Jewish teens across the country have stories to tell. This is one of the reasons why we started the JTA Teen Journalism Fellowship — to gain access to communities whose diverse perspectives are crucial in covering the full breadth of stories impacting Jews.
Sivan Barda (she/her) is a junior from North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. She’s involved with her school newspaper, journalism club, and a regular political newsletter called Just the Gist where she is vice president. She is also an active participant in her Jewish community, serving on the board of both her school’s Jewish Student Union and founding the Hebrew Language Learning Club as well as participating in the MAJIC (Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change) High School Fellowship to promote interfaith dialogue. In her free time, Sivan enjoys hanging out with her friends and playing card games.
Lauren Buff (she/her) is a junior at Bedford High School in New Hampshire. She is the founder and president of the only BBYO chapter in her state. She is passionate about journalism and advocacy, using her writing internship at a local magazine to highlight unsung heroes. She enjoys working out in her free time, spending time with VFW, and volunteering at Hebrew school.
“Leora Collis is a sophomore at Beth Tfiloh Community School. When she’s not writing she enjoys painting, poetry and playing soccer. “
Isaiah “Izzy” Davidson (he/him) is an 11th grader, a varsity basketball captain, the starting second baseman for his school’s varsity baseball team, and the founder and co-president of his school’s creative writing club. He has been a published and award-winning poet since he was 11, and currently writes articles for Cleveland Sports Talk, an online sports magazine. When not writing or playing sports, he can be found playing with his chihuahuas, the 3-pound Eleanor and the 6 pound Pepper.
Ryan Fink (he/him) is a junior at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Philadelphia. He is the co-founder and co-president of Model Congress and serves as an active member and social media manager of Barrack’s Model UN. He is also the World News Editor for his school newspaper and has read The New York Times daily since middle school. Recently, Ryan participated in the Diller Teen Fellowship, which included a trip to Alabama and Georgia focused on civil rights. This past summer, he attended the School of The New York Times, concentrating on foreign affairs and journalism. For the past three years, he has been involved with Philly Friendship Circle, working with kids with special needs and serving on the teen board to plan events and coordinate activities.
Andrew Kaplan (he/him) is a junior from Denver Jewish Day School in Denver Colorado. He is passionatly involved in his school, serving as the managing editor of his school’s newspaper (The Paw), the vice president of DJDS’ Student Council, and is a part of his Moot Court team. When Drew isn’t busy at school he enjoys playing volleyball, watching football and basketbal, and spending time with his friends.
Alex Lieberman (they/them) is an high school junior from Florida. They’re been doing reporting and photojournalism for three years and written for numerous publications, principally, their high school newspaper. Outside of journalism, Alex likes reading, listening to music, and playing with their cat.
Gefen Miller (she/her) is a junior at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community High School and a a Baltimore-based journalist and freelancer. At school, she writes for the newspaper, participates in mock trial, and is the founder of the Sephardic and Mizrachi Students’ Union. Outside of school, she is a staff writer for student publications Direct Politics and PIVOT Voices. Passionate about local and Jewish news, Gefen looks forward to working with JTA!
Miles Miller (he/him) is a junior from Palo Alto High School who expresses a deep love for writing, music and Judaism. Through many albums of poetry, a draft of a book, and a published poem, he still has time to embrace his Jewish community through leadership roles in Jewish Star, HaZamir, StandWithUs, and the Madrichim Program at his synagogue. With these three interests combined, the scope of his creative and educational passion knows no bounds.
Rose Porosoff lives in Connecticut and is a high school junior. She is a news editor at her school’s newspaper where she is also a member of the debate team. Rose is a coxswain for an all-girls rowing club, and works at her temple’s Hebrew school teaching second graders. During her free time, Rose loves to read, write, bake, and spend time with her dog and cats.
Nuriel Shimoni-Stoil (he/him) is a student at The Weber School in Atlanta, Georgia. Born in Jerusalem, Israel, he serves as captain of the track team, is a two-time state medalist, decathlete, and the Israeli national U18 champion in the javelin. Nuriel is also a member of Mock Trial, Model UN, Moot Beit Din, and FBLA, co-editor and refounder of The Rampage school newspaper, and an intern for the Jerusalem Press Club. Passionate about journalism, he aims to amplify diverse voices and explore the intersections of Jewish and Israeli identity, culture, and storytelling.
Orlie Weitzman (she/her) is a junior at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and serves as the Opinion Editor for the award-winning student newspaper, The U-High Midway. She is a Rising Voices Fellow with the Jewish Women’s Archive, co-founder of her school’s Poets Society, and a participant in Or Tzedek, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs’ youth community organizing internship focused on immigration rights and economic justice. Orlie also works as a research assistant for an economist at the University of Chicago. In her free time, she enjoys teaching dance to younger students, volunteering, and spending time with family and friends.
