Spotlight on Garinim
Monday night the Garinim gathered at the waterfront to find their Rosh Eidah, Mollie Flink, dressed in a bathrobe. As they listened to their counselors explain that night's peulat erev [evening activity], they learned that she was Pharaoh and their job that evening was to have a sandcastle building competition. The campers giggled excitedly, some of them booing Mollie in her role as Pharaoh, and once they were divided into groups, they got busy building their sandcastles to Mollie's specifications. They had a great time working together to build their castles as the sun set over the lake.
Garinim is a new program at Ramah Wisconsin that started in 2006. Rather than having two sessions of Halutzim (entering 6th graders) each summer, we now have one session of Garinim (entering 5th graders) and one session of Halutzim. The counselors get the chance to work with both groups and have found that having younger campers at Ramah has added so much to the camp community.
Mollie Flink (Rosh Garinim): This is my ninth summer at camp. I spent five summers as a camper, went on Ramah Israel Seminar and then worked as a counselor for a few summers. My second summer I worked with Halutzim and then Garinim, and after working with them I never wanted to work with another eidah. I think it's really exciting that you get to paint the picture of camp for them. They don't know anything about camp and you get to show them everything and they see it in the way you present it to them. Everything you're excited about they're going to be excited about. You really get to shape their first experience at Ramah and I think that's a really cool responsibility that I have and that the counselors have. It's also a great age to work with. They're excited and innocent and they want to play and have fun. They're a lot of fun to be around.
The Garinim summer is special because they get a taste of everything at camp. They get to try a little bit of everything. One of the really cool things is that instead of having a normal text class, they have a drama text class. Each group is assigned a different Biblical story about friendship and they talk about it and do role playing and acting. Then they come up with a skit about it and get the chance to perform it for the eidah. It's a really cool opportunity to learn about the Bible, but in a fun and interactive way.
Another thing that we're doing that's never been done in Garinim or in camp at all is that through the tarbut we're doing a puppet show. The theme is their own personal journey, through life, through camp, things like that. In art they're making the actual puppets. They get to build them and make them as big and intricate as they want. Then in their drama class, they get to develop the voice for their character and write a skit and act it out. At the end of the summer they'll put on the show for each other. I think it will be really cool.
My favorite part of the summer so far has just been watching the kids explore camp and watching how excited they are about everything. I'm really excited for the point at which they feel like camp belongs to them, that it's a special place for them. There's a point where it just clicks and I'm excited for them to get there.
Addie Gellman-Chomsky (Junior Counselor, Garinim): The Garinim are really great. They're really enthusiastic about everything. It's been really special for me, since I was a camper here, being able to introduce all these kids to a place that I love so much. Watching them fall in love with camp has been really rewarding for all the staff. They're doing a really good job of getting used to everything and just really enjoying everything. They're picking up on all of our traditions and they're making up some of their own and they're doing a really great job. One of the best things about working with Garinim is just being able to help other people love camp. Being in love with camp has been such a big part of my life and helping others learn to love camp has been really rewarding. Having the opportunity to be the first person to introduce camp to these kids is really gratifying. It's really special.
David Ribnick (Junior Counselor, Garinim): The coolest thing about working with Garinim is that your job is so important because your job is to hook the campers into loving camp as much as you do so they keep coming back year after year. I'm looking forward to having the future of Ramah in my hands. I really want to help them love Ramah as much as I love it.
Jeremy Slosberg (Senior Counselor, Garinim): I really like this age group because they have a lot of energy and they're not really shy and they're not afraid to get really into things. The more you put into it the more you can get out of it. The older campers don't always get as into it as the younger campers do. But with the younger campers, if you're excited about something, they're going to see that and get excited too. I was a Garinim counselor last year and I wanted to come back to work with them again because they're a lot of fun and it's a really rewarding experience. This is their first time away from home, which isn't always the case with the older campers, and helping them to get through that anxiety is really rewarding.
Jaimee Goldish (Junior Counselor, Garinim): I love working with Garinim because they're really enthusiastic and it's really fun to introduce them to camp. They've all become friends already and they have no preconceived ideas about camp. Everything is just new and exciting for them and it's really fun to introduce them to this whole experience.
Sara Rubin (Junior Counselor, Garinim): I like working with Garinim because I get to give them their first glimpse of camp and they've never been here before and I can make camp whatever it needs to be for them. I can help make it special for them. It's their first experience so I want to make it as good as possible so that they want to come back. It's really different from all the other aidot, but that's what makes it so special too.
Hepzi Rapoport (Senior Counselor, Garinim): I really, really like working with Garinim because they have so much energy and they with have fun with anything you put in front of them. It's really awesome that they haven't experienced many of the same programs before, so they're still open to anything that we do and they have fun with it. I worked with Garinim last year too and I wanted to come back because I had a really good time working with them last year and I thought I could do a lot for them. The age group is just so much fun.
Elissa F. (Garinim): I like everything about camp. I like the sports, I like games, I like swimming, I like the lake. I haven't tried The Blob [an activity in the lake] yet, but I bet it will be really fun. I feel like every place in camp is meant for something and every something is fun.
Rebecca A. (Garinim): I love everything about camp. I especially love the swimming and the sports, and I especially love snack time. Everything is really fun and there's nothing that you can't do. Everything is open to everybody and it's fun.
Sarah L. (Garinim): I like everything about camp because it's all fun in the sun. Everything is special here and everyone is so nice. Everything is so much fun and the rest of camp is going to be so much fun.
Amanda S. (Garinim): Camp is really fun. I like everything, the swimming, the sports, art, and everything. I'm really excited for the rest of the summer.
Lorne M. (Garinim): Camp is really fun. You get to do a lot of fun things and I'd recommend it to anybody.
Melissa L. (Garinim): I really like camp because there's lots of things to do. You get to try everything in Garinim because you've never done any of it before and you get to do things that no other eidah gets to do. We made puppets for a puppet show and in text class we're going to do a play about Ruth and friendship.
Ellie K. (Day Camper, Garinim): I really love camp. I really like everything and it's not really what we do, it's the people who do it with you and it's really, really fun.