In a year marred by so much loss including in-person connection opportunities, local teens have found an outlet for connection and growth through their youth groups. As Indianapolis hosts four youth groups - BBYO, BeShTY, CTeen, and IFTY - teen leaders and staff are seeing opportunities abound as the program year begins and a sense of normalcy, including in-person gatherings, returns.
As groups consistently seek new members, the initial pause of in-person gatherings caused worries amongst leaders. 
“At the beginning of pandemic, Zoom calls were definitely more difficult to keep everyone engaged,” said Rachel Jacobson, Fall 2020 BBG Morah (recruitment chair). “One redeeming factor for some teens was that these virtual engagement opportunities offered more intimate spaces to meet new members or to see friends.” 
Jacobson says Board Members were tasked with reaching out to new members with personal invitations to join events and that the opportunity to use Breakout Rooms “was a great way to get to know some of the newer 8th and 9th grade members who might have been skeptical and make it as fun as possible.”
After working through the technology, digital engagement offered a lot of opportunities. Leaders noted that there were additional opportunities that came out of COVID that may stick around in the youth group space.  
“We were able to connect into national and international programs and host a lot of programs,” BBYO City Director Ethan Cohen said. “It was also much easier to have board meetings now that we were using Zoom, and get more ideas flowing without spending lots of time trying to figure out the details of just meeting. Zoom has added another element to help us stay organized.”
For the two newest youth groups in Indianapolis, BeShTY and CTeen, the pandemic offered a slightly different challenge – How to start a youth group in the midst of restrictions? For some like CTeen participant Marissa Halle, this new start offered new opportunities. 
“It was an opportunity to meet new people for me,” she said. “I do not attend Chabad for synagogue, but I liked the opportunity to meet a lot of people I did not know in the Jewish community.” 
As the 2021-22 school year begins, youth group leaders are looking to branch out and build on many of the success of the past year. 
“One thing that we did last year that I would like to do more of next year is volunteer opportunities, which we focused on during COVID,” CTeen Director Chana Grossbaum said. “Being able to spread the activity with those around us and give back to the community is one of our major goals.” 
Others are looking forward to resuming in-person opportunities that were cancelled with friends and peers from the various regional structures including NFTY-OV, BBYO KIO, and CTeen. 
“For teens, a lot of the key experiences are in large groups,” Cohen said, “so we are really looking forward to showing new members these experiences and something to look forward to.”