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Gilinski Hillel Ambassador Inspires Cubs
By Joelle Kirsch ‘23, Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Hillel Ambassador
In my Lions and Cubs Club, we create meaningful bonds with children in the Lower School who would benefit from a relationship with High School students. Every Friday, we meet for an hour, and participate in activities of interest to the students. This includes volcano eruptions, slime, bracelets, baking and more.
I have always loved working with children, and I have always wanted to create a club in Scheck Hillel where High School students can create bonds with younger students. In my interview to become a Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Hillel Ambassador, I expressed this idea to the panel of judges and, when awarded the title I knew it would be a great opportunity to make this a reality. I immediately expressed my strong desire for this to Mr. Butler, our faculty advisor, and we set up a meeting with Dr. Wagenberg, director of our Juda and Maria Diener Lower School. Since then, I have worked to make this possible, and I am incredibly proud that it has become a reality.
The "cubs" in the club are incredibly smart, kind and empathetic. They have come out of their shell and have expressed to me and the other High School students their interests and what projects they would like to have in the future. When I was their age, I would have never had such confidence and assertiveness, and I have learned how incredibly strong and bright young children can be, and how much they truly love learning and creating bonds with the teenagers. Their appreciation for this club is also a constant reminder of why I decided to start it, and is very rewarding.
Although this club just recently began, we have had some incredible moments. One of the students expressed his love of volcanoes, so we sculpted homemade volcanoes out of clay. The next week, when they were dry, we did an experiment where we mixed baking soda and vinegar in the crater of the volcano, and the kids watched the "lava" ooze out. It was incredible to see the joy in their faces and how excited they were when their experiment was successful!
Learn more about Scheck Hillel Community School’s Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Hillel Ambassador Program at eHillel.org/Ambassador.
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In my Lions and Cubs Club, we create meaningful bonds with children in the Lower School who would benefit from a relationship with High School students. Every Friday, we meet for an hour, and participate in activities of interest to the students. This includes volcano eruptions, slime, bracelets, baking and more.
I have always loved working with children, and I have always wanted to create a club in Scheck Hillel where High School students can create bonds with younger students. In my interview to become a Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Hillel Ambassador, I expressed this idea to the panel of judges and, when awarded the title I knew it would be a great opportunity to make this a reality. I immediately expressed my strong desire for this to Mr. Butler, our faculty advisor, and we set up a meeting with Dr. Wagenberg, director of our Juda and Maria Diener Lower School. Since then, I have worked to make this possible, and I am incredibly proud that it has become a reality.
The "cubs" in the club are incredibly smart, kind and empathetic. They have come out of their shell and have expressed to me and the other High School students their interests and what projects they would like to have in the future. When I was their age, I would have never had such confidence and assertiveness, and I have learned how incredibly strong and bright young children can be, and how much they truly love learning and creating bonds with the teenagers. Their appreciation for this club is also a constant reminder of why I decided to start it, and is very rewarding.
Although this club just recently began, we have had some incredible moments. One of the students expressed his love of volcanoes, so we sculpted homemade volcanoes out of clay. The next week, when they were dry, we did an experiment where we mixed baking soda and vinegar in the crater of the volcano, and the kids watched the "lava" ooze out. It was incredible to see the joy in their faces and how excited they were when their experiment was successful!
Learn more about Scheck Hillel Community School’s Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Hillel Ambassador Program at eHillel.org/Ambassador.
