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Sure,
camp
is for fun.
But it also
teaches
lessons
for life.

NANCY KERCHEVAL
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

The Wonder Years

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athaniel Bautre
stretched out on the
ground, eyes close
to the sight of the
rifle aimed at the
target. "It was my
third time at riflery
and I shot the bull's-eye," he
remembers. I felt real good
about myself."
For the past three summers,
Nathaniel, now 12, has packed
his bags, rolled up his sleeping
bag and headed off for four
weeks at sleepover camp.
Nathaniel feels free at camp,
able to participate in activities
that are all but impossible to do
at home. He meets his camping
buddies only for this single,
four-week period. But when

they reunite, there is backslap-
ping, comments about height,
and whispers of secrets only for
boys' ears.
Lifetime memories are made
of the kind of camping experi-
ence Nathaniel is having. There
is freedom to test new ideas
and feelings without risk of
reprimands from nagging par-
ents or interruptions by nosy
siblings. There are new friends
to make, new sports to master,
and new activities to challenge
a child. Dirt is worn like a
badge of courage; bugs share
the bunk with campers, and
goofing around with the guys or
girls is OK.
To the campers, it's just good
old-fashioned fun. So don't tell

them what they're really get-
ting out of camp — lessons that
are not as obvious as the three
R's but which, nonetheless,
help to fashion a child's growth
and maturity.
Tamar Jacobs, 13, eagerly
awaits her month at camp
every summer. Not only is
camp a "fun thing," as she puts
it, but it gives Tamar, the old-
est of three children, a chance
to be on her own and to meet
new people.
"I just usually go to camp to
get away from home for
awhile," she says. "I never get
homesick. It's not that I don't
miss my parents and home. I
just don't get homesick," Tamar.
adds.