Family Focus
Reaching The Summit
Camp embraces children who are special learners.
Suzanne Pollak
Special to the Jewish News
osi
.x'
C
ory Rechter used to go to a sum- .1 '
mer camp where a person was
assigned to constantly "shadow" f.
him to make sure everything was going
okay.
"That was not a great experience," said
his mother, Nancy Rechter of Franklin.
"We could tell that [other campers] were
bullying him:' she said.
Then a woman she met while on
vacation told her about Summit Camp,
located in Wayne County, Pa. The camp
is designed for children called high func-
tioning, but who have been considered by
their school as special learners, explained
owner Allan Smith, a Reform rabbi who
directed the youth division of the Union
for Reform Judaism and headed up its
camps and college programs.
That was three years ago, and Cory,
who is 12 years old, has been enjoying
summers there ever since, especially go-
carting.
The campers, ages 8 to 17, gener-
ally have problems that could include
Attention Deficit Disorder, Aspergers
Syndrome, awkward social skills, verbal or
nonverbal learning disabilities, and mild
social or emotional concerns.
"About 60 percent [of the campers] are
in private schools that understand this
community," Smith said.
At its founding, Summit served a small
Jewish population. These days, while less
than 50 percent of the campers are Jewish,
the 40-year-old camp continues to serve
kosher food and offer Shabbat morning
services.
Cory, who is in sixth grade at Eton
Nancy Rechter of Franklin and her son, Cory, 12
Academy in Birmingham, really likes tak-
ing canoe trips and even learned to ride a
bike at camp.
"I like my friends, the counselors and
the activities',' Cory said.
His favorite things are going fast on a
go-cart, jumping high on the trampoline
and using beads in jewelry class.
His mother also is very happy with the
camp. "The counselors are so incredible.
They are so warm and loving. They all
know him," she said. "They taught him to
ride a bike which is an amazing thing."
She is very happy that her son "lives in
a cabin with boys who are like him. They
all have Game Boys that they get to play
at rest time. They like reading Captain
Underpants books. They are all pretty
much the same so they get along well.
He is with kids who are like him. That is
what's really important to us."
In his first summer, Cory didn't like any
of the food and wasn't eating. One coun-
selor sat with him at meals to make sure
everything was okay, Rechter said.
"He was a really nice guy. He helped and
got Cory to eat spaghetti."
She believes Summit Camp makes Cory
feel independent. "When he comes home
from camp, he's just very secure in himself
and happy. He sort of has the edge off
him," his mother said.
Rabbi Smith attributes that to a highly
trained staff with lots of experience in the
field of special needs.
In a camp with a maximum of 300
campers at any one time, a normal staff
budget would be about $600,000, but
Camp Summit spends $1 to $1.2 mil-
lion, according to Smith. "It's just so labor
intensive,' he said.
The counselors, none of whom are
under 21 years of age, undergo intense
orientation, and there are experts there to
help at any time.
Cory's enjoyment and success isn't
unusual, Smith said. "Our goal is to
empower our campers to find success in
any social situation among their peers."
He likes to think of his camp as "the
magic on the hill. They are so happy, they
feel alive. Their sense of self-esteem just
grows and grows': he said of the campers.
Often Summit campers "don't have
friends. They are alone. Yet some of them
are brilliant, simply brilliant. It's very
intense to be with them;' said Smith, who
lives in Gainesville, Va.
Besides a normal camp program,
Summit offers opportunities in which
summer campers can spend three weeks
going across Canada, touring Costa Rica
or taking a shorter Colonial American
Heritage trip from New York south to
Charleston and Atlanta.
"All these things are almost one to one
in terms of staff,' Smith said.
❑
The camp is in Pennsylvania, 12 miles north of
Honesdale near the village of Rileyville.
Scouts Work
••• as parents hone leadership skills.
C
ub Scout Pack 613, chartered by Metro Detroit
Conservative synagogues, met at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills. While the Cub
Scouts made real rope from twine, their parents
attended an adult leader training session.
Congratulations to the newly certifited leaders:
Cubmaster Mitch Singer of West Bloomfield, publicist
Laurel Rebenstock of Farmington Hills, treasurer
Gary Chynoweth of Livonia, recruiter Jeff Moss of
Bloomfield Hills, and field trip organizer Jeff Brasch
of Farmington Hills. Youth pictured are Hannah
Singer, 11, who wishes that the Boy Scouts
were co-ed, Jeremy Rebenstock, 9, and Ben
Moss, 8.
On May 30, the Sunday of Memorial Day
weekend, Pack 613 is having an overnight
on the U.S.S. Silversides, a World War II sub-
marine docked in Muskegon. Plans are well
underway for next school year.
If you are interested in Cub Scout Pack
613 or Boy Scout Troop 364, contact Louis
Sugarman at (248) 376-4329.
wommiwwwifimanTinwoommimaimajwargenommiteraii _ .._ ,
,..
.•
.
,
.
.
..,
^
-
.
..
•
',..-.
.
., _ . , „. . ,. . ; 7
JN
....
" okii
...; . ,,,
laminairaimaisw
.
• • ,
May 27 2010
59