Camp is seen as an escape for many campers and a way to leave their busy lives behind, but for Asher Brown it is also an opportunity for him to improve his social skills as well as his work skills. Asher is a great example of how the Avodah Program at camp benefits all of the campers involved. Asher has been a camper at Camp Ramah in Canada for six years and has been active participant of the Tikvah Avodah Program for the past two summers.
Read MoreAfter celebrating my Bar Mitzvah in June 1998, I joined the first ever session of “Taste of Tikvah” at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, which laid the foundation for six wonderful summers in the Tikvah Program. During this time I made many lifelong friends from the fellow campers, counselors and Israeli Shlichim that I interacted with. In 2004, I was lucky enough to participate in the new Atzmayim Tikvah Vocational Program, which enables former campers to learn independent living skills and get vocational training. In my role, I worked in the camp’s kitchen, where I helped stock and organize the necessary items, clean appliances, serve food to the guest tables, and help the chefs with food preparation.
Read MoreWe have all heard that Jewish summer camp is one of the most valuable experiences a parent can give their child to ensure a strong Jewish foundation. If you think of it as a construction project, the footings beneath the foundation is community and together, this community builds the foundation they share. As each child grows into an adult, the shared experience of community-building in a Jewish context continues to strengthen his or her Jewish foundation.
Read MoreFor most parents, the decision to send their children to sleepaway camp is made with little hesitation. But whenever my husband and I considered sending our youngest child, we balked.
Read MoreAs a teacher of Jewish Studies and b’nai mitzvah training children with a wide range of disabilities, and as a long time director of a disabilities program which is part of an 800+ camper Jewish overnight camp, I am immersed in the Jewish disabilities world and am part of dozens of year round conversations, conferences and panel discussions on various aspects of inclusion. I would like to share three exciting trends in the disabilities/inclusion world that I have noticed:
Read MoreWhen you’re a counselor working with campers who have disabilities, you’re always on the lookout for new ways and activities to help engage the campers under your charge. There is no better way to pick up these new tips and tricks than to spend time exchanging information and experiences with other counselors who work with the same population. This is precisely what I did during the last week of May at the National Ramah Spring Leadership Training Conference at Ramah Darom in Clayton, Georgia. I spent the week collaborating with and learning from counselors from other camps all over the country who also work with campers with disabilities.
Read MoreFor the past five summers, I have had the honor of working for the Mitzvah Corps program at URJ Kutz Camp. Mitzvah Corps is a special needs camping program for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The program’s mission is to honor the unique characteristics of every camper and provide access to Jewish camping by creating individualized accommodations and modifications that allow every camper to succeed. So when my camp and I heard that National Ramah invited the URJ Camps to their Spring Leadership Training Conference training at Ramah Darom, we saw it as a great opportunity to collaborate with a different camp movement whose mission closely aligned with our own.
Read MoreI distinctly remember the day at camp when I sat with one of my campers outside the chadar ochel while she struggled to make it from the meal to the next activity. Something about going from the meal to the tent gave her anxiety. The way she showed it, however, was through bouts of screaming, crying, and some not-so-kind words. We sat for what felt like centuries in the same spot. I tried everything to cajole her from her perch, but nothing I tried worked. I felt increasingly defeated as the minutes ticked by without any resolution. My supervisor ended up coming around the corner and said, “Jenna, tap out.” To “tap out” means to take a break or let someone else tackle the problem. This was a crucial moment in my development as a counselor in Tikvah [one of the Ramah programs for campers with disabilities]. It was when I started to understand the role that self-care plays in my job as a counselor to children with special needs.
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