This is a great time of year to be an Orthodox Jewish teenager in northern New Jersey.

If you are parents of teens or know teens in the area, chances are they aren’t going to be talking about the Giants or the Jets (check their current records), but instead there’s bound to be discussion about the upcoming AIPAC High School Summit and then the Yeshiva University Model United Nations (YUNMUN).

Formally known as the Schusterman Advocacy Institute High School Summit, and held in the nation’s capital, our students will get almost three days of intensive instruction and information on important American Israel Public Affairs Committee issues. The students will also prepare for Capitol Hill lobbying and then implement the information they have learned with congressional members.

Our New Jersey students will also meet 400 like-minded teens with a similar love and dedication to Israel and its close bonds with the United States. They will have the chance to be inspired by these other teens who are making a positive impact on the U.S.-Israel relationship.

When AIPAC’s amazing Policy Conference comes around in March, they will already be ready to go.

Some of these same students, as well as their classmates, are also getting ready to represent their day schools and yeshivas at YU’s Model UN, held in February in Stamford, Connecticut.

Again, the students might be representing nations that have remote similarity to the U.S., yet they will be spending the next months preparing to discuss complicated, important issues. Moreover, they will be able to again look around the room and see like-minded Orthodox students who will be providing leadership to this world one day.

So let’s hear it for our teenagers!

When there is so much negative blather out there that is sadly all-too accessible, it’s good to know that our kids are all right!