ICJA Receives Prestigious AIPAC Award
On March 26 at the opening of the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., AIPAC recognized one high school school for its students’ and advisor’s dedication to Israel advocacy. We are so proud to have been selected as AIPAC’s high school of the year, chosen out of all high schools across the U.S.
Congrats to all our student Israel advocates, our alumni–who in their day helped make our Israel advocacy program so strong–and to Ms. Susan Sennett, who has led dozens of students to AIPAC conferences for many years. We are so proud!
Eight of our students attended the policy conference with Ms. Sennett and Rabbi Matanky as part of our school’s official delegation. Other students attended the conference with their families as well.
The policy conference was the second trip for ICJA students to AIPAC in Washington, D.C. this year. Students joined the Schusterman High School Summit earlier in the year. ICJA students were also invited to a symposium for Midwestern college students at Northwestern recently. ICJA was the only high school invited to that program.
As AIPAC delegates, our students had the opportunity to hear from American, Israeli and Jewish leaders on the current state of American-Israel affairs. They also spent time touring the capitol and meeting with lawmakers to ensure that their voices are heard. Senior Avital Raff says, “It was a really valuable experience to hear from lawmakers about issues that matter to our community.”
Senior Ariella Zwelling, who attended the conference for the first time, says, “AIPAC was an amazing experience in which I was able to learn more about Israel and its strong relationship with America. After attending AIPAC, I truly feel more connected to the pro-Israel community.”
We are especially grateful to the Gorenstein family, who support our Israel advocacy efforts in memory of their father and grandfather, Sam Gorenstein, ע”ה. Teaching our students to be a passionate and educated Israel advocates is fundamental to our mission. Read more about our Israel advocacy efforts here.
Watch a video of the award presentation.