7/29/2010 11:33:00 AM Arogeti helps build JYA's solid foundation
From left to right, longtime Jewish Youth Affiliates members Joey Arogeti, Kevin Roelofsen, Jake Henderson and Lital Kroll have fun learning to roll challah.PHOTO/Rabbi Chaim Neiditch.
As the first Centennial student to participate for all four years of high school and the second-ever president of the club, Joey Arogeti knows Jewish Youth Affiliates, his school’s branch of the Jewish Student Union, pretty well. The group’s humble beginnings, which coincided with his ninth-grade year, are still clear in his mind.
“It started off really small in one teacher’s tiny room,” Arogeti said. “We probably had five to eight people, and I was the only freshman there.”
The original co-presidents, Brad Covert and Grant Bickwit (one year older than Arogeti but all good friends), brought in local youth leader Dovid Feldman to help things “lift off” partway into the fall of 2006. Then, in addition to juice boxes and fresh bagels, fun Jewish cultural activities were added to the menu.
Successful ventures, like the Chanukah-time dreidel tournament, became staples in JYA’s calendar, and they launched an in-school advertising campaign to increase membership in 2007-08. The number of students attending more than doubled, and momentum built.
“Sophomore year was kind of like a rebirth,” Arogeti said. “Since we had already been with Dovid for half a year, we were trying to improve over what we did the previous year.”
Ideas flowed in, most of which were hits. Some were in the realm of arts & crafts, like decorating seder plates and Kiddush cups; some were more along culinary lines, including a challah-making seminar; and others were a combination of the two, such as the sessions spent building gingerbread sukkot around the holiday.
Other times, meetings centered purely around learning, as local rabbis would frequently visit to share knowledge. More and more people were attracted to JYA, and not just Jews; Arogeti estimates that, on average, a fourth of the attendants were Christians or Muslims eager to learn about a rich, unique history.
“Anyone who wanted to come in and do the activities with us was welcome,” Arogeti said.
When Feldman had to move to pursue another opportunity before school began in August 2009, Rabbi Chaim Neiditch stepped in to sponsor. He and Arogeti, the obvious choice for president after Covert and Bickwit’s graduation, took the organization to new heights as turnout regularly topped 30 and “Jewpardy” (Jewish Jeopardy) increased participation even more.
And though the last remaining inaugural member now transitions to Georgia Southern, he knows Jewish Youth Affiliates is in good hands. The new co-presidents have received his official endorsement, and the dedicated fans of the club now include his younger sister.
Really, he can’t wait to see what they do.
“When I come back to visit, I want to see some of the same things, but a lot of new things, too,” Arogeti said. “Gingerbread sukkot, the dreidel tournament, those would be good to have, but I also want to see them get even more creative.”
