J Line at the JCC
Grades 8-12

J Line at the JCC

Grades 8-12

J Line at the JCC provides teens with the opportunity to deepen their Jewish connection by creating a space for teens to learn about what interests them the most as a Jewish teen today. J Line experiences will take place throughout the year. Each J Line experience will function independently of one another and take place at different times and days of the week to give teens the flexibility of participating in multiple opportunities. Click here to check out our menu of J Line experiences for 2021-2022.

J-Serve Pittsburgh/J-Serve Steering Committee 2021:

Grades 6-12

Brenna Rosen; [email protected]

J-Serve Pittsburgh is an annual day of service learning, planned by a teen steering committee and offering a wide array of service opportunities to participants from all over the greater Pittsburgh area. Each year, hundreds of teens come together in service, doing everything from preparing meals for families in need to packing craft kits for patients at Children’s Hospital to cleaning up Squirrel Hill’s streets, and much more. Join us for another amazing year of J-Serve Pittsburgh!

Save the Date for J-Serve: Sunday, April 3, 2022

J-Serve Pittsburgh is planned every year by a teen steering committee of dedicated student leaders passionate about giving back to the community through service and growing as activists. The steering committee is open to Jewish teens in 10th-12th grade. Apply today!

Click HERE to learn more about J-Serve

J-SERVE is a partnership of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Repair the World: Pittsburgh, BBYO and the Volunteer Center of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

The Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy Project: Grades 9-12

Maria Carson; [email protected]

The Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy project is for Jewish High Schoolers who want to make a positive impact in the greater Pittsburgh community. In just three hours a month, Goldston participants learn about leadership development, fundraising, philanthropy, and social justice through a vibrant Jewish lens. The Samuel M Goldston Teen Philanthropy Project looks GREAT on college applications and allows teens to really understand how and why philanthropy can be used as a force for good in their communities.

Together participants will explore:

• Identify problems in their community,
• Engage with local organizations to understand the mechanics of non-profits
• Contribute as well as fundraise money for local organizations
• Allocate money to support their chosen organizations’ missions

Through monthly meetings as well as a justice-themed overnight, participants will develop important leadership skills such as critical thinking, time management, logistics, and public speaking while fostering deeper relationships with other Jewish teens.

Program Fee: $250

Click here to learn more about the Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy.

Diller Teen Fellowship: Grades 10-11
facebook.com/pittsburghdillerteens
instagram: @dillerpittsburgh

The Diller Teen Fellows Program is Pittsburgh’s premier leadership development program. Twenty students are selected and participate for a year with the purpose of developing active, effective leaders with a strong commitment to the Jewish people.

Click here to learn more about the Diller Teen Fellowship.

Build Relationships – Connect to Jewish Life – Create Meaningful Jewish Opportunities

The Second Floor Peer Engagement Internship trains and empowers teens to help create a more connected and inclusive teen community. The Peer Engagement Internship is a 10-month paid internship for teens through The Second Floor at the JCC. Interns serve as connectors and builders of Jewish life in Pittsburgh, utilizing their own social networks and creating relationships with Jewish students across the community. Interns attend monthly skill-building workshops and create their own teen-led programs to welcome their peers to The Second Floor space.

Interested students must be in grades 10-12 and over the age of 16 to apply.

Click here to learn more and to apply.

Rosh Hodesh: Grades 6-9

Rosh Hodesh, a partner program with Moving Traditions, helps teach girls the power of community and the ability of Jewish wisdom and practice to foster personal expression and to inspire all people to work for a more just and inclusive world. Through discussion, arts and crafts, creative ritual, games and drama, the girls and their leaders draw on Jewish values to explore issues such as body image, friendship, relationships, family, competition and stress. Meets monthly.

*Adding participants to our middle school girls group and a new 9^th & 10^th. Click here to learn more about Rosh Hodesh.

Shevet

Shevet, a partner program with Moving Tradition, is a program for teen boys helping teen boys connect to Jewish life in a meaningful way as they transition from being a boy into being a young man.  In Shevet, participants have a space where they can explore what masculinity and being Jewish means to them.

Click here to learn more about Shevet.

Social Justice Book Club

Join us for the JCC Social Justice Book Club! Each month, teens are invited to read a book that deals with different social justice topics that will be explored at the end of each month as a group on The Second Floor. The first book up is Channel Kindness by Lady Gaga, an anthology of stories of teens who have turned struggles into positive action in their community.

Click here to register

Wellness Committee

Join the teen wellness committee to plan events in the Second Floor Space around mental and physical wellness! (ex: art nights, destress activities, sports nights, etc..)  We want your ideas and your talents. Make friends & get involved with community organizations that are promoting wellness.

Click here to join the Wellness Committee

BBYO

BBYO Keystone Mountain Region (KMR) is comprised of seven chapters in the greater Pittsburgh area and West Virginia, representing over 250 Jewish teens in our area. By becoming a member of BBYO, teens are afforded the opportunity to make new friends and experience local programming in their communities, regional programming such as dances, community service days, sports events, and conventions, and international programming at large scale conferences and BBYO summer experiences. All that’s left to do now is join us!

Want to change the lives of young Jewish teens? Give back to the community? Expand your network? Volunteer as a BBYO advisor in KMR. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll ever have! Visit bbyo.org to learn more.