Summer
Camp Supplement to Jewish News February 11, 2013
One day they will be applying to the same universities.
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34 | Jewish News | Camp | February 11, 2013
Changing choices of camp Jewish News staff
W
ith down jackets and mismatched mittens spilling from our hall closets, summer seems like a long, long, way off. It’s not though; for most of our children, school is almost two-thirds over. Which means we need to begin thinking, NOW, about summer camp. Today’s camps aren’t like those of 50, 30, or even 10 years ago. There are so many more considerations in 2013, with our technologically connected world that straddles the line between safety and interference, communication and compulsion, and our smarter and savvier children. Do we want to send our kids to a camp that has few modern, technological
Published 22 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
amenities—cabins with outside showers and a brackish lake for swimming? (Will they even attend a camp like that?) Or would “hotel camp” or “school camp” be preferred? Day or residential? Close or far? If camp rules require kids to leave their cellphones, games and Facebook friends at home, but has classes in computer video editing and a way for you to catch glimpses of them online, would they—or you—consider it? Will sending kids to a Jewish camp make a differPhoto courtesy Simon Family JCC. ence to them, or does it just matter to parents? we learn about donors and funds set up In this special Summer Camp sec- to help offset the costs of Jewish camps tion of the Jewish News, we gain insight (FYI—the Simon Family JCC Camp has into camps that are banning electronic some scholarships available). gadgets but embracing technology, and This is the first of two special Summer Camp sections coming your way. Keep an eye out for the next one, in the March 25 issue of the Jewish News. That issue will include our annual camp guide, which will provide local and national camp listings and contact information, along with some suggestions on getting ready for and choosing a summer camp. Let the camp songs begin!
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Februray 11, 2013 | Camp | Jewish News | 35
Going iPhone-less Camps trying to ban gadgets while embracing technology cards at night, but camp is a very dif-
home can watch, using digital
Havdalah service was a highlight
ferent place than it was 40 years ago,”
programs to teach Hebrew,
of her summer. Through its
says Rabbi Paul Resnick, director of the
uploading photos to the
Facebook page, Ramah Dorom
NEW YORK (JTA)—At a Jewish summer
Conservative-affiliated Camp Ramah in
Internet and replacing scan-
invited parents and alumni to
camp in upstate New York, they’re giving
the Berkshires in Wingdale, N.Y. “Camps
ning with snail mail to
celebrate the end of Shabbat
kids digital filmmaking classes and telling
need to keep up and evolve since technol-
instantly send the chil-
virtually alongside campers sing-
them to leave their Nintendo Game Boys
ogy keeps changing on us.”
dren’s letters to their
by Chavie Lieber
at home. In Georgia, a camp is encourag-
Many camps now have rules banning
ing face time with video pen pals rather
gadgets such as cell phones, tablets,
than time on iPods. In Wisconsin, a camp has traded snail mail for scanned mail.
ing by candlelight.
parents.
“Watching my son during are
the live Havdalah service was
laptop computers, iPods and gaming
evolving as they
like watching him through a
devices.
Camp
try to figure out
peephole—giving him the
As technology oozes into every facet
in Mukwonago, Wis., has a no-screen
how to toe the
freedom and independence
of children’s lives, Jewish summer camps
policy. Camp Morasha in Lakewood, Pa.,
line
are struggling with how to wean kids off
bans any device that can connect to the
enhancing their pro-
while
their gadgets—at least for the summer—
Internet.
grams with technology
to see him look so
while using technology to improve the camp experience.
B’nai
B’rith’s Beber
But at the same time, camps are using technologies to their advantage:
“Once upon a time, kids were playing
Camps
The Allergy & Asthma Health Care Team
I want him to have
while giving kids a rustic camp experience, Resnick says.
live streaming events so parents back
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between
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www.allergydocs.net Virginia Beach (757) 481-4383 (757) 821-0240
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to see your normally shy kids who don’t
because we are still trying to see what
sing, don’t dance, literally come alive at
works,” Resnick says. “If you would have
camp.
asked me three years ago if I’d ever let
“Technology can be a wonderful vehi-
staff use cell phones in camp, I’d say
cle to watch your kids grow, and to know
absolutely not. But last year we started
that they are getting out of the camp
telling staff to text as a way of commu-
experience what you were hoping they
nication in camp, and it’s actually really
would gain without interfering with their
efficient.”
independence.”
