Education
Teaching Israel At Camp: Summer 2025
Teaching Israel at Camp: Summer 2025 is a new initiative that seeks to enhance the quality and reach of Israel education and programming at day and overnight camps during the summer of 2025 and beyond.
To achieve this goal, FJC will award grants of $14,500 to 60 camps to help fund the salary and programmatic efforts of a dedicated Head of Israel Education (HIE). Additionally, FJC will offer professional development opportunities as well as individualized and small-group coaching to support HIEs in their roles.
At the end of the summer, FJC will collect written documentation of outstanding programs from HIEs. These examples will form the foundation of an FJC Israel Educational Program Bank, a resource designed to benefit the broader field.
The Teaching Israel at Camp program will provide each selected camp with:
$14,500 Grant
- Most of this grant will fund the salary of a Head of Israel Education, for relevant work leading up to and during the summer of 2025 as well as compensation for end of summer responsibilities related to the fulfillment of the grant requirements.
- Any grant monies not used for salary may be used as matching funds for camps to support the efforts of their HIE. These implementation funds can be used to support additional professional development opportunities, resources, guest educators/artists, or non-consumable activity supplies.
Professional Learning and Consultation
- One member of each camp’s senior leadership team is required to attend an opening webinar and oversee the creation of an Israel Education Framework using a template provided by FJC.
- Each HIE is expected to participate in approximately 15 hours of training and consultation prior to the start of camp, comprised of individual and small-group coaching, and interactive webinars. Webinars will be on a range of topics relevant to Israel education; HIEs will have flexibility to choose the topics that best support their work.
- Each camp will host a summer site visit by FJC staff and/or the Teaching Israel at Camp coach to observe Israel education/programming and meet with the HIE.
Program Criteria
To be eligible to apply for this program, camps must:
- Be a member, in good standing, of the FJC network
- Have a strong commitment to deepening and/or expanding Israel education and programming in the summer of 2025
- Implement FJC’s Camper Satisfaction Insight Survey and Staff Satisfaction Insight Survey, as well as complete FJC’s Camp Census for the upcoming summer.
- Hire a Head of Israel Education by March 2025
The Head of Israel Education position must meet the following criteria:
- Hold primary responsibility for Israel education and programming at camp in a supervisory and/or direct service role; this must constitute the majority of the HIE’s summer portfolio.
- Can be a new position or an expansion of a previously existing position
- Is a thoughtful, experienced educator with interest in and knowledge of Israel. (HIEs will benefit from support and resources from FJC and the educator cohort but must bring their own prior experience to this role.)
- Participate in approximately 15 hours of coaching and virtual learning which will take place throughout March, April and May. FJC will make every effort to offer multiple sessions that address the diversity of participant schedules and availability.
- Can meet all the requirements of this program before, during and after the summer of 2025.
Timeline
December 17 2024 | Applications open
January 17 2025 | Applications due
January 27 2025 | Notification of selected camps
February 2025 | Opening webinar for member of Senior Leadership Team
Early March 2025 | Deadline for Israel Education Statement
March 2025 | Deadline to hire Head of Israel Education
Late March – May 2025 | Coaching and webinars for Heads of Israel Education
Summer 2025 | Site visits from coaches and/or FJC staff
September 2025 | Deadline for program write-up and evaluation
Application Process
The application for Teaching Israel at Camp will open on December 17, 2025 and will be due by EOD January 17, 2025. Awardees will be notified no later than January 27, 2025.
FJC will be holding an information session about this initiative on December 19, 2025 at 2pm eastern and will be recorded.
Character Ambassador Staff Stipends
Character Ambassadors are positions of leadership at camp who will oversee and focus on character development at camp. The goal of this program is to elevate character development at camp in both staff and campers. To achieve this goal, camps will receive a stipend to pay the Ambassador. Ambassadors will be trained by FJC on how to use the FJC Character resources with your seasonal staff in summer 2025. During the summer, the Character Ambassador will create their own camp specific resource focused on character development and tailored to your camp. Day and overnight camps with 100+ middle and high school campers are welcome to apply for funding.
Applications will open soon. Please check back for updates.
Please email data@jewishcamp.org for more information about Character Ambassador Staff Stipends.
Israel at Camp Webinar Series
In response to the needs expressed by camps, this series provided camp leadership, educators, and seasonal staff with expertise to address some of the many challenges unique to Summer 2024.