Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
We care deeply about each camper and teen in the Pembroke family. Parents, you may be wondering how the loss of this summer will impact your daughters in their future experiences at Pembroke. Campers and teens, especially in the older age groups, we know it’s really hard to miss out on the summer you were looking forward to. The information below may help you continue to process and look ahead with hope to Summer 2021. We will update this page to add more answers as needed/possible.
While we intend to make the best of every summer, adapting may also be hard, requiring extra empathy and care from all of us. We ask our entire Pembroke sisterhood to keep each other’s feelings in mind, especially on social media.
Parents and teens have suggested repeating a year, skipping a year, and blending options in every way possible. For every person who encouraged one choice, another sought something different.
Informed by our decades of camp experience, working as a team of leaders from all three camps, we carefully considered all these alternatives and several others to determine the most positive approach for each member of our community. While making plans, we’re also keeping in mind that we can’t anticipate what the health situation may require next summer, so we will need to look ahead with patience and flexibility.
For our oldest age groups, to reclaim special 2020 milestones and enjoy them in 2021, there will be a unique approach for this unusual time:
- Teens in Kinneret/Tel Yehudah in 2020 are still KTY’20. Next summer at camp they will be BTC’21.
- Teens in Birya/Tel Chai in 2020 are still BTC’20. Next summer at camp/in Israel they will be BTC’20/Dor L’Dor 2021.
- Teens who would have traveled to Israel as Dor L’Dor in 2020 are still DLD’20. Next summer in Israel/at camp they will be DLD’20/Kadima 2021.
Everyone will have the leadership experience next summer that provides as much as possible of the experience they have looked forward to, while allowing others to do the same. At Camp Pembroke, we cultivate girls and young women’s creativity, resilience, compassion, and care for others—qualities they can rely on in life and that we hope are helping them through the COVID-19 crisis. Together as a camp sisterhood we’ll tap into these qualities to forge the best possible experience for each other in 2021.
Tsfat’20 will have their Y’rush summer in 2021. They will be Y’rush‘21 the whole 2021 summer (not Tsfat for any part of it). They will have overnight trips, plan a banquet for camp, be Big Sisters to our youngest campers, and lead the camp as an age group in a Color War and other all-camp activities. Some things will look different in 2021 for them and for all of us, but their core Y’rush experience awaits them.
Y’rush’20/DLD’21
We know our oldest 2020 campers are mourning the loss of their culminating summers. They will get to create and treasure their own unforgettable Y’rush’20 moments while moving forward with a transformative experience in Israel. They will have a blended 2021 experience: they will come to camp to live together and enjoy many of the special Y’rush milestones, then travel to Israel with their peers from all three camps on Dor L’Dor.
DLD’20/Kadima’21
DLD 2020 teens will also have a blended 2021 experience. They will begin their summer with a trip to Israel and come back to camp for a condensed Kadima 2021 Teen Leadership program. This allows them to move forward with an unforgettable, transformative experience in Israel…then benefit from the leadership growth they’ll be ready for in 2021, and the quality of staff training we now aspire to offer to all of our program graduates who wish to apply to join the staff in 2022.
Y’rush‘20/DLD’21 and Y’rush‘21 will each have unique experiences.
Y’rush’20/DLD’21 will come to camp then go to Israel. Over the coming weeks and months, we will carefully map out and differentiate the experiences and leadership opportunities for each group, including ways to preserve their milestone moments. For example, Tsfat’20 would have planned a banquet for Y’rush’20 this summer. Next summer, as Y’rush’21, they will get to plan a banquet for Y’rush’20/DLD’21 before they depart for Israel. As we fill in these plans and approach next summer, we will share more examples.
Y’rush‘20/DLD’21 and DLD’20/Kadima’21 will each have unique experiences.
Y’rush’20/DLD’21 will come to camp then go to Israel. DLD’20/Kadima’21 will do the reverse. They will not overlap, and they will maintain unique identities.
Each summer at camp is an opportunity to try something new, while upholding time-honored traditions. Yet each beloved camp tradition we have today was, at one time, new and done for the very first time. Perhaps we’ll even create some new traditions in 2021!
If you are in Tsfat’20 or Y’rush’20, and you are ready and willing, you can step forward this summer to play a role in leading camp and setting the tone – sharing your energy, resilience, and spirit – to inspire younger campers, both in 2020 and in 2021.
Have more questions?
Please reach out to one of Camp Pembroke’s Co-Directors, Amy (acoran@cohencamps.org) or Becca (bgoldman@cohencamps.org). We are here for you.