Director's Corner - Monday, June 17

Director's Corner - June 17, 2024

Everyday People

‍Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and
Scooby-dooby-dooby
I am everyday people

It’s Monday night, and we’ve just wrapped up the first full day of Beber Summer 2024 - First Session. What an awesome day full of sunshine and a plethora of new activities! It was fantastic for me to start the day at instructional swim. The Makor boys were having so much fun and I was really impressed with the kindness of our staff. Today campers were swimming laps and treading water so we could get an understanding of the abilities of our younger campers!

At Beber, each day is packed with opportunities to challenge our skills, strengthen bonds with bunkmates and the camp community, and have a blast doing it. In future Director’s Corners, I’ll delve deeper into our daily schedule and the reasoning behind its structure.

Today I was just getting my feet wet, exploring all we have to offer. Today’s hobby highlights included:

Archery: We’ve created a beautiful new space for Archery. It’s also right next to our special slingshot paintball range.

Gymnastics: I saw some amazing tumbling and springboard routines. We also debuted our new uneven bars!

Outdoor Cooking: I was able to watch our staff teach fire safety and help campers build fires, and make some tasty campfire popcorn.
Challenge Course: The heat did not stop our campers from hanging over 20 feet in the air

Waterskiing: I saw so many smiles at the end of 3rd hobby when several of the Makor campers shared their excitement of skiing for the first time!
Arts and Crafts: We had a very cool artist in residence teaching a group of campers about ceramics. I also saw some some pretty cool jewelry being crafted.

Everywhere I went, campers were having a great time learning about their hobbies and getting to know fellow campers.

Meals:

Breakfast: Waffles with a toppings bar, including strawberries and whipped cream, plus a breakfast bar with yogurt, fruit, granola, cottage cheese, and various juices.
Lunch: Cheese quesadillas, Spanish rice, toppings, and a salad bar.
Dinner: Spaghetti, vegetables, and garlic bread.

Each division had their opening programs tonight:

Makor - Makor Monster Mash had an awesome evening program tonight! They made monster masks in Arts & Crafts and mastered the Makor cheers!

Kesher - Kesher’s divisional opening program started off with a charades game based on the theme - Kesher Carnival - where B1 won the Kesher Cup! They then made their own carnival tents where each camper had a section where they drew or wrote their summer bucket list.

Ramot - The theme for Ramot this session is Retro Ramot so for evening program the campers took part in some classic games with a Retro and Beber theme to it! They played Charades, Trivia and real life PacMan!

I wasn’t able to get around to TLP tonight but I’ll get that information for tomorrow’s blog!

As promised last night, I’d like to introduce you to the leadership team responsible for supervising your camper. This is your Summer 2024 Division Leader Team.

Makor (Beginnings in Hebrew) - Jolie Ring (Cabins K1, K2, K3, O1, O2)

Hi! My name is Jolie Ring, I’m from Buffalo Grove, IL, and I am so excited to be a Summer 2024 Makor division leader! I love being at camp! This is my 11th summer at Beber and my 2nd year on Leadership. After graduating high school in May of 2022, I took a gap year to study and work/intern in Israel. I just completed my Freshman year of college at Syracuse University where my fields of study are Psychology and Citizenship and Civic Engagement leading to a career within the Jewish non-profit community. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know all of your kids. My commitment is to create an environment where each camper is seen and heard and ready for the summer of a lifetime! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything. My camp email is jolie.ring@bebercamp.com. I can't wait to spend the summer with your campers!

‍Makor (Beginnings in Hebrew) - Sophie Heller (Cabins K4, K5, O3, O4, O5)

Hi! My name is Sophie Heller and I am one of the Makor Division Leaders! This is my 12th summer at camp and 4th year on staff! I am from Highland Park, IL and am an incoming senior at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying Elementary Education and English as a Second Language. I am so excited to work in Makor again; it is truly the best (and cutest) division! I can’t wait to show our campers the Beber magic! Please reach out to me if you have any questions at sophie.heller@bebercamp.com.

‍Kesher (Connection in Hebrew) - Lior Latimer (Cabins G1, G2, G3, G4, B1, B2, B3)

Hi!! My name is Lior Latimer (she/her), and I am so excited to be the Kesher division leader! I am from Chicago and just graduated from the University of Michigan this past May. I majored in Public Health Sciences, and I hope to pursue a career in healthcare.

My first summer at camp was back in 2011, making this my 14th summer overall and 4th year on staff. I was also the Kesher division leader last summer, and I am thrilled to be in this role for a second year. In 2021 I was a Kesher counselor, where I discovered my passion for the Kesher division. I love Kesher campers because they are fun, adventurous, and curious. This summer I hope to help Kesher campers develop a love for Beber while also gaining independence and confidence.

I cannot wait to get to know all of the Kesher campers (and Makor/Ramot campers) this session! Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at lior.latimer@bebercamp.com.

‍Ramot (The Heights in Hebrew) - Allie Wilk (T1, T2, A1, A2)

I’m Allie Wilk from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and I’m one of the Ramot Division Leaders for summer 2024! This is my 13th summer at Beber and I am so thrilled to be here. I graduated in May from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a middle grades mathematics education degree and a public relations minor. I can’t wait to be teaching seventh grade math and science in the upcoming school year! I am so excited to be with Ramot this summer watching and helping campers make lifelong memories and friendships. Please don’t hesitate to reach out at allie.wilk@bebercamp.com

‍Ramot (The Heights in Hebrew) - Isabel (Izzy) Baron (A3, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6)

I’m Isabel (Izzie) Baron and I’m one of the Ramot Division Leaders this summer! This is my 10th summer at Beber (2nd as an DL!) and I’m from Denver, Colorado. I’m an incoming senior at Northeastern University studying Journalism, Marketing, and Sports Media. My favorite thing about Ramot is the amount of fun activities and memories the campers make while at camp! Feel free to reach out to be at Izzie.baron@bebercamp.com.

Teen Leadership Director - Morgan Morris (Pioneers and CIT’s)

Hey I'm Morgan Morris and I am your Teen Leadership Director this summer. This is my 7th summer here at Beber, and I am currently studying my MSW back home in Edinburgh, Scotland. The teen leadership program is a unique summer experience where our campers begin their transition to future Beber Camp staff members. We spend a lot of time learning about our strengths and how we can use them to become effective leaders across camp, as well as back in our home communities. Our Pios will spend the first session discovering their style of leadership, deepening their Jewish life, and in the second session they will take part in the second session experience. Our CITs get the opportunity to dig deep into the life of a staff member and spend a second session living in a bunk, gaining hands-on child care experience. I am honored to get to spend this quality time with our future leaders. You can reach me anytime at morgan@bebercamp.com - Here's to a life changing summer!

To meet this team in person, click here and scroll down to the end of the document.

To learn more about the community care team, click here.

Here’s to another fantastic day at Beber Camp. Stay tuned for more updates!

Peace, Love, 3BC,

Michael

PS - P.S. Congratulations to the following who knew that Sting sang “Brand New Day!”

Jill R
Sindy S
Wes S

Who sang "Everyday People?" Email your answer to trivia@bebercamp.com for a shoutout in tomrorow's blog!

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