We had so much fun at Virtual Camp 2020! We are so grateful for our community for choosing to be together online, even while we had to be apart. Virtual Camp would not have been possible without all of our fabulous staff members who volunteered their time to bring joy and laughter into their campers’ homes. Check out some highlights from our two Virtual Camp sessions below!

During both of our sessions, our campers got to see old friends and make new ones in their cabin groups, choose two super fun chuggim (electives), learn from dynamic Jewish educators, and celebrate Shabbat and Havdalah with their camp community. We ended each day with our camp siyum (closing) ceremony and it really felt like we could just about put our arms around each other through the screen.

Session 1 - Yalla

During our Yalla session for 3rd-7th graders, campers got the chance to find their superhero identity and experience some classic camp Beach Day fun at home! Campers also were able to process some of the unrest in the country around racial justice and learn about the meaning of prejudice. We also got to showcase our campers’ incredible talents in a “campfire” talent show. At Pi-Cabbiah (a combination of Hilltop’s Pioneer Day and Hess Kramer’s Maccabiah), Team Cherry Pie was victorious with Teams Apple Pie and Blueberry Pie close behind.

Session 2 - Sababa

Our 7th-10th grade Sababa campers competed in a high-stakes Chopped-style snack competition and solved a camp character-themed murder mystery. We were also able to have a very meaningful discussion about implicit bias—how it relates to our own lives, the events of this summer, and our wider Jewish community. We also hosted our 2nd annual 5K and our camp community walked, ran, biked, and danced to stay active! Maccabi-neer Day (another combination of Maccabiah and Pioneer Day) was a fierce competition between Team Ocean and Team Space, and Team Space prevailed! We were also very proud that throughout the summer we were able to provide time and space for our 10th grade campers, who would have been in Leadership or Mitzvah, to come together, hang out, and have fun with their friends and staff members.

We loved Virtual Camp 2020! Seeing everyone’s smiling faces on our screens was so heartwarming. We hope that all of our future summers will be in-person, but Virtual Camp 2020 was a very special summer that we will never forget!