Working at Camp….The Best Job in the World
March 30, 2012 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Benefits of Summer Camp, Jewish Camping, Letters from Staff.
By: Drea Lear, Assistant Director
I firmly believe that camp is the best job in the world. We get to be a part of a community that impacts the lives of children. We get to leave our cell phones and computers in our offices and play outside. We get to work with some of the most dedicated young Jews I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. We get to be Jewish educators, mentors, friends, listeners, gaga players, camp counselors. Until recently, I thought of these things exclusively through the lens of Herzl Camp.
Two weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity, along with Camp Director, Anne Hope, and Director of Operations, Gary Kibort, to attend the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) Leaders Assembly and the American Camp Association (ACA) Tri-State Conference both in New Jersey. These camp conferences draw 650 and 1200+, respectively, camp professionals and lay leaders from all over the country.
The conferences had their own atmosphere, each with its own goal to accomplish. Leaders Assembly was meant to connect Jewish Camping professionals to share their experiences, brainstorm creative solutions to common challenges, and celebrate the success of Jewish Camping over the past decade. Alternately, the ACA Tri-State conference focused on continuing education for camp professionals with sessions ranging from effective food service practices, to staff training, to camper behavior management strategies, to risk management.
The impact of camp hit me like a ton of bricks when ACA keynote speaker, Kevin Jennings of Be the Change, said, “If you can’t support each and every camper in his/her right to be who they are, you should find a new profession.” As I was emphatically applauding his statement I realized that everyone around me was doing the same. It was as if, with one mind, 1200+ camp professionals understood our purpose. We are all working towards the same goal, to give young people (both campers and staff) the opportunity to build their identity.
The more people I met and sessions I attended the stronger that feeling became. We were learning from one another and beginning to grow a greater camp community. I came to appreciate that Herzl Camp does awesome things like build community through rituals (i.e. Shabbat Caravan), provide opportunities to try new things through scheduled Tzrif times, and communicate with our alumni community in creative ways (i.e. this blog, Alumni Wednesday facebook updates, reunions).
I also learned new things. I learned that communicating with our camper families not only provides important camp information, but also builds the foundation for an important Parent or Guardian/Camp partnership where both parties acknowledge that the camper’s welfare is top priority (and I picked up some great ways to enhance this communication!). I learned that teambuilding activities and icebreakers are not just for fun and creating strong staff morale, but can have an enormous impact on a group’s ability to respond to an emergency. I learned that within the world of Jewish camping, while we may all have our own affiliations, core values, or mission, we are a group of individuals who are making a difference in the Jewish community and by sharing ideas we can all continue to grow and improve.
In the end, my belief of camp being the best job in the world was reinforced. We get to be a part of a network of camp staff that impacts the lives of children. We get to play outside knowing that campers and staff all over the country are putting down their cell phones and computers and doing the same. We get to work with some of the most dedicated young Jews I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. We get to be Jewish educators, mentors, friends, listeners, gaga players, camp counselors. And here’s the awesome part: Herzl Camp is an integral part of a greater camp community, a community that influences not only the lives of our 750 wonderful Herzl campers, but also the lives of over 70,000 Jewish youth all over the country.
Though Herzl Camp will always be in my heart, I now think of these things through a broader lens knowing that our work in Webster, Wisconsin over the past 65 years plays a role in the larger picture of camping.
Shabbat Shalom! It’s going to be a great summer.
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The Camp Cycle
January 23, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Top 10 Lists.
By Zander Abrams
Camp is a community. Most Herzl alumni have taken a similar path from start to finish. We began as campers and ended as staff. We had some type of Herzl connection coming into camp (e.g. an older sibling, cousin, or friend), and we left behind some type of legacy. There are different stages that we have gone through, and here is my best of what I have personally experienced and seen others experience.
1. I’m New Around Here
This is the first time camper. Coming in, you don’t know what to expect. Maybe you’ve heard things from your siblings, but everything seems bigger, louder, and more exciting. Camp may as well be its own state with its massive population and campground. “I’m scared of getting lost.” “Which one is the Beitan and Beitan Chadash?”
2. The Veteran Camper
At around your fourth or fifth year, you really have a hang of this whole Herzl thing. You know most of the kids in your session and you know a good amount of the staff. You’re becoming a Herzl historian. Maybe you remember every Havdallah since your first summer, or Ozo song, or 12 Gates plot. You may even start dreaming about doing Gates when you’re on staff.
By this time, you’ve already seen a generation of staff come and go. Someone who was in B’yachad when you were starting out is now your B’yachad director. “I remember when Papa Danny Soshnik, was my counselor, now he’s in charge of all the Ozrim!” “Zoe was an Ozo for my program, and now she’s my program director?”
As a veteran, you’re also starting to become known. The younger kids know who you are and talk about you like you were a professional athlete. I had the same group of kids for most of my time as a counselor, and it was surreal when I heard younger campers talk about them the way they used to talk about the Yachers.
