Blog

Hi, I’m Maya Poger, and I lead Temple Israel's Youth Group events and programs. Many of you already know me, but I would like to reintroduce myself to those of you who are new to Temple Israel and to those whom I haven't had the chance to meet yet!

I grew up in St. Louis, became a Bat Mitzvah in 2011, graduated from Kirkwood High School in 2016, and then moved to Colorado to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher. I studied special education and elementary education at the University of Northern Colorado. During my time in Colorado, I worked at the Boys & Girls Club and an afterschool program called Kaleidoscope Youth Group. 

In 2021, I joined Temple Israel as the new Youth Engagement Coordinator. A big part of our teen program and continuing education after B'nai Mitzvah is about informal education and Jewish engagement. I strive to make our TIFTY youth group a safe, comfortable, open —and of course, fun — environment for every teen in our community. Here at TI, we have three youth groups: a 4th and 5th-grade group, a middle school group, and a high school group. Every month I offer a social program and a Judaic program for each group. During the school year, you can find us volunteering at the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry, apple picking to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, enjoying movie nights or late-night gatherings in our youth lounge, making s'mores over the fire during the fall, just to name a few! It is important to us that we continue to build our community with positive energy through social experiences.

When we return from spring break, we have multiple programs scheduled. On March 29, we have a leadership program lead by our wonderful Shinshin, Guy Dobrin. On April 2, we will be painting Seder plates for Passover here at TI in our youth lounge! On April 4, we have our final volunteer night at the food pantry for our 7^th graders. Lastly, on April 16, we will be making birthday bags for our sister school, Monroe Elementary.

If you are interested in any of these programs please don’t hesitate to contact me! Or, stay up to date and as events are posted to our webpage, RSVP at: www.ti-stl.org/TIFTY

❤️ Maya

Maya, pictured above, is wearing one of our Passover shirts available at TI's online Swag Store. Get yours for Passover here!