To The Eternal CSL Community:
Part of me feels that the summer flew by while another part feels that it was a whole lot longer than just two months. Each day feels so long yet they still seem to fly by when you look back. So which is it? After 21 summers, I honestly cannot say. What I do know is that a lot happened at Camp Seneca Lake this summer.
Whether the youngest campers or the Senior Campers or the new staff or the most seasoned staff, it is extraordinary to look back at all we have done together over the last eight weeks. I implore you all to research other summer camps like CSL - while there are undoubtedly things they do better, I believe very strongly that we have successfully built the premiere overnight camp in the world. The Programming has blossomed at an exponential rate during the last decade and grown to a point where we are doing truly special things. Look no further than the videos and photos from some of the this summer's major programs - from Tikkun Olam in July to Color War in August. (More and more documentation of this past summer will become available in the coming weeks as we have the opportunity to utilize normal-speed Internet.) We spend a lot of time and energy researching other camps and have not found anything close. And this is not said to pat ourselves on the backs - it is said to reflect the absolutely sensational operation we have going at CSL right now.
If you have not already, take a look at the things that have been happening here the last few years. Even as the Program Director, I often feel as if I am somewhat distant from the core of what we are doing. But when I remove myself from the immediacy and take a long, hard look at what we are doing, it is easy to see why we are fully enrolled with campers and staff nine months before each summer; it is easy to see why there were campers and staff today who were physically unable to stand they were so devastated at the prospect of leaving. It all traces back to what I call the "currency of camp" which is defined as follows: It doesn't matter how long you've been here, what your title is, where you come from, what you look like, who your family is...one's value at camp and value perception of their own experience is defined entirely by what they do in conjunction with what everyone else does. More specifically, we all play a role in the experiences of one another based entirely on how much each person decides to get after it each and every moment they are here.
In an interview I gave for the Color War 6 Documentary, I said about that program along the lines of 'your best is not good enough...for your ceiling must get higher in order to accomplish what we set out to do.' While certainly true about Color War, I'd like to think CSL has really adopted the spirit of that mantra. We often say to the staff that it simply is not enough for our campers to come here and have fun. Fun is not enough for the amount of money and energy it takes for families to entrust us with their children each summer. Kids can have fun anywhere. But at Camp Seneca Lake, we stretch everyone as much as we can - physically, mentally, emotionally so that they can become the best possible version of themselves. We hold this standard for every single person who comes down Camp Road each summer and I feel strongly that we are realizing that vision on a larger scale more now than ever.
I gave the Commencement Address at a New England Prep School this past Spring and in the closing remarks I asked the graduates to come down, accept their diploma and...stay. That is very much how I feel for camp. As I sit in the Programming Office in a camp that has almost instantaneously gone from 400 boisterous and kind souls to just a few of us, I believe that everyone is still here. Not just those who were physically here today but the echoes of those hundreds of thousands (probably well over that at this point) who have come before us to help make Camp Seneca Lake what it is today. Whoever you are reading this, please know that we need you to stay at CSL and stay here forever. For what we are as a community is predicated entirely on the hearts of each person. So in the initial paradigm of whether the summer has flown by or taken forever, I can comfortably respond that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who you are, when you were physically here, what matters is that you never ever leave.
Thank you all so much for following us this summer and I hope to stay with you into the future. Thank you for entrusting us with your sons and daughters but even more importantly, with your thoughts, care, and love.
For now, I am going to start a new job as the AP Economics Teacher and Ice Hockey Coach at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania...fittingly a (boarding) school where nearly all the students and faculty live right there.
Thank you for your love and support and I wish everyone a wonderful year. Please feel free to contact me at any time at cslprogramming@jccrochester.org.
Ari Baum
Program Director
1992-2012-???
Part of me feels that the summer flew by while another part feels that it was a whole lot longer than just two months. Each day feels so long yet they still seem to fly by when you look back. So which is it? After 21 summers, I honestly cannot say. What I do know is that a lot happened at Camp Seneca Lake this summer.
Whether the youngest campers or the Senior Campers or the new staff or the most seasoned staff, it is extraordinary to look back at all we have done together over the last eight weeks. I implore you all to research other summer camps like CSL - while there are undoubtedly things they do better, I believe very strongly that we have successfully built the premiere overnight camp in the world. The Programming has blossomed at an exponential rate during the last decade and grown to a point where we are doing truly special things. Look no further than the videos and photos from some of the this summer's major programs - from Tikkun Olam in July to Color War in August. (More and more documentation of this past summer will become available in the coming weeks as we have the opportunity to utilize normal-speed Internet.) We spend a lot of time and energy researching other camps and have not found anything close. And this is not said to pat ourselves on the backs - it is said to reflect the absolutely sensational operation we have going at CSL right now.
If you have not already, take a look at the things that have been happening here the last few years. Even as the Program Director, I often feel as if I am somewhat distant from the core of what we are doing. But when I remove myself from the immediacy and take a long, hard look at what we are doing, it is easy to see why we are fully enrolled with campers and staff nine months before each summer; it is easy to see why there were campers and staff today who were physically unable to stand they were so devastated at the prospect of leaving. It all traces back to what I call the "currency of camp" which is defined as follows: It doesn't matter how long you've been here, what your title is, where you come from, what you look like, who your family is...one's value at camp and value perception of their own experience is defined entirely by what they do in conjunction with what everyone else does. More specifically, we all play a role in the experiences of one another based entirely on how much each person decides to get after it each and every moment they are here.
In an interview I gave for the Color War 6 Documentary, I said about that program along the lines of 'your best is not good enough...for your ceiling must get higher in order to accomplish what we set out to do.' While certainly true about Color War, I'd like to think CSL has really adopted the spirit of that mantra. We often say to the staff that it simply is not enough for our campers to come here and have fun. Fun is not enough for the amount of money and energy it takes for families to entrust us with their children each summer. Kids can have fun anywhere. But at Camp Seneca Lake, we stretch everyone as much as we can - physically, mentally, emotionally so that they can become the best possible version of themselves. We hold this standard for every single person who comes down Camp Road each summer and I feel strongly that we are realizing that vision on a larger scale more now than ever.
I gave the Commencement Address at a New England Prep School this past Spring and in the closing remarks I asked the graduates to come down, accept their diploma and...stay. That is very much how I feel for camp. As I sit in the Programming Office in a camp that has almost instantaneously gone from 400 boisterous and kind souls to just a few of us, I believe that everyone is still here. Not just those who were physically here today but the echoes of those hundreds of thousands (probably well over that at this point) who have come before us to help make Camp Seneca Lake what it is today. Whoever you are reading this, please know that we need you to stay at CSL and stay here forever. For what we are as a community is predicated entirely on the hearts of each person. So in the initial paradigm of whether the summer has flown by or taken forever, I can comfortably respond that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who you are, when you were physically here, what matters is that you never ever leave.
Thank you all so much for following us this summer and I hope to stay with you into the future. Thank you for entrusting us with your sons and daughters but even more importantly, with your thoughts, care, and love.
For now, I am going to start a new job as the AP Economics Teacher and Ice Hockey Coach at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania...fittingly a (boarding) school where nearly all the students and faculty live right there.
Thank you for your love and support and I wish everyone a wonderful year. Please feel free to contact me at any time at cslprogramming@jccrochester.org.
Ari Baum
Program Director
1992-2012-???
