During a difficult time for Jewish high school students, Chabad of Ellicott City is working to introduce a new program to help them develop their leadership skills, critical thinking and understanding of ethics. They just launched the first Maryland chapter of the Solomon Leadership Program, a Judaism-influenced course meant to train high schoolers who will soon be entering adulthood.
The Ellicott City chapter was announced in early August, with its launch scheduled for November. The program bases its approach in Jewish values and how they can inform leadership.
The Solomon Leadership Program was first founded in 2015 out of Palm Beach, Fla., by philanthropist Larry Sosnow and Rabbi Moshe Scheiner. Sosnow was looking for ways to do work benefiting local youths and teenagers, and Scheiner suggested creating a leadership program. The inaugural chapter operates out of Palm Beach Synagogue, but over the years, additional chapters have cropped up in Atlanta, Ga., Malibu, Calif., Montreal, Canada and many other towns in Florida.
When Chabad of Ellicott City executive director Rabbi Yanky Baron read about the program, he thought that it would be a perfect fit for Howard County.
“We were looking to provide something for the very important demographic of Howard County high schoolers,” he explained. “Students have a lot of questions, and many of them don’t have a very developed moral compass. They don’t know what they want to be … students today aren’t taught how to think, but what to think.”
The Solomon Leadership Program unfolds over eight sessions, each one focusing on a different pillar of leadership. Eleventh and 12th grade fellows are joined by speakers and mentors, who are typically leaders or professionals from the local community. They speak about their own experiences and how they relate to their respective pillar, as well as discussing it with the students.
One of the Ellicott City mentors, Loyola University Maryland Sellinger School of Business and Management instructor Marc Felsen, has been working with Baron to recruit prospective students, speakers and mentors. Felsen noted that the program appealed to him because of how values-based it is.
“It’s more holistic than other leadership programs, which encourage you to have good character and the right values, but aren’t very explicit about what those values are. Usually, they’re just implied,” Felsen said. “[This program] is very explicit about these different values, how you can bring them into leadership and into the way you conduct yourself. It’s a good starting point, especially when you’re young.”
Some of the other scheduled speakers include trial lawyer Bruce Plaxen, attorney and politician Ken Ulman, professor and reporter Tovah Yavin and Soft Stuff Distributors founders Bob and Lois Gammerman.
The program benefits these speakers as much as it does the students.
“It gives local professionals the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our youth, not just to contribute to causes for the youth but actually give them from their knowledge and experience,” Baron said.
In addition to local professionals, the program’s curriculum also draws from more ancient sources like the Bible and Hasidic philosophy, as well as secular historical sources.
While the Solomon Leadership Program is usually sponsored by Chabad houses, the program is open to students of any denomination. Baron mentioned that he has spoken with Howard County Public Schools Superintendent Bill Barnes about making school counselors aware of the program so they can recommend it to interested students. He has also connected with several Jewish Student Union representatives to make them aware of the program.
Because the program is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, fellows can gain three college credits that are transferable to any school by participating.
“It’s much easier than an AP course,” Baron quipped.
There’s already been some interest in the program, as Baron estimated that 10 students have applied as of late August. He added that programs like these often grow as fellows tell their younger siblings about their experiences.
“My goal is really to help inspire the students to want to be leaders as they go along to college and beyond their careers and their lives, to help them really understand and uncover their unique potential to be leaders and to incorporate into any kind of leadership that they might take on in the future,” Felsen said. “Getting the wheels turning at this stage in their lives will really help.”
