July 13, 2018

Dear friends,

Its’ been a very busy week in Zionsville!  A great week!  On Sunday, we closed an amazing Kallah Aleph (first session), sending home 237 campers who spent their month learning and living together.  Staff had a few hours off, and then we gathered Monday morning to start a marathon day of transition.  New co-counselor groups started getting to know one-another.  New program-planning groups met with Faculty advisors to outline the educational programs they will deliver for Kallah Bet (second session).  Our intersession day is a mix of great excitement for what lies ahead, and an exercise in dealing with separating from a cabin of campers and co-counselors who worked so hard to build a cohesive cabin unit.  We ask a great deal of our staff on this day, and they delivered.

On Tuesday, we opened Kallah Bet, welcoming 252 campers to camp.  The energy and excitement at the opening of Bet is always amazing.  I’m not certain why this is, but perhaps it’s as simple as kids having to wait 4 to 6 weeks at home before getting to come to camp.  The spirit and excitement for camp is something that our entire staff feels and grabs on to.  It carries us through the transition from session to session and serves as a catalyst for the community building we will work so hard at over the next few weeks.

With three weeks left in summer 2018, our staff shares the common goal of making the most of the rest of the summer.  Despite being a little tired from the last five weeks, staff is digging deep to maintain creativity and energy.  Having had the taste of an extremely successful Kallah Aleph, we all know what this Kallah Bet community can become if we nurture it properly.

We are so excited to take this community into the first Shabbat of Kallah Bet.  We introduce our Shabbat experience to all of our new campers, and for the veteran campers, Shabbat is the true mark of coming home.  It’s going to be a fantastic night.

From all of us at GUCI to you and yours, Shabbat Shalom!

Jeremy Klotz 

Director