For 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.
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A very wise (and very fictional) old wizard named Dumbledore once said that music is “a magic beyond” anything he could ever hope to accomplish with a wand and an incantation. This magic will exist everyday this summer at Jewish camps across North America and it will be facilitated by staff members armed with guitars and a passion for music.
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I 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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What if you took a camp counselor – t-shirt and all – and dropped her in a synagogue? Instead of telling her to leave all that “campy stuff” at the door, invite her to bring it all in with her. Don’t stick her in a classroom on a Sunday morning to talk about camp for an hour, instead have her bring that “camp magic” year round to every activity and every kid in the building. Add a splash of “pied-piper” appeal and camp recruitment responsibilities and you have a Service Corps Fellow in action.
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Bill Gates once said, “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” These words could not ring more true for the nearly 100 young leaders in Jewish camping who attended last week’s 2014 National Ramah Spring Leadership Training Conference, hosted at Ramah Darom in sunny Clayton, Georgia. From the moment the buses rolled into camp, the energy and enthusiasm from the staff were incredible. As one staff member commented, “I can’t wait to be immersed in a community of people who care about camp as much as I do, who each have a passion for Jewish education, leadership, and fun.” (View our highlight video here.)
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At last week’s National Ramah Spring Leadership Training Conference, staff members from special needs programs at Ramah camps, Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) camps, and other Jewish camps joined together to share best practices and learn from one another. Although this is the fourth year of Ramah’s training program for staff from throughout the Ramah network of Tikvah and other special needs programs, this was the first time that staff members from different movements who work with children with disabilities have had the opportunity to participate in professional development training together.
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“Kerem” is a cohort of young Ramah professionals in their 20s, all of whom are working at NRC or at our camp offices all around North America. Almost all of the positions filled by these outstanding camp leaders didn’t exist just a few years ago, so the existence of this cohort is a sign of the growth of many of our camp operations and National Ramah initiatives. The group is dedicated to professional development, Jewish nurturing, and social networking.
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When I received a phone call from Ramah Darom about attending Songleader Boot Camp (SLBC) three years ago, I heard the words “Jewish” and “music” and immediately agreed. Surely something that combined my two greatest passions and involved camp had to be fun, and if nothing else, would be worth missing school for. However, I didn’t know it would also be inspiring and spiritual, with a mesh of incredible individuals, each of whom played a role in creating an experience that kept me coming back the next year, and the next.
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