“Where did you go to high school?”

Was it public or private? Religious or secular? In a city like St. Louis, where your choice of high school is treated like an indicator of your personality, your wealth and even your success in life, these categories can bear a lot of weight.

For junior Audrey Roberts, Hebrew name Risa, this seemingly simple question has a complicated answer. 

Growing up at Mirowitz

Before high school Roberts attended Mirowitz, a pluralistic Jewish day school that welcomes different kinds of students with varying personal connections to Judaism.

Roberts practices Reform Judaism, and belongs to Central Reform Congregation. Reform is one of the three major movements of Judaism. As a Reform Jew, Roberts observes a more inclusive, modernized form of Judaism. During her time at Mirowitz, she was exposed to many different synagogues such as B’nei Amoona, a Conservative synagogue attached to Mirowitz.

“[Mirowitz] would have keynote speakers come in every Shabbos, and it would be a different rabbi from different temples,” Roberts said. “So I heard from a lot of different people, and it gave us exposure to the different perspectives of rabbis and the different aspects of Judaism.”

By hearing so many distinct voices in the Jewish community, Roberts gained an expansive view and understanding of the Jewish religion. She was able to explore what Judaism meant to others, as well as what it meant to herself.

“It opened my eyes to the pluralism in Judaism, which is very important to me,” Roberts said. “There are so many different types of Jews at Mirowitz that you [are] able to find how you [can] be Jewish and what parts of Judaism fit into your life.”

Because of the small class size and student to faculty ratio, Mirowitz gave Roberts more opportunities to discover her identity, even outside of religion. The hands-on learning style of Mirowitz meant that students got a more personal learning experience. Roberts’ graduating class only contained 10 students.

“We did a lot of interactive studies and I’d say that influenced my learning because it raised me to be very competent in my beliefs and my values, because that was something that I exercised from a very young age,” Roberts said. “I think that also made me become very comfortable in public speaking and being outspoken.”

Roberts and her siblings did not originally attend Mirowitz because of its religious component. Her parents initially liked the intimate learning style and extra support, but grew to appreciate its religious community.

“My parents fell in love with the Jewish side of it,” Roberts said. “They saw a new side of us come out, and they found that we were a lot more aware of the world [and] our part in it.”

Switching to Whitfield

Unfortunately for the Roberts family, Mirowitz’s program ends after eighth grade. When looking for new schools, they used the knowledge they’d gained from Mirowitz to guide their search. Roberts found that Whitfield School had many of the qualities she was looking for.

“Whitfield was very community oriented,” Roberts said. “One of the things that I loved about Mirowitz was how close everyone felt, and I loved walking down the halls and recognizing every person. That was something that was very special to me.”

While Whitfield provided the community that Roberts was looking for, she was lacking the Jewish culture that she’d experienced every day during her time at Mirowitz. Because of her involvement with Mirowitz, Roberts had not regularly attended her temple or gone through the CRC Hebrew school program.

“[The transition to Whitfield] was really difficult because I relied on Mirowitz a lot for my sense of Judaism,” Roberts said. “For the first four months I was at Whitfield, I felt very lost in my Jewish self, because I no longer had my school to align with my identity.”

Roberts tried to find new ways to bring Judaism into her life. Luckily, she was able to find a new Jewish community at Whitfield, where she took a leadership position.

“I think it’s one of those things that if it’s a priority to you, you’ll find space for it anywhere you go,” Roberts said. “I knew that I would be able to find [my faith and culture] anywhere because it’s so strongly rooted within myself.”

“We had a great Jewish Student Union club that I was able to get involved with,” Roberts said.“It was my way for me to bring my Jewish identity to school and have a connection with my peers.”

One person Roberts has met through JSU is Sam Zitin, the Associate City Director for the club. He facilitates meetings at many different schools in the St. Louis area. Zitin has supported Roberts through her transitions from Mirowitz to Whitfield, and eventually to Ladue.

“Our goal is to encourage Jewish teens to take responsibility for their own journeys,” Zitin said. “Those that do [tend to] have the best long term connection to their Jewish identity, to their culture, to their history, to our land.”

Zitin’s role in the club is to guide meetings, but not to control them. JSU is student-driven, and relies on student participation and leadership to ensure that each student walks away with something meaningful.

“JSU is open to everyone regardless of their background or faith,” Zitin said. “I try to make sure that everything we do is from a Jewish lens, but with a universal message so everyone can take from it regardless of their background.”

Transferring to Ladue

Coincidentally, while three generations of Roberts’ family had attended Ladue, her transition to the district ended up being entirely because of luck. Her family inherited her great-grandparents’ house in the Ladue district, therefore opening up the opportunity for Roberts and her siblings to attend Ladue.

“My family and I are very big on fate and chance,” Roberts said. “We thought it was a really interesting way that God opened that door for us. It’s been very special for [my grandfather] to see me having a great experience so far, because that’s how he remembers Ladue being for him.”

During the summer of 2022, Roberts had the opportunity to take the Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey, a JSU-funded five-week pilgrimage to Israel that allows students to connect to their Jewish identities and the land of Israel.

“If you had told me six years ago that I spent a month and a half in Israel with some of my best friends, I never would have believed you,” Roberts said. “But if you just open yourself up to the experiences, I think you’ll find a lot of beautiful things in the community. [JSU connections] opened up the opportunity to go to Israel, which opened up the opportunity to meet great people and learn new things.”

On her trip to Israel, Roberts and the other participants shared many bonding experiences, and one of the people that Roberts connected with was junior Bella Soyfer. Their bond deepened this year when Roberts began attending Ladue. Soyfer has been attending Ladue’s JSU meetings since her freshman year. This year, she and Roberts joined the club’s leadership council.

“[JSU has] given me a sense of [the Jewish community] at Ladue,” Soyfer said. “It’s just a fun place to share ideas and learn new things about Judaism.”

Using prior experience from being president of Whitfield’s JSU, Roberts was glad to be given this new opportunity to lead. Throughout her many transitions, her Jewish culture has remained a constant that’s helped shape her sense of identity as she’s grown.