Drew Goldstein
Elana Berger
The Stacy Marks Nisenbaum Awards are presented to incoming juniors or seniors who are leaders in their BBYO chapters and work to grow the program while staying active in their schools and communities: Drew Goldstein has served as BBYO’s regional s’gan (programming vice president), chapter godol (president), chapter s’gan twice and chapter mazkir (corresponding secretary). He was the 2018 winner of the Ellen Faye Garmon Award. A junior at Ballard High School, he is a member of Dance Maroon and the Spanish Club. He will be a counselor-in-training (CIT) at Camp Livingston this summer. Elana Berger has served as chapter mazkirah and gizborit, and regional s’ganit. A junior at Floyd Central High School, she is on the symphony orchestra, the National Honor Society and is a Multiple-Cultures Club ambassador. Elana has participated in the Global Citizenship Certificate Program through the Kentucky and Southern Indiana World Affairs Council. She will be a CIT at Beber Camp this summer.
Emily Renco
Eli Resnik
Jillian “Jilly” Lustig
The Stuart Pressma Awards go to incoming juniors or seniors who are involved in their BBYO chapters and work to grow the program while showing strong devotion to community service: Emily Renco has served as chapter morah (membership vice president) and n’siah (president). An incoming senior at Louisville Collegiate School, she has been a student ambassador, a board member/founder of the Entrepreneurship Club, a board member of Students Against Destructive Decisions, a Spanish Club member, editor of Transcript, the school yearbook and a member of the Happiness Club. This summer, Emily will be among BBYO’s Ambassadors to Bulgaria and attend an international leadership seminar in Israel. Eli Resnik is an AZA member. He was elected chapter godol (president) in the 2019 spring election and has also served as and sh’liach (vice president of Jewish enrichment). A student at Ballard High School, he plays varsity soccer and is a member of the Beta and Spanish clubs. Jillian “Jilly” Lustig, the Kentucky Indiana Ohio (KIO) s’ganit of the year and coordinated a convention for BBYO. She also has served twice as s’ganit and as gizborit and mazkirah. She also is involved with J-SERVE and Shabbat Friends. A student at Kentucky Country Day School, she is on the tennis and golf teams and student council. She will be a CIT at Beber Camp this summer.
Gabrielle “Gabby” Aberson
Adam Rudy
The Tony Levitan Award goes to an outstanding high school senior athlete while who demonstrated outstanding character and leadership through team sports and Jewish communal events: Gabrielle “Gabby” Aberson, a Louisville Collegiate School graduate, played lacrosse, field hockey. She also is a Pearl Project chair, plays viola in the orchestra, is president of the Happiness Club and the junior class and is a member of the Ambassadors Club, Discipline Court and KUNA/KYA. She also is a lifeguard at the J has volunteered with J-SERVE and New Roots and was a Sunshine Girl. She will attend Boston University this fall. Adam Rudy, a Walden School graduate, played basketball at the 2016 Maccabi Games and flag football at the 2017 Games. He was on the varsity basketball, soccer and tennis teams at Walden and was invited to participate in the East Kentucky All Star Basketball Games. He won the Outstanding Service Award for more than 100 service hours, was an outstanding student ambassador and was active in the Kentucky United Nations Assembly. He also was an Eagle Scout and won the Nir Tamid Award. Adam will attend Purdue University this fall for mechanical engineering technology, but first he will travel to Peru to see Machu Picchu.
Jacob Ioffe
The Joseph Fink BBYO Community Service Scholarship is a four-year scholarship presented to a senior who was an active member of their BBYO chapter during all four years of high school and also performed a significant amount of community service during high school: Jacob Ioffe, of duPont Manual High School, was a Bronfman Fellow. Active in BBYO, he was regional mazkir and gizbor, Aleph godol, international captain of the Israel Task Force and a past recipient of the Stacy Marks Nisenbaum and Ellen Faye Garmon awards. He also was a BBYO ambassador to Ukraine. At Manual, he was the varsity tennis team captain (#1 in the state), lead coordinator for the IdeaFest and research intern at Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic. This summer, he will be a counselor at Camp Sunapee, a Russian Jewish math camp in New Hampshire, before joining the Boston-Sderot Project, a three-week service trip in Israel where a cohort of counselors travel to Sderot, a constant target of rocket attacks from Gaza, and take children battling PTSD and other psychological disorders to a camp to experience safety and normalcy. He will attend Vanderbilt University this fall.
Hannah Geller
Liz Hemmer
The Ellen Faye Garmon Awards go to incoming juniors or seniors who are involved in their BBYO chapters, working to grow the program, and their communities: Hannah Geller has been in BBYO since the eighth grade, serving as gizborit (two-term freshman), morah (one-term sophomore), currently n’siah (two-term sophomore). She was the 2019 KIO Gizborit of the Year. An incoming junior at North Oldham High School, she is a member of the Beta, Environmental and Diversity clubs. She will go to Beber Camp for a month this summer, then to Israel. Liz Hemmer, also a BBYO member since the eighth grade, served as sh’licha in her sophomore year, n’siah in her junior year, and currently serves as regional sh’licha Currently. She was named the 2018 KIO Sh’licha of the Year and is a past recipient of the Stacy Marks Nissenbaum Award. An incoming senior at Ballard High School, she is a member of the Beta Club. This summer, she will go to Israel with Camp Livingston.