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  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Evan Traylor, a senior at Edmond Memorial High School, is serving as the national president-elect of the North American Federation of Temple Youth.

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Discussion

February 29, 2012

Memorial senior will lead nat'l youth group

Patty Miller The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — Memorial High School senior Evan Traylor is the president-elect of a national youth organization, the North American Federation of Temple Youth.

His parents are Eddie Traylor and Ann Baumgarten of Edmond.  

“Evan is a great example of our many wonderfully talented kids here at Memorial,” said Debbie Bendick, principal. “Like others, Evan is quietly committed to his faith and being a leader within his faith community. Yet, it is not just among his congregation that Evan projects his leadership skills. He leads every day here at Memorial by his example in a broad array of Advanced Placement classes — seven altogether — as well as show choir, men’s choir, varsity soccer and cross country.”

Evan has been a member of the Memorial Men’s Choir for four years and Act II (show choir) his junior and senior years.

“My mom is into music so I got involved with it in elementary school,” Evan said.

Evan has been in NFTY for four years and has been participating in regional youth leadership events throughout his high school years. NFTY is made up of local youth groups in the United States and Canada.

Evan has attended URJ Greene Family Camp for the past three summers and NFTY in Israel in 2010.

“I was NFTY-TOR’s MVP my junior year, and I am currently serving as NFTY-TOR president,” Evan said.

He added NFTY has allowed him to develop leadership skills.

Barbie Greer, the adviser for the Temple B’nai Israel’s youth program in Oklahoma City, has worked with Evan in NFTY.

“He just has a good heart and a good head on his shoulders,” Greer said, “and he always has a positive attitude.

“His positive outlook is infectious.”

Greer said it is hard to have it all — talent, athleticism and intelligence — but Evan seems to possess all of those traits.

“It is important for Evan to be involved in the reform unit as a whole for kids to have a Jewish identity,” Greer said, “and it is important for him to get other kids involved.”

Whether functioning as an organization, program or youth movement, NFTY is a Reform Jewish community for high school students and its members forge and build friendships, lifelong Reform Jewish identities and leadership skills through community building, worship, social action and experiential youth-led Jewish educational programming, according to the organization.

“NFTYites go into the community working with specific organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the Infant Crisis Center, food banks among other groups,” Evan said.

Bendick said it was a fellow student who brought Evan’s NFTY accomplishment to her attention last week.

“Senior Jonathan Thiery chased me down in the parking lot to say he had been looking for me all day to suggest that Jonathan’s NFTY presidency was an accomplishment worthy of our Bulldog for the Day status.

“Jonathan went on to say, ‘That’s a pretty big deal, don’t you think? I’m really proud of him.’

“I couldn’t agree more with Jonathan’s assertion; I’m proud of Evan too!”

For more than 70 years, NFTY has offered thousands of young people the opportunity to explore and live Reform Judaism.

 More than 750 Reform congregations throughout North America sponsor Temple Youth Groups, bringing the NFTY experience to more than 10,000 high school-age young people in grades 9-12.

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