As a way to appeal to campers seeking
Ramah Darom is looking into other
a more digital camp experience, Ramah
programs to live stream this summer,
in the Berkshires recently added digital
including the camp play.
traditional
36 | Jewish News | Camp | February 11, 2013
arts
camp
and
crafts,
cooking and nature courses. Jodi Fleisig of Atlanta, whose two sons attend Camp Ramah in
Norfolk (757) 583-4382
says Fleisig, who hosted a viewing party at her home for the service. “It’s amazing
activities such as
• Leaders in Food Allergy detection and treatment.
free, so happy and so engaged,”
“Policies we implement one summer
electives alongside
• No appointment for allergy shots – just walk in!
getting
could be totally different from the next
filmmaking to its (L-R) Drs. Craig Koenig, Gary Moss, Greg Pendell & Lisa Deafenbaugh, PA-C
still
Darom
Clayton,
Ga.,
says live streaming of the camp’s
Photo courtesy Camp Airy
At Beber Camp, parents can connect
their Hebrew and make Israeli friends. The
through an app created last summer by
camp’s website currently offers an exten-
staffer Brad Robison that gives parents
sive digital gallery that uploads some 500
access to camp videos, social media, sched-
photos of campers each day.
ules and activities. Beber also uses a web
Not all camp officials are fans of pro-
management company, CampMinder, to
viding information to parents in real time,
enable kids to write letters home that are
however.
then digitally scanned and uploaded to a
“The problem with incorporating all
portal parents access through the camp
this technology is that I think camp should
website. A unique barcode on the back
be teaching independence, how to get
of each letter ensures that it goes to the
along on your own, and parents will
right account.
hear half-stories often if they are con-
Camp Osrui, a Reform camp in
stantly being updated by a phone call
Oconomowoc, Wis., where teaching
or a photo,” Morasha camp director Ira
Hebrew is a top priority, began using
Spodek says.
Photo courtesy Simon Family JCC.
the language program Rosetta Stone last
Like many summer camps, Morasha
summer. Campers responded so well to
still is trying to figure out the good
secretly throughout the summer to con-
it’s not because we’re against them,”
the program, enjoying the activity as a
and the bad of technology. Spodek says
tact parents.
Silverman says. “The goal is to show them
game while learning Hebrew at a swift
the camp’s rule banning Internet-enabled
Ultimately, says Alan Silverman, direc-
how much camp has to offer, with all
pace, that Osrui is expanding its media
gadgets is becoming increasingly harder
tor of Bnei Akiva’s Camp Moshava in
the nature and sports, that it’s better for
center for this summer, according to camp
to enforce with technology advancing
Ontario, Canada, summer camp is about
them to leave the gadgets behind for the
director Jerry Kaye.
and filtering down even to the youngest
giving the kids an experience beyond the
summer.”
campers. He notes that some campers
ordinary.
Osrui also plans to incorporate a new
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digital pen pal program in which campers
will show up with two cell phones: one
“We don’t allow any sort of cell
will Skype with Israeli children to practice
to forfeit to the office, the other to use
phones or gadgets in our camp, and
org to find a Jewish camp and see if your child qualifies for a $1,000 grant.
