October Kingswood News
Aaaaaand…we’re back! We hope you had a meaningful Rosh Hashanah and that your new year is off to a sweet start. We’re thrilled to bring you the October edition of Kingswood News after taking a pause for our incredible Summer 2022 season!
For those of you new to camp for ‘23, we’re happy to welcome you to our new-ish camp newsletter that keeps our camp community connected year-round. Kingswood News goes to current families, alumni, staff, and friends. If there’s anyone you’d like to be added to the mailing list, send us their email here.
Reading Kingswood News will keep you up-to-date and informed about important dates and deadlines, so parents, please consider Kingswood News required reading! 🙂 In the newsletter you’ll also find stories about camp this past summer and other features. Days at camp are jam-packed with meaningful moments and incredible programs, and by sharing some of those with you here over the year, we invite you to see ‘behind the curtain’ of camp, so you can get a taste of what makes Kingswood so unique.
The Votes Are In!
Feedback matters – a lot! During camp, kids fill out surveys twice to let us know what they think. Their feedback helps us make decisions about everything from what meals to serve to the daily schedule. In each issue of Kingswood News we’ll share highlights from our 2022 Camper Surveys like this:
Tikkun Olam (Healing the World): Yonit Nagudi
In addition to head-to-toe cool Kingswood SWAG, your camper may have also come home from camp with some beautiful crafts that look a little too shnazzy to have been made at camp. These handmade items came all the way from Uganda with staff member Yonit Nagudi! At camp, Yonit was part of our Early Childhood Counselor team, caring for our staff kids too young for a bunk. At home in Africa, Yonit is the Head of Innovations and Development for the K’far Rishon Namutumba community, a small Jewish community in Uganda. Yonit’s work focuses on improving the welfare of Jewish women in her community, and she’s currently working to bring energy, clean water, and a hospital to the village. Their community is funded in part by selling homemade African Judaica, bags, and crafts, and we were honored to support her community by selling her items in Canteen this summer, with all proceeds donated to her community. We’re so proud of our campers who lived our value of Tikkun Olam by supporting K’far Rishon Namutumba.
Campers Who Walk the Walk
Our core values – courage, responsibility, community and spirit – are brought to life every day at camp through our words and our actions. We teach and talk about these values, and at the end of camp, the two campers who most personify each value are given the highest honor a Kingswood camper can receive – signing a Value Board in front of the whole camp at Closing Campfire. Mazel tov to our 2022 Value Board signers!
Session I
COURAGE
Laila Hochschild & Alex Mitchell
COMMUNITY
Evie Trackman & Josh Foye
RESPONSIBILITY
Lailah Chanoff & Ari Soltysiak
SPIRIT
Meredith Christ & Rocco Sharma
~
Session II
COURAGE
Abby Clarke & Will Jordan
COMMUNITY
Nina Granik & Jordan Solomon
RESPONSIBILITY
Gabby Berman & Ben Speicher
SPIRIT
Maia Tadmor & Elan Lipton
Staff Who Talk the Talk
One of Kingswood’s oldest traditions is the infamous Log. In a similar spirit of the Value Boards, signing the Log is the highest honor anyone can receive at Kingswood. Selected by a committee of past recipients, Log signers are living examples of what Kingswood stands for, and they lift up others around them with their kindness, their positivity, and their general all-around awesomeness. This year we give a big Kingswood cheer for first session signers Avia Levy (counselor) and Natalie Braithwaite (waterski specialist), and second session signer Josh Forshaw (head of sports)!
Alumni Weekend
After a two-year COVID hiatus, we were thrilled to welcome our alumni back home in August. Hearing stories around the campfire about camp in the ‘00s, ‘90s, ‘80s, and ‘70s was a beautiful reminder of the magic of camp, just in time for our 110th Anniversary we’ll celebrate this coming summer! We’re so thankful to have such a dedicated and incredible alumni network! Are you in the Alumni Facebook group? Click here to join now!
Join our Team!
Camp Kingswood’s year-round team is growing, and you may be the perfect addition! We are hiring a year-round camp administrator, which could be full or part-time for the right candidate. A parent or camp alum might be the perfect fit! The camp administrator will provide secretarial support and will administer day-to-day processes including camper registration and billing, staff contracts, vendor relations, travel and logistics. The ideal candidate has a positive attitude, excellent customer service and computer skills, and strong written and verbal communication. Please send resumes and questions here, and pass the opportunity along if you know someone who would be great
Joining us in ’23?
If you’re not registered yet, that’s not a sure thing, so please sign up TODAY! We already have waitlists for a few grades and sessions, and even if you were at camp in ‘22, your space is not guaranteed until you are registered. All camp fees are fully refundable until November 1, and our scholarship application is open. Click here to register today!
That’s all for now! We have lots more in store for the coming weeks and months ahead as we get ready for Kingswood ‘23. We’ll continue to send Kingswood News out at the start of every month, but you can also stay connected to Kingswood throughout the year by following us on Facebook and Instagram, both @campkingswood. We can’t wait to see you again soon!
