The reader of this blog (I am assuming that there is at least one) might think that I just decided to close up shop, as I have not posted in three weeks. However, despite my recent absence from the blogosphere, I am still doing well and Ramah Outdoor Adventure is still very much around. I am actually writing this at 30,000 feet somewhere between Denver and Austin. Dina and I were out in Denver for a few days looking
Creating Institutional Memory: I am on my way back to Denver after spending last week visiting two summer camps. One of the great parts of having this grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation is that I have the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the camping field. While I have spent many years working in camps (mostly Ramah camps), it is a totally different experience to walk into a new place with an eye towar
I just came in to Denver for a few hours to restock our food, but wanted to write a quick blog post to update everyone on our training week. In short, it is going amazingly well! As of Sunday night, we had 17 participants and staff on site. We hail from 10 states including Arizona, Texas, Oregon, New York, South Carolina and Massachusetts. At the airport almost no two participants knew each other. When they set out o
We at Ramah Outdoors are gearing up for our first staff training session which begins on Sunday. I am heading o the Ranch this Friday with 3 other leaders for Shabbat before heading to the airport on Sunday to pick up all the participants. I thought I would post the letter I just wrote to the participants which gives a little insight into our last minute preparations. Remember if you are in the area on August 9th, pl
I just returned from an amazing 36 hours at the Ramah Rockies Ranch. I had been there twice before, although never in the growing season. Wow, what a magical place! Although I have been telling people for some time that he ranch is 385 acres, I did not quite realize how big that was until I spent the better part of yesterday exploring the trails on the ranch only to realize there were so many more to walk when it was
As things heat up here I will be returning to more regular blog posts so long as I am near an internet connection which is not something I take for granted out here: Greetings from Denver: I finally had a chance this week to get out into the Rocky Mountains! On Sunday I left the city to drive two hours to the Arkansas river near Buena Vista. Lindsay and I camped along the water and in the morning hopped on a rafting
This weeks blog posting is VERY short. I am sure I am not the only one who gets odd looks when I say I involved in creating a Jewish camp focusing on outdoor adventure. People sometimes think I am crazy when I tell them that our camp will be have a primitive base camp, and that this is one of our selling points! I truly believe that teens will flock to a program that encourages them to get away from the technology th
I returned yesterday from another Foundation for Jewish Camp conference in NJ. I have to say, that these conferences are actually pretty interesting. For the most part, the sessions are useful and informative. For example, this past week we spent a day learning about recruiting and marketing. We also spent a day learning about presentation skills and practicing delivering our camp “pitch.†We worked most of the d
Last week an educator asked me to collect my ten favorite texts about the enviroment. I could have written way more than ten, but kept to that number. Below are the ones I have come up with. Feel free to comment on them and perhaps add your own favorite.
People are often surprised when I tell them that I never went to Jewish camp as a child. As a student at an Orthodox Day School and growing up in an observant family, my parents wanted me to get other experiences during the summers, and so I spent four summers in Boy Scout camp. For me, Boy Scout camp was a chance to do what I loved doing most—being in the outdoors and exploring nature. We use to spend most of our
