Teen Experience

Tichon Shalom Teen Experiences

The goals of our program are: 

• To provide the students with a welcoming, safe, social environment in which to connect to other Jewish teens, the Chicago Jewish Community, clergy, and to Temple Sholom. 
• To provide students an opportunity to explore, adapt, solidify, and/or change their own Jewish beliefs, practices, and traditions. 
• To generate enthusiasm for the depth and breadth of Jewish culture, love for the Jewish people and our way of life. 
• To provide students with the tools to function as articulate, socio-politically aware Jews on the college campus and beyond. 

Opportunities for Teens

• Crown Family High School
• 8th - 12th Grade Madrichim Teacher Assistant Program
• Orr Shalom Youth Group 
• L’Taken Social Justice High School Seminar at the Religious Action Center
• 8th grade Chicagoland Community Trips
• Orr Shalom High School Retreat at OSRUI 
• Monday Meal

Crown Family High School

Crown Family High School is our Wednesday evening program for high school students whose parents are temple members. Teens meet weekly (attending as they are able in coordination with other commitments) with our faculty consisting of the Rabbis, Cantor, Director of Lifelong Learning, and Youth Engagement Coordinator. The evening begins with dinner discussion and social time, followed by Ma’ariv T’filah (Evening Prayer), and a class session taught by members of our clergy/education team and/or special guests. Students have the opportunity to suggest their own topics of discussion throughout the year, and teens are always welcome to stop by and try it out! Our program leads up to a “Senior Seminar” for 12th Graders with our Rabbis and a Kabbalat Torah Graduation Shabbat ceremony. 

Madrichim High School Teacher Assistant Program 

Madrichim (teacher assistants) are 8th-12th graders who help in Religious School classrooms or our office on Sunday mornings, during Midweek Hebrew, and/or Junior Youth Group events! All Temple Sholom high school students are eligible to apply for this opportunity to earn money or service-learning hours while making a positive impact upon younger students as mentors and role models. We offer Madrichim training in our 8th grade Sunday class as well as regular check-in lunches after school with our Youth Engagement Coordinator. Participation in this program keeps teens connected to their Jewish community and helps them to be stronger candidates for summer jobs and stand out on college applications. 

8th Graders can practice and hone the skills learned in their Sunday Madrichim (teacher assistant) training class during Midweek Hebrew on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 8th Grade Midweek Madrichim will be placed in a classroom or the Religious School office and be given further training, leadership roles, and opportunities to apply their learning from Sunday class. 8th Grade students can opt to be Midweek Madrichim on Tuesdays from 4-5:30 PM or Wednesdays from 6-7:30 PM. Participation in the 8th Grade program on Sundays is highly recommended, but not required to participate in the Midweek Madrichim program. 

• High School Madrichim Application
• 8th Grade Midweek Madrichim Application

L’taken Teen Social Justice Seminar at The Religious Action Center (R.A.C.) 

High school students have an amazing opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. with Temple Sholom teens, clergy, and educators to learn how to lobby on Capitol Hill about issues they are passionate about, as part of the L’taken Social Justice Weekend Seminar for teens at our Reform movement’s lobbying organization, the Religious Action Center (RAC). This is a chance to make a difference both at the national and local level! Our clergy and educators have attended this trip many times and have seen that it is a transformative culminating experience for all who attend. Teens can earn 35 hours of community service for participating in this social justice program and there will be ample time for socializing, touring, and learning about the Reform Jewish perspective on various topics with hundreds of other Reform Jewish teens! 

Learn more about L’taken 

Israel Now (formerly Ta'am Yisrael) 

8th grade Chicagoland Community Trips 

This educational experience in Israel is designed to give participants a meaningful, intense, emotional, and focused taste of the land and their heritage through a week-long, "hands-on" experience in Israel. Explore Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, archeological digs, trek through the Negev desert and swim in the Dead Sea, visit historical sites and museums, make friends with Israelis, engage in social justice projects, and much more! 

Visit www.israelnowtrip.org to learn more 

Questions? Contact youth@sholomchicago.org or 773-435-1533.