When Amy Bergman devised a plan to train teens how to read to young kids at a Boynton Beach Jewish community center, she had no idea it would have such an impact. .
Bergman, the family life director for the Friedman Commission for Jewish Education, wanted to bridge the gap between the teens and a new PJ Goes to Day Camp grant of books that was given to the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Boynton Beach.
The training worked for 15-year-old Alyssa Bregman, a summer Counselor-In-Training at the community center’s Camp Shalom, who used acting to engage children in the book she was reading to them.
“The CIT training changed how I read to kids by teaching me to make the book more life-like, including making different voices the characters and acting out their actions,” said Bregman, a rising sophomore at Park Vista High School.
The Jewish Community Center of North America and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation award the PJ Goes to Day Camp grants, which include 23 books and two compact discs.
Even though the Boynton Beach Jewish community center has received this grant and accompanying lessons from the Friedman Commission for Jewish Education for three years, it’s the first time that a story reader training was given to the CIT students.
To provide the training to teens like Bregman, Bergman and two volunteers spent a morning training 15 of the teens how to match books with campers’ ages and interests as well as how to effectively read aloud to their youngest campers in a way that engages them.
“The biggest benefit for the JCC is that now they have many more staff members to enhance their programming,” Bergman said. “It also makes CITs a part of what becomes an engaging activity.”
Bregman tested out her new skills with other CITs during the training.
“I enjoyed how hands-on it was,” she explained. ‘The other CITs and I practiced reading to each other, and it was a great way to get positive feedback.”
Wendy Stahl, the children’s and camp director at the center’s Camp Shalom, said she noticed the impact on the teens almost immediately.
“One of the greatest benefits that I noticed was the confidence, not just in storytelling, but also in speaking in front of groups,” Stahl said. “It gave them life skills that they can take with them.”
Bergman created the story reader training and has been offering it for about eight years to community partners. She also creates lessons to go along with the PJ Library books, which include Jewish learning lessons and morals.
“These are materials designed to be used throughout the year,” Bergman said. ‘They aren’t just summertime themes.”
Stahl watched the CITs, who are ages 14 and 15, at the summer camp reach beyond the pages of a book and make more connections with the kids, especially after Bergman encouraged the use of props and other ideas.
“It takes more than reading to get the meaning of the text across so that kids are getting the message of the story,” Bergman said.
Bregman said she learned valuable lessons.
“The biggest thing I learned at the training was how to connect with the kids,” she said. “If you connect with them, they’ll take the lessons you read to heart.”
Bergman is in the process of setting up more trainings.
“This really breathes new life into everything they do,” she said.
The grant helps the PJ Library at the JCC in Boynton Beach continue to grow, and the kids love the books, Stahl said.
The books are often familiar, too, Stahl said, adding that a lot of families and children receive a free book from the PJ Library each month as part of another program.
The training with the books truly enhances the CIT program and the meaning of the books, Stahl said.
“It makes it (counselor-in-training) an elite leadership program,” she said, which is one of their goals.
For Bregman, the skills are something she will continue to use – especially those in the acting realm.
“By acting out the characters, the child pays more attention and will better retain the lesson in the story,” she said.