By Josh Wolfson
When I was a camper I never thought about how much effort goes into all of the programming and day-to-day activities that we do here at Jacobs. It all just sort of happened, and we were just charged with having fun!
But, man, it’s a lot of work! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to do the work; I love writing programs and trying to imagine zany things for Gariners to do. I just could not have imagined the amount of thought that goes into everything that is done here.
For example, earlier this session I wrote a Pirate-themed evening program for all of Garin, and then ran it from start to finish. It took me a few hours to write the program itself, fill out a requisition form to request supplies, and write a dining hall skit to “present” the program to the kids. But, once I had finished doing all of those things, I figured I was done.
On the night of the program everything was going very well, the campers were having a blast, and I was losing my voice – something that has happened three times already this session. The climax of the evening was this great “battle” where all of Garin was supposed to “storm my ship” and attack me and my fellow counselors with water balloons. It was dramatic!
Nothing seemed amiss to me, but a day or two later I had my mid-session evaluation with my wonderful unit head Sophie, and she gave me some important advice: “anticipate camper reactions.” “Anticipate camper reactions? What do you mean, Sophie?” She explained that because all of my fellow staff members were up on the stage – on board my ship – there was no one to hand out water balloons to the kids. She described to me the massive rush to the water balloons, and how a few kids had gotten one or two water balloons, while others had gotten ten or more. She assured me that everything had worked out fine, that it wasn’t a big deal, but that she wanted me to work on anticipating my camper’s reactions to the programs.
Programming isn’t just about imagination; it’s about anticipation, and a lot of improvising. So I took that to heart and planned my bunk night around my campers’ reactions and needs, rather than around what “I” thought would be fun. My co-counselors and I took our cabin, Cabin Shoreshim, on a superhero-themed bunk night: they went on the zip-line, scaled the Aquaclimb, and faced off with the “Green Goblin” armed with silly string. Suffice it to say that every camper that wanted to went on the zipline, every camper climbed the Aquaclimb, and every camper had a full canister of silly string. We also had plenty of marshmallows, chocolate & graham crackers to go around at the evening’s closing campfire. All of my campers said it was the best bunk night they had ever had. A few said it was the best night of their lives, which I know was a bit of hyperbole, but it still made me feel great!
I love being a Jacobs counselor! I had the best summers of my life here as a camper. And, I am proud to say that I am passing it on by helping give great summers to the next generation of campers.
Josh is the son of Jonathan and Stephanie Wolfson. Stephanie is also an alumni of Jacobs Camp. Josh and his brother Eddie travel from Calabasa, CA to attend Jacobs Camp!
Josh,
Great to hear you’re doing so well. Some of the best summers of my life were spent at Jacobs, doing just the sort of program that you describe (minus the Aquaclimb).
Keep it up, the memories you’re helping make for these kids will last a lifetime.
Unca
Josh, great to hear about all you are learning as a counselor and programmer. Sounds like so much fun. We just left URJ Camp Newman where we experience much of the same.