You may know that when I'm not at Temple Micah, I write curriculum.

I have had the opportunity to write for a number of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Historical Society, the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington and spark: Partnership for Service.

Over the past year, it has been my particular privilege to write for Moving Traditions and more specifically, a program called Rosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing! The Girl Thing! program strives to give Jewish girls a place, in the words of its founders, "to explore the challenges and joys of their lives, sharing their thoughts and experiences, and accessing the wisdom of their heritage."

Currently two years of this curriculum are in use in more than 150 venues across the country. I am writing what will eventually be the final two years of a sixyear curriculum. I spend much of my non- Micah time researching inspiring Jewish women, reading leadership training material and learning about the issues critical to today's high school girls.

I am also involved with the Girl Thing! program at Temple Micah. Over the course of the academic year, I have met monthly with a group of our sixth- and seventh-grade girls to talk about beauty, popularity, self-esteem and any number of topics important to the life of a middle-school student. We have created art, imagined ourselves in the lives of the matriarchs, shared our hopes and worries and laughed and laughed and laughed. This program has given these girls a way to connect to their community, their history, and most importantly, to one another, outside of the sanctuary and the religious school classroom.

We are fortunate that Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence, has also led a Girl Thing! group at Micah over the past three years.

According to Rabbi Michael Friedman, director of junior and senior high school programs for the Union for Reform Judaism, surveys have shown that since 2003, attendees at Reform movement programs--including camping, Israel trips, leadership training and youth group events--have been predominantly girls. Records show that girls made up between 57 percent and 78 percent of the participants at these programs at different points during this period.

Perhaps you are asking, as have many before you, "What about the boys? What can we do to keep them involved in synagogue life in a meaningful way?"

On May 11, we will hold an exploratory meeting for parents of our current sixth- and seventh-grade boys to see if there is interest in creating a parallel program to Girl Thing! for our middle school boys.

We are hoping that we will be able to give our boys the same sort of space for growth and connection that our girls have enjoyed over the past few years.

If there is a population you think is underserved at Micah, or a program idea you would like to explore, please let us know.

In the meantime, if I'm not at Micah, it's likely you can find me sitting in front of my keyboard dreaming about empowering the next generation of strong, healthy Jewish women.