Learning about Teva at Camp Ramah!

We’ve talked a lot this summer about “bringing the campfire
back into camp.”  That resulted in the creation of our new tradition of
edah campfires every Thursday night, and it’s also resulted in a new push for
our teva (nature) program.  We have a terrific tzevet teva (nature staff)
this summer, lead by long-time Ramahnik (and last year’s S’gan Rosh Solelim)
Noah Slovin.  I can’t remember a summer in which our teva staff has been
so much a part of every-day camp life. 

In their popular teva chug, our teva staff are teaching our
campers about nature, ecology, and the environment around them.  They’re
also helping our kids to develop camping and scouting skills – and cooking a
lot of delicious food around the fire!

Once a week, our teva staff takes an entire edah (division)
out into the woods behind camp for an overnight.  We’ve introduced a whole
new element to these overnights this year, with an afternoon teva treasure hunt
all around camp, and the kids have an opportunity to canoe over to tzad bet
before hiking back to their camp-site.  Once there, our campers divide
into k’vutzot (groups), each focused on a different aspect of preparing their
camp-site (setting up tents, preparing the food for dinner, etc.) before
settling in to an “iron chef” cooking competition and an evening of shira and
s’mores around the campfire.

And, of course, we can’t forget our out-of-camp etgarim
(outdoor adventure programs) for Tzad Bet!  Edat ha-Machon are out of camp
this week on their multi-day experience.  We have five different Machon
etgar trips running concurrently: backpacking, biking, rock-climbing, and two
canoe trips.  Next week our Nivonimers will cast off on their etgar
adventures (we’re running all of the trips offered to Machon as well as a Huck
Finn Rafting Adventure trip).

For now, it’s almost time for our next round of edah
camp-fires!