Last February Brian Mitchell became camp director of Camp Daisy and Harry Stein, the only Jewish overnight summer camp in the region. Previously known as Camp Charles Pearlstein, Camp Stein is located in Prescott and is owned and operated by Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale.
Brian grew up as a camper and counselor at Camp Sabra in Lake of the Ozarks, MO. He graduated from the University of Indiana at Bloomington. Prior to joining Camp Stein, Brian was director of the University of Missouri Hillel at Columbia after serving as senior assistant director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Crane Lake Camp in West Stockbridge, MA.
Brian resides in Scottsdale. His parents live in St. Louis, and his sister, a brother-in-law, niece and nephew live in Kansas City, MO.
Brian has been a member and standards visitor of the American Camping Association. He was a “Yitro Fellow” through the Foundation for Jewish Camp and has led seven Birthright Israel trips. Currently, he is a member of the third cohort of the JCC Association and Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Lekhu Lakhem program.
We reached Brian just before he left for the latest Lekhu Lakhem retreat and asked him to share some of his thoughts as we head into a new camp season. Some of his replies have been edited for brevity.
Did you enjoy returning to a camp setting last year after leading a Hillel for a couple of years?
Yes – very much. The summer of 2012 (while leading a Hillel) was really the only summer I had been away from camp as far back as the mid-1990s, and it was challenging for me because of my love of Jewish summer camp. Being back at a camp last summer really renewed my love and spirit for all that Jewish overnight summer camp can offer. And what better place to return to it than Prescott, AZ?
Was the Hillel experience helpful for your work with college students on Camp Stein’s staff ?
The Hillel experience was very helpful to me in so many ways. Of course, the interaction with college students on an everyday basis for nearly two years allowed me to learn new and more engaging ways of communicating with that age cohort. The Hillel experience also taught me a lot about building and facility management, as well as development and fund-raising, two major areas that I focus a lot of my time on as the Camp Stein director.
What was your favorite experience with Camp Stein last summer?
What makes Camp Stein such a special place is our intimate size. Having only 150 campers and 60 staff members at one time,
I really had the opportunity to get to know nearly our entire camp community. This closeness to the campers and staff was my favorite part of last summer. Oh, and of course Maccabiah!
What are you most looking forward to this coming summer?
Having started as director last February, only four months before camp started, it really felt like I was doing all I could just to stay afloat. Now, having lived through my first summer, and starting in September to plan and organize an entire summer from the beginning, I am really looking forward to seeing all of the hard work and dedication over the nine-month offseason come to fruition on opening day. We also have a few facility upgrades and some new staff additions to camp this summer that I think are going to “wow” our camp community!
What does it mean to be a member and standards visitor of the American Camping Association?
All of the top (day and overnight) camps in the country including Camp Stein are members of The American Camp Association. To maintain membership, every three years, camps are visited by camp professional volunteers (mostly current and former camp directors like myself ) to make sure they meet the highest standards. If the camps are meeting these standards (e.g., maintenance, food service, program design, staffing), they become “accredited” for the following three summers. I have had the opportunity to visit several camps and guide them through this accreditation process, while making sure they meet the minimum standards required by the ACA. When parents send their kids to camp for the first time, they primarily look for those camps that are ACA accredited.
I understand you are currently one of 19 Jewish camp leaders in the Lekhu Lakhem program. What is the most important thing you’ve gained from the program so far?
Being a member of the Lekhu Lakhem program has been amazing. This program is designed for Jewish camp directors to become better equipped, informed and experienced when it comes to Jewish text and learning, and has gone/will go a long way to making me a more confident Jewish educator. The faculty for this program is unbelievably experienced and knowledgeable, and I feel honored just to be in the room with them. The networking that goes on between the 19 directors at our retreats is a huge bonus. And, to be honest, it’s a really fun group to be around!
How does this differ from your experience as a Yitro Fellow?
The Yitro Fellowship was really designed to teach me how to be a “middle manager.” As an assistant director at the time of this fellowship, it taught me how to work better with my director, but also gave me useful tools and experience to lead Jewish programming on my own. Both fellowships have been great professional development tools for me, and have really allowed me to grow as a full-time camp professional.
What would you most like the community to know about you?
I am in this position as director of Camp Stein because I myself am a product of Jewish overnight summer camp. Having spent so many wonderful summers at JCC Camp Sabra and URJ Crane Lake Camp, and now my first at Camp Stein, I have shaped and strengthened my Jewish identity and become much more connected to Judaism than I ever thought I would be after my bar mitzvah in 1990. It’s so hard to put into words, but I know I am who I am because of camp.
And even though I am currently a resident of Scottsdale, I will never forget my roots or ties to the greatest sports city in the United States, St. Louis!
Anything else?
For any families interested in learning more about Camp Stein, please visit campstein.org. Also, mark your calendars for Sunday, March 30, from 10 am to 2 pm, when we are hosting an open house at Camp Stein in Prescott, for all new, current and prospective families to spend a beautiful afternoon at camp! We still have a few spots open across most age groups and sessions, so sign up today!
