Unit Heads for GUCI, Summer 2014

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Unit Heads for GUCI, Summer 2014

By Jeffrey Becker

These Four Amazing People are the Unit Heads for your kids for the Summer of 2014 here at GUCI. They are Gavi Ballaban, Nico Satryan, Lauren Cantor, and Danielle Kaye. These Four People have worked so hard to make this summer amazing for your children.  Below are their stories.

Shalom! My name is Gavi Ballaban and I am so excited to be the Gezah Unit Head at camp this summer! This will be my third year on staff, and my eleventh summer at GUCI. I had my first summer as a camper in 2002 and it has been a constant in my life ever since!  I just finished my third year at the University of Cincinnati, where I am studying Middle Childhood Education. I am a Sunday School teacher at Valley Temple, and also enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and sisters at school.  I have been a counselor in Gezah for three of my four sessions, and I am so excited to spend the summer with the best unit on camp!  Gezah is the unit for rising seventh and eighth graders, and has always been my favorite unit.  As an aspiring middle school teacher, I love the atmosphere of these kids as they grow into their own. I cannot wait to spend the summer with your campers!

Hello!  My name is Nico Satryan, and I am so excited to be the Anaf Unit Head this summer.  This will be my 13th year at GUCI, and my 4th year working in Anaf on staff.  I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Anaf, and look forward to having another amazing summer this year.  When not at camp, I attend Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where I will be a senior this fall.  I can’t wait to get started on the special programs that only Anaf gets to have—Kesher, our camping and outdoors experience; Project, our musical; and Limud, our educational program.  See you soon!

 

Shalom everyone!  My name is Lauren Cantor, and I could not be happier to introduce myself as the Shoresh unit head for this summer!  I am currently finishing my studies in Biology and Jewish Studies at Indiana University.  This past fall, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Israel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  Those five months were full of learning, personal growth, and a lot of travel! Camp has played a big part in shaping my passion for Israel.  My GUCI timeline dates back to before I can remember.  Having my father work as the camp doctor, I would spend many days and nights out at camp with my family.  When I was finally old enough, I began my journey as a camper and I have never stopped loving it here.  This will be my fourth summer on staff at GUCI.  In previous years, I have been a counselor for every age on camp, which means I’m allowed to say that Shoresh truly is the best!  The Hebrew word “Shoresh” translates to “root.”  As the roots of camp, our unit is full of kids who are preparing to sprout into young Jewish adults.  Their excitement and curiosity is what makes them so great.  I know I also speak for the counselors when I say that we cannot wait to get to know these campers, while teaching them and learning from them all at the same time.  Everyday will be packed with programs including educationals, swimming, sports, Chugim (chosen activities), cabin bonding, and a lot of singing and dancing at mealtimes.  And, I can’t forget to mention Shoresh Day Off, when the entire unit gets a surprise trip off of camp!  There is so much more to our summers here at GUCI… Can’t wait to make the memories!

Hey y’all! I’m Danielle Kaye, a long time GUCI girl and camp enthusiast! I am stoked to be working with Garin this summer, our youngest and most imaginative age group. I grew up in Hopkinsville, KY where my family was the town’s only Jewish presence. We trekked to Temple in Nashville, TN for Hebrew school and Shabbat services when I was growing up. My camp adventure began in 2003, when I was in third year Shoresh, and the ruach (spirit) and energy was so contagious that I have been a GUCI girl ever since. In 2009 I was an avodahnick and spent the following three summers working with Shoresh kids, ultimately serving as Shoresh head counselor in 2012. Last summer I spent my time working with social justice issues at the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC and then at Camp Shalom in Lexington, KY.  There I served as Tsofim group leader; working with kids seven to nine at Lexington’s only Jewish day camp. I recently graduated from the University of Kentucky where I studied International Relations in the Middle East and Africa, as well as minoring in Judaic Studies. I had the pleasure of spending a semester abroad at Haifa University in the Fall of 2012 and will be moving back to Israel for a couple of years in August. I am beyond excited to work with Garin and help create a positive and impressionable camp experience that shows them what it means to be part of a unique and ever-growing Jewish community. Here’s to another great summer at GUCI!