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JCC State of Mind – February 9, 2024

Written by Aaron Cantor, EKC Director We are on a mission at EKC to advance a transformative cultural shift—one that empowers and advances female staff, fosters allyship among male colleagues, and cultivates an inclusive work environment. We are beyond excited to share that we’ve been awarded a grant from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh in support of this important work during the upcoming camp …

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JCC State of Mind: A weekly message to staff, board, and stakeholders

December 22, 2023 When I think about the JCC’s approach to community, I often come back to the Jewish practice of requiring a minyan – a group of 10 – for daily prayer and certain religious rituals. A minyan fosters a sense of unity among the participants and symbolizes the collective strength and interconnectedness of the community. The bonds formed within a minyan contribute to the larger tapestry of Jewish communal life. Nearly …

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JCC State of Mind – December 29, 2023

At the age of 16, I was hired for an amazing job. That job – titled “camp counselor” – is still, to this day, the best job I’ve ever had. It offered me invaluable skill-building such as leadership, responsibility and problem solving. More importantly, it’s where I discovered a sense of purpose, meaningful work, confidence and developed an affinity for working with children, young adults …

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Smartphones, Social Media & Summer Camp

While society has become more reliant on technology, and benefited from it, children’s use of electronics in daily life has also taken off. On average, American children and adolescents spend more than 7.5 hours each day using an electronic device. Emma Kaufmann Camp (EKC) recently participated in a national survey titled, Smartphones, Social Media and Overnight Summer Camp.  We were one of 48 camps that …

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We Prepare Kids for Life’s Journeys

I don’t have many memories from being 4 years old.  Most of us don’t.  I remember moments with family, vague recollections about my preschool class, and “doing art” with my sister in our basement.  One vivid memory I do have is riding on a school bus for the first time to my local JCC.  I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing on that school …

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Keep Up the Momentum: Summer Youth Basketball

Keep up your momentum this summer at the JCC The “basketball season” has come and gone and much of the sports world will turn their attention to Major League Baseball or NFL Training Camp or whatever sports season is up next. For the coaches, staff and players at the JCC, however, the end of the competitive season simply means that the beginning of the off-season is right …

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21st Century Inclusion at JCC Camps

Since February 2009, the JCC's Emma Kaufmann Camp has answered the call to action of Jewish Disabilities Awareness and Inclusion Month, a unified national initiative to raise disability awareness and support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities and programs worldwide. Never has focusing on this issue been more important than it is today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in …

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Staunton Farm Foundation Grant will Broaden Inclusion at JCC Camps

We are excited to announce that JCC camps, Emma Kaufmann Camp and James and Rachel Levinson Day Camp, received Beyond an Inclusion Policy: Ensuring Children and Adolescents Reach Their Developmental Potential, a $100,000 two-year grant from The Staunton Farm Foundation. Our overnight and day camps will utilize the grant to pilot an innovative community project to broaden inclusion at both camps, and also to define …

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Notes from Emma Kaufmann Camp

An Exciting Year Ahead September 9, 2018 by Rachael Speck Rosh Hashanah presents us with an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and think about what we want for the upcoming year. One of the prayers we say on Rosh Hashanah is that the entire world will come to a deep appreciation of God’s existence, awareness and supervision. By making this a prayer of Rosh Hashanah, the Rabbis are teaching …

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What’s New at EKC?

“Hey, Rachael. What’s new at camp this year?” It’s a question I get every year. At the end of each summer, our team sits around the table and talks about what we want to change for next year.  By November, we have it all figured out, or so we think. Then there is that really awesome program opportunity that comes along in April or May …

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