Becoming a bar or bat mitzvah is the most significant milestone in an adolescent’s life. Recognizing this, JKHA developed several special programs to help students get the most out of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion. JKHA sixth graders embarked upon a week-long bat mitzvah-focused program covering the many changes taking place in the girls’ lives on physical, emotional and religious levels. Highlights of the week’s program included a session on personal foundations and influences, chesed activities with female Yachad peers, a group dynamics activity, hearing from speakers discussing being a professional Jewish woman, learning about important women and the roles they played in Tanach and more. In addition to this week’s programming, middle school faculty run sessions for sixth grade boys and girls addressing appropriate social behavior in the beit knesset and at parties while at bar and bat mitzvahs, and seventh and eighth grade boys participate in separate relevant bar mitzvah-focused programming. As the sixth grade girls embark upon this most exciting and momentous time in their lives, we know that the foundation they receive through our middle school bat mitzvah programming will enhance and enrich their experience.