Teen events planned

Shelly Bell, Regional Director, North Florida Region

For the past four years, I’ve been proud to serve as the Naples BBYO advisor. Now, I’m happy to announce that with Jessica Zimmerman’s promotion to content manager of Jewish enrichment, I’ve taken the position as the Southwest Director of NFR, overseeing Naples and Fort Myers. As a BBYO alumni and parent, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to create an exciting experience for Jewish teens in our community and to introduce them to an organization that will increase their confidence, build leadership skills and connect them to other Jewish teens from around the world.

BBYO is an international teen-led Jewish youth group, with more than 70,000 members in 60 different countries. Unlike other Jewish youth groups, like NFTY and USY, BBYO is nondenominational. Whether the teen is Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, unaffiliated or non-practicing, if they identify as being Jewish and are in in the eighth through twelfth grade, they are welcome to become a member. The organization provides teens with a safe space to explore their Jewish identity through programming and leadership opportunities.

That being said, BBYO is also about having fun. With a few exceptions, the teens plan the events. Throughout the year, they meet locally to engage in activities such as pool parties, Super Bowl parties, Everblades games, boat rides, laser tag and escape rooms. Additionally, they get the chance to meet more than 100 other Jewish teens from around Florida and attend events such as weekend camp retreats, conventions at hotels, Miami Instagrammable Day and, most recently, a trip to Aquatica.

Several programs are offered to nonmembers, giving teens the opportunity to try BBYO before they join. We’d love to see your teen at one of our upcoming programs.

Upcoming events

Oct. 15 – Glow Night at Sky Zone

Nov. 4-6 – Fall Convention (members only)

Nov. 6 – *Community Kristallnacht Program (open to 6th-12th graders)

Nov. 29 – Giving BBYO Day Phone-a-thon & Pizza

Dec. 8 – *Naples Community Holiday Celebration (open to 6th-12th graders)

Dec. 9 – Global Shabbat and Chapter Sleepovers (members only)

Dec. 10 – Chapter Elections (members only)

Dec. 21 – *Community Chanukah Celebration (open to 6th-12th graders)

To learn more and register for a program, visit https://nfrbbyo. com/naples-fort-myers.

*Starred events award community service hours.

If you have any questions about BBYO or want to know how you can get your teen involved, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to call me at 313-550-3313 or email me at sbell@bbyo.org. To join, visit https:// bbyo.org/become-a-member.

Monthly fun BBYO fact

There are more than 400,000 BBYO alumni across the world, serving as leaders in business, entertainment, education and the public sector. Actor Noah Schnapp, Will on “Stranger Things,” is the most recent famous BBYO alumni, having graduated from high school last spring.