Requirements / The Program / Be a Leader /
Community Service / Israel / Cost /
Important Dates / Apply Now

Are you ready to make a world of difference in your life and in the lives of others? Join a select group of peers for the opportunity of a lifetime? Find your passion and put it to work?

Then Diller CSI: Baltimore Teen Fellows wants you!

Requirements

• Be a Jewish Teen entering the 11th grade during the 2008-2009 school year
• Live in the Greater Baltimore area

The Program
When you are selected as a Diller CSI Fellow, you will be part of a prestigious national program and can look forward to these exciting activities:
• Three interactive retreats
• Eight monthly professional development seminars
• Israeli teen exchange program in Baltimore
• Development and implementation of service projects in the community
• Summer seminar in Israel

Be a Leader…And Embrace Your Judaism
Fellows have numerous opportunities to develop leadership skills, make a commitment to service and enhance their Jewish identity during three weekend retreats. These highly interactive experiences will focus on:

• Participating in team-building and introspective activities that will enhance your passion for service
• Building life-changing relationships with Israeli teens
• Reviewing the year’s accomplishments to take your experience to the next level

In addition, monthly seminars will focus on defining community, Jewish identity, volunteer recruitment and project development strategies. You will also enjoy a variety of additional seminars exploring topics as diverse as pluralism in the Jewish community and public speaking.

Community Service: Making a Difference
As a fellow, you will create an ongoing service initiative that you are passionate about…and get your friends excited, too! By promoting grassroots community service activism in high schools in the Baltimore area, you and the 19 other fellows can potentially recruit hundreds of teens to participate in community service projects each month.

Professional staff will guide you as you develop action plans, recruit volunteers and organize ongoing service programs. But it will be you serving as an ambassador to the teen community, creating and marketing volunteer opportunities to peers.

Israel: Exchange, Exploration, Excitement
Through this program, fellows will learn about the needs, issues and realities of Jewish communities throughout the world firsthand—by developing partnerships with teens in Israel. And when you travel to the Jewish homeland for the culmination of this hands-on experience, you will work together on intensive community service projects with your peers. As you travel and volunteer with your new friends, you will get to know the country and its people intimately—and have an amazing summer!

Interested teens must submit a written application along with letters of recommendation. Select candidates will be invited for an interview with our selection committee.

Cost
This program is generously funded by the Helen Diller Family Foundation and Jewish Volunteer Connection. Each fellow receives a $6,000 subsidy, resulting in a cost of only $2,000 to the participant. Financial aid is available.

Important Dates

• Application Deadline: May 1, 2008
  
• Candidate Interviews: May 2008
  
• Program Dates: September 2008-October 2009

The Diller Teen Fellows Program is funded by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the San Francisco Federation’s Jewish Community Endowment Fund.