Senior Institute for Teens in Service, or SeniorITIS, is a JTEEN program supported by the Jewish Federation of MetroWest that benefits seniors in high school by providing them with a salary for Jewish-based summer internships. JTEEN, the Jewish Teen Educational Experiences Network of Greater MetroWest, is a network that helps connect teens in Essex, Union, Morris, Sussex and north Somerset counties to great Jewish experiences, especially those provided by the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest. SeniorITIS affords rising and graduating seniors the unique opportunity every summer to engage in high-level training, receive mentoring in their area of professional interest as well as career enhancement and enjoy Jewish comradery through the program.
Under the leadership of Rabbi Yoni Glatt, SeniorITIS has grown to be tremendously successful in both size and stature; participating teens have thrived in their internships due to what they’ve learned in the SeniorITIS seminars. During each summer of Glatt’s five-year tenure the program has been completely full, with forward-thinking teens with bright ideas coming on board and fresh internships joining the SeniorITIS offerings each year.
Every year, the teen participants are provided with a minimum-wage salary for up to 15 hours per week of work, but they can work additional hours to gain experience if their employer permits. In return, they are required to join four seminars, each with unique guest speakers to help grow the teens into professionals. These interactive seminars teach workplace skills, Jewish workplace ethics and more, and the teens also have the opportunity throughout the summer to interact with fellow program participants to facilitate discussion and offer feedback. Last summer there were 32 interns, which was an incredible number considering the COVID constraints, with all seminars being virtual. This summer, the program had its usual 16 participants. The program this year was hybrid, remote and in person, and all the seminars were on Zoom rather than on the program’s Whippany campus.
As noted on the SeniorITIS website, each intern’s responsibilities vary based upon their position, and Glatt works with the employers to ensure a beneficial learning experience.
“Jewish Federation is incredibly proud to provide meaningful paid internships for local teens across a wide range of professional fields. SeniorITIS is just one of JTEEN’s vast offerings for teens in the greater MetroWest community, showcasing how much Federation cares,” shared Glatt.
Teens participating in the SeniorITIS program throughout the years have acquired internships at workplaces such as Israel Bonds, JNF, The Jewish Link, Behrman House Publishing, Tidal Engineering, Cadett Marketing, Keller Williams Realty, Online Computers, The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, doctors’ offices, engineering companies and many more.
“I was a SeniorITIS intern for the past two summers and thoroughly enjoyed the program,” said Jacob Colchamiro, RKYHS 2021 graduate and SeniorITIS participant. “This year, I performed donor research for JNF. My internships equipped me with valuable skills and experiences in a flexible work format that I really appreciated. Weekly meetings with Federation representatives, guest speakers and the other interns were fun and interesting. In all, participating in SeniorITIS has been a very positive experience for me, and I think it is a great opportunity for high school students in the area.”
For more information on SeniorITIS, please contact JTEEN Director Yoni Glatt at [email protected] or 973-929-2975.
Hannah Kirsch recently returned from a gap year in Israel and will be attending Binghamton University in the fall.
