SULAM Teen Educators
To learn more about our SULAM Teen Educators, simply click on their photo.
Lauren "Lulu" Belferder
Director of Youth Engagement
Pamela Alcala
Assistant Director of Youth Engagement
Rosie Bogard
Coordinator, Chazak Program
Mark Edelstein
Youth Coordinator/Teen Educator
Lauren "Lulu" Belferder - Director of Youth Engagement
Lulu serves as Temple Sinai’s Director of Youth Engagement. Lulu Belferder has been part of the team at Temple Sinai since 2012. Among her many roles, she has helped to coordinate the Chazak program for two years, taught Religious School classes, assisted with the 6th Grade Holocaust class, and chaperoned countless teen trips. Lulu has directed Sinai’s Hand in Hand program since its inception in 2014, and she couldn't be more proud of the teens involved. She is a Birthright Fellow and has led a dozen trips to Israel for young adults. She also spends her summers in exotic locations leading teens in meaningful service work through the URJ’s Mitzvah Corps program. Lulu oversees all of Temple Sinai's Teen Programs.
Pamela Alcala - Assistant Director of Youth Engagement
Pam is the Assistant Director of Youth Engagement. She is the lead educator for the Leadership Academy, and oversees Youth Programming. She is also a proud mom in our Nursery School and Religious School. She comes all the way from Chile, where she was an active member of her Temple at home, where she became a Madricha for her Youth Group Bet-El, which is part of the International Masorti movement, as well as part of the coordinating team for several youth programs, including a summer program for nursery school children. She most recently completed a Fellowship through the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture on leadership development and Jewish Identity education.
She is happily married to her husband, and mom to Ethan and Lily. She has a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice and Anthropology, and a Masters in Social Work, both from Adelphi University in Long Island, NY. She is thrilled to be a part of Youth Engagement at Temple Sinai and to spend time with our young community leaders.
Rosie Bogard - Coordinator, Chazak Program
Rosie is a beloved Social Worker and Transition Coordinator in a Long Island high school. Rosie began working at Temple Sinai over 15 years ago as a Religious School Teacher and filled an important role overseeing our resource room, 1:1 tutoring, and development of behavior plans for the classrooms. Rosie now coordinates Temple Sinai's Chazak program for children with special needs. Once the children in Chazak become adolescents, they transition to a program just for them - Teen Chazak. Rosis also leads Teen Chazak, which is designed to offer social, vocational, and life skills for individuals with special needs who are 14 years and older. Teen Chazak is Rosie's favorite time of the week: she gets to share her love of being a Transition Coordinator in a Jewish setting. A perfect match!
Mark Edelstein - Youth Coordinator/Teen Educator
Mark serves at one of the Youth Coordinators /Teen Educators at Temple Sinai. This is Mark’s second year at Temple Sinai and is in charge of the Hand in Hand Program, Machanae Sinai, and assists with Havdalah for Hunger. Mark is a junior at Adelphi University majoring in Music Education. He is involved in many clubs and performing groups on campus including the cast of Best of Broadway, Adelphi University Chorale and Vocal Ensemble. He serves as the VP of Administration for the Student Government Association and is involved with fraternity life on campus. He is an alumnus NFTY-GER where he served as both the Membership Vice President and the President on the Regional Board. He is also an alumnus of Urban Mitzvah Corps as well as the URJ Kutz Camp. The last three summers, he has been a camp counselor at the URJ Sci-Tech Academy, the URJ Creative Arts Academy, and Alpine Scout Camp as the Artistic Director.