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Februray 11, 2013 | Camp | Jewish News | 37
Donors struggling to defray the rising costs of Jewish camp by Gil Shefler NEW YORK (JTA)—Spending the summer at Jewish overnight camp once was a spartan affair, often little more than a collection of ramshackle buildings scattered in the woods by a placid lake. Those were the days. “Today it’s all about the toys,” says Rabbi Allan Smith, the former head of the Reform movement’s camp network and a 46-year veteran of the summer camp business. “You have a go-kart track, a climbing wall, a swing, a Burma bridge. “When I was a kid, 90 percent of the camps were by a lake. Today if you don’t have a pool you’re a loser. Kids don’t like lakes, they’re dirty.” Such amenities may make camps more appealing, but they don’t come cheap. Parents can expect to shell out
Camp Ruach
anywhere from $600 per week per child at one of the less expensive nonprofit camps to $2,000 per week at some of the pricier options. For families already struggling to cover the costs of Jewish education during the school year, sending a child to camp might be one expense too many. In a bid to help defray the cost, the Foundation for Jewish Camp has awarded more than 43,000 grants to attend a nonprofit summer camp. The grants can be up to $1,000 per family. “We believe summers at Jewish camp are an important component in one’s Jewish identity,” says Jeremy Fingerman, the foundation’s CEO. “Camp teaches a joyful Judaism and becomes an important building block for a Jewish future. We believe families challenged economically should not be penalized.” The high tuition at Jewish camps,
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which directors at the camps agree is considerably costlier than at their Christian counterparts, is cause for concern among those who fear that a potent identitybuilding opportunity is slipping away from middle-income families. For Debra Hollander of Shaker Heights, Ohio, sending her children to Jewish camp is a top priority, despite the costs. “Our three kids go to secular education schools, so for us Jewish camping became even more important,” she says. A 2011 study commissioned by the Foundation for Jewish Camp lends credence to Hollander’s view of Jewish camps as important shapers of Jewish identity. According to the study, Jewish camp alumni are 30 percent more likely to donate to a Jewish charity; 37 percent more likely to light Sabbath candles; and 45 percent more likely to attend synagogue. “The analysis indicates that [camps] bring, first of all, an increased inclination to practice Jewish behaviors in their lives, from Shabbat lighting candles to using Jewish websites and to appreciate the value of Jewish charity,” the study concludes. “Secondly, they bring an inclination to value and seek out the experience of Jewish community, whether in the immediate sense of joining other Jews in prayer or in the more abstract sense of identifying with fellow Jews in Israel.” The FJC, which has a mission to increase the number of Jewish campers, is working to identify ways for camps to reduce costs. In recent years it has coordinated the sharing of resources, encouraged the development of alternative revenue sources and helped camp directors improve their managerial skills through a program the organization likens to “an MBA in camping.” One of the most important elements in helping camps stay on stable footing, the foundation believes, is boosting enrollment. “Camps that are full are profitable and reinvest back in scholarships,” Fingerman says. “So there is a power in numbers, and we’re working hard to get them full.” Other organizations also have taken
steps to make camp more affordable, particularly for less-affiliated families and first-time campers who might be less sold on the value of the camp experience. The Avi Chai and Zell foundations jointly made a $600,000 donation to Ramah to help the Conservative movement’s camp network attract first-timers. “We’re calling it the Ramah Open Door Program, where we’re opening up to less Jewish-affiliated families,” says Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, Ramah’s national director. Paul Reichenbach, the director of camp and Israel programs at the Union for Reform Judaism, says a significant number of children attending his movement’s summer programs also receive scholarships. While camp directors agree that the costs of Jewish overnight camps are high, they offer varying explanations as to the reasons. Some say it’s the relative abundance of staff—a ratio of one supervisor for every two campers, according to Cohen. Others point to the salaries of directors, which average about $125,000 per year at nonprofit camps, according to public tax filings. Directors at Jewish forprofits can make even more. Perhaps the biggest factor driving costs, however, is the Jewish community’s relative affluence and the resulting expectations. “What [Jewish camps] provide may be higher with regard to facility, to program options, with regard to staff structure,” Reichenbach says. “And we are dealing with a community that has a certain expectation for quality.” Despite a growing recognition of the importance of making tuition affordable, Reichenbach predicted costs would continue to appreciate at a rate of two percent to five percent each year. “We live in the real world,” he says. “Our practices have reflected the rise in the cost-of-living index, the cost of energy, of food, of transportation. We are doing the best we can to stay even.” ADVERTISEMENT: Visit OneHappyCamper. org to find a Jewish camp and see if your child qualifies for a $1,000 grant.
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— And More! — Registration starting in early March.
For more information visit CampJCC.org or call 757-321-2338
Presented by the Simon Family JCC
5000 Corporate Woods Drive Virginia Beach
Februray 11, 2013 | Camp | Jewish News | 39
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to your best summer ever!
301.468.2267 12750 Buchanan Trail East, Waynesboro, PA 17268 info@capitalcamps.org capitalcamps.org
40 | Jewish News | Camp | February 11, 2013
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