Kiki's Kids / USY
Kiki's Kids / USY
Kiki's Kids and USY (United Synagogue Youth) is run for and by CTI Teens. Monthly programs run throughout the year, and feature engagement within the Jewish community, cultural events, teen activities, mentoring and social action.
This year's co-presidents, Emily and Zosia.
Meet KIKI's Kids USY's Co-Presidents
Hello! I’m Emily. I’m an incoming senior at Locust Valley High School and so happy to be one of CTI’s co-presidents this year. I’ve been working as a madricha at Limud for four years now, and before that, I was a student at the Hebrew school myself! Now, I’ll be teaching Limud classes each Sunday! It has been so rewarding to play so many different roles in this community. Outside of the temple, I love cheering, running, and hope to study environmental engineering and computer science when I attend university next year. I’m so proud of how the youth community has grown throughout the years and hope to contribute to the program further during my time as co-president. This year, I hope to engage more students in the CTI youth group and make newer members feel extra welcome. A sense of community is needed more than ever in these unprecedented times (whether it be in-person or through Zoom). Zosia and I hope to organize events and activities that provide our group members much needed social support. We are also looking to collaborate with both local and international organizations that provide aid to those in need during this difficult time. I’m so excited for this coming year. We have a great opportunity to think creatively about connection and community. Much thanks to Lisa Aamodt, Steven, Eitan, Rabbi Huberman, and Cantor Gustavo. You guys are the best!
Hi, my name is Zosia. Many of you may not know me, so it’s very nice to meet you, as I just wanted to introduce myself as Co-President of the CTI Youth Group. I’m an incoming senior in Locust Valley High School, and have been a part of the CTI community for many years, as a madricha at Limud and a member of the youth group. I have many hobbies from playing tennis to discussing ethics with my friends to reading books on medicine, and plan on pursuing a career in pediatric oncology. I also work as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Glen Cove YMCA and, as of late, am secretly the one behind the blank “Gustavo Gitlin” screen at our Friday night and Saturday morning services, regulating the Zoom call to make sure it goes well. I am very proud and excited to serve as Co-President of the youth group with Emily this year, and have many great things in store. I hope to push forward more social action projects, and make service to our community a priority of the group, through working with local organizations that are in need. I also hope for the youth group to come together during these difficult times as friends who support each other, through events that establish the sense of community that I found when I joined this congregation. One of mine and Emily’s plans for this year combines this theme through establishing opportunities for collaboration and social action by having many different levels of interaction in service projects, in order to include all those in the youth group, both virtual and in-person. I would just like to express my thanks to Eitan and Steven for being such great past presidents, to Lisa Aamodt for establishing and building up our youth group, and, of course, to Rabbi Huberman and Cantor Gitlin for always supporting us and leading us to become better people. Here’s to a great (and safe!) year!
