It’s 7:45 a.m. in the middle of August. Senior Abby Zuckerman’s alarm is blaring, and while it isn’t her ideal time to get up, she knows she has a responsibility to fulfill. Just an hour later, she is pulling into the Bender JCC’s parking lot, ready for another day of her job as a counselor at the Lessans Camp JCC.
For some students, summer is an opportunity to be free of obligations, as opposed to the school year, and relax by traveling or attending summer camp. However, others opt to take on more responsibility. For many JDS students, that means working at a summer camp.
After being a camper at the Lessans Camp JCC for seven years and a counselor-in-training (CIT) last summer, Zuckerman was eager to spend another summer at camp, but this time, as a counselor. For her first year on staff, Zuckerman chose to be an inclusion counselor, meaning she mostly worked one-on-one with a camper with disabilities. She followed her camper to his different activities and ensured he had the best experience possible.
“[Working in inclusion is] something I’m passionate about,” Zuckerman said. “It’s definitely something I want to pursue in college and something I do throughout the year with Friendship Circle. It is really just a great environment and something I love to be a part of in the summer too.”
Halfway across the world, in Israel, sophomore Yarden Wilkenfeld worked as a counselor at All Star Israel Sports camp this summer. Like Zuckerman, she had gone to this camp when she was younger and now has become a staff member. Wilkenfeld’s family has been spending their summers in Israel for the past four years, so when she realized they were going again this year, she was excited to spend another summer at a camp that was already familiar to her.
“I liked seeing my friends from when I was a camper,” Wilkenfeld said. “I also just liked being at a camp in Israel which is definitely a different experience, and it was a challenge, but it was really nice.”
In her position as a counselor, Wilkenfeld led her campers to their different activities, which were mainly sports, but also included opportunities to swim in the pool or go on field trips. Wilkenfeld enjoyed leading her campers in the activities that she enjoyed as a camper, however sometimes found the language barrier she had with Israeli campers to be challenging.
“Speaking Hebrew perfectly was definitely a challenge,” Wilkenfeld said. “If two campers were rapidly screaming in Hebrew, I can’t be the most helpful counselor in that situation. But I would say for the most part, it was a good learning experience and I think I definitely grew my Hebrew.”
Unlike Zuckerman and Wilkenfeld, junior Ori Ben Nun took on a counselor job at a camp that did not attend as a camper. While he was looking for a job to fill his time last summer, Ben Nun’s parents saw an announcement that Ramah Day Camp was looking for more staff in the junior class’s parents group chat, so he took the opportunity. After a positive experience last summer, he chose to work at Ramah again.
During a typical day at camp, Ben Nun supervised the campers he was assigned to during Tefillot, snack, pool time and many other activities. However, because it was Ben Nun’s second summer as a counselor, he also had higher responsibility over a group of new counselors and campers.
Ben Nun enjoyed his responsibilities as a counselor and engaging with campers, however he found that for himself and everyone else at camp the summer heat posed a challenge.
“Kids are always gonna be kids,” Ben Nun said. “You’ll have problems with them sometimes but you’re trained to get over it and to control them. But the heat, you can’t control the heat. We’re outside all day and the heat just gets you so hot and tired.”
While working in the summer heat during their only break from school might be unappealing to some students, Zuckerman, Wilkenfeld and Ben Nun are all very satisfied with their experiences and would recommend working at summer camps to other students.“Especially if you are not going anywhere this summer, don’t just sit at home and do nothing,” Ben Nun said. “Make some money, make some experiences and memories. The feeling of getting a paycheck is really good and gives you a lot of experience. I highly recommend getting a job in the summer in high school.”
