Below is a copy of the Sunday round-up e-mail we send to our families, and we wanted to share it with all of you!

Dear Crane Lake Families,

Here we are at the beginning of our last week of first session. We wrote last week about how the time is flying. We can’t believe that soon we will have to say l’hitraot to our first session campers.  We aren’t ready to let them go just yet!

 

 

This week was jam packed here and it was all captured on Bunk1 and on our videos. We have so many new videos that are “must see” movies. It all started at the beginning of last week with our big Josh Berlin invitational soccer tournament on Monday… Crane Lake took second place. We also took second place on a Bonim boys baseball tournament on Tuesday!

There was a bit of wacky weather this week during trip day, but everyone had an amazing time. At Lake Compounce our Nitzanim campers enjoyed the waterpark, lake and historic Boulder Dash roller coaster. At Six Flags New England, Bonim had a wonderful time on lots of rides and made the most out of the day and many were spotted dancing in the rain (everyone had their bathing suits on so why not?). Since it rained on and off throughout the day at Six Flags and not all of the favorite rides were open, we treated Bonim to see Monster’s University the next night, complete with popcorn at the local movie theatre. Chaverim had a wonderful time rafting at Zoar Outdoor, and the weather was great the whole day. Boston for Lower Chaverim was action packed… The JFK Library, science museum, roller skating, the aquarium, and Shear Madness were all a big hit. In Maine, Olim was particularly excited by their time at the beach and dinner cruise. In the morning the Portland Art Museum hosted Olim and our campers had the opportunity to see original Picasso and Matisse paintings. Olim rounded out the day with some shopping in the old port of Portland and a trip to the Funtown Amusement Park.

Thursday, everyone enjoyed a late wake up to get some much needed rest after trip day. We continued with normal activities on Thursday and hosted our first Jewish Teen Funders Network (JTFN) trip for Chaverim campers who visited different organizations and evaluated their applications for grants as part of their Kesher course. Our campers are having the opportunity to decide who is the beneficiary of the grants! This week we also brought our Nitzanim and Bonim campers to the Regional Food Bank of New York to pick fruits and vegetables that will directly benefit those in need in our area.

Friday was a powerful day at camp. Each unit also spent some incredible, emotional time with David Long. David and his wife Tina’s son Tyler committed suicide three and a half years ago after a sustained period of bullying. Their story was one of the five stories told in the “Bully” documentary. David shared the work that he and his foundation, ”Everything Starts With 1,” are doing to teach young people about the scourge of bullying, and to teach educators of all kinds to respond effectively to that behavior. Mr. Long challenged all of us to be “upstanders” rather than “bystanders”– to use our voices to combat bullying wherever we encounter it, and to intervene rather than let our friends be victims of bullying.

Our campers responded deeply with his emotional presentation, asking questions about how they each can combat this behavior, sharing experiences of what it feels like to be the object of bullying, and beginning to imagine what it might look like to act against bullying back home. We were so proud of our staff as they guided the campers through break-out discussions after these sessions to check in with how the kids had responded to the sessions; it was clear that although most kids had experienced some form of anti-bullying programming in their schools, this day felt different somehow– more personal because of David Long’s presentation, more attainable because of the chance to put what we were learning immediately into action at Crane Lake Camp. The day led into Shabbat which focused on kindness and standing up to bullying. Our Bonim campers led us beautifully to create a meaningful and memorable Shabbat.

Yesterday was Rib Night and DJ Todd Yahney, two of camps favorite events! Check out the videos and photos on Bunk1 for all of the wonderful festivities!

In the coming days we will be sending info about closing day, visiting day, intersession, etc. so please keep an eye out for emails soon about these important topics.

Thank you for sharing your kids with us!

Debby, Greg and Sarah