Teens from the Connecticut Valley Region BBYO

Twenty-five teens from the Connecticut Valley Region BBYO were among nearly 900 teen leaders from 15 countries to descended upon Atlanta on Feb. 16 for the four-day International Convention of BBYO, a pluralistic Jewish teen movement with more than 31,000 members worldwide. Teen delegations came from Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Curacao, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Macedonia, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and from across the United States. They were joined at the convention by 200 BBYO professionals, board members and volunteer advisors.
“The International Convention was an amazing experience. I learned the importance of uniting Alephs and B’nai B’rith Girls and the impact of driving this movement
forward,” said Michael Zahn, 18, of Fairfield.
The weekend was headlined by a “Day of Service and Advocacy,” in which teen participants dispersed throughout Atlanta to 18 service learning sites: including, a pro-Israel advocacy session held at Emory University Hillel, in partnership with AIPAC’s leadership development staff; a discussion and clean-up hike with the Atlanta Beltline Project; and the creation of a new panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt through the Names Project, and more A keynote speech on the importance of global Jewish peoplehood and interdependence was delivered by Avraham Infeld, president emeritus of the national Hillel.
“Aside from being with over 900 teens, my favorite part of International Convention was the day of service where I spent four hours working in the Atlanta Belt Line. It
was such a meaningful experience and I felt like I was making a difference,” said
Jessi Gerwoitz 17, of Stamford.