In his current op-ed piece in JTA, Adam Gaynor, Executive Director of The Curriculum Initiative, rightly criticizes the Jewish community for failing to successfully engage and support Jewish teens on a broad scale.  What is commonly portrayed in Jewish media as a “boy crisis,” Gaynor argues, is really a teen crisis – paltry participation rates for both adolescent boys and girls in Jewish communal programs.  The problem, he argues, lies in outdated program models that isolate Jewish teens from their non-Jewish peers.  Moreover, while attention is lavished on young Jewish adults (on college campuses, through subsidized Israel  experiences and Jewish community service trips), funders and researchers have paid little attention to the needs and experiences of Jews between b’nai mitzvah and college.

Here at Ma’yan, we couldn’t agree more.  Like Gaynor, we believe that the shift in thinking needed to address’ Jewish teens’ real needs can only come from taking teens seriously as stakeholders and experts.  That's why we engage Jewish teen girls as researchers of their own peers through our Research Training Internship, and work collaboratively to addresses the lack of data on contemporary Jewish teens.  Gaynor’s vision for Jewish teen education that is relevant to the real lives of Jewish teens, and Ma’yan’s vision of Jewish teens as leaders for social change both hinge on the willingness of Jewish adults—programmers, parents, policymakers, and funders alike—to hear and respond to the voices of Jewish teens.  This is exactly what Ma’yan means when we say, “Listen for a change.”

Do you know a Jewish teen girl who has something to say about these issues?  Ma’yan is currently accepting applications for the third cohort of our Research Training Internship!  Girls entering 9th-11th grade in fall 2010 are invited to apply and spend the next year with us as we investigate the question, “Who is served by our community service?”  Read more and download the application here.