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Dear Members and Friends of the Schenectady JCC,
School is out, the JCC’s outdoor pool at the William and Estelle Golub Family Park has been open for a month, and this past Monday, Schenectady Camp Chaverim (“Friends”) and Camp Galgalim (“Wheels” Teen Camp) opened to a rousing start.
JCC Summer is in full swing!
There is record attendance for camp this summer. As I’ve said multiple times, camp is an experience that is more than the fun times campers enjoy. The building of lifelong socialization skills goes on daily. In a world where screens move viewers towards more physical and communicative isolation, camp stands as a strong counterbalance towards that tendency. Influence and persuasion are the tools of conflict resolution at camp; “use your words” was never taken as seriously as at camp. And the experiences that camp provides mean to challenge campers. Camp is also where learning to swim well is prioritized; it is a Jewish mandate to teach children to swim.
And the making of lifelong friends is no small benefit either.
At staff orientation, Director of Summer Experience Rachel Csakany asked how many had been campers at some point, and a significant number of people raised their hands. That’s one sign of a great camp. Because camp is also for the almost 100 staff that are there to provide the kinds of positive experiences they had from their counselors. That is the circle of camp.
This summer is special in two more ways. First, in the field by the main pavilion, there is a new yurt structure, clad in what is fast becoming the official camp color, teal. A yurt was and may still be a structure most closely associated with Mongolian life, a large, usually mobile, round tent-like building with a sloped roof and large opening in the center peak. The yurt is the start of a yurt village, which will provide outdoor enclosed spaces, yet close to nature, for programs. This yurt will be primarily used by Elior, one of the JCC’s shlichot (emissaries) for her sessions of Israel and Jewish programming.
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