Although the nominal theme of our August School’s Out Camp (held from 8/19-8/23) was “Animal Camp,” the most pertinent word to sum up our time together, at least for me, is “new.”
In the weeks and days leading up to camp, Makom staff packed up our old site on Sansom Street and schlepped box after box to our new home on Washington Avenue. Once in our new space, we painted, sorted, and organized in order to make our space as inviting and warm as possible when campers arrived. However, something was missing – and it wasn’t until our campers arrived on the first morning of camp – our first day of programming in our new space – that it felt like this space was truly a home for our community.
On the first afternoon of camp, we unpacked the idea of a habitat – a place that meets the needs of an animal or group of animals, and where that animal or animals live in the wild. What makes a good habitat? A good habitat has all that one needs to survive and thrive – food, water, shelter, safety, and – if they’re lucky – a supportive community that helps them be the best version of themselves.
We then discussed what our ideal habitat would look like – both for ourselves, and for our whole community. Campers then got to work building their own habitats, both literally (designing dioramas inside cardboard boxes), and figuratively. While spending hours digging for dinosaur bones, exploring Bartram’s Garden, and designing our own sea creatures, the real work that we were doing was making our own habitat into one where we could collectively thrive. We achieved this by making decorations, creating new rituals in our space, building relationships with each other, working through conflict compassionately, and turning this place into one that truly meets the needs of our ever-growing community here at Makom.
Even for long-time Makom staff and families, our community at camp looked a bit different than it has in the past. Besides being in a new part of town, about half of our campers and camp staff had never been to Makom before this August. Still, our values remained the same. At Makom, we care for each other. We believe one another. We are honest, helpful, inclusive, and kind. With such a continued commitment, I am so excited to see what we continue to build as we move into a new school year at Makom!