Parents & Campers - Professional Staff Blog

Here, we will post updates about new developments at camp! We'll be discussing the new activities being offered the coming summer, updates on the construction of our new dining hall, or anything else that is newsworthy or fun for our camp community.

October 1, 2009

Check out our camper Megan and her dad Sonny (Alonim's Ranch Manager) on Disney's What A Life!

January 23, 2008

The following article was written by Alonim's Executive Director Jordanna Flores and published in the Jewish Journal.

As my twins’ first birthday approaches, I have been thinking about the era in which they are growing up. They will never know a world without TIVO, iPods, reality television and call waiting. I, frankly, am happy to never watch another inane TV commercial and I love having all of my favorite music at my fingertips, but I wonder what values our children are picking up from these things? Camp provides a golden opportunity to “unplug” and, perhaps, undo the effects this technology has on our kids.

Reality TV accounts for a good portion of our favorite shows—we can’t wait to tune in to the latest fashion design challenge or see where the race around the world will land next. One show, however, scares the bejeezus out of me. “Wipeout” has contestants complete an obstacle course in the shortest time possible. The problem is that the contestants are set up to fail because the obstacles are impossible to conquer. One after another, the participants wind up bouncing off of large rubber balls, falling in the mud and falling flat on their faces. All the while, the two hosts are poking fun at the them in a running commentary that only the folks at home can hear. Clearly the creators of this show are banking on the worst part of human nature: it’s funny to watch people fall down.

Camp gives kids the opportunity to try new things and grow their self confidence by overcoming fears and gaining new skills. At first kids are hesitant because they assume that, like the outside world, they will be laughed at if they fail, but the bedrock of camp culture is that there is no failure and every effort is cheered loudly. At Camp Alonim, we spend Saturday nights performing for each other--songs, Israeli folk dances, an occasional trumpet solo—every performer gets a rousing applause. I have noticed that it’s not the best performances, but rather those who took the greatest risk by simply getting up there, that regularly receive standing ovations.

I’m honestly torn when I think about my kids growing up with TIVO and iPods. No commercials and all my favorite songs in one place are great, but I have always wanted to ask musicians how they feel about all of us picking and choosing the songs we are going to listen to. Don’t they write albums as a collection and put songs in a certain order for a reason? Remember that excitement of realizing: Yes! It’s Saturday—“The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island” are on tonight! Now I can’t tell you that I think my kids will be ruined because TIVO will save them from waiting for their favorite shows to air.

But at camp we look forward to Shabbat. No matter what you do, it’s not going to come early and you can’t fast forward. It might be your favorite day of the week, but you can’t have it three nights in a row and it’s always going to come after Thursday. There’s something about having to wait for your reward and only getting it after you’ve done the proper preparation. At camp, we spend Friday cleaning up, making decorations and braiding the challah because it’s only after you do the work that you can truly appreciate the rest and celebration that comes as the reward. Camp means living in community which means compromising. We follow a certain schedule and you might not like every activity on the day’s agenda, but you are part of the community and there’s no fast forwarding the parts you don’t like. You can’t change the order of the day and, while there are opportunities for free choice, you can’t pick and choose whenever you want.

When the phone rings, we used to pick it up, but not anymore. Today when the phone rings, the first thing we do is look to see who is calling. If you don’t feel like talking to that person, you don’t answer. It might be the newspaper trying to sell you a full week’s subscription instead of just Sunday. It might be your mother-in-law; it could be a friend whom you just don’t want to deal with. My time at home is precious and it usually involves two toddlers swirling at my feet, so the last thing I want to do is spend one single moment saying “no thank you, not today.” But we know that our children learn from what we say and even more from what we do. What are they picking up from us when we call across the house, “don’t answer it, I don’t want to talk to her?”

At camp, there is no call waiting; there are only friends who are right there in front of you. When one of them has a problem there is no putting them off until later. There is no leaving a message because that’s all you really wanted to do anyway and there is no sending an email in place of real conversation. Camp teaches us to get along with all different kinds of people. It teaches us the dying art of face-to-face communication, reading facial cues and body language. Camp has a way of forcing us to confront the issues and the personality types that might otherwise cause us to hit the “ignore” button.

My twins are probably going to be just as addicted to reality television as my husband and I and I am still not going to answer the phone when the newspaper is calling. I am relieved, however, to know they will also have camp to balance out whatever it is they are learning from us at home.

The Professional Staff Blog has moved to AlonimBlog.info for Winter Camp.

Now the blog will be updated daily during Winter Camp 2008 with pictures and fun tidbits.

After winter acmp check AlonimBlog.info for the latest photos and news from the professional staff!

September 20, 2008

Below is a video tour of the new Pritzker Family Dining Hall!

Today is the second full day of summer and it's already been a busy and fun session. 132 campers, 26 Gesher, and 70 CITs arrived this week in a flurry of excitement and another 65 Mini Campers come on Sunday.

While your kids are at camp there are a number of ways for you to see what they are up to or keep in contact with them:

1) Check out our Bunk 1 Website (via the Alonim front page) where you can see photos from camp uploaded daily and send one-way emails to them.

2) Our new Alonim Radio Station (Brandeis' own 101.3) has begun recording and broadcasting. Soon you'll be able to hear the programs your kids create via this website. When the audio is ready to go there will be a link on Alonim's front page directing you to the right place.

3) Get your letters and packages in the mail today! Kids love receiving notes from friends and families and couldn't be happier with a few encouraging words. Please remember, no food or candy.

