Dear Camp Wise Families and Friends,

I am pleased to share the news that Abby Kaufman will be joining the year-round Camp Wise team as our Assistant Director of Camper and Staff Life. In this role Abby will manage staff recruitment and hiring, villages and camper care, and our Staff-in-Training (SIT) program.

Abby is thrilled to be returning to the Home of Happiness where she spent 15 summers, and already earned herself a spot in the 15-Year Forest! During her years at Camp Wise, including several years as a camper, Abby served as a counselor, specialist, and during her last two summers as SIT Supervisor. Since Abby’s last summer at CW, she has spent time volunteering in Israel, teaching English to middle schoolers in Boston, and most recently, she served as the Director of Camp Shai, the Denver JCC’s day camp. During her time with Camp Shai, Abby oversaw all aspects of the camp’s programming, budget, operations, and culture as well as supervision, management and training of staff and camper care and support. One of Abby’s particular areas of focus was around her supervision and development of their inclusion program, which served campers with special needs. Abby graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and earned her Master’s degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. When not in the camp office, Abby says you will likely find her in the gaga pit, at a sports chug (activity), or around the campfire. She has been involved in Jewish camping for over 17 years, and truly believes there is no better place to be during the summer than at camp! She cannot wait to bring her passion, experience, and ruach back to Camp Wise.

Abby will be joining us in November and is looking forward to meeting our families at the Columbus and Cleveland camp reunions, so save the date: Columbus – November 20 and Cleveland – November 25!

 

Rachel

Camp Wise Director