Learning responsibility

Danette Goulet

As she prepares to shed her childhood, Amy Penner is learning the

civic responsibilities of adulthood.

In school, the 12-year-old is preparing to make the leap from Newport

Elementary School to Ensign Intermediate School.

But there’s an even bigger leap in the works for the girl as she

prepares to make her bat mitzvah in the spring at Temple Bat Yahm, where

she attends religious school.

In preparation of that big day, Amy has spent the last three months

collecting school supplies to donate to Share Our Selves in Costa Mesa.

The group will distribute the supplies to those in need.

“When children are bat or bar mitzvah at age 13 or any timeafter 13, a

lot of it has to do with becoming an adult and learning the

responsibilities that come with it,” said Deborah Woolbert of Temple Bat

Yahm. “A mitzvah is a good deed that is part of accepting adulthood.”

Along with her religious preparation for the transition, Amy and her

fellow candidates for bat and bar Mitzvah are asked to perform a

“mitzvah.”

“They choose a project of their own,” Woolbert said. “Some choose the

Humane Society or the soup kitchen. There are a million things they can

do.”

Amy had worked with Share Our Selves through school, including

adopting a family in need, so she thought of that organization when it

came time to choose a project.

When she approached the organization, members there asked her to help

with their sixth annual Back to School Day.

Each year, the group collects back-to-school supplies in August that

they then package and deliver at the end of the month.

Last year, they collected supplies for 400 children. This year, they

got a head start on collections when Amy put out a letter at her school

asking for help.

“I’ve got backpacks, lunch boxes, folders, crayons, markers -- lots of

stuff,” Amy said. “Some of the stuff is new, some old. One person gave me

$50 to go to Staples.”

As donations have come in, Amy has organized and sorted everything to

make the next step even easier. Now she will take the many boxes that

crowd her parents’ garage down to Share Our Selves, where she will sit

with other volunteers for four days packing it for children.

“I learned that people that are less fortunate deserve to be able to

learn in school with the same kind of supplies,” she said.