Everyone here at Alonim is gearing up for summer. The dining hall is coming along fast (there are windows, walls, and even refrigerators), the horses are getting saddled up, and the Fruit-A-Freeze's are in the freezer. Here are some updates and photos of recent Alonim activity:

Everyone in the Alonim family understands that sending your child away to camp for the first time can be a tough thing to do. We are here to make this experience as easy on you as possible. As a part of this effort, we are scheduling orientation sessions for our new families. Highlights of the information will include:

Please send an email to Terry Wunder at twunder@ajula.edu to RSVP to the session you will be attending or call (805) 582-4450 with any questions. We will only be able to offer these sessions if we have enough interest in them, so it is very important to RSVP!

Below Boys 6 and a short walk from the Dining Hall is a pocket of land completely surrounded by trees, shade, and cool breezes. Last summer the CITs of 2007 built a beautiful stage in this secluded canopied area. Right now, the Alonim directors (headed by Dan Maccabbe, Events Coordinator) are building dozens of benches and seating areas for this new program and prayer space. Below are photos of the "Alonim Bench Building Day" with the directors! This newest part of camp will be available to see this summer.

Jordanna writes: Spring is blooming here at Camp Alonim! We can hardly enjoy the green mountains and the tiny budding leaves because we are furiously working to get ready for summer. Every once in a while I come across great resources that I want to pass on to our families and I will use this new feature of our website to let you know about them. I recently caught the first episode of a new series called High School Confidential, a series on WE television network about the real high experience, not the musical version. The creators took four years and followed 12 girls and their parents through their high school experience. Watching it with your kids or without is up to you. I found it very real and very enlightening. I hope you will too. Here is the link for more information: http://highschool.wetv.com/

The recent Southern California rain has done wonders to the Brandeis-Bardin property. As you can see below, the reliable summer brown has given way to a completely green hillside. And, for the first time in a number of years, there's even a steady flow in the Alonim "river!"

On December 20, 2007, we kicked off Winter Dance Camp! Or, as Erica Goldman likes to call it, Dinter Wance Ceekand Wamp. It was so great for us in the office to get out from behind our desks and spend time hanging out with your kids! 131 campers joined us for 4 days filled with LOTS of Israeli dancing (including an Israeli Dancing with the Stars live performance!), art, teva (nature), sports, and music. Each camper learned several new dances, made a mezuzah in the art room, played lots of gaga, performed in front of the entire camp during Melaveh Malkah, and enjoyed a joyous Shabbat celebration in the Alonim tradition. However, I think the most exciting part of Winter Dance Camp for the kids was the major construction on the new Alonim Dining Hall, where most of the kids watched in fascination as the foundation was laid Friday, December 21. All in all, Winter Dance Camp was a big success and a wonderful time spent together, building a close-knit community. Big thanks to Erica and her dancing team, all our counselors and specialists, and HUGE thanks to the campers for making Winter Dance Camp so great!

As I mentioned above, the foundation was laid on our new dining hall! Since then, progress is moving swiftly. After taking some time off for the holidays, the construction team returned in January and wasted little time in adding to the foundation. As you can see from the picture below, structural development is well underway and you can actually make out the shape of the building! If the construction team continues to move at this pace, there is a chance it will be ready for use by 3^rd session THIS SUMMER! It will be so wonderful to be able to enjoy the larger space, eat in a brand-new building, and of course, have air conditioning!

In other news, now that it is 2008 we are officially gearing up for the summer. We are busy recruiting new campers at the local synagogues and begin our Open House season on February 10. The best way we recruit new campers is by word of mouth, so make sure to tell your friends about Alonim and encourage them to attend an Open House or the Summer Preview Weekend this March.

There it is!

Remember, think safety

Coming right along

Bird's eye view (sort of)

Aaron writes: On November 4^th, we spent a fun-filled day at camp to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the Levy Campus Center and Pritzker Family Dining Hall. The day kicked off with a ceremony honoring the major donors and after a barbeque lunch, Alonimers past, present, and future, took advantage of the wide variety of Alonim activities including horseback rides, the climbing wall, an art project, the batting cage, and Israeli dancing. Everyone had a great time and it is amazing to see such great progress on the construction. Thanks to everyone who came out!

She writes, “thank you so much for your well wishes in the past 3 weeks since Reuben Barak and Shira Cooper were born. My husband and I are enjoying the new additions to our family and figuring out how to be parents to two little babies at once! We are looking forward to introducing them to you very soon. In the photo below, Shira is on the left and Reuben is on the right.”

Jordanna writes: As you can see from the photos below, the landscape of Camp Alonim is changing day by day. We are finally under construction on our new Dining Hall! The new building will not be ready for this summer, 2008, but it should be very close. We will still eat our meals in the old Dining Hall this summer which is right across from the new building. It is being built into the hillside where the flagpole was formerly. The old building will not be torn down, but instead will be refurbished and used for indoor programming space. The Dance Pavilion will be moved in front of the infirmary and the flagpole will have a new home in the same area. We still have one more year in our old Dining Hall while construction is in progress, so make sure you join us this summer. We’ll be having our last meals in this Dining Hall which has been used since Alonim began in 1953!

I know it is hard, and a little bit sad, to imagine the center of our camp looking different, but I hope you can also be excited that camp is growing and moving forward. Just think—the new Dining Hall will actually have air conditioning and there will be plenty of space between the tables! Stay tuned for construction updates and more photos. Or better yet—join us for Winter Dance Weekend Dec 20-23 and see for yourself!