2008 Karff Scholars Recipients Named
The 2008 Karff Scholar recipients were announced at the Religious School Graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 4th. Jordan Jones and Jessica Swann are the two outstanding young people who are receiving the prestigious award this year, in honor of Rabbi Emeritus Samuel E. Karff. This is the eighth group of students to be honored with this award. Applicants are evaluated on past accomplishments, present activities, and an essay describing how the applicant leads a Jewish life and plans to continue doing so. Jordan and Jessi were introduced to the Congregation at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Congregation on June 3, 2008. Mazel Tov to both of this year’s Karff Scholars.
Jordan Jones graduated from Carnegie Vanguard High School and plans to attend St. Edwards University as a student in the select Honors program. He has not decided upon a major but will focus his studies in math and science, which he loves. Jordan also enjoys playing soccer and Frisbee recreationally and he celebrated his year anniversary working at Sugar Mountain Creamery in May. His parents are Deborah and Bernard Jones.
Jordan has been a madrich in the Religious School for four years. He notes that “it is a marvelous feeling to spend a school-year of Sundays with these children and watch as they grow. Many of my students from my first year of teaching still greet me with warm smiles and laughs as we pass in the halls, leaving me no doubt in my head why I would venture to wake up so early on the weekend.” For two years, Jordan has also been involved with the Beth Israel Internship Program, working at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center where he was able to combine his passion for being out in nature with his love for working with children. He has been an active member of BIFTY for four years.
That Judaism has played an important part in Jordan’s life is not just a cliché. Jordan feels that his Religious School education and Bar Mitvah have “had a major impact on my life as a Jew.” More importantly, however, Jordan has come to understand that these events and his involvement have impacted his faith. As Jordan prepares to go to college, he feels “connected to Judaism outside of Beth Israel” and understands the importance of the Jewish community. Although he isn’t certain about what he will do in the future, he has realized that he has already had an impact on “his kids” and hopes to “continue to have this type of impact on others around for as long as he lives.”
Jessica Swann graduated from Memorial High School and will attend Texas Christian University in the fall, majoring in psychology. The daughter of Dorothy and William Swann, she was very active in her high school as junior class vice president and then senior class president. She also plays piano, runs track, and is a hostess at Ugo’s. Her interests are psychology, sociology, art, and public relations/marketing.
Jessi has also been very involved in the Beth Israel community. She has been active in BIFTY for four years and served as the president this year. Jessi was a madrichah in the Religious School for five years. She has done a great deal of volunteering through the Temple with Meals on Wheels, the Ronald McDonald House, the VA, and The Star of Hope, as well as other local community service projects. Jessi was named the 2006 Most Outstanding Female Confirmand by the Sisterhood, receiving the Tudy Levy Leadership Award. Jessi has also been at Greene Family Camp for ten years in all capacities – as a camper, as an avodahnik and as a to-be counselor this summer. She went on the NFTY in Israel program during the summer, 2006.
Having “grown up at Beth Israel”, Jessi feels that her “morals and ethics are based around Jewish values….Judaism has helped me tackle life’s obstacles and has ultimately shaped my understanding of the world, which continues to grow and change just as I.” For Jessi, “Beth Israel is my home away from home and a family in itself. It is through this home that I have learned the basis of my Jewish being…My experience at Beth Israel has given me the foundation to face the challenges of the world as a young Jewish adult. As a potential leader in the Jewish community, I can only hope to convey my deep connections to the future Jewish youth with the same determination.”
Noting that her experiences, particularly this year’s, have taught her the importance of welcoming and modeling, Jessi hopes “to instill the same joys and life-altering experiences with which I have been blessed to the future generations of Jewish youth.”