Right out of the gate, I knew that this summer was going to be different than my first summer as director. First, having a summer under my belt gave me the confidence to envision where we need to go as a camp. I am sure that many of you can relate to being the new guy at a job. It was definitely the kind of thing where on the job training was often the order of the day. Luckily, there were a lot of people there to support my leadership including a stellar staff.
These past ten days has shown the incredible versatility and dedication of our staff to Yavneh. With each day, it has become more and more apparent how lucky we as a Yavneh community are to be led by such an outstanding group of educators. I purposely selected the word “educator” because I believe that every member of our staff is a “teacher” and there are countless teaching moments – from the way older campers interact with kitchen staff when they are waiting tables at every meal to how our specialists share their passion with campers.
This year, we brought a series of guest speakers to staff orientation week and each of them marveled at the high caliber of our staff, especially our madrichim (counselors) and roshei aydot (unit heads). The guest speakers included two alumni and a current Yavneh parent who led sessions on diversity in the Jewish community, mental health awareness and camper safety. Our madrichim level of participation far eclipsed all expectations and now that the campers are here it is so rewarding to see them take stellar care of our kids.
As the Director of Yavneh, it is gratifying the way our staff are taking their roles seriously. As a parent of a Yavneh camper, I am at complete peace that our children are working with such a fine tzevet. It is important to show our appreciation for the hard work that each member of our tzevet does to ensure every camper has a top-notch experience.
On behalf of the entire Yavneh parent community, I want to thank all staff for a great start to Kayitz ’18.
kol tov,
