Spotlight on Machon

Machon is made up of campers who are entering 10th grade. As the second oldest aidah in camp, they have the privilege of working on and participating in many exciting programs, such as the Tikvah Chaverim program and their weeklong trip.

Ezra Balser (Rosh Machon): This is my sixth year on staff. In the past I have been a cabin counselor and a text teacher and this is my first year as a Rosh Aidah. Ever since I have been on staff I have wanted to be a Rosh Aidah. I've been really interested in running the program and leading a staff and helping young educators find their feet in the world of education. It's something I've always wanted to do.

I wanted to work with Machon because most of my experience has been with older campers. Last summer I taught a Shoafim class, but that was the youngest I had ever worked with. This past year I worked as a Hebrew and Jewish Studies teacher at the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, working with 5th and 7th graders, so I had experience on a daily basis with younger kids, which I really enjoyed. But, I still think most of my expertise is with older kids. In Machon, the campers have already been through one year of high school, so you can start to connect with them on a higher intellectual level. I just really like the age. It's kind of like the oldest aidah in "real" camp, because Nivonim is a completely separate program in a lot of ways and doesn't mirror a lot of what happens in the other aidot-so Machon is like the pinnacle of the normal camp experience. So, it was appealing to me to run this program.

Machon gets to go on a special trip each summer. This year we are going to storm the Northwoods, which should be a real highlight for them. We're going to explore a lot of fun stuff around the Northwoods of Wisconsin, which should give them a lot of bonding time outside of camp. We are also going to meet with some members of the American Indian community and talk about some of the issues that are particular issues in Wisconsin and across the country.

I had a lot of fun at the Zimriyah this year, speaking to them beforehand and giving them perspective on where they were as an aidah, getting them really excited to come together as an aidah. That was a real highlight for me. I think they really enjoyed getting excited as a group, which is not always easy, and then transferring that into positive energy by singing their Tel Aviv song and our aidah song. After the Zimriyah, we had an Israeli music video party, which they really got into. It was a real highlight for them and for me as well.