Think Summer Camp!

(04-01-2007 - Akron, OH) If you ask Shaw JCC camp kids why they choose our summer camp, you’ll hear lots of great reasons: the cool choices in sports, activity, travel and traditional camp; lots of time in the refurbished camp pool; the great counselors and fun field trips; and Tikkun Village, our on-site outdoor learning center with a low ropes course.

Ask their parents the same question—“Why summer camp at the Shaw JCC?”—and they’ll tell you that camp at the Shaw JCC is the choice that makes the whole family happy. Parents love our summer camp’s secure atmosphere, college age and adult counselors, and a community based in wholesome Jewish values through the TAG Initiative: Torah, Avadah, and Gimmelut Hassidim. Most of all, parents love having a summer in which kids wake up eager to go to camp and come home happy at the end of the day.

This summer, the Shaw JCC is offering great camps for ages 2-14, including traditional day camp, specialty camps and sports camps. We’re especially pleased to be offering several new sports camps including the Cleveland Cavaliers Camp and the Akron Racers Softball Camp, along with returning favorites that include gymnastics camp with Janice Epstein—did you know she’s been a leader at our camp for more than 20 years?—baseball, golf, Major League Soccer, NFL flag football and more. Our sports camps, especially Cleveland Cavaliers camp, fill up quickly, so please register right away if you’d like a space reserved.

Our specialty camps provide an enriching experience for kids interested in a particular subject or hobby while still providing afternoons of the camp activities you remember from your childhood, like swimming, crafts and our weekly Shabbat cookouts. Video camp is new this year for kids entering grades 3-6, while favorites like Mad Science, Weathervane Drama Camp, outdoor adventure camp and craft camp are returning for another year. Are you looking for the right way to introduce your child to camp? Try cooking camp, held during the first week of camp this year (June 18-22). Our community sclichim, Maya and Lior Abarbanel, along with Shaw JCC Family Program Director Dora Lipper, will teach kids yummy kosher dishes they can prepare for you at home!

Older kids—entering grades 4-8—have even more choices at Shaw JCC Summer Camp. Travel camp this summer includes a week’s adventure to Capital Camps and Retreat Center, the overnight camp of the Greater Washington JCC, and day trips to Hershey Park amusement park, Washington D.C. and historic Gettysburg.

Are your kids in high school? There’s even a place for them at Shaw JCC summer camp. We offer a two-year counselor-in-training program for teens entering 9th and 10th grade next September, and we’re accepting applications now for high school counselors to work under the direction and supervision of our college-age and adult staff who run camp.

Questions about camp? Pick up a camp guide at the Shaw JCC or call Camp Director Katie Shubat at 330-835-0035. The early bird registration deadline is April 18 at 3pm, so don’t delay—it’s time to think camp!

For more info, contact:

Katie Vensel (Shubat)
Summer Camp Director
750 White Pond Drive
Akron, OH 44320
Phone: 330-835-0035
E-mail: katie_vensel@jewishakron.org

The Shaw JCC of Akron, founded in 1920, creates community based on Jewish values in by providing quality programs and services in a safe and secure environment for people of all ages. The Shaw JCC is open to all members of our community without regard to race, gender, religious preference, marital, or economic status. Our 60-acre community campus, located at 750 White Pond Drive, is home to the Shaw JCC as well as the Jewish Community Board of Akron, Jewish Family Service, and the Jerome Lippman Jewish Community Day School.