By Adina Ginsburg, Community Care Manager
One sign that we are moving past the years marred by the COVID pandemic is the number of current 2nd through 5thgraders clamoring to spending their summers at overnight camp. At Capital Camps, we have record numbers of campers this age applying for spots, with growing waitlists for some programs. At the same time, we are hearing from our current 6th, 7th and 8th grade campers that some of their peers have never gone to camp, are reluctant to leave home, and perhaps feel like starting camp “at the right time” is another item on the long list of things that the pandemic deprived them of experiencing.
Not only is it not too late for middle school students to start attending an overnight camp, but it is also especially this group of young adolescents who can benefit the most from the overnight camp experience. Dr. Deborah Gilboa, a family physician and resilience expert, talks frequently about the power of a Jewish overnight camp experience to help children grow and develop. She shares how camp makes it fun to gain independence and how living with cool counselors or “near-peer mentors” provides the ideal environment to develop resilience.
Later middle school and early high school students were in the upper elementary grades when the pandemic closed most camps. This experience interfered with the opportunity to develop academic and social-emotional skills. Camps are ideal places to help this age group learn valuable life skills. For example, Capital Camps is organized around a village structure that is designed to meet the developmental needs of each age group. As the campers get older, they pick more of their activities. Middle schoolers have a choice of an elective, as well as sports and arts blocks. Counselors receive training related to child development, and each village has a mental health professional or experienced educator who works alongside village leadership to address the social-emotional needs of the group.
Middle schoolers need to put down their phones and spend time outdoors. They need to swim in the pool, jump in the lake, engage in sports for fun, dance, sing, create art, and eat pizza cooked at the farm. Middle school age campers are ready for more complex experiences that include problem-solving field games and activities to build trust, communication and teamwork as part of a low and high ropes course program.
In addition, a Jewish overnight camp like Capital Camps provides the foundation for each camper to take ownership of their own Jewish journey. This is especially critical during the years right before, during and following campers’ Bar/Bat Mitzvah year. As campers prepare to take the next step in their Jewish adulthood, the best way to spend the summer is in an immersive Jewish experience. From celebrating Shabbat, having Israeli counselors and singing Birkat Hamazon, every part of the Capital Camps experience is steeped in culture + tradition.
Capital Camps’ commitment to supporting campers has a long history and stays at the forefront of who we are. We have a community care team to help support our campers through any hard times. We find that the best “cure” to homesickness is distraction. Our counselors support the campers through a nonjudgmental lens. We truly strive to meet people where they are.
Some say that Judaism is an open tent, welcome to all. We take that very seriously at Capital Camps. No matter the age, grade or school, Capital Camps is the right place to spend your summer. Speaking of tents, all of our campers eagerly anticipate their 10th grade year when they get to sleep in them!