Student Leadership Seminar

post by Hillel Torah | Feb 19, 2020

A group of our 8th graders was privileged to represent Hillel Torah at a Student Leadership Seminar held at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center this past Wednesday. Entitled “The Power of One: Choosing to Make a Difference,” this all-day seminar included student leaders from over thirty middle schools throughout Illinois. The sessions and speakers challenged our students to think about the lessons of the past as a tool to create a better future.

The keynote speaker was Sam Bencheghib, the co-founder of “Make a Change World,” which mobilizes young people to take the lead in developing innovative and practical strategies to protect the environment. Our students were awed by Sam’s description of his recent six month, ocean to ocean RUN across the U.S. to raise awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans.

We also had the honor to hear Aaron Elster, a past participant in Names Not Numbers who passed away two years ago, share his story and answer questions through cutting edge, virtual technology.  Our students felt empowered by this experience and hope to share some of what they learned with the entire school community in the future.