FJC

Building of community

Originally, the only focus of Jewish camp was to offer Jewish children an opportunity to spend some time in a woodland environment. (photo from pxfuel.com)

Camping and camps may have been around forever. But Jewish camps, at least those in North America, have a contemporary history.

In 1893, a group called the Jewish Working Girls Vacation Society organized a camp for Jewish children in New York. These women sought to create a place to give their children a break from life in the industrialized city where they worked. The initial focus of Jewish camps was on the children of Eastern European immigrants, and there was a drive to use the camps to Americanize participants. Jews were not the only ones to take an interest in this vehicle for integration. By 1900, there were 100 camps of all kinds and, by 1915, there were more than 1,000.

Originally, the only focus was to offer Jewish children an opportunity to spend some time in a woodland environment, perhaps with access to water. Camps also offered children opportunities to interact with their peers from various backgrounds, without parental oversight, something they might not find in their home environment. Over time, Jewish camp programs expanded to include acculturation into things Jewish, along with athletics, social skills-building, the arts and related activities. Among the Jewish camps, there was the development of those that promoted a particular religious observance, or Zionism, Hebrew usage, socialism and the like. Zionist camps were given a special impetus with the worldwide effort to establish a Jewish state.

What Jewish organizers found over time was that camp experiences were crucial in binding young people to the Jewish community. The relationships forged among young people through camp have played an important role in this area. Anyone who has lived through the camping experience understands the powerful emotional connections this activity can carry with it, particularly when it occurs year after year. Many community leaders believe that sleep-away camps were (and are) an important element in the maintenance of a Jewish identity in the face of all the forces that encourage assimilation into the general population.

The summer camp has become a feature of Jewish life wherever the numbers are available to support this community service. In addition to private ventures, over time, Jewish communities have invested substantial resources into these programs and see them as an important part of Jewish communal activity. Some synagogues have camps as part of their program.

Interest in this aspect of Jewish camp has increased over time. For some parents, Jewish camps are an alternative to expensive primary schooling at Jewish educational institutions.

As a reflection of the growing appreciation of the importance of sleep-away camps in maintaining strong communities, philanthropic groups funded, in 2014, an organization in the United States to assist Jewish camps in carrying out their work. The Foundation for Jewish Camp now works with more than 180 Jewish summer camps, assisting in the training of personnel and providing other services and resources. Among other things, it assists Jewish camps in recruiting professionals, offers grants to first-time campers and helps fund upgrades for camps to accommodate participants with special needs.

An estimate published in January 2019 reported that there were 77,000 attendees at Jewish camps in the United States, and the foundation reports that there are 195 Jewish camps in North America. In Canada, there are Jewish camps in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Max Roytenberg is a Vancouver-based poet, writer and blogger. His book Hero in My Own Eyes: Tripping a Life Fantastic is available from Amazon and other online booksellers.

Significant shifts in thinking

(photo from jewishcamp.org)

Today’s world requires camp to adapt to an unprecedented pace of change. Through innovation and building “adaptive capacity,” the Foundation for Jewish Camp, which works with more than 180 Jewish summer camps, will be better suited to help Jewish camps evolve and ensure long-term, sustainable results.

Adaptive capacity, as defined by Ronald Heifetz – co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates and author of numerous books – is “the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive.” It requires the ability to be reflective; to be open and curious to changes in the environment; to use data and evaluation to determine the best path forward; to innovate where new approaches are required; to work collaboratively and leverage diverse experiences and perspectives; and to successfully lead systemic change.

Foundation for Jewish Camp executive summary cover

FJC is challenging what it means to be a Jewish camp. This evolution has resulted in significant shifts in how FJC thinks about the field and its work. “Camp” is now framed as a year-round continuum of immersive, meaningful experiences beginning at the earliest ages and continuing through the teen years, college, and into adulthood and family life, delivered through day camps, overnight camps, family camps and year-round offerings.

