Cohort 20 meets again - this time with Cohort 19!

Contributed by Julie Cornfield

Meeting number two was full of bonding, discussion, and snack breaks! We kicked off this month’s session with a few activities to get to know the members of Cohort 19, who were visiting to give us some insight into the program. For the first activity, we were split into
buddy pairs for a quick introduction conversation. 

For some, this conversation took place en route to the Embarcadero and back, and for others (namely, those with broken limbs) it took place inside the Federation building. 

Once the buddy pairs had learned a little about one another, it came time to introduce some competition into the bonding in a riveting name guessing game known as "peekawho", a clever twist on the more traditional “peekaboo”. 

Afterwards, we wrapped up our time with Cohort 19 by creating sculptures using personal objects. The artists with the best work were awarded with one of a kind Diller Teen Fellows lanyards (the first of many articles of Diller swag we’re told we’re going to receive). With that, we said a heartfelt “see you later” to Cohort 19 and spent the rest of our time together (save for a brief interruption by the security guard) discussing the importance of inclusion within our group and beyond.

Aaron the JC shows us how it is done

 We talked about the topic in the big group, then we split into smaller groups of 4-5 to analyze it further, and finally we thought to ourselves about how inclusion manifests itself in our lives individually. Though these exercises we were able to chart our path for the inclusion we hope to achieve throughout our time together. And with a group so eager to achieve a high level of inclusion, it’s safe to say everyone’s looking forward to our next meeting, even if it is on a Thursday.

Introducing Cohort 20!! The newest San Francisco cohort of 2016-2017

Contributed by Claire Garcia

After much anticipation and the stress of the first few weeks of junior year WE HAD OUR FIRST DILLER COHORT 20 MEETING!

First, we got the chance to meet the many new faces of both our fellow cohort members and their wonderful families. We learned where people were from (i.e. where everyone was “reppin”), and saw that our cohort stretched from San Francisco to South Africa. We discussed the four pillars of Diller and their roles in everything we will do as a group for the next 14 months. We then finished up the snacks, said goodbye to the parental units, and celebrated our break from the confines of the room in the Jewish Community Federation and the 80 degree weather San Francisco was experiencing due to our favorite-- Global Warming!!

Once we enjoyed our pizza and fresh air, we headed back down and got our chance to finally meet as a group. We did a “Fantasy (Personality) Football” draft and wrote one strength and one challenge we'd like to work on about ourselves. Another activity we did was mapping our Jewish journey. We saw how different each person interpreted what that entailed and how they applied it to themselves.

We did an exercise with blocks where we answered questions on community, ourselves, our group dynamic, and our hopes. We then built a wall-- and thoroughly discussed the implications and meanings of that wall-- in which we showcased our blocks.

Takeaways: Well, literally, we took our wooden blocks and our notebooks. But we also got to establish relationships with each other, begin to understand each other, and feel the excitement and anticipation for what the rest of this experience has to offer.