3. Welcome to the Other Side
This is when the fun really begins. I was a camper for 8 years and on staff (including OZO) for 5 years. The way that I viewed camp in 2005 versus 2010 was night and day. As a new member of staff, you’re first overwhelmed by how many staff there are. How on earth will be you able to learn all their names? You remember some of them from when you were a camper, but to an Ozo/First year Staff, a 3rd year counselor seems like they’re 35.
As a Veteran Camper, you were a star. You got to go up and talk on the microphone that one time, you got to lead a service, all the other kids knew who you were and even staff that wasn’t in your program talked to you. But now, you’re in the trenches. You’re with younger kids in a program of 90+.
It’s exciting to have a cabin of your own. You want your kids to remember every moment of every day for the rest of their lives. You’ve lost your voice by week 2 with all the cheers you got your cabin to do. And you’ve finally understood why you counselor would get upset if you were making noise during Minucha.
You probably have some type of idea of what you want to do with your Herzl career. Maybe you want to work on the Waterfront, in Amanut, as Rosh Sport. Maybe you want to follow your kids through until they’re Ozrim. If you play by the book, maybe- just maybe you’ll be a Program Director, or Mama/Pappa Ozo!
4. You’re still working at Camp?
Welcome to your 3rd/4th year on staff. Congratulations, you finally get to talk to Gary Kibort! If you play your cards right, you may get to know Dale too! The staff seems so small. You know all of them, and have had some of them in Chugim you led as an Ozo. You had this year’s Ozo group in your cabin back in your first year. The size of Camp seems small too. You can walk from north to south in just four minutes! How on earth did you ever think this place was as big as a city?
From my experience, people come back to work at this stage for the following reasons: (1) the campers they’ve had forever are in B’yachad and they want to see them through, (2) they were offered a PD position and couldn’t pass it up, (3) Working on the Waterfront is the dream, and (4) “This is all I know for summers and I love it.”
You’ve been around for so long that campers start making old jokes to you (Camp is the only place that you get old jokes at age 22). Your ruach has started to die down. You’re not leading every cheer, but when you do you show those young punks what Dodi Li is really about. Strange enough, you don’t think of yourself as much older than the new staff, while when you were a 1st year staff you thought 3rd and 4th years were practically adults.
This stage is also when you become a ‘living legend.’ You’ve taught enough Chugim, had enough kids in your cabin, and gotten to know enough people that you are now a legend. There really couldn’t be any more pressure put on you doing a guest lights out program than having this tag. All the campers know who you are, even though you’ve never seen them before.
5. End of the Line
The 5th or above year on staff. You have been at Herzl for a really long time. You’re on the administrative side, either as a Program Director, Coordinator, or the like. You’ve been on staff long enough to see two generations go through. Your campers are now on staff, in fact most of the staff were in Kadimah or younger when you were an Ozo; man, you’re as old as dirt. Gary Kibort definitely knows who you, still no guarantees about Dale.
Every other summer you knew there was a chance that you’d come back, but this summer is different. This is your last chance to make a difference. You definitely don’t have the ruach you used to. You actually spend more time on the microphone telling people to stop talking than you do leading cheers.
You’re definitely at living legend status. Every camper knows who you are, and you’ve known most of them since they were in Taste. You’re perspective on issues is really big picture, encompassing a half decade of experience. In fact, the younger staff thinks you’re out of touch with reality because you’re so far removed.
If you’re lucky, you’ve been able to leave Camp in a better place than when you came in.
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Where Are They Now: David Waller
January 9, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Where Are They Now.
By David Waller
It is usually around this time every year that I wonder how I will be spending summer. For the last 5 years (Yes 5 years, I enjoyed school so much I took a victory lap), I would always come home during winter break and stop into the Herzl Office for a meeting with Anne to figure out what I could be possibly doing next.
I’ve done pretty much all you can imagine in terms of jobs at camp, including: bunk staff, rosh rock, outdoor activities coordinator, rosh sport and Tzofim, Noar, and Kadimah Program Director. Going into last summer, I honestly thought that it would be my last considering I had just recently graduated from college and would be looking to move onto into the next phase of my life. After spending the past 6 summers on staff, I really thought I knew and understand all the ins and outs of running a summer camp. Boy was I wrong.
For the past couple of months, I have been working in the office in St. Louis Park and have really been exposed to a much different side of camp then what people see over the course of the summer. I used to never think about how programs got assigned to certain cabin groups or that each year the budget is different from program to program. These are things that they typical summer staff member does not think about, or even need to know about, to be completely honest.
One thing that really sticks out for me in terms of bettering myself for later down the line, is that working in the office during the offseason has really made me look closer at the small things.
I came to realize that many programs or events can be successful with good planning, but the only way for them to be great is to make sure all the small things get worked out. Along with the small things, the only way to really make sure you get all the details worked out is by looking at the big picture. You have to be able to see the situation from different sides, for example being able to look at a situation from both the camper, staff and Hanhallah view points. All of which are different, but each very important for a program to run smoothly and safely.
To wrap things up, being able to see the inner workings of how Herzl Camp runs has really made me appreciate the work that everyone puts in year-round. All that work put in by Anne, Drea, Gary, Holly, and Dale really makes everyone else’s jobs that much easier. So if you haven’t told them how much you appreciate the work they do, make sure you do so!
Shavua Tov!