Staff Perspective on the Denver USY Convention

In October USY held a convention in Denver, Colorado for the first time in a long time. Under the new area known as the Midbar Community which is part of the region known as Far West, 84 teens from CO, AZ, NV, and Southern California, along with a few teens from other states across the US, joined together for a Maccabiah themed Shabbat celebration.

The teens from Denver have been growing more active in recent years and wanted to show the rest of Colorado how great USY is by holding a convention. Any convention has a cost, a hotel convention is no exception. With the added cost of having to bring in catered food, transportation to and from the airport and any other off campus activity was a concern. We wanted to make sure this convention was accessible to as many teens as possible, especially in the Denver and Boulder areas. We are extremely grateful that Rose Community Foundation saw the importance of this convention and the beneficial growth it would bring. With a generous grant from Rose Community Foundation, we were able to keep the cost down, especially for Colorado teens, resulting in a doubling of our expected numbers. We were also able to completely cater the weekend using the wonderful catering companies from both Hebrew Education Alliance, and Congregation Rodef Shalom.

For a weekend convention like this there is typically a fun Saturday night program. After celebrating Shabbat with programming, services, and discussion, the teens love to move into the new week with a fun social activity. From the beginning the teen leaders wanted to bring everyone to a corn maze. This is not what you would expect from Denver and the teens really wanted to share this experience. We were able to make their dreams come true and took them to Anderson Farms Corn Maze and Festival. Teens were able to connect and chat with their friends on their way there and back, as well as enjoy multiple activities at the farm.

The result of the great efforts from the Denver teen leaders, the grant from Rose Community Foundation, and the USY chapter and regional staff, this convention was a great success. I think as a youth professional for many years, the true measure of success was seeing after the initial ice breakers, not one teen was found sitting alone feeling excluded or lost. Every teen moved through the weekend with inclusion, connection, and joy. The teens came together and were able to truly be themselves in a safe space, make new friends, and celebrate shabbat in many ways. We are still seeing the effects of this as we prepare for another convention in January at Camp Ramah Ojai. Registration so far is split in half by southern California chapters and Midbar chapters. This shows growth and energy coming from the new Midbar Community, energy that we know will continue to grow under the great teen leaders and the support of their communities.