Special-Needs Campers Return as Counselors

by Eric Berger – Chabad.org

There’s a lot that needs to get done every day at Junior Gan Israel Day Camp in Skokie, Ill. A staff member needs to stand at the entrance of a camp building, and open the door for campers and parents as they arrive each morning. There are towels that need folding—a big job because the camp, rather than wasting paper towels, uses lots of hand towels in an effort to be green, according to director Zeesy Posner. And there are paintbrushes that need washing.

These tasks are performed by people who might never have worked at a summer camp until three years ago. That’s when Posner, who has been running the camp for 35 years, decided to broaden her hiring approach.

“The conventional rule of thumb is to recruit staff members who are as competent as possible,” said Posner, whose campers are ages 2 to 6. “Here, we go in a different direction.”

Posner tries to avoid making distinctions, but says the camp now has several staff members with special needs. Her approach to hiring is based around the idea that each person, regardless of his or her cognitive, emotional or physical ability, can contribute.

“People with special needs have lofty souls,” she explains. “Their bodies might be imperfect by our estimation, but they are precious, and we respect them and treasure them.”

Posner has been involved with summer camps since she was 14 years old. “Little kids are my passion,” says the mother and grandmother, who runs a preschool at Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie during the school year.

A few years ago, parents started approaching her about hiring former campers with special needs. “These are young people I knew from when they were little. There was no way I was going to say no,” she says.

‘Make Them Happy’

Posner acknowledges not being sure how it would all work out. But she says the other staff members “never say to me, ‘She’s slowing me down.’ They accepted them wholeheartedly.”

Chana Polisky, 23, attended Junior Gan Israel as a toddler, and is back this summer as a staff member. Together with her other duties, she helps serve lunch and with activities.

“I make sure the kids are safe and playing nicely,” says Polisky, who has developmental delays and is one of 60 staff members.

Her favorite times, she says, are making challah for Shabbat with the campers and “just playing with them.”

“They are very fun and very, very cute,” says Polisky, who also works at the local Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School, also in Skokie.

“The kids really love her,” says Neshama Karsh, a division head for 2-year-olds at the camp. “One child always asks for her; he goes, ‘Where’s Morah Chana?’ And every time he sees her, he has a big smile on his face.”

She describes Polisky as a real asset to the camp.

In the words of the camp staff handbook: “Each staff member is an individual with unique qualities. We each contribute our utmost, without comparing what we are doing to what others are doing.”

Or as Posner puts it: “The fast track to unhappiness is comparing what you are doing with what someone else is doing.”

Conversely, her goal is emphasize a person’s skills and talents—using them to the utmost—and promoting the positive and reaffirming message that “whoever G‑d created in this world, he created for His glory.”