Looking ahead, FJC has identified three strategic priorities for the field that include investments in new initiatives and in existing areas of proven impact: develop adaptive talent, deepen immersive learning and drive field growth. These priorities are designed to amplify one another, and the success in any one area is co-dependent on success in the others.

1. Adaptive talent

Talent development is critical to grow and enhance the field of Jewish camp. FJC has long invested in field professionals. As Jewish camp evolves, FJC must now take an adaptive approach to leadership development, both professional and lay, that meets the needs of current and future Jewish leaders.

Counselors

Counselors are the linchpin of the Jewish camp experience. These Jewish role models inspire campers to return year after year. Additionally, when a camper returns as a counselor, the impact of the camping experience is amplified, as staff internalize the lessons of their own experience to create similar (or better) ones for their campers. At the same time, it has become more challenging to recruit and retain counselors due to competition from internships and parental pressures.

FJC will uncover and create new staffing and supervision structures that create a learning framework for these future leaders as well as recognition of the purpose-driven nature of their work. The new models will seek flexibility in camp schedules and create new modalities of training staff to enhance college, career and life-readiness skills.

Other leadership

Jewish camps are experiencing ever-increasing turnover of executive leadership, which is expected to continue over the next five years. FJC seeks to increase investment in the leadership and talent pipeline of camps, cultivating new and refreshed opportunities to engage with and propel Jewish camp and lay leaders at every stage of their development. These initiatives represent opportunities to retain and accelerate the careers of outstanding young talent, build crucial networks among the field and provide high-level, skill-building professional development opportunities. Rather than focus on one single cohort program or development workshop, FJC will ensure attention to the entire talent pipeline.

Envisioned outcomes

• Increase retention rates by 25% or more over current benchmark; easier recruitment of seasonal staff.

• Improve quality of leadership that will drive retention rates and satisfaction scores for campers and staff.

2. Immersive learning

Jewish camps must adapt, expand and evolve in response to societal changes and the manner in which families belong and engage Jewishly. FJC is prioritizing initiatives that will bring the “magic” of camp further into the community by helping camps articulate their Jewish missions, develop programs and ensure the entire camp community is safe and secure for both campers and staff.

Year-round activities

As participation in traditional Jewish activities has declined, camp has become a primary immersive and educational experience for many children. Camp is often the preferred Jewish brand for these families, where their children feel a profound sense of belonging. With summer participation in experiential, immersive learning as the anchor, Jewish camps can and should play a greater role in the community, supplementing the summer with year-round experiences that ensure campers have opportunities to connect with peers through Jewish activities and educational experiences. FJC will invest in year-round programs to maximize the impact of the camp experience.

Amplify education

From FJC’s inception, ensuring that summers at Jewish camp translate into a robust Jewish future has been central to the mission. To do so effectively, FJC takes a holistic approach – working closely with camps and their various stakeholders, giving them a framework to help them enrich and refresh how they articulate and realize their unique Jewish vision. Investing in the enrichment of senior camp professionals, as well as attracting and recruiting talented Jewish educators, will bring this vision to life, and are critical to a strong Jewish educational program.

Envisioned outcomes

• 30% of camps have increased their year-round engagement opportunities.

• Higher-quality Jewish and Israel learning opportunities for campers and staff have been put into action.

3. Field growth

Over the past 10 years, camp enrolment has grown 22% in an era of overall declining participation in the traditional Jewish institutions. To accelerate this growth, FJC is prioritizing initiatives that will both increase the pipeline of Jewish campers and ensure accessibility for campers from all backgrounds. To this end, FJC’s initiatives will focus on how to attract families with young children by engaging them at an earlier and highly formative time; continue the work of increasing competitiveness of Jewish camps through the development of specialty programs; expand access through financial incentives; and promote full physical, social, educational and spiritual access for all campers and staff, irrespective of their abilities.

Younger children

Families are seeking meaningful connection and community in new ways. Building an earlier entry point to the Jewish camp experience will increase the number of campers and families making Jewish summer choices. The focus will include incubating, expanding and strengthening intentional Jewish day camps and family camps in order to engage children at the earliest ages along with their families.

