When you think of summer camp, you think of swimming, sports and arts and crafts. For 160 campers from 26 countries, eCamp is “the ultimate summer experience in Israel,” creating, inventing and designing projects in technology workshops with the 120 computers and exploring Israeli technology.
For Adam Sitzmann, son of Congregation Beth Shalom members Wendy and Jeff Sitzmann, being a counselor “was a way to get back” to Israel. Sitzmann, who is a graduate of Blue Valley West High School, participated in the one-month-long Israel Journey program in 2009 and subsequently heard about the eCamp from Nir Gad, who served as the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s shaliach (emissary) from 2007-2009. Gad is now the camp’s assistant director, which is in its fourth year of operation.
Sitzmann says he applied for the job on line and was accepted for the seven-week position.
“This is like my gap year, but it’s only for the summer,” explained the 18 year old, who will be a freshman in the fall at the University of Michigan. He plans to major in psychology.
“I make videos for the Facebook page for the parents every day. This is the first time the camp has video bloggers creating the daily activities of the campers. I also teach a lab in video filming,” says Sitzmann. On the Facebook page of eCamp, Sitzmann can be seen interviewing campers about their daily life.
“I love being in Israel. I enjoy being able to utilize my abilities to make movies and teach that to other people. It’s a great way to utilize my skills while being in a country where everyone I meet is Jewish. eCamp is a fun environment, working with specialized staff,” says Sitzmann.
Gad explains that the staff of 36 come from Israel and six countries, are all over the age of 18 and are all professionals in the fields they teach. The camp is held at Meir Shfeya, a residential youth village of Hadassah, near Zichron Yaacov, about two hours northwest of Jerusalem, and provides programs for each age group. Campers are 8 to 18 and come for one, two or three two-week sessions. The Kilobyte unit is for those entering grades three to seven; there are four campers to a room and one counselor for each six campers in this age group. The Megabyte unit is for those entering grades 8 and 9. The Gigabyte unit are for those entering grades 10 to 12.
The language of the camp is English. Campers attend three technology workshops (called labs) of their choosing (all done on computers except ones like digital photography, video filming and entrepreneurship), between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. with up to eight people. At the conclusion of each session, each camper has a final project. They also have one and a half hours a day “unplugged” when they participate in sports and recreation. They also have rest time, access to a canteen in which to purchase snacks, unit activities and camp-wide programs. The camp also brings entrepreneurs from Israel’s high-tech industries to share their experiences with the campers.
“Our goal is to get our campers to explore the success of the high-tech world in Israel,” says Gad. “We connect campers to Israel, introduce them to Israelis who will become their friends and show them modern Israel.”
For Sitzmann, being a counselor at eCamp is very unique because he is in a program where he gets professional experience in a workplace with creative people from all over the world.
“I feel immersed in the culture,” said Sitzmann. “On my day off, I went to another counselor’s apartment, I went to restaurants, I went windsurfing in the Mediterranean, I walked around Tel Aviv, I got to see neighborhoods and I got to live with Israelis.”
Gad is part of the staff of four who work out of an office in the town of Kfar Saba during the winter. The camp is a for-profit camp and self supporting. Its “parent” company, Oranim, has brought Jewish young people to Israel on educational programs for the past 26 years. Oranim was recently purchased by Egged Tours, part of the National bus company.
