Youth Groups - The Reform Temple of Rockland

Michelle Scull joined the staff of RTR as a second-grade teacher in 2021. After a few years of teaching, she was hired to be our Director of School and Youth services while continuing to teach our Kindergarten-2nd grade class. As School Director, Michelle enjoys planning all types of educational and fun-filled events for our students, meeting new families and helping to ensure that our school continues to grow. As our Youth Group Director, Michelle has had the privilege of building a partnership with other Jewish teen leaders in the community to help bring teens together from many different temples. Outside of working for RTR, Michelle is an LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) in both NY and NJ with over 25 years of experience working with children and teens. She currently works part time for a psychotherapy group providing therapy to clients aged 4 and up. Michelle is the very proud parent of fifteen-year-old twins who are volunteers at RTR and have both become B’nai Mitzvah and were confirmed in this temple. In her spare time, Michelle loves to travel, plan little adventures for her family and spend as much time as possible with them while also being the secretary of the Clarkstown South PTA and a leader and service manager for Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson.

RTR hosts a variety of Youth programs throughout the year for anyone in grades 3-12. There are loads of fun activities, like our annual Purim Carnival with games and prizes and the highly anticipated Hannukah party with Latke and Donut decorating contests. There are also opportunities to engage in social actions or Tikun Olam activities (Healing the World).

In past years, our youth have put on talent shows for local Senior Citizens homes and participated in a Midnight Run, collecting and preparing food and clothing donations and (the older kids) personally delivering them to Homeless communities in New York City. RTR Youth Group events are open to members and non-members alike. We are affiliated with NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) the national Reform Jewish Youth movement, offering an opportunity to gather with Jewish youth from across the country.

And now, under Michelles direction, RTR has become a lead organizer of county -wide activities bringing together Jewish Youth (affiliated and non-affiliated) from across Rockland. The debut event, Pizza Making at Gios in New City, drew more than 60 kids.