Welcome to Trip II! What a wonderful week of welcoming over 280 campers to the Home of Happiness for an energy packed 3-week session. For those of us who spend all 7 weeks here at camp, it’s an adjustment as we move into Trip II where activities, surprises, and special events get scheduled back-to-back. A similar experience to Trip I with trips, overnights, Maccabia, carnivals, and so much more, but faster!!
One of the highlights of Camp Wise is that our program helps campers try new activities, sports and challenge themselves, while also giving each child multiple opportunities to design their own experience. Our morning schedule features cabin activities where cabin groups rotate between team and community building programs across camp (e.g. low ropes course, Horseback Riding, Sports, Art Shack, Giant Swing, Song Session, Improv, etc…). In the afternoon campers attend chugim (their specialty activities) where they spend multiple days improving skills in an area they love.
Another beautiful moment this week featured the return of ILS – the Israel Leadership Summer! All 36 of our 11th grade campers returned from Israel as close as could be to one another, having spent 4 weeks in the Holy Land. Their leadership experience is the first step in preparing these talented and dedicated high school teens to become future staff members, leaders and teachers in our community. For ILS one of their key memories was a shepherding lesson they all attended near Jerusalem. Together they learned about how to lead and guide a group, by learning how to heard actual sheep in the Judean hills! The lessons will stick with them as they grow: about where to be, how to use your body language and voice, and how to signal to a group what you need from them. This experience and so much more formed lifetime memories.
As we move into this beautiful Shabbat – with a cool breeze and bright blue sky – our hope is to continue with a session of growth, of meaning making, of memories, and of care for each person at Camp Wise. Keep the letters coming and send the love!!
C1 – We learned a new card game called, unstable unicorns! We’ve also learned how to interact and teach others new things! Maccabiah is something we are looking forward to. C2 – We loved Song session!!! We are learning how to be more open minded and inclusive in each activity. We look forward to each and every day.C4 – This week we have loved jetski and outdoor cooking! Ourcampers have learned that being away from home can be a really fun experience even though it can be a little hard at first. They have also learned that they can push themselves out of their comfort zone by trying new activities like ropes and really enjoy it. Our campers look forward to everyday always having a smile on their face wondering what cabin activities were going to do and what the day has in store for them.C5 – This week we loved singing after meals, Aviva’s Birthday Pool Party, and celebrating Israel Day! My campers learned about how to make new friends and learned lots of new things about Israeli Culture. Our campers are VERY excited for Maccabiah.C6 – It is wonderful to be back at camp with friends new and old – we are having a blast with cabin activities and loved doing art! We are looking forward to shabbat as a group. C7 – This week we enjoyed horseback riding as a cabin activity and have loved making new friends! C7 conquered our fears on the giant swing and encouraged each other to try new activities. We are looking forward to more time at the pool and having high ropes as a cabin activity!C8 – This week c8 loved getting to try the giant swing and go jet skiing at the lake! This week our campers learned about perseverance. C8 is looking forward to trying everything camp has to offer!O1 – A highlight for us this week was our basketball cabin activity! We are all getting to know the other campers in the cabin and building close bonds. We are most looking forward to Shabbat and everything this session has in store!O2 -This week “Shek” (which we would like to be referred to now instead of 02) really enjoyed basketball. They enjoyed staff vs everyone else in basketball. However they still lost They don’t have a fear of heights because them all go on the giant swing They are really looking forward to maccabiah (even though it’s canceled or course). O3 Enjoying bunk night and singing together in the cabin. We’ve learned that we can have fun Cabin activities getting to know each other better. O5 – This week our cabin loved music production and playing roof ball! They have learned what works for them in the cabin to get along and have fun as a group. Our campers are really looking forward to looking forward to shabbat!O6 – This week we have loved bonding through music, activities and cabin fun! We are impressed at how resilient they are in a new environment and how quick they are to make new friends! Our campers are looking forward to the play, maccabia and their chugs!O7 – We loved music production cabin activity! We’ve discovered that how much you put into camp is how much you’ll get out…. dance and the play!O8 – Finding out we were all in a cabin together was the highlight of the week. We discovered how to be legends! and we climbed very high on the High ropes course!O9 – We did yoga as a cabin at rest hour and the kids said it felt like a movie because it was so perfect They have learned to be more considerate of others space needs and belongings. Tea with Dan at rest hour is something we are looking forward to!O10 – This week we loved making a skit as a cabin about Randy the raccoon in Ohalim! Our campers learned about each other’s sense of humor! Maccabiah and the overnight are on the horizon and we are looking forward to it!N1 – Our cabin had a blast at the lake riding on the jetski! I was impressed when everyone in the cabin was able to go on the high ropes course! The boys have been taking non stop about our potential day trip.N2 – The pool party with N1 for Ben and Malcom’s birthday was our favorite memory so far! Our campers have learned to be more patient and understanding of others. N3 – Jet skiing with N4, was really great! We’ve learned how to work as a team and be great at communicating. Looking forward to more lake activities!N4 – This week we have loved playing cards in the cabin, hanging out in the village playing some baseball and celebrating Nathaniel’s birthday! N4 has gotten very close as a group already and they’ve learned how to communicate well with each other. They are really looking forward to Shabbat – specifically spirit circle!N6 – Being together as a cabin has been a blast. We love how it feels to be a Noar camper! As a group we are all looking forward to Maccabiah!N8 – Cabin activities were out favorite part of the week – We’ve learned new hobbies/ interests such as archery! Shabbat is a highlight coming up – we cannot wait!
SOLEL!! – Solel had an amazing time on their first trip to Cincinnati! On Wednesday we saw all kind of animals at the zoo and explored the biggest, coolest grocery store we’ve ever seen in Jungle Jim’s. Thursday we spent all day at Kings Island, riding roller-coasters and playing games all day. It was an awesome trip and we’re happy to be back for Shabbat!
SITs! – The SITs had a great first week of second session! They are enjoying the experience of a new village and diving deeper into being in a counselor or specialist role. They also became closer as one group at a campfire where they had deeper conversations about themselves and camp.
