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Dear Kingswood Families,

Shabbat Shalom from Camp Kingswood, and Happy Fourth of July!

Last night, our Tsofim campers introduced us to the theme they chose for this weekend’s Shabbat: moral courage.

It couldn’t have been more timely, given where we are in the session—almost two weeks in.

Before campers arrive each summer, we spend time training our staff on the stages of group development. It’s something you’ll learn in any psychology class. Every group, whether it’s a cabin, a classroom, a sports team, or even a family, moves through predictable stages as relationships form.

The beginning is exciting. It’s the “forming” stage. Everyone is figuring one another out, putting their best foot forward, and imagining what the weeks ahead might hold.

Then comes what’s known as the “storming” stage.

Personalities emerge. Kids realize they don’t all think the same way. Someone feels left out. Someone says something they wish they hadn’t. Two campers want the same thing. Small conflicts appear where there weren’t any before.

As adults, our instinct is often to think something has gone wrong.

At camp, we know something important has gone right.

They’re becoming a real community.

Our job isn’t to eliminate every bump in the road. We know that in theory, but it’s much harder in practice when that bump arrives in a letter home describing a moment of emotional pain. Our job is to help children move through those moments with empathy, honesty, resilience, and yes…moral courage.

Because moral courage isn’t climbing the highest tower or making the biggest splash off El Jefe, our giant waterslide.

It’s inviting someone into your card game.

Apologizing when you’ve hurt someone’s feelings.

Speaking up when someone is taking a joke too far.

Putting your arm around the bunkmate who annoyed you earlier.

I saw that courage all over camp this week.

Wednesday night’s Talent Show was one of those evenings that reminds me why I love Kingswood. Campers of all ages took the stage to sing, dance, tell jokes, perform magic tricks, and share their talents. We even had one camper sign up to “play dead,” but that act was cut. 😉

What struck me most wasn’t the performances. It was the audience.

The cheering started before campers even reached center stage. It didn’t matter whether the performer was in your bunk, your unit, or someone you’d never met. Everyone seemed to understand that getting on stage takes courage, and every camper deserved to feel celebrated.

When a little Olim camper froze before her tumbling routine, the entire camp cheered her on. When a budding comedian in Tsofim grabbed the microphone to tell some “real-life stories,” it was the older boys who started chanting his name.

When Sammy from Olim led the camp through his country riddle, every hand shot into the air. By the time he reached the punchline, campers and staff alike were laughing, clapping, and looking around as if to say, “Did that really just happen?” It was one of those perfectly unexpected Kingswood moments that no one could have planned.

The Talent Show also brought one of my favorite Kingswood traditions: the induction of two new staff members into the legendary Unga Bunga Club. I’ll protect the secrecy of the ritual that only comes out at the Talent Show, but let’s just say it involves a skit, two unsuspecting counselors, and an unexpected wet sponge!

Traditions like that matter far more than they seem. Shared laughter becomes shared history, and shared history becomes belonging. Belonging is the sweet spot, when kids can finally exhale because they know they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.

This week also marked a huge milestone for our Counselors-in-Training. Our CITs began their activity shadowing rotations, stepping into the roles they’ve dreamed about for years as they learn how to teach and inspire younger campers.

One of the things that has always made Kingswood special is the way relationships stretch across generations.

A rising third grader looks up to a sixth grader. A sixth grader watches a CIT. A CIT learns from a counselor.

With more than half of our staff having grown up here themselves, that chain of mentorship has been strengthening our community for generations.

As I watched Shabbat begin last night, I found myself thinking about how all of these moments are part of the story.

Our community doesn’t just come together on Opening Day and automatically feel amazing.

We build it together.

Conversation by conversation.

Tradition by tradition.

Act of courage by act of courage.

As it happens, this Shabbat also falls on the Fourth of July.

Yesterday, campers completed their mid-session surveys, and as I read through their responses, one word kept appearing over and over again: freedom.

They wrote about the freedom to choose their activities. The freedom to try something new without worrying whether they’d be good at it. The freedom to wear what makes them comfortable, spend time with friends across bunks and age groups, and simply be themselves.

It made me smile, because I realized they weren’t talking about freedom from something. They were talking about the freedom to become something.

To become more confident.

More independent.

More courageous.

More fully themselves.

That’s the kind of freedom we hope every child experiences at Kingswood.

As we celebrate both Shabbat and Independence Day, I’m reminded that the greatest freedom we can give children isn’t a life without challenges. It’s the confidence to meet those challenges with courage, the kindness to lift one another up along the way, and the knowledge that they belong to a community that will always be cheering them on.

Wishing you and your family a peaceful Shabbat and a wonderful Fourth of July,
-Jodi