Summer ended almost two months ago, but CESJDS will be bringing a little bit of camp spirit to its Upper School campus on Sunday, Oct. 22.

JDS will host the first Jewish Intercamp Games, a Maccabiah-style competition between 12 Jewish camps. Campers in the D.C. area will compete in games such as basketball, volleyball and tug-of-war, in teams according to their summer camps. The day will conclude with an award ceremony, which parents are invited to attend.

Although the event is designed for campers in third through eighth grade, high school campers could sign up to come and act as team captains for the younger kids. 

Sophomore Mattie Watson, who has attended Camp Ramah in New England for the past seven summers, decided to sign up as a team captain after finding out about the games in an email from her camp.  

“I love my camp and a lot of my camp friends are going and I thought it would be a fun experience,” Watson said. “I also have friends who go to other camps who will also be there.”

Director of Upper School Admissions Miriam Stein said that the event has two purposes. The first is that JDS recognizes the value of a Jewish summer camp experience and wants to work with camps to help them be successful. The secondary goal for the event is for campers in the area who don’t attend a Jewish school to learn more about JDS.

“By having this event, we thought it would be a really fun spirit day for campers,” Stein said. “You know, have some camp pride, come play, do reunions, see your friends and also come learn about the Jewish Day School.”

In the past, JDS has held a camp fair to give Jewish summer camps more exposure, but Stein found that while many camps participated, not many families attended the fair. Stein approached JDS parent Jeremy Steindecker, who works in sports and entertainment marketing to help create the event. 

Steindecker’s sons started at JDS in fourth and sixth grade this year, and he tried to tap into some of the camp spirit he sees at his sons’ camp, Camp Avoda in Middleboro, Mass.

“Kids who are at Jewish sleepaway camps usually love their camps, they love sports, or just team and camp spirit,” Steindecker said. “I thought, ‘what better way to get them together to celebrate their camp, celebrate some competitiveness, a little bit, and some team spirit?’ I thought that this would be a good fit.”

Stein wants the Jewish Intercamp Games to become an annual event and is already thinking about ways to expand the event next year.

“We’re starting this way this year, and I think the hope is, if it’s successful, that next year it will be a camp reunion for kids to compete for their own camps, but also bring a friend who doesn’t yet go to Jewish camp,” Stein said.

This story was featured in the Volume 35, Issue 2 edition of The Lion’s Tale, published on Oct. 20, 2017.