A Community of Belonging
Another extraordinary summer at Camp Rising Sun has come to a close!
Over four weeks, campers in our second session—the Boys and Non-Binary session—transformed Camp into their own community: one shaped by curiosity, laughter, thoughtful conversation, cultural exchange, new challenges, and a willingness to show up for one another.
Throughout the session, campers were invited not simply to participate in Camp, but to help create it. They stepped forward to lead, supported their peers as they did the same, took healthy risks, and discovered new strengths along the way.
There were so many highlights. Campers gathered around the fire to share their stories during Council, showcased their talents at the Variety Show, sang songs from around the world during karaoke, and spent three days and two nights camping at our historic Red Hook campus for Nature Trip.
Each day also brought opportunities to learn from one another through Instructions, interactive workshops led by both campers and staff. This session's offerings reflected the incredible range of interests and experiences within the community, from K-Pop dance, Dutch Sign Language, origami, fire making, and Greek language to workshops exploring education, artificial intelligence, storytelling, nationalism, identity, and intersectionality.
Campers also left a tangible mark on CRS through collaborative Projects across campus. They created an Interfaith Space and a new “conversation pit,” renovated benches, built a new standing swing, repaired the Stargazing Tower, worked on a camper yearbook, and created tent signs honoring names from our original Red Hook campus and nearly a century of CRS history.
The session was enriched by special visitors as well. Through the generosity of the Gittleman Family, artists from Emi Gittleman's organization, Get Empowered, led campers in dance, capoeira, song, and drumming. We also welcomed CRS alumni like Dominika Lasota (CRS ‘18) and Sandi DuBowski (CRS ‘86-’87) back to campus, giving today's campers opportunities to learn from people carrying Rising Sun values into their lives and communities around the world.
But, as always, some of the most meaningful parts of the summer were harder to capture on a schedule: campers listening across differences, encouraging one another to try something new, sharing pieces of home and culture, laughing together, and gradually building friendships across countries and continents.
We are incredibly grateful to our campers, Leadership, and summer staff for the community they created together. As campers return home, we hope they carry with them greater confidence in their own capacity to lead, curiosity about the people and world around them, and the knowledge that they can help create communities where others feel they belong.
Explore some of our favorite moments from the Boys and Non-Binary session in the photo gallery below!
And keep following along on social media: campers got behind the camera this summer to create some fantastic videos about the traditions and experiences that make CRS special. We can't wait to share more of Camp through their eyes!
