On March 16, 2025, a group of teens gathered in the youth lounge at WJC for the first time. Some of us had been involved in BBYO before and knew what it could offer. Others were walking into their first BBYO meeting ever. Looking back now, it's funny to think about how much uncertainty there was in that room. At the time, Shemesh wasn't a chapter. It wasn't even close. It was just an idea. However, that idea had a foundation in the shape of six girls and one boy.

The beginning of the term wasn't always easy. Like any new chapter, we had to figure things out as we went. There have been many meetings where attendance was lower than we hoped, recruitment efforts that didn't go as planned, and moments where progress felt frustratingly slow. Building a chapter from scratch meant there was no roadmap to follow and no traditions to rely on. Everything had to be created for the first time.

Still, people kept showing up.

Little by little, things started to come together. Familiar faces became friends. New members joined, then brought their friends, who brought their friends. What just last year felt like a small group trying to get something off the ground, we have slowly begun to feel like a real chapter.

By now, our membership has more than doubled. Shemesh members attended every regional event, four members traveled to Philly for International Convention, and three of us will be attending CLTC this summer. We surpassed our membership goal by 17 members. More importantly, we built a community that people genuinely wanted to be part of.

We celebrated holidays together, participated in service opportunities, raised money through Giving BBYO Day and other fundraisers, and created programs that reflected the interests of our members. None of those things happened because one person made them happen. They happened because a group of people believed in what Shemesh could become and were willing to put in the work to get there.

As the founding board, we've had the unique privilege of watching Shemesh grow from an idea into a chapter. The numbers and accomplishments are exciting, but the true impact for us is the other stuff. Planning meetings that went longer than expected, recruiting conversations that finally paid off, inside jokes, and the feeling of watching something we cared about become real. A year ago, Shemesh barely existed. Today, it undeniably does. That's something we'll always be proud of.

Submitted with an undying love for Shemesh BBYO #5689, we forever remain,

Riley, Talia, Sasha, Golan, Hannah, Sophie, and Gabrielle

Shemesh's First Chapter Board