By Diana Brement,
JTNews Columnist
Amy Hilzman-Paquette, principal of Hebrew High (the Community High School of Jewish Studies, more formally) has been selected to attend this year’s Institute for Informal Jewish Education’s Legacy Heritage leadership seminar, which starts in February.
The institute is based at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., where Amy will attend three three-day workshops. She and other supplemental school principals will figure out how to attract students, enrich programming and raise funds. Participants will be eligible to apply for a $4,000 matching grant from the Legacy Heritage fund.
Hebrew High, sponsored by the Jewish Education Council (JEC, part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle), has about 120 students who meet weekly for classes. Students come mostly from local Conservative and Orthodox congregations, with a few unaffiliated.
Thrilled to be selected for the seminar, and one of only eight chosen nationwide, Amy says after meeting a number of her colleagues at a conference this past summer, and “seeing who they are and what they’re doing, and their passion, I was just so honored.”
Amy also directs teen programming for the JEC and has been working with teens in some capacity since she graduated from Gonzaga in 1996 and moved to Seattle.
Growing up in Pocatello, Idaho, and Billings, Mont., the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, she’s always identified strongly as Jewish. Her grandfather and grandmother were among the founders of Temple Emanuel, Pocatello’s “nonaffiliated, egalitarian” congregation.
Working in social services got Amy involved in nonprofit work, and her previous job at Catholic Community Services “spurred me on to work in the Jewish community,” she says. “I saw how powerful it was to work in your religion.”
She joined the JEC in July 2006.
“The kids are the crème de la crème,” she says of her students, “so passionate about Judaism, about working and collaborating.” When she’s not hanging out with “the kids,” Amy enjoys spending time with her husband Dan and their 18-month-old daughter. They belong to Temple Beth Or in Everett where she is also principal of their religion school.
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For the past seven years, 18-year-old Eastlake High School senior Max Sussman has climbed the 1,311 steps of the Columbia Tower. He’s participated in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s fundraiser since 2002, when a childhood friend died of leukemia at the age of 12.
“For about eight months I watched him suffer,” says the Sammamish teen. “I wanted to give back so no one else would have to go through that.” This year he’ll again complete the climb, and hopes to raise $20,000, for his senior project.
The first time he climbed the steps, “it was very emotional,” as Trevor had died just months earlier. Inspired by how many people were there trying to make a difference, “I decided to keep doing it.”
Max stays in shape year ’round playing basketball, doing karate and working out at Zen Rock Fitness, the sponsor of his team and his employer. He likes interval training and cardio machines, “anything that gets your heart in shape for endurance.” He’s hoping to recruit 60 to 75 team members to join him for the March 22 event from the club and the community.
Last year his time was 12 minutes, 38 seconds. This year he hopes to complete it in under 10. And even though he says he doesn’t get claustrophobic, running in a narrow stairwell with all those other people can still be challenging.
“You… have to tell yourself to keep going,” he says.
The avid guitarist (blues and metal), son of Kevin and Lori, is looking forward to college next year. Interested in studying business, he’s been accepted at Arizona State and the University of Arizona, and hopes to hear from University of Washington soon. He belongs to the Sammamish Youth Board and helps plan events for young people and adults, such as a recent battle of the bands that brought kids from local school districts together to perform music.
The family belongs to Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation and Max attends Hebrew High every Wednesday.
“I love it,” he says. “It’s a great experience.”
To help Max fight cancer, visit
www.BigClimb.org and click on the “donate” button. To join his team, register at the same site.
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Esther Helfgott’s blog, Witnessing Alzheimer’s, has been launched by the Seattle P.I. JT readers can find
it at blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/
witnessingalzheimers.
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Clarification: In last issue’s article about Alison Buckholtz and her husband Scott, Jewish lay leaders of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, I missed a couple of details. First, it’s Scott, the active service member, who is certified by the Jewish Welfare Board, although the couple are both recognized by NAS Whidbey’s Department of Religious Ministries as lay leaders.
“He and I work together and it’s a partnership to bring Jewish education and resources to the Jewish service members on base,” Alison explained. And Scott wasn’t deployed when she “volunteered” him for the job, just on-base that afternoon and not reachable. He, of course, is a full participant in their efforts. Once again, for more information, contact the NAS Whidbey Chaplain at 360-257-2414.