August 3, 2008

Evan Szymcowicz on his way up the Alpine Tower

More pictures at the bottom!

After a very restful Shabbat (aided by an unfortunate afternoon thunderstorm), Sunday was a day of transition at camp. Kochavim, the 2 week mini-session for entering 3rd graders, ended, as did Kishroniyah, a specialty program for B-side campers, where Paula Shoyer had been teaching cooking for the past week. This year, we had 5 Kochavim campers from Ohr Kodesh - out of a total of about 30 campers in this eidah. With their departure, and that of the older Shoyer children, the number of Ohr Kodesh kids at camp went down significantly! It was great to have Paula and Andy Shoyer here for Shabbat and to see Andrea Neusner (who was here for a board meeting and to pick up Lilah), Aliza Lerner (picking up Lena) and Pam Edison and Hannah Halpern (who were visiting Jeremy). You will see all of them in the pictures below.

One of the special aspects of Camp Ramah is its programs for special needs children (Amitzim) and young adults (Voc Ed or Avodah). The camp services children with a wide range of physical, mental and emotional challenges and works hard to meet each of their needs. It is amazing to work with the campers and their staff. This past Shabbat, I had the opportunity to do a peulat Shabbat (Shabbat program) with the Voc Ed group and today several Amitzim campers were climbing on the Alpine Tower. It is truly inspirational to see these campers, some of whom are in wheelchairs, working their way up the tower. As I said to one of my colleagues on the Tower, it shouldn't surprise us that they are so great on the tower -- some of these kids face much more difficulty physical and other challenges every day than anything that the Tower provides.

I also had opportunities to belay two Ohr Kodesh students up to the top of the 53' Tower -- Evan Szymcowicz and Emma Neusner. Unfortunately, I only had the camera available for one of them.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Andy Shoyer enjoying a last camp meal with Jake and Joey

Andrea Neusner and the Kochavim Girls
Paula Shoyer with Emily and her friends
Aliza Lerner with Eli, Lena, and Shevi and Lilah Neusner

Pam Edison and Hannah Halpern

The Ropes Course Team in our Spiffy New T-shirts

Micah and Oren on our tour of Fenway Park on a day off

A bike at camp is a huge help in getting back and forth between A Side and B Side multiple times a day! (Pam Edison gets the photo credit)

Elianna with her friend Eliana (who also has a brother Oren and a father who is a rabbi)