Shabbat-O-Gram: 6/27/25

Dear Kingswood Families,

Shabbat is here, and with it comes our first few days of camp in the books!

If you walked around camp this week, you might not have seen a picture-perfect postcard. You would’ve seen sunscreen smudges and mismatched socks, lifejackets going on backwards, and campers trying to remember their bunkmate’s name for the third time. You’d have seen tears and hugs, chaotic transitions, and hands covered in tie dye. If you saw all that, I’d say, welcome to the sacred mess. You’re looking at something real.

Camp, especially this first week, isn’t supposed to look like an Instagram reel. It’s not curated or polished. It’s perfectly imperfect. It’s made of real people, learning and growing in real time. That’s exactly what makes it so meaningful.

When I was working as a consultant to camps, I was at a camp in California and had a conversation I’ll never forget. A counselor told me he was having the best summer of his life because for the first time, he was trusted to create. “At my old camp,” he said, “it was so boring,” he said. “Every program I was asked to lead was handed to me already done. I just followed instructions. But here, I get to create the actual programs. I get to come up with ideas and be creative. I get to build something.”

That’s what we aim to do at Kingswood.

We’re not a camp where it’s like a Bar Mitzvah party every night. We don’t prepare all our programs in advance. We could have all the evening programs written by April, all the supplies purchased long before getting to camp. There are camps that operate in that way, where camp runs as if it’s a show. But that’s not how we do things at Kingswood.

We give our staff the skeleton. The bones of the day, the structure that keeps camp flowing. But the color? That’s all them. Tomorrow night they’ll turn the Old Rec into an old time Vegas casino for Casino Night. Characters and costumes come out daily for skits and programs. They invent new cheers on the spot. They improvise bedtime rituals that make campers feel safe and seen. They come up with the content of the electives they lead. They try things. They mess up. They try again.

It’s tempting to want things to be perfect when you’re entrusting your child to someone else. I know that feeling well. But I’ve learned that what changes kids’ lives most deeply isn’t perfection, it’s connection. It’s not a flawless bunk photo in the perfect light. It’s a counselor who notices when your child’s having an off day, and sits with them. It’s a moment of giggling that starts accidentally and becomes a full blown laugh attack. It’s the shout outs at lunch by specialists sharing moments of celebration from around camp (like the campers today who stood on water skis for the first time!). So yes, camp is messy and loud. But it was also full of wonder and firsts. First songs, first swims, and the first whispers with flashlights and new friends in the bunk.

In this sacred mess, your kids are living inside a world dreamed up by our staff. One where creativity fuels connection and imagination is the engine of everything. From silly bunk skits to impromptu dance parties, they’re seeing that magic isn’t something you buy or plan perfectly — it’s something you make.

In watching their counselors create something special out of nothing, they’re learning that they can do it too. That’s what makes camp so powerful. It’s not just a place they go. It’s a world they help build.

Shabbat Shalom from Bridgton—

May your weekend be full of imagination, a little chaos, and a whole lot of heart.

With gratitude,
Jodi