What school did you attend, what was your field of study, and when did you graduate?
MIT – Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Graduated in 2012.
What positions did you hold in Camp Kesem?
Counselor, Unit Leader, Fundraising Coordinator, Camper Care Coordinator, Co-Chair
What are you up to now? Where do you live?
I am a first-year student at Harvard Medical School’s New Pathway program, and I live in Boston by the Longwood Medical Campus.
How did Camp Kesem impact where you are today?
Camp Kesem made me who I am today! It taught me all the nuances of leadership and teamwork. I learned lifelong skills that are fundamental skills needed in my career field – how to manage time, be organized, delegate when needed, communicate with others, give and receive critical feedback, and write/speak clearly. In addition, it provided me with a second family throughout college, friends who I will cherish for the rest of my life, and the inspiration to try and make a difference every day.
What is a fun fact about yourself?
I can sing the alphabet song backwards.
Where did your camp name come from?
I didn’t want to be eaten, and I didn’t want to be cute and fluffy, so I chose something simple and elemental.
Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?
I’m a happy, idealistic, easy-going kind of girl who loves to meet new people and experience new adventures. I love to eat, sleep, and watch Suits. And I love being in medical school. Come be friends with me!
If you would like to ask Rain more questions about her career path and life in Boston, please contact the Counselor to Career Committee at c2c@campkesem.org.
The student panel is comprised of 9 Camp Kesem student leaders across the nation, along with our national staff, whose goals are:
To improve communication between national and CK chapters
To provide feedback and input into various CKN initiatives
To develop strategy for future CKN initiatives, which currently comprise of:
Improving PR and publicity
Sharing the best practices among each chapter
Developing a CKN newsletter/blog
While working on improving PR and publicity not only at the national level, but at the chapter level as well, the PR Subcommittee and Program Directors have worked with campuses to ensure each have an active Facebook page and Twitter. On March 26, Camp Kesem had our first Twitter campaign, where student leaders and chapters posted their favorite memory, quote, song, or accomplishment, along with the hashtag #CampKesemLove. Hundreds of tweets were sent out that day and CKN and participating chapters’ followers increased dramatically! We are also working on a very special surprise for college students around the nation that is coming in October!
The Best Practices Subcommittee has launched its very own blog, sharing the best practices of all of the campuses in regards to fundraising, Make the Magic, administration and camp programming, camper recruitment, counselor and year-round volunteer recruitment, training, public relations, and much more! We also launched a program we call “Kesem Konnex”, that has paired every CK campus with another, so that they can continually share their best practices, advice, and ideas, as well as develop friendships with one another across the country.
The Newsletter Subcommittee has worked hard to put together great newsletters to share what is happening on the national level. They have done highlights of new and older chapters, as well as individual student leaders, sharing with every school some of the different faces of Camp Kesem and the exciting things going on. They have also featured a letter from our Executive Director, Jane “Pocket” Saccaro, discussing future initiatives for Camp Kesem and progress we have made. The newsletter also introduced us to the new weekly blog that our Camp Director, the one and only Scott “Funsize” Arizala, has started, that you can check out here!
The members of the Student Panel consist of:
Student leaders:
•Hamsika “Kiwi” Chandrasekar, MIT
•Becca “Sunshine” Christensen, UVA
•Cortney “Jazz” Lebeda, Augustana
•Samantha “Cheerio” Meeker, University of Richmond
•Alex “Lola” Monyhan, Michigan State University
•Zach “Binx” Morris, University of Minnesota
•Brett “Hammy” Neely, UCLA
•Shelby “Peanut” Rubin, University of Wisconsin
•Richard “Twix” Yu, UC Davis
National staff:
•Jane “Pocket” Saccaro, Executive Director
•Scott “Funsize” Arizala, Camp Director
•Liz “Phishy” Gray, Senior Program Director
•Lauren “Marzi” Ellis, Program Director
If you have any questions for the student panel, do not hesitate to email us at studentpanel@campkesem.org!
