Camp Nebagamon

Compiled by Louis Levin

It’s been said, I couldn’t tell you by whom, that we all become our parents one day. While I think I have a few years before I am totally, undeniably, 100% identical to my father, one thing he’s passed on to me is a love of news articles, and in particular, thoughtfully sending his loved ones articles that remind him of them. This is a lot of lead-up to say: I have an article I want to share with you.

In the publication Vox this past year, Alex Hazlett published a handful of great articles about children and parenting, and the most recent column in his series is on the importance of mentorship and community in a child’s upbringing. In it, he discusses Stephanie Coontz’s new book on the varying influences of family on children, and how relationships with adults who are not a child’s primary caretakers instills different skills, like new kinds of problem-solving skills and ways to form relationships. I won’t summarize the whole article for you, and if you have been at camp before, or sent a camper, I’m not totally sure you even need to read it, because I think you already see the benefits of exposing children to different adults. (Don’t worry about it, though, there are plenty of articles my dad has sent me that I haven’t read!)

At Camp Nebagamon, campers spend weeks away from their parents and, instead, with the mentorship of our counselors and administrators. A camper who may have trouble learning new skills at home might benefit from having a new canoeing instructor, one he looks up to in a different way than his parents or teachers, who has a different style of teaching, or whose classroom is hands-on: hands-on-a-paddle-in-a-canoe-on-the-lake. A camper who might find it hard to form new relationships with peers might find an administrator’s unique advice helpful in discovering things in common with his bunkmates to create deeper friendships. A camper who has difficulty doing chores at home may understand their group responsibilities more when they see responsibility modeled by a cabin counselor who is close in age, and even has chores at home too.

That trope I mentioned about becoming your parents isn’t always painted in the best light; my father also passed on a love of those Progressive commercials about becoming your parents. You know, the ones that make it seem about as un-cool as possible and portray becoming your parents as the worst imaginable fate. I’m too early in the process of becoming my parents to give you a full review just yet, and certainly it’s not all bad. But if the ads have a kernel of truth in them, then I think one of the clearest benefits of Camp Nebagamon is the non-parent relationships that Hazlett and Coontz stress as being so important. Camp is a setting in which campers learn how to be themselves under the careful guidance of a community of mentors who aren’t their parents. That growth is made possible by both the strength of the counselors they’re surrounded by, and the wisdom of the parents who see the opportunity for new community that camp affords.

We have a bunch of news from our December camp reunions to share with you! If you want to share an update with the camp family, send me an email at [email protected]!

IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW… Seth Starhill and Nathan Starhill are both heavily involved in their club soccer teams out in Boston, while their sister Nora Starhill‘s university ultimate team is ranked 25th in the nation. In New York, Joe Vespry is a two sport star on his school’s soccer and basketball teams, and Sagiv Siegel is playing every position for his travel baseball team. His brother Matan Siegel got a new job on top of his positions on the cross country and basketball teams: he’s a fish monger! He should talk with Theo Schiff, who has been doing some fishing himself. He recently caught a record Iberian Barbel. Edras Duarte is practicing his Karate, and Icarus Vargus got his yellow belt in Judo. Icarus is also a member of his school’s creative writing club. Ryan Mack has caught onto that national craze: Pickleball! (It’s seriously everywhere, right??) We’ve got a lot of runners in New York: Logan Hoffman, Kase Atkinson, and Jasper Braunschweiger are all on their local cross country teams. Kase is supplementing his running with some jumping as well, as he’s been doing parkour this winter. And after succeeding as a part of our Big Brother Little Brother program at camp, Jasper Braunschweiger joined his school’s chapter of Best Buddies where he also has a Little Brother! On top of Jasper Teuscher‘s regular piano practice, he’s been playing a lot of D&D this winter. Ronin Brandler is also big D&D player, and his brother William Brandler is on the chess team — both Brandler brothers are playing on their local flag football teams. In DC, Jorn White is playing ping pong and ultimate, and rows crew for his school. Jonah Tone is the point guard for his school’s basketball team, and Alex Levin is is playing both basketball and baseball. Alex has company on the diamond in DC; Eli Winkler and Emmitt Gerstein are both ball players… sounds like they should try out for the Nats, they could use the help! There are a couple of budding musicians in DC as well; Oliver Strauss has been practicing guitar this winter, and Josh Desenberg is playing trumpet in the school band. Henri Kauders has been helping produce his school’s morning news TV program, and his brothers Max Kauders and Eli Kauders have spent their offseason building some huge Lego projects, and running around on the soccer pitch. Ethan Mack is excelling at both football and soccer, or American Football and football… you get the idea! Simon Kessler‘s cross country team finished 2nd in his conference — he personally finished 1st among 9th and 10th graders! In Dallas, Mason Pedroza has been practicing for Paul Bunyan Day on his local Quiz Bowl team, as well as participating in ceramics and “cooking” club… I guess that’s what they call M.O.C.A. outside of camp? Ari Foxman is a part of his robotics club and is scoring goals for his soccer team. And in Houston, it seems like all our campers are keeping really busy: Henry Kramer is playing tennis, basketball, and wrestling, Philip Slosburg is playing basketball, baseball, and soccer, Reuben Katz is playing baseball, basketball, and swimming, Max Goldfarb is playing soccer, tennis and swimming, Will Goldfarb is playing soccer and swimming, and Arthur Kramer is playing basketball and swimming. Did you get all of that? I see why all our swimmers live in Texas!

IN THE WHERE ARE THEY NOW DEPARTMENT… Eli Fromm (Kansas City/New Haven, 2006-’10, ’12-15, ’17-’19) is finishing his PhD in mathematics. Bud Schram (Needham, MA, 1954-’59, ’61-’69) serves on the Needham, MA Human Rights Committee, and is involved with the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters program of Greater Boston. David Gibbs (Wellesley, MA, 1963-’67, ’69-’71) is working for Jewish Volunteer Services designing leadership programs. Andrew Schram (Chicago, 1994-’99) is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Charlie Fromm (Kansas City/Boston, 2009-’15, ’17-’21) is earning his teaching license from Harvard University in mathematics. Ben Platt (New York, 2011-’16, ’19) is soon graduating from Williams College with a degree in public policy, and working on a masters program in China next year. David Garfinkel (1975-’78, ’82-’83) is producing the upcoming Broadway ballet Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker. Simon L’Tainen (Philadelphia/NY, 2010-’16, ’18, ’21) is working for Forget Me Not, an NYC restaurant. Danny Sickle (Chicago/NY, 2009-’15, ’17) is working for Barron International, a hospitality investment bank. Andy Mack (DC, 1973-’78, ’80) was profiled on Voice of America for his company Agromovil, you can watch the profile here. Adam Hirschhorn (LA/DC, 2008-’13, ’15, ’17) is working for Capital One in DC. Teddy Shapira (Chicago/DC, 2006-’12, ’14-’17) is a Law Student at George Washington University. Jon Ringel (Atlanta, 1978-’83, ’85) is working with the American Gastroenterological Association on governance. Danny Hensel (Chicago/DC, 2006-’11) is a producer for National Public Radio’s program Weekend Edition. John Desenberg (Arlington, VA, 1978-’82) is the Principle Business Strategy Analyst at MITRE corporation. Jay Sternberg (Bethesda, MD, 1982-’86, ’89-’90, ’95) is the Senior Director of Marketing for the Global Campus of the University of Maryland.

BAR MITZVAH CONGRAGULATIONS GO TO… Max Goldfarb and Sagiv Siegel