What we spied on Spy Day & youth empowerment

Created: August 02, 2019 | by Camp Galil

Hey Everyone!

Gali the sheep here– feeling amped up and ready to take on my next mission. The good news is that we used all of our new secret spy skills to rescue Hannah from her capture! To celebrate Hannah’s return to safety, we held a massive mesiba (party) in the ACE HQ (aka the Refet) and danced the night away.

As we at machaneh (camp) are preparing for Shabbat, I want to take some time and reflect on what we learned yesterday. First of all, at no point in the program did anyone get up on a table and state the day’s educational objectives. That, however, is one of the beauties of what we do at Camp Galil– the skills and values gained through our programming doesn’t have to be spelled out for the experience to be effectively instilled.

We believe deeply in youth empowerment– our college-age madrichimot (counselors) are responsible for the design of our summer program and operations. Our madatz (counselors in training), Bogrimot (post 9th grade), and Bonimot (post 8th grade) all help lead parts of our summer activities– some once a summer, some once a week, and some once a day.

So…when we look at the heart of Spy Day this is actually what we see:

Time dedicated to how our chanichimot (campers) learn to utilize the resources at their disposal in order to effect change in the world around them.

It’s no wonder that today our alumni can be seen on the front lines of social movements like Sunrise and their work on the Green New Deal as well as Never Again Action fighting the treatment of migrant families across the country.

We look forward to shabbat and the rejuvenation that comes with it. Next week will be packed full of more incredible experiences that our chanichimot will carry for years.

Shabbat Shalom!

Gali the Sheep

Ps. What does Gali the Riveter say to encourage her chanichimot? Ewe can do it!