It is with complete candor that I am writing this letter to discuss my recent experience at Camp Kesem, IU. As the staff therapist, I had the humble experience of being a “senior” member of the team.
My background as a special educator, developmental therapist and family therapist has led me on many different career paths. I have had experiences working in some devastating situations, filled with trauma and pain. My exposure to the less pleasant things in life has been vast. It is my varied experience that gives me unique insight into the “magic” of Camp Kesem.
It was an amazing experience to see so many young people coming together to support such an honorable and necessary cause. I spent my first day following campers and counselors as they embarked on their new journey at CampCarson. The level of enthusiasm, compassion and caring exhibited by counselors was truly over whelming. I witnessed developmentally appropriate interactions, positive reinforcement and gentle redirection from counselors interacting with campers, ages6-16. It was not until the first evening debriefing meeting that I came to the realization that I was among college students and recent college graduates. I would love to be able to bottle that energy and share it with the world!
As the week progressed we had some wonderful interactions, tearful moments and challenging issues. As a participant and an observer, I was able to see magical moments between campers and counselors through numerous activities. Campers were respectfully encouraged to participate in those activities that might be frightening and celebrated with complete excitement when they accomplished them. Campers were also supported as leaders or experts if they were able to share their talents with the group. This environment so clearly allowed the shy to sing and dance as it also allowed those strong leaders an opportunity to observe, listen and rebuild.
We live in a world that so often focuses on what young people aren’t doing or can’t do. When the main story lines on so many news stations talk about the violence and disconnection of the younger generation it is the freshest breath of air to see young people who can lead with compassion and confidence!
Please be aware of the wonderful work these young people are committed to completion. It is not often individuals get a chance to be among such greatness. I feel honored to have had one week with them.
Ten years ago, Camp Kesem North Carolina was founded by three visionary young men: Yoav Lurie, Jeff Leibach and John Rimel. The program has grown tremendously over the last decade, expanding from welcoming 8 campers in their first year to providing the magical camp experience to 134 children this summer. Alumni, supporters and camper families are gathering together to celebrate this milestone with a brunch and silent auction on Saturday, September 15th. For more details on how to attend or contribute to the event, click here.
We asked Jeff (camp name “Tiny”) to reflect on his Kesem experience. Here is what he shared with us:
“This past week, as I was trying to sing my newborn daughter Kaylee to sleep, I found that the only lullabies that I could remember were Camp Kesem songs. I found myself wishing I had a circle of campers to help “make rain” to calm her down, along with a Camp Kesem song sheet—full of lyrics to my favorite tunes. Camp Kesem has a magical way of becoming a part of each of us long after our camp experience.
My Camp Kesem experience started 10 years ago in a classroom at Duke University, where an extremely enthusiastic student (Yoav Lurie) in my social entrepreneurship class pitched an idea about a camp for children of cancer patients that he heard about from friends at Stanford. Throughout the planning process in our first year of camp, we met challenges that threatened the viability of Camp Kesem North Carolina. An ice storm forced us to find an alternative campsite. We were short $15,000 in May. We had several families pull out of camp in the last minute. Through the hard work of our leadership team, and the support of the families, counselors, and community partners, we met each of these challenges and came out better on the other side—with an outstanding campsite, over $20,000 in new funds, and several rockstar families that laid the foundation for our network of camper families in the future.
Last month, CKNC wrapped up its 10th summer of fun, complete with rock climbing, creeking, and of course, Color Wars. The time in between has been filled with hundreds of counselors, thousands of campers, and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours spent fundraising, recruiting campers, training counselors, planning and running amazing camp programs. As a co-founder of Camp Kesem North Carolina, I take great pride in the fact that the organization has thrived throughout the years. I am humbled and inspired by the contributions of each counselor, donor, and volunteer that has made ten years of Camp Kesem a reality for our campers. Moreover, I am incredibly grateful that the transformational experience of being a Camp Kesem student leader remains a possibility for students at Duke and UNC, as well as more and more universities across the country.
