Over the last number of years, Jewish Learning Venture has been fortunate to host a number of high school interns who worked on a number of different projects – from program development and support to database entry. All of their work has truly allowed our agency to  move our work forward in meaningful ways.

This year, through the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy Senior Community Service initiative, we had the opportunity to introduce two seniors to our work and leverage their expertise in being Jewish teenagers in Philadelphia for our jteenphilly program. Here they write about their experiences:

OR AYASH/ Over the past month and a half, I was lucky enough to spend half of my community service hours at Jewish Learning Venture, specifically helping with jteenphilly. Before starting my work, which included a lot of emails and building awareness of the jteenphilly Facebook page, I was hesitant that I would not get enough out of this internship. However, I  quickly learned otherwise when I realized what my work was doing and helping to do. My work not only connected me to the Jewish community but also helped professionals working with teens and teens in the Jewish community connect. This gave me a great feeling. I can’t thank the JLV staff enough for letting me work there.

MICHAEL MILLER/ The past few weeks, I have been working as an intern for jteenphilly. I am happy to say that the work that I have done will continue on. Our main focus as interns for jteenphilly was to bring the Jewish teenage community closer together, particularly in the Philadelphia area. Throughout our month-long time working here, we were able to work on many parts of jteenphilly’s social media. We updated contact lists, sent out numerous e-mails, made more contact lists, and even more. What made working with jteenphilly such an amazing experience was how friendly the professionals in the community were and how they would be willing to help with anything that we needed. Finally, the main part that made working at Jewish  Learning Venture such a privilege was the fact that every Wednesday the staff would come together to talk. Not only was it  talking about an agenda or an article that was found to be interesting, but informal conversations took place as well, sealing the bond that can be seen at Jewish Learning Venture.

We are so appreciative of the work that Or and Michael did in helping to move jteenphilly further along and we wish them both much luck in college!

Next week we will welcome Alyssa Melincoff who, through the JEVS Lasko College Prep Program, will work with us for six weeks, three days a week.  In addition to her internship she will participate in college preparation (including examination prep and college visits). Lasko Interns have to have completed 11th grade and receive a stipend from JEVS when they complete this year-long program. Additionally, each participant has a mentor, a college student, who works with and helps prepares the intern for college.  They also do mitzvah projects and go on social outings throughout the summer. For more information, visit the JEVS website by clicking here.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in interning with Jewish Learning Venture – let us know!
Michael Miller (l) and Or Ayash (r)

Michael Miller (l) and Or Ayash (r)