Meet Barry Fulton, LAJF’s new Executive Director! As a CRS alum, former Camp Director, and longtime board member, Barry’s journey with CRS comes full circle in this exciting new role. Barry shares more about what this role means to him in his welcome letter—click to read it!
Get to know our Summer 2025 Team! Meet Jackson, one of our Program Coordinators at LAJF and a Co-Assistant Camp Director.
Each summer at Camp Rising Sun is a reminder of what’s possible when young people from around the world come together to grow, lead, and connect. This year, we’re thrilled to welcome an incredible and diverse group of campers, but we’re also reckoning with who isn’t here and why.
Click to read this open letter to the CRS community from LAJF Director of Programs, Elyem Chej.
If you missed the board meeting on January 6 and would like to know what happened, then read this blog post. Updates were provided from LAJF staff and committee members, such as the Programs and Strategic Planning, and the Clinton renovations, summer-staff hiring, and Camper selection were discussed. Read the details here.
This summer, LAJF Director of Programs, Janessa Schilmoeller (‘05, ‘06, ‘10, ‘11, ‘16, ‘17) was published in the American Camping Association (ACA) publication Camping Magazine. The article, Social Justice Series: Recognizing Microaggressions at Camp, is part of Camping Magazine’s social justice series. Janessa writes about ongoing efforts to hire a diverse staff that is reflective of the cultural diversity of our camper body, and the importance of cultural sensitivity training for staff of all different backgrounds.
Today, in the final post of the CRS-Program Area Highlight series, we hear from Eva Stylianou and Sofia Logan, former CRS Art and Music Counselors. Creative expression is an integral part of the CRS experience, and providing a space for campers to engage in the arts and music, provides campers the opportunity to “explore music and dance as tools for social change, telling different cultural stories through artistic expression.”
Executive Director, Helene Mattera (‘97, ‘98, ‘00, ‘01, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17) writes to Camp Rising Sun (CRS) alumni and friends of CRS. She highlights the past year, which includes various alumni gatherings and events, one-on-one visits, and visitors to the office. She invites everyone to attend Alumni Weekend at Camp, from July 20-22, 2018.
This week’s CRS Program Highlight comes from Amit Singh, a counselor on the 2017 Wilderness Team. He discusses how the Red Hook camping trip was created, and the lessons the campers learned. He also discusses the ongoing need for purchasing new camping equipment. “The biggest advantage of this trip was that the campers got to experience Red Hook, and it was no longer this mystical place that the counselors talked about.”
LOUIS AUGUST JONAS FOUNDATION 6 RISING SUN LANE RHINEBECK, NY, 12572, UNITED STATES +1 (212) 686-1930 CONTACT@LAJF.ORG
The Louis August Jonas Foundation (LAJF) and Camp Rising Sun (CRS) have a long-held commitment to the principles of diversity, stemming from our mission. In that spirit, LAJF and CRS do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, sexual orientation, nation of origin, gender, sex, or gender identity.