On Saturday, September 15, CKNC will be honoring its tenth year with a Share the Magic fundraising event. It is my hope that through this event and many other continued fundraising events, that when Kaylee is in college 18 years from now, she will have the opportunity to become a Camp Kesem student leader. (Although, I’m pretty sure she won’t be going to Carolina…Go Duke!)”
Every year we have a theme for the week. What are you favorite themes?
My favorite camp themes are the ones that campers can get just as involved in as the staff. So ones like super heroes, western, and circus are great because they are generic enough that an hour or so with some arts & crafts material and a bit of imagination and everyone in your cabin or group and be fully dressed up and engaged. More importantly though, it doesn’t really matter what the theme is, it matters how you use the theme. Can you include it in the meals, at regular activities, and during evening activities? Can there be spin-off themes? Could half the camp be super-villains and half be super heroes and the evening activity be a big game of Capture the Flag?
Camp Director for Camp Kesem, Vice President of Summer Programming for Dragonfly Forest, Summer Camp Consultant & Trainer, and award-winning author of S’more Than Camp. For more information please visit www.TheCampCounselor.com
I am asked all the time to do “leadership” trainings for senior staff, unit heads, head counselors, activity heads, unit leaders, senior leaders, supervisors, directors, and all the other various names we use to describe camp leaders.
When I ask them to describe what makes a great camp leader, what skills, values, or characters do great camp leaders posses? Everyone inevitably produces the same basic list: responsible, dependable, caring, good listener, empathetic, fair, aware, see big picture, accessible, good communicator, approachable, team player… and as you can imagine, the list goes on.
What is striking to me is that 1) everyone ALWAYS comes up with the same list and it is totally generated by them (with only a few unique ideas at each camp), 2) the list looks the exact same as if I had asked about a great camp counselor or frontline staff, 3) Almost all camp leaders have experience being camp counselors or other frontline staff.
So, I think the better question is HOW not necessarily WHAT when it comes to great camp leadership. The answer, I believe, is about the skills and signature strengths that each individual posses, that made them really good working with kids. Of course, if you are a great communicator and excel at listen or expressing yourself clearly with a bunch of kids, you are also great at doing it with adults. You just have to learn how to express that skill differently. So think about the areas that you feel really confident in and excel at when working with kids. Then try to put those same skills into practice as a manager or supervisor of adults. That is great camp leadership.
Scott “Funsize” Arizala
Camp Director for Camp Kesem, Vice President of Summer Programming for Dragonfly Forest, Summer Camp Consultant & Trainer, and award-winning author of S’more Than Camp. For more information please visit www.TheCampCounselor.com
I have read on the blog about lots of activity ideas and suggestions. We are trying to come up with a few new evening activities. Do you have any ideas specific to all camp evening activities?
YES, but like everything else I don’t have a simple answer. Evening activities are one of my favorite parts of camp. Besides meals, it is usually the only time we get to spend with the whole community, all the campers and all the staff. That is also what makes it challenging to keep everyone engaged and having fun (not to mention that some campers (and staff) are pretty wiped out by that time of day). I think the most important question to ask about evening activities is not necessarily what (as in the actual activity), but how (as in the structure or format and the presentation). Having said that, at the end of this post a few of my favorites.
How you breakdown an all camp or evening activity has huge implications to what you can do, how you engage different ages, and the experience of the camper. Here are a few different ideas:
Structured games (like Capture the Flag) – everyone basically plays the same game on one or more teams. These typically are the shortest kinds of activities. After 30mins or so of one game you will start to lose some campers.
Stations – this is a favorite of most camp staff. Whether it is a Carnival, Messy Olympics, or some other kind of activity, this format allows you to cater to different age groups, or if you mix the ages for the activity it will allow for different levels of activity within a given station. This is the opposite of structured games in that these tend to go the longest unless the timing is really down.
Small groups (like a scavenger hunt, Dutch auction, or treasure hunt) – this is the best format if mixing the age groups is really important for you. It typically involves lots of different activities that cater to each age and has a specific timeframe. It is also very dependent on the individual group leaders to make or break the activity.
