Let me tell you about one big (perhaps the biggest) adventure in my life.
When I was in the 7th grade, my English teacher told us about the Tamarack Camps in Michigan, USA. Tamarack Camps is a Jewish summer camp organization run by the Fresh Air Society in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She told us that the Partnership 2000 program of the Jewish federation is choosing a group of students from grades 7 and 8 from Nazareth Illit, Migdal Ha’Emek and Jezreel Valley, who have good communication skills and are able to speak English at a high level.
The auditioning process included an essay and an interview within the school and those who passed were interviewed by the organization. Those who passed that got to go to the Tamarack Camps!
Now, let me explain what is so amazing about Tamarack Camps. The whole place is absolutely huge. Tamarack operates three camps – Maas (the major camp in Ortonville, Michigan, where I was), Agree and Kennedy. I don’t know much about the Agree and Kennedy camps, so I’ll tell you my camp.
Camp Maas is named after the Detroit philanthropist Bernard Maas. It is made up of eleven villages that are divided into three age and gender groups. The villages are named after those who donated to the camps, like Applebaum, Shiffman, Hemelin, Berman and Levison.
Because I was in the 7th grade, I was in the Berman village. After “graduating” from the Specialty village (for 9th graders), campers can go to trips, such as Western and Alaska and attend the 10th grade programs.
There are so many activities at the Tamarack Camps – drama, arts and crafts, canoeing and many others.
It was the best month of my life and I hope I’ll be back there someday.
