Programs » Gateways Teen Volunteer Program » 2011 Teen Volunteer Appreciation Event

Mutual Appreciation: Event Honors Berkowitz, Gateways Teen Volunteers

Last Monday’s Gateways Teen Volunteer Appreciation Event at Hebrew College filled the teens with ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream … and the thanks of a grateful community.

But to eavesdrop on the teens’ conversations buzzing around the room, it seems as if the gratitude was largely on the other side.

"Gateways really does create a warm environment with comfortable classrooms."

"It’s the teachers who treat everyone warmly and help us be really useful."

"As volunteers, we just always felt appreciated – by the teachers, the parents and the kids."

"Did you notice the music always kept everyone involved?"

"The teachers were great role models for us," said first-year Gateways teen volunteer Jaclyn Gordon of Needham. “I was assigned a girl with (cerebral palsy) and I really didn’t know what to expect. But by October I could tell we were building a good relationship. I’d see her face light up when I walked in and towards the middle of the year I felt a confidence I didn’t have before, especially when her mother asked me to babysit! It’s also definitely interested me in something I might want to do in the future.”

“I’m amazed at what she accomplished and the confidence she developed,” added her mom Beth Gordon. “I don’t know if I would have done such a good job.”

But by the time the last lick of ice cream was consumed, the formal presentations began, and the first order of business was honoring Margie Berkowitz, outgoing Director of Prozdor Hebrew High School, a program of Hebrew College that each year attracts more than 650 young adults from across Jewish Boston.

Stepping forward to accept her gift, Berkowitz recalled the fateful day nine years ago, when she and Gateways (then Etgar L’Noar) Executive Director Arlene Remz sat on a couch in Berkowitz’s office and brainstormed a new concept: What if Prozdor students were able to get credit for training and volunteering at Gateways’ Sunday morning Jewish Education Program for children with special needs?

In the years since, more than 350 teenagers have volunteered for Gateways, proving invaluable as role models, teachers and cheerleaders, encouraging students with a range of disabilities every step of the way.

Each child is assigned his or her own teen volunteer for the school year, and the teen becomes the first face GJEP students look for when they arrive on Sunday mornings.

In praising Berkowitz’s contributions in helping pull the Gateways-Prozdor partnership together, Gateways Jewish Education Coordinator Nancy Mager credited Berkowitz’s personal strengths: “You make such an impact because you care so much and you make it happen.”

Then it was time to salute the teens themselves. Gateways-Prozdor Teen Volunteer Coordinator Andrea Lesser-Gonzalez spoke of the high caliber of teens who are motivated to wake up early Sunday mornings to help a child with special needs take great strides along their Jewish journey.

“Somehow it seems you come to us already natural teachers,” she said to the teens.

Joe Step of Newton addressed the audience next, sharing many of his emotions as he “graduates” after three years in Gateways’ Teen Volunteer Program, and speaking in many ways on behalf of the other teen volunteers.

In addition to the teens from Gateways’ Jewish Education Program, those from Gateways’ Madrichim Program – which trains Boston-area teens to work as aides in their congregations’ religious schools – were also on hand. The program’s Teen Volunteer Coordinator Rina Hoffman thanked the 85 teenagers who Gateways trained this year in synagogues in Newton, Sharon, Brockton, Easton, Lexington, Sudbury, Concord and Acton.

“Madrichim learn strategies for assisting their students while engaging in fun, creative educational activities,” she said. “All of you here in this room tonight are willing to give of yourselves and your time to help another person … you have all made the effort to share yourselves with children who need extra support. Your presence makes a huge difference in the lives of the children that you work with and their families. You are helping to give ALL children a positive Jewish experience and the chance to be an integrated part of the Jewish community.”

After the applause had faded and the teens and their families were packing up to go, Newton’s Jossie Forman said for her, the early months were all about recognizing what her student truly needed. “She used to run all over the place and I began to realize I really needed to help her focus. During the year we developed a set of cues that would help her. Now, sometimes all it takes is a look from me, and she knows.”

Caleb Marcus describes his two years as a Gateways teen volunteer as “a lot of learning.” “I had two very different students and, what I learned from one, I had to start over again and re-learn in a completely different way for the other. But, with each one, it was really great to see them change and develop. My second student was nonverbal and on the autism spectrum, but when he began smiling a lot more at me, I knew things were beginning to click between us.”

For Emily Breuer, that moment of victory came in the form of a hug. “Since my student is non-verbal, the first time he hugged me, it meant a lot.” That kind of satisfaction is one reason the Newton South High School student, like so many other Gateways teen volunteers who “get hooked on Gateways,” plans to return again in the fall.

“I’m coming back,” Emily said with a smile. “Absolutely.”