Tikvah Comes to Ramah Day Camp

In keeping with our ongoing commitment to inclusion, we are thrilled to announce the addition of a Tikvah Director to our Ramah Day Camp year-round team. Tikvah at Ramah Day Camp builds on our 50-year history of success in supporting campers with disabilities at our Palmer overnight camp. Some of the campers who participate in the Ramah Day Camp Tikvah Program may have been characterized as having ADHD, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, or developmental and medical differences. Campers in the Tikvah Program follow a regular camp schedule with support and accommodations as needed. Campers are immersed in a traditional Jewish summer camp experience side by side with their peers of the same age. The Tikvah team works closely with all staff at camp and with families to identify a camper’s strengths and needs to ensure success for the camper. Enrollment decisions for campers in the Tikvah Program are based on available space, and are made on an individual basis to ensure that children can be successfully accommodated in our program.

We are blessed to have at the helm of this new program expansion a long-time Tikvah Rosh Edah and Palmer alumna, Elisheva Layman. Elisheva, who was recently appointed the Day Camp Tikvah Director, graduated from the University of Maryland with a Masters degree in Special Education and has worked as a special educator at a Jewish day school in New Jersey for the past six years. She is a longtime leader in the Camp Ramah in New England community, having served nine summers in the Tikvah Program at the Palmer overnight camp and one summer as a senior staff member here at our DC area day camp. In summer 2018, Elisheva worked on the camper care team in Palmer, supporting campers with various needs throughout the camp community. In her free time she enjoys seeing Broadway shows, cooking and spending time with her friends. A Maryland native, she now lives in New York City.

If you believe that your child will require support, please email Elisheva or call her at (301) 500-8251 ext. 105.

The Tikvah Program was made possible by generous support from Diane Lipson Schilit and Howard Schilit.