Local day camps add specialty programs for youngsters with keen interests

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

Over the past few summers, administrators at JCC Camp Deeny Riback, a day camp in Flanders, began to notice an odd pattern of attrition.

“We have campers at Deeny Riback, who, all of sudden, instead of eight weeks, they are coming for seven. What are they doing?” said Diana Ackerman, director of camping services for JCC MetroWest, which operates Deeny Riback. The answer: “They’re going to soccer camp or theater camp.”

Indeed, specialty programs run by sleep-away camps are booming, with programs for budding athletes, musicians, performers, and scientists. For day camps like Deeny Riback, the message was clear. So last summer, the JCC began exploring specialized programs, such as a sports clinic with high-level instruction and competition.

The response? “We found that everyone wanted to come to these programs, despite the fact that they cost more than a week of camp,” said Ackerman.

This summer, the different departments of the JCC, from sports to cultural arts, will be working together to provide a variety of specialty programs held on the Whippany and West Orange campuses, running anywhere from one to three weeks. Offerings include everything from electronics, needle crafts and art to cartooning, chemistry, jewelry-making, and drama. For younger children, programs will be offered in ceramics, robotics, even fossils. The idea, according to Ackerman, is to keep families at the JCC, either at Deeny Riback or at a specialty program at one of the JCCs.

The JCC is not alone. Gan Israel Day Camp, under the auspices of the Rabbinical College of America, is also adding specialized programs this summer at its campus in Morristown. Although they are not creating a separate specialty camp, participants there will be selecting electives to pursue throughout the summer. It’s not only the idea of electives that is new; so are many of the specialties being offered. These include everything from pottery and glasswork to science and woodworking, and even safrut, the art of the religious scribe. The focus, said organizers, is on quality, so expert instructors will be brought into the camp. “We have found that when we give children more chance to choose a specialty, they seem to enjoy it more,” said Gan Israel director Rabbi Mendel Solomon.

One day camp in the area, the four-year-old Gesher Summer Program, on the grounds of Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston, is, however, not embracing the specialty camp craze. “To be honest, we haven’t felt a need to,” said director Scott Lantzman. “We add new activities and fun every summer. We are still growing, and a bigger issue for us is continuing to upgrade our programs and facility. We’d like to add a seventh- and eighth-grade component.”

Finding the new theater program now being offered at the JCC in West Orange was a happy surprise for Millburn resident Ellen Shulman. Her 11-year-old daughter, Pam Perler, has been attending Deeny Riback for “at least five or six years.” She’s also attended some of the specialty “camps,” or one week programs often held during school vacations, offered by the JCC throughout the year.

Last summer, several of Pam’s friends went to a theater camp, and Pam wanted to as well, for at least part of the summer. Shulman began exploring the possibilities of her daughter’s splitting the summer between Deeny Riback and another camp.

Pam, said her mother, is “big into theater. It’s a special interest of hers that she’d like to spend more time doing.” Cost was not a factor. “We just accepted it from the beginning” that it would cost more, said Shulman. In fact, however, six weeks of the New JCC Triple Threat Theater program –at $3,385 for members, costs less than six weeks at Deeny Riback, at $3,590.

The program, for youngsters in grades four through 12, runs in two three-week sessions and focuses on musical theater. Campers study acting, singing, and dancing with professional actors from the 12 Miles West Theater Company in Bloomfield. The children’s days include sessions on voice, scene and character analysis, acting exercises, movement, choreography, and direction. They also spend time rehearsing for a final performance staged at the end of each of the three-week sessions. On Wednesdays, campers travel to Manhattan to see a show. Pool and relaxation time is included. No auditions are required, but enrollment is limited to 30.
Shulman had not found the right option for her daughter until she learned about the JCC’s offering. “Now she can go to the theater camp [for three weeks] and still go to Deeny Riback for the last four weeks.” Shulman is also relieved that the program will be held in a Jewish environment. Because the programs observes kashrut, “I don’t have to worry about what Pam will be eating at lunch,” said Shulman, a member of the Conservative Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn.

Deeny Riback camp applications for all programs are accepted until camp starts, as long as space is available. An early-bird discount is available for applications received by Jan. 31. At Gan Israel, the early bird deadline is April 4, and registration closes May 9. At Gesher, a discounted rate applies until Feb. 28. All applications must be submitted by May 31 to avoid a late charge.

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.