Free for all (like carnivals) – this is the kind of activity where you set up an area of camp with a bunch of different activities and let campers choose freely/individually for the whole time. These activities typically don’t last as long as the others and there is some potential for individual campers to get kind of lost during it. However, if you can identify some of those campers before hand and hook them up with a counselor buddy, it can be a lot of fun because kids just get to do what they want.
There are a few more, but those are the major ones. My biggest piece of advice about evening activities is about the staff. The very best activities are presented to campers almost like a show. They have a theme or storyline, the staff are dressed up as characters, the specific activities or games are steeped in imagination and creativity, there is some sort of mission or purpose to participating, and ALL the staff are in character and have a role. This is one of those times at camp where you can truly play. Make the most of it!
Here are my favorite evening activities (keep in mind, it is not about the activity it is about the presentation!)
Counselor Hunt
Capture the Flag
Talent Show
Messy Olympics
Scott “Funsize” Arizala
Camp Director for Camp Kesem, Vice President of Summer Programming for Dragonfly Forest, Summer Camp Consultant & Trainer, and award-winning author of S’more Than Camp. For more information please visit www.TheCampCounselor.com
I’m just so worried that I won’t know what to say. Whether they are homesick, in a fight, worried about their parent, or whatever, I’m concerned that I won’t know what to say in a moment that they need me. What’s your best advice for what I should say?
I have a few ideas about this. First of all, I want you to understand that nobody knows what to say. When campers (or anyone) are having strong feelings or reactions to something it is impossible to really know or understand their situation. Even if it is something that you have experience with (like being homesick) you don’t really know what is going on for them. Keeping that in perspective, I think it takes the pressure off having to say the “right” thing. What you automatically have going for you, and maybe the biggest reason why the camper is talking to you and expressing their true feelings, is that you are physically present. You are there and you are listening. Be there. Stay connected to the moment with the camper. That will help you react appropriately. Most kids (and adults) want their feelings acknowledged first and foremost. Saying something like, “that sounds really tough” validates their feelings as real and important and relieves them of the pressure of problem solving. When we fumble around with statements like, “what do you think would make you feel better” it forces the same pressure that you are describing back onto the kid.
If I were to give you a formula or a step-by-step approach to these emotionally intense moments, it would go something like this:
Be there, be mindful of distractions, and listen carefully and without judgment
Acknowledge their feelings and experience
Be ok with silence
Thank them or express pride in their decision to tell you something hard
Tell them you are always available to talk more
Scott “Funsize” Arizala
Camp Director for Camp Kesem, Vice President of Summer Programming for Dragonfly Forest, Summer Camp Consultant & Trainer, and award-winning author of S’more Than Camp. For more information please visit www.TheCampCounselor.com
Every year we do a big carnival. What are some of your best ideas for carnival activities?
One of the things I love and hate about carnivals at camp is the free flowing nature of them. Almost every carnival I have seen has an unstructured free play aspect to it. Basically, the campers get to go from activity to activity at their own pace. I think this is important developmentally for all ages to experience, but as many of you know it can also be a recipe for disaster. I know that wasn’t your question, but it is important as a framework for what you are going to do as far as activities. The best carnivals have a mix of physical activities (catering to the range of abilities – easy to hard), more art based activities or less active options, and finally some non-active or even quiet options. Having all of these things going on helps campers learn how to self regulate AND it’ll give staff a way to redirect a camper that is having a hard time with all the excitement and stimulation.
So… what about the actual activities?
Here are my favorites
Active:
Anything that involves water balloons and counselors
Minute to win it activities (google it)
Messy Musical chairs (ie. Shaving cream on the chairs)
Camp Director for Camp Kesem, Vice President of Summer Programming for Dragonfly Forest, Summer Camp Consultant & Trainer, and award-winning author of S’more Than Camp. For more information please visit www.TheCampCounselor.com
