JSU welcomes back members
Club looks to improve attendance after rocky beginning
Sophomores Asher Shertok, Jonah Kaufman, Isaac Israel and junior Eli Kaufman make dreidels at the Dec. 2 JSU meeting. Club members also ate snacks and learned about Hanukkah during the meeting.
December 27, 2021
After not being able to meet last year due to COVID-19, Jewish Student Union (JSU) adviser Mindy Daitchman said this year had gotten off to a slow start.
“We weren’t able to start at the beginning of the school year,” Daitchman said. “The school needs a lot of different forms to be filled out in order to allow for there to be clubs. The process and approval just took a long time.”
In addition to delays in paperwork, the club had issues getting Daitchman approved as a JSU adviser. Senior and co-president Ella Roether said the first two club meetings were difficult to manage given an absent adviser.
“The start of the year was pretty hard because usually we have snacks and fun activities planned, but that was really hard to do without an adviser,” Roether said.
Daitchman said despite the rocky start to the year, recent meetings have had excellent attendance.
“The meetings have been great. They’ve been filled with a lot of new teens, and a lot of excitement,” Daitchman said. “We thought the beginning of the year would be a concern in attendance, but it’s been really nice that people have showed up.”
For sophomore and club member Jonah Kaufman, the meetings he’s attended have not disappointed.
“The JSU meeting last week was really fun because you just got to hang out with your friends and get free food,” Kaufman said. “I’m going to see who else I can get to join.”
Roether said ongoing student involvement and finding new leaders are imperative goals for this year.
“A big goal is to continue increasing attendance. Toby Khabie and I are the current presidents of the club, and we’re seniors; we’ll be leaving next year,” Roether said. “Trying to find who’s gonna lead JSU next year is going to be cool.”
Jewish Student Union’s next meeting will be at 3:20 p.m. Jan. 6 in room B238.
