Summer Youth Experiences

kids at URJ Camp Harlam wearing tie-dye t-shirts an joyfully spraying water on each other with a hose
Summer Youth Experiences

Summer 2022: Opportunities and Growth

Rabbi Rick Jacobs
 August 4, 2022
Summer 2022 was full of opportunities and growth. We celebrated the joy and beauty of camp and Israel experiences, infused intention and meaning in our planning and programming, and enabled campers, summer immersive participants, and staff to create communities of respect and belonging.
Three Campers Jumping Joyfully into the Lake
COVID-19

A Note About Camp

Ruben Arquilevich
 July 12, 2022
We are now solidly in the middle of camp season and our 3,000 dedicated staff are working to ensure that our campers are enjoying the friendship, smiles, ruach (spirit), growth, and love that are all part of the camp experience, while also keeping everyone safe and healthy.
Susan Zukrow Mackevich, zichronah l'vrachah
Early Childhood Education

The Susan Zukrow Mackevich Seeds of Compassion Fellowship Grows Connection between Early Jewish Education and Camp

Cathy Rolland, RJE
Rachel Margolis, RJE
 June 10, 2022
Sometimes an outsider’s perspective yields a beautiful question. Susan Zukrow Mackevich, whose second yahrzeit was April 27, provided that kind of perspective for us at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ), and Chicago-area early childhood Jewish educators.

URJ Immersive Youth Programs and COVID Protocols

Together with our URJ Medical Advisory Team, and following the guidance of CDC, Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), and American Camp Association (ACA), we have developed guidelines and protocols that preserve the camp experience, protect our camp communities, and use evidence-based best practices. We remain agile and responsive to the evolving COVID landscape, while simultaneously preparing for a meaningful and memorable summer camp experience. We are attuned both to the evidence-based protective benefits of some COVID mitigation measures AND to the operational and experiential drawbacks of others. This has been a complex and deliberate process of balancing many priorities.
Summer Youth Experiences