Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: HaYidion, Winter, 2011

Marc Baker and Becca Shimshak share how they harness the success of Jewish camps for a sustained influence at Gann Academy. They describe four core principles for integrating the best
aspects of camp culture into day schools.

The core principles they describe:

• A holistic view of the child and of the child’s intellectual, moral, and spiritual development.
• Educators and administrators as role models who see their relationships with students, both in and out of the classroom, as essential to their roles.
• An "avirah" (environment, ambiance) of informality, relaxedness, freedom, positive energy and joy.
• It starts from the top, with the vision, values and commitment of the lay and professional leadership of the school.

See the full article at HaYidion.