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Boulder’s Camp Inc. for teen entrepreneurs

L-r: Rebecca Perl, Oz Markman, Naomi Jaffe, Coby Mandell, Val Weisler, Michelle Jacobson, Eytan Markman.

ROSH HASHANAH EDITION
SECTION B PAGE 4

Imagine walking into an auditorium full of middle and high school students on a summer afternoon. There are about 50 assorted seats — folding chairs, beanbags, a few small sofas along the walls. Two-thirds are full, and some kids are sitting on the floor. It’’s as quiet as a room full of adolescents can be; every face facing the stage, on which there is one man, talking.

No music. No screens. Nothing to click on or link to. Just a guy talking and a lot of kids listening. This is not summer school. There will be no test, and no one has told them to take notes.

Yet there they are, attentively listening, thoughtfully scribbling notes, intently making calculations, as Scott Yates, founder and president of Blogmutt (a Boulder-based service that pairs freelance writers with businesses needing content for their blogs), tells them how he created his company and what makes an entrepreneur successful.

This is Camp Inc., what dozens of campers call “the best summer camp experience ever.”

Brainchild of Jonathan Lev, executive director of the Boulder JCC, Camp, Inc., is one of several new camp ideas the Foundation for Jewish Camp green-lighted this year.

Working in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Avi Chai Foundation, the Foundation for Jewish Camp sponsored a competitive incubator program to attract suggestions for Jewish specialty overnight camps.

According to Lev, who has been involved in Jewish camping all his life, as a camper, a counselor, then as assistant director of Eisner Camp in the Berkshire Mountains, where the idea of Camp Inc., was born.

The fantasy of starting his own camp, however, was pushed farther and farther into the back of the freezer of his mind while he concentrated on his career, got married, became a father and dove into his new position at the JCC.

The rest of this article is available in the September 19, 2014 IJN Rosh Hashana print and digital edition only. Contact Carol to order your copy at [email protected].




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