Spotlight on Student to Student (STS)
Mrs. Alissa Zeffren, ICJA Jewish History faculty member, has been coordinating, chaperoning, and advising students in STS since she brought the program to Chicago in 2019.
The Student to Student application for 2021-2022 is now open!
One of this year’s Oy! Chicago’s 36-Under-36, Mrs. Zeffren has been building relationships and opportunities for young Jewish leaders, here at ICJA and elsewhere, to engage with their peers from all walks of life.
Student to Student (STS) is a program of Ida Crown Jewish Academy with support from the JUF Fund for the Future grant.
The program prepares Jewish teens from Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox backgrounds to present about Judaism in non-Jewish public and private school classrooms throughout the Chicagoland.
The goal of STS is to combat antisemitism through positive peer-to-peer conversations, one classroom at a time.
Presentations typically take place during the school day. On average, participants will present twice per semester. For the start of the school year, all presentations will take place over zoom.
In the words of a recent ICJA presenter:
“Student to Student enables me to connect with teenagers of a different faith while educating them about the dangers of Anti-semitism”.
The program orientation is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 10th.
For even more on this amazing program, click here for the latest Fact Sheet, click here to view a quick video, and to apply online, click here. Applications are due October 3rd.
Priority will go to junior and senior applicants, but sophomores are welcome to apply as well.
There is no cost to participate in this program.
Please feel free to contact Alissa Zeffren, ICJA Student to Student Coordinator; azeffren@icja.org, with any questions!
