International Convention, NFTY’s Convention and Youth Workers Conference workshops, and a USY event on December 12.

Lastly, we are launching a new program for B’nai Mitzvah students planning their Mitzvah project with Jewish World Watch. We will be having our first B’nai Mitzvah Workshop on January 30^th at the Jewish World Watch office from 10:00am – 12:00pm, parents are invited and some snacks will be provided. To view the flyer please click here.

These are just some of the exciting things going on at Jewish World Watch! If you’re interested in helping your youth community get more involved, let me know! Michelle@jewishworldwatch.org