Enrolment, participation

FJC’s core growth programs, including One Happy Camper and new specialty camps and tracks, have driven growth in the field. Diversity and inclusion, as well as community care, must endure and evolve so that the Jewish camp field continues to increase enrolment and improve both retention and camper satisfaction. Continual investment in physical facilities will also increase overall enrolment and ensure that camp is a welcoming and safe environment for all.

Envisioned outcomes

• Grow the field by 20%, reaching 215,000 annual camp participants.

• Year-over-year increases in family participation in camp experiences.

• Increase training, application and family visibility for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

• Increase diversity at camp.

For more on FJC and its strategic plan, visit jewishcamp.org.

Research into access issues at Jewish overnight camps

The field of Jewish camp has become increasingly aware of and responsive to the numbers of children with special needs and physical disabilities in recent years. As a first step towards initiating field-wide changes in this arena, Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) is engaged in a research project mapping current, potential and desired services available to children with emotional, intellectual and physical disabilities at nonprofit Jewish overnight camps across North America.

Laszlo Strategies recently delivered the results of the research (conducted in early 2013), the first of its kind in the Jewish community. The survey garnered results from 170 camp staff members (from 124 camps), 262 parents and 141 campers.

FJC is pleased to share that the majority of those involved in camp – including staff, campers and parents – care about this issue and agree that every Jewish child, regardless of a disability or special need, should be able to attend a Jewish camp. Most involved prefer an inclusion model, with clear recognition that not every camp is able to serve every need and that, in some cases, a separate program might be preferable.

While the field is making progress in the types and amounts of services offered, there is still more to be done. Below are the highlights from the survey. The full findings are available at jewishcamp.org/research.

About the campers served

The field of Jewish camp is serving 2,340-2,590 children with special needs – more than originally estimated.
The majority of the special needs population in Jewish camp have neurological disabilities. Few camps are equipped at this time to properly serve children with more significant/complicated disabilities.
43 percent attend public school, four percent of these children attend Jewish day school, and 24 percent attend a specialty school for children with disabilities. Forty-three percent attend a synagogue-based religious school and 47 percent had attended a Jewish day camp.
93 percent of parents were satisfied/extremely satisfied with their child’s experience at Jewish overnight camp.

About camp staff and programming

36 percent of camps offer special programs for this population.
55 percent of camps have a designated staff member (part-time or full-time) to oversee campers with special needs. This staffer engages with the family during the intake process, selects and trains camp staff, acts as a support during crisis situations, communicates with parents and other outside supports, creates and evaluates individual camper plans.
Inclusion camp staffs appear to want the non-inclusion staff and campers to have a better understanding of their population.
Parents of special needs campers are extremely satisfied with the way camps are infusing Jewish values/learning for this population of campers.

Barriers and perceptions

The biggest barriers to serving more children with specials needs are not attitudes or wheelchair ramps – rather lack of training and knowledge followed by funding.
47 percent of parents report the cost of overnight camp as a barrier.
It is not as important as previously thought that siblings attend the same camp. Forty-three percent of parents report, “it would be nice, but it is more important that they go to the camp that best serves their individual needs.”
Parents report that the biggest factors in choosing a camp for a child with special needs are that the camp offers good supports and accommodations for children with a disability like my child (43 percent), and it is a Jewish camp, where my child can connect to our heritage and community (34 percent).
More camps are serving children with disabilities/special needs than are advertising it to the public through their websites and marketing materials.

Next steps

FJC is currently creating a plan of action to advance the field of Jewish camp in this arena. Sound research and solid data are required in order to make the informed decisions that will move FJC closer to achieving its goal: increasing the number of children attending nonprofit Jewish overnight camp.

FJC commissions its own research, and also draws on the wealth of knowledge that Jewish sociologists and researchers have contributed toward the understanding of camp and its long-term effects. All FJC-commissioned research and a selection of external studies are available for download at FJC’s website.