NOW
Jessica Starkman
Dwight Summer Day Camp
dwightsummercamp.org
While I’m sorry to see campers leave, dismissal is my favorite time of day. That’s when countless campers approach me—usually at a full-speed run—just to show me or tell me something exciting about what they did that day. Most stories are about an accomplishment, like scoring the winning basket or learning to juggle “three whole times in a row!” But the best stories come from happy campers who come running with a friend in tow. They want to introduce me to their new friend.
Peter Corbin
Corbin’s Crusaders
corbinscrusaders.com
This past summer, a camper tried to conquer one of our ropes course elements called the “screaming leap.” The leap requires campers to scale a 15-foot pole and then leap off, swinging down eventually to the ground. Campers are, of course, wearing a harness and helmet, and they are connected to one of our ropes staff. But the challenge is difficult for many campers and staff. One afternoon this past summer, one of our 9-year-old girls attempted the leap and spent about 20 minutes on the top before all of the staff and campers in her group encouraged her to make the leap. The incredible outpouring of support and the fear conquered and the pure joy that resulted was unmatched. Most importantly, this camper did it multiple times throughout the summer. I love to watch children grow in any capacity, but this was glorious.
Stan Friedmann
Mount Tom Day Camp
mounttomdaycamp.com
A few years ago, the 11-year-old boys group was playing touch football. There was one boy who sat under a tree watching. I asked him why he was not in the game. He just shrugged. I asked him if he knew how to throw or catch a ball. Again, he said “no.” I offered to give him a few pointers if he wanted to learn. Two weeks went by, we saw each other every day, and he never spoke about it. Then one day he walked over to me holding a ball in his hands. For the next few days we met for a few minutes and went over the fundamentals of throwing and catching. It was a great breakthrough for him. Although I don’t think he will make a career out of the game, it did allow him to join the group and feel good about himself in a new way.
Lauren Wexler
92Y Camp Yomi
92y.org/yomi
One of our weekly “Wacky Wednesdays” every year at CampYomi is a big, camp-wide lip sync contest. We know it’s a great way to promote self confidence and teamwork in our campers—while having a blast. Last summer, we decided that the camp’s leadership team (myself included!) would put together our own lip sync/dance number. The rehearsals took us back to the fun of being campers, but we also bonded as a team, laughed a lot, and tapped into each other’s strengths to create a dance that all the campers would enjoy. After eight summers of watching the kids on stage, I experienced this from the inside out. I felt that self confidence and sense of belonging that we try to instill in the kids, and that gave me new insight into the elation that campers feel when they do a great routine and how that resonates beyond the day of the show.
Roberta Katz
Deer Mountain Day Camp
deermountaindaycamp.com
Recently, I ran into a parent of one of my campers. When I approached her to say hello, she burst into a smile and started to talk. “My daughter just loves DeerMountain,” she said. “She can’t wait for next summer. She’s a different kid…Thank you!” I smiled as I recalled her sitting on the couch in my office, two years prior, telling me about her daughter for the first time. “My daughter is a great kid, but she’s definitely on the shy side. It’s really important for her to be with her friend, because she’s very resistant to coming even though we think it would be a good idea,” she said. “She doesn’t really like to spend a lot of time away from our family, even during the school year.” As I checked in on her throughout the season, she was spending time with all of the girls in her group, not just her school friend. I saw smiles, laughter and conversations, which left me feeling great. I love what I do. I love what I get to see at camp everyday each summer. What chokes me up the most, however, is seeing and hearing about how a child has flourished at Deer Mountain, becoming more confident and comfortable being exactly who they are supposed to be.
THEN
Adam Weinstein
Berkshire Hills Emanuel Camps
bhecamps.com
I still remember my first overnight at camp. I was 11. We hiked out to a great spot in the woods, built a fire, cooked hamburgers, and stayed up talking until midnight. We slept in tents, and our counselor made us an amazing breakfast in the morning. My camp friends and I still talk about that overnight and that was over 30 years ago. It brought our group together.
Sam Borek
Woodmont Day Camp
woodmontdaycamp.com
At Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa, the biggest special event was the “Grey Cup.” I was a chubby kid and was not very athletic. During try-outs I asked to play quarterback and was met with laughter and was sent with the offensive lineman. I threw five perfect passes and was told that the coaches had seen enough. The next day one of the coaches pulled me aside at lunch and said: “You are not the best quarterback, but you’re mine. Be ready tomorrow.” Our first practice was a disaster. I couldn’t handle the snap cleanly, forgot the plays, and ended up leaving the field in tears. I got better and more comfortable with each practice and felt ready for the game. The game was a back-and-forth affair with our team down by four with a few minutes left. We moved the ball down the field and had it at the two yard line with less than a minute to go. Somehow I stumbled into the end zone for the winning touchdown! I was named the best offensive player from that game and gained confidence that I never knew I had.
Genna Singer
JCC Manhattan
jccmanhattan.org
I was lucky enough to go to Camp Timber Tops in the Pocono Mountains for nearly all of my formative summers. It is literally the happiest place on earth. One summer, my aunt, with whom I was very close, passed away after a terrible battle with cancer. My parents came to camp to tell me and take me and my sister home for the funeral. It was a painful and terrible day. We drove back to camp the next morning, and I realized that I could not have been going back to a better place. My bunkmates and counselors were exceptionally supportive, the unit heads and directors checked in on me, and I was able to find comfort in the place that made me happy and cared for. There is no question that the support and love in camp were the best things for me.
Cookie Shapiro
Bank Street Summer Camp
bankstreet.edu/summer-camp
My first camp experience was not positive. I went to CampGilowat for only two weeks, and I didn’t know anybody. I couldn’t swim. Most of the children my age swam in the “C Section” of the pool. The “C Section” was at the deep end. I was originally in the shallow “Crib” section, but the staff felt bad for me so they put me in the “A Section.” It was really embarrassing, and I found every reason under the sun not to go into the pool after that. When I was 14 I became a counselor in training at Gilawat. I had a camper named Martha Schwartz who was an incredible athlete, especially when it came to swimming. One day, when I was 16 and she was 10, she asked me why I didn’t swim in the deep end. I replied that it was because I didn’t know how to swim. Her response was: “I’ll teach you.” And this 10-year-old camper taught me how to swim. At Bank Street, I was the aquatics director for five years, and I’m now in my sixteenth year as the camp director. Bank Street is a camp where counselors work with campers to help build and improve upon their skills no matter what their comfort or skill level is.
NOW & THEN
Josh Male
Gate Hill Day Camp
gatehilldaycamp.com
I want to share a small story that happens to capture why I love being a camp director, and a special memory I have from being a camper all at the same time. As a child I grew up at Elmwood Day Camp and CampEchoLake. Both Jeff Ackerman and Morry Stein, the respective directors of those camps, were huge influences on my life and on the lives of many others. Recently in an email conversation with Jeff, he mentioned a quick memory to me. “I recall Morry telling me, back in 1993, that you were the real deal,” he said. “Seeing what you have brought to your camp and to the camp community he would be proud.” To me this is it. This note sums up all the things that camp did for me growing up. It helped shape my perspective on how to be a friend and support others, how to take risks and be independent, and, most importantly, how to believe in myself. Each summer, I have the opportunity to do the same thing for Gate Hill’s campers and staff. The opportunity to plant a seed in someone’s mind that they too are the real deal.
