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Bnaimitzvah Toastmasters Course begins soon!.........posted Sep 18, 2006

Is your child's Bar/Bat Mitzvah just around the corner? The 7-session public speaking course offered to children having their bar/batmitzvahs in 2007 will begin on Sunday October 22nd. The course that was offered last year to children having their bnai mitzvot in 2006 was highly successful. Those of you who are fairly regular shul-goers will have noticed how well those kids have been doing on the bimah this year: superior dvar torahs, and supreme confidence leading davening and reading from the Torah.

The course is again being taught by a team of 8+ experienced public speakers from our synagogue's Toastmasters club, Hopeful Talkers. The team is led by Jeff Smith and includes Neil Newman, Robert Katz, Louise Chatlynne, John Melmed, Julie Boynton, Brenda Brooks, and others.

The course starts at 8.30AM Sundays and runs until 15 minutes before Hebrew school starts. Dates are Oct 22, 29, Nov 5, 12, 19, Dec 3,10 with a break on Thanksgiving weekend. Each child will give 3 or 4 prepared speeches with the support of their adult mentors. In addition, they will participate in extemporaneous speaking exercises and will evaluate each others' speeches and have their own speeches evaluated by their adult mentors. They will receive instruction in the various facets of public speaking (overcoming nervousness, how to organize thoughts, vocal techniques, gestures, etc).

As always, the course is free to the children of members. This year, we are offering the course to pre- bnai mitzvah children of non-members. If any friends of our children who are also bnai mitzvot in 2007 (or if the readers of this letter know anyone) are interested in participating, they should call the synagogue to register. The charge for the 7-session course is $100 and all this money will go to the synagogue. We have room for only 8 non-member children so register soon.

A new feature will be that Hopeful Talkers will be offering a concurrent almost identical course for adults and it is especially aimed at the parents of the bnai mitzvah children. Instead of 7 sessions, there will be 4 on Oct 22, Nov 5, 19, Dec 3, and run from 10AM until 11.30 This course will cost $20 for the 4 sessions for synagogue members, and $50 for non-members. Call the synagogue to register.

For more detailed info, call Jeff Smith 301 924-6556 or John Melmed 301 871-7708.