Home > Learn > Religious School > Beyond the Bimah
This innovative program engages 8th and 9th grade students through memorable experiences both inside and outside WHC’s walls.
Beyond the Bimah provides students with social opportunities while helping them develop lifelong Jewish values. Students will build community and create relationships with Jewish peers, while learning about different Jewish topics that are relevant and meaningful to their lives.
Experiences include participating in interfaith service projects, spending a meaningful day visiting D.C. memorials, helping run our Temple Purim Carnival, and much more.
Our 8th graders have a weekend retreat with the opportunity to participate in our Parent/Child Civil Rights Trip, as well as regular evening programs featuring authors, movies, special programs, and more.
The highlights of the 9th-grade year are the two weekend retreats, which help our teens discover themselves as they embark on their high school years – this is some of the most important programming any congregation can offer its teens. These retreats are a “rite of passage” for every WHC teen!
Other programs include trips to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a D.C. scavenger hunt, and other special events. Regular weeknight programming complements the weekend activities, trips, and retreats
2024-2025 School Calendar
"I really like upper school because I feel like I don’t need to be with my friends to have fun ... we are encouraged to talk to other people and make new friends."
Our innovative, experiential, and compelling program engages students to help them learn about Judaism and develop their sense of Jewish identity.
REGISTER NOW
Beyond the Bimah is an elective-based model, which our Religious School students will be familiar with. This model gives students agency as they embark on this special post-b’nei mitzvah chapter; it also allows our clergy and Religious School team to teach from a place of deep passion. These electives will invite participants into a more sophisticated and nuanced conversation about and within Judaism, helping them explore relevant issues that they grapple with as teens. Just as importantly, it will be a safe and caring place for them to explore their own Jewish identities among community.
