Every Day Is an Opportunity to Do Something Amazing

As we celebrated our 75th season this summer we also pivoted towards the future.

With an eye towards innovation, our senior team created a new arc of camper experiences featuring activities and special highlights that vary from year to year, and an increased level of independence as campers get older. A variety of sessions of varying lengths were added and the daily schedule was redesigned to offer campers more choice and flexibility. Campers chose waterfront and tefillah (prayer) electives and participated in intensive workshops in art and sports based on their interest. Day trips, overnight camping trips, canoe trips and tours around Wisconsin were a big hit.

Campers and staff loved the new pontoon boat and speedboat, and every cabin loved tubing on

the lake! The new obstacle course was a great combination of fun and fitness for all ages, and the trail biking program was a new way to experience the Northwoods with age-appropriate challenges. At Ramah Day Camp, campers loved the new ropes challenge course and the garden-to-table experience.

OR SEVERAL SOMETHINGS!

There were innovations in the schedule of our ten Atzmayim vocational participants too.

This wonderful group of high-school graduates worked in the local community, or in the camp kitchen and office, learning independent living skills with the support of our staff and job coaches. After work, they enjoyed all that camp has to offer. They bonded with their Nivonim friends and Yedidim (staff) buddies and planned activities for days off, Shabbat, and evenings. A highlight was Shavua Atzmayim, a week filled with improv comedy, a lip-sync battle, a pontoon boat ride, a cooking club, a Northwoods nature experience and a day at the ropes course!

Woven through the very fabric of the camp day was Tarbut Yisrael (Israeli

culture). Israeli music was the soundtrack to the camp day, broadcast by campers from WRMH, the camp radio station. On the baseball field, the umpire called balls and strikes in Hebrew. In the mitbachon teaching kitchen, campers made shakshuka, a spicy Israeli omelet. They learned a song for their performance of Frozen, gaining a new level of comfort with the Hebrew language. All day, every day, our 50 amazing Israeli staff members at Ramah Wisconsin and eight Israeli staff at Ramah Day Camp connected with campers and fellow staff members from the waterfront to the ropes course, as counselors and educators. They made every day Yom Yisrael (Israel Day) by sharing their personal stories and helping our camp community connect to Israel and the people who live there.