This week was jam-packed with adventure and activity. Our Chalutzim campers went on their campouts, our 9^th grade Noar campers traveled to West Virginia, and Solel spent the week in camp participating in traditional camp activities including spending more time with their Chalutzim buddies; fostering relationships and teaching our younger, first-time campers about Camp Wise. During the adventures and in the moments in between, our campers and staff continued to show me just how special Camp Wise truly is. Staff members are planning extra special activities for their campers like scavenger hunts, special treats, and late night swims. Campers supported each other as they climbed to new heights on the ropes course, challenged each other to go over class 3 and 4 rapids on the New River, and each meal was louder than the next as camp was full of happiness and joy which was demonstrated through unstoppable cheering!

I thought they couldn’t get louder, but mid-week, all of camp showed us just how much energy they can have during Mythical Creatures Maccabiah! Maccabiah teams are organized so that there are campers from every village working together. For most campers, Maccabiah is one of their favorite programs that we do all summer – they’ll probably tell you because it’s always a fun surprise, a unique theme, and filled with silly games and sports competitions. But the reason that Maccabiah is one of my favorite events is because I truly see the spirit of Camp Wise come alive; our oldest campers take the younger campers under their wing. They take a moment to teach them cheers and explain activities. These examples make it easier to understand why the value of B’tzelem Ehlohim (In the Image of G-d) is one of the Camp Wise core values.

At camp when we teach the value of b’tzelem elohim, we introduce the idea of mensches (decent people). Mensches at Camp Wise are honored and celebrated amongst campers and staff. And this week, in conjunction with learning about the parsha (weekly torah portion), our Ohalim campers learned about this value. The Torah teaches that everyone is created in the image of G-d, and this means that we all have inherent value and holiness. And at camp, we treat every person with respect and dignity as we celebrate what connects us and honor what makes us unique and special. Cabins are doing this by creating sacred spaces through cabin unity programs and focusing on what makes them special and unique, read more below in their weekly updates.

As expected our staff members have exceeded expectations and are constantly being recognized by their peers through our “Live Wise” staff recognition program and by the leadership team with “Gotcha Cards” that highlight staff who are caught going above and beyond. I invite you to share feedback with me about your camper’s staff members. This session has been so incredible; it’s hard to believe there is only one week left!  We will kick-start the new week with July 4^th programming complete with a soccer game, BBQ dinner, a carnival put on by our SITs, and fireworks. With the Performing Arts Showcase, more campouts and Solel trips, the camp Play, banquet, and CW night I know the campers still have lots to look forward to!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rachel

 

Cabin Photos

CHALUTZIM

C1: The futons had a great time bonding on the boys’ night overnight with a giant gaga tournament and water balloon fight. They spent the night in the woods camping, cooking meals, and singing around the campfire!

C2: The chiffarobes really enjoyed our Chalutzim counselor scramble. The boys also had a great time down at the lake party with their Solel buddies!

C7: The stepstools had a super special morning this week at the lake for their cabin jet ski activity. They also climbed the tower at ropes and spent time outdoors with teva. One of their favorite evening programs was the mini maccabiah…before the all camp Maccabiah!

C8: Last week the waterbeds took the stage during our all camp Talent Show program. The girls were busy with new chugim (activities), pranks on their counselors, and a day celebrating Talia’s birthday.

OHALIM

O1: These guys have had a great week! On Monday they got to try out the giant swing and they loved it.

O2: There has been amazing bonding as a cabin this week in O2. They spent time building their unity while working together to get across the lily pads on the ropes course!

O3: The men of O3 have had a super fun week trying out different things around camp! They made their tie dye shirts, learned Israeli dances and so much more.

O4: O4 had a blast this week at all of their activities. Along with the entire village of Ohalim, these guys especially enjoyed preparing to host Shabbat.

O5: There is an all new camp-wide cheer now thanks to the O5 campers and their “Space Pants” song! The boys are having so much fun helping to lead the dining hall in cheers.

O6: This week the ladies of O6 had an extra special “spa day rest hour” filled with meditation, facemasks and more! Their cabin unity is amazing and they love spending time together.

O7: These ladies were surprised by their counselors with an extra special giant swing activity! They also had the chance to make their 2016 Camp Wise tie dye t-shirts.

O8: This week O8 had a special late night pool party, perfect for the hot weather! They also jammed with the guitar specialist and rocked out to an awesome song session.

O9: O9 was all about adventure this week. They had so many fun activities like lily pads on the ropes course and jet skiing down at the CW lake!

O10: It was all about cabin bonding for the ladies of O10 this week. Together, they made an awesome “hamburger society” cabin plaque and they got to go stargazing together as well!

NOAR

N1: The men of N1 went mountain biking this week. They also had a great time at outdoor cooking where they made their own brownies over the campfire!

N3: This week was all about the outdoors for these guys. They played soccer and scored bullseyes at archery and even spent some time working on their fire building skills!

N4: N4 sampled everything CW has to offer; they went around camp and joined in on each activity area during a free period. They even spent some time with the camp photographers for a private cabin photo shoot!

N5: The ladies of N5 got a lot of enjoyment out of their pottery cabin activity, where they were very involved and encouraging towards each other. They also loved jet skiing on Lake Erie last week during the 8th grade lake day!

N6: N6 spent some time this week doing team building and trust building activities. They also played basketball and improved their dribbling and shooting skills!

N7: During their cabin activity with the dance specialist, these ladies learned a number of new dance moves. They also enjoyed climbing all three walls at tower!

N8: These ladies spent some time this week mastering the high ropes course. They went to drama and played great acting games and goofed around and laughed a lot together!

SOLEL

Solel’s third week of camp has been unreal! They started off the week with a fantastic paint party that everyone loved! They also spent some quality time with their Chalutzim buddies down at the lake! The campers in Solel participated in so many fun activities including outdoor cooking where they made delicious brownies, playing basketball and soccer, and climbing the tower! Solel continued to close out each night with an awesome village camp fire where they sang songs together and each spent time telling the whole village a little about themselves! All of Solel did an amazing job as the ultimate role models and spirit leaders on their maccabiah teams!