Upperclassmen Help in Middle School Minyan "Boot Camp"

by Sara and Eli Rosenthal, SSLI ‘27 and ‘29

Last Wednesday, select high school upperclassmen helped teach middle schoolers during a minyan “Boot Camp” workshop. This was the second ‘Boot Camp” workshop held this school year, with more to come in the future.

Senior and Vice President Shir Levenson, who worked with Morah Becky Friedman-Charry to run the programs, explained that the students used “packets and materials with different parts of tefilah printed out.” Levenson added that they split into groups of a few middle schoolers with one high schooler per group so that everyone could get more individualized help.

Junior Sam L. reviewed reciting prayers with middle schoolers. (S. Levenson)

While the “Boot Camp” has been around for quite a while, Friedman-Charry, who runs the middle school minyan programming, explained that she “began involving seniors last year as an experiment, and the high school students enjoyed the opportunity to give back to the younger kids.” This year, the volunteering is open to both seniors and juniors who wish to help the middle school kids.

Junior Sam Levenson was one of the high school students who volunteered. He shared that he wants “them to feel like they can [lead minyan] by themselves and to feel like they want to lead their community.” He added that, through this “mentorship, [he] can allow them to be comfortable with any questions or difficulties that they have.”

The younger students had fun working with high schoolers! (S. Levenson)

The middle schoolers were also split into different groups depending on their preexisting proficiency in leading minyan; some groups worked on learning the prayers, while more advanced students strived to understand the meaning of the Hebrew words. Zoey Diamond, an eighth grader who was put into the advanced group, explained that she “had to learn the meaning of the prayers” because she already knew how to lead services well. As for what her takeaways are, she said, “I will always remember that it is okay to take it slow and pronounce the words.”

Friedman-Charry concluded, “I think the program is a success. Both [middle school] and [high school] students smiled and seemed genuinely happy when they heard it was going to be a 'Boot Camp' day.” Shir Levenson agreed, promising that the workshops will continue “throughout the year” in the hopes that they will “have a positive impact on middle school students as they develop their leadership skills!”

Eli Rosenthal is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since October 2025. Eli is currently a freshman at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: erosenthal29@schechterli.org.

Sara Rosenthal is an editor for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since January 2024. Sara is currently a junior at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: srosenthal27@schechterli.org.