The North Star: The Official Blog of North Shore Day Camp

Starfish Spirit!

2016-12-22T18:27:08Z

Dear NSDC Families,

We wanted to update you on our TLC Family of Camps Fall Festival that was held October 16th. We had over 300 families in attendance and it was a great, fun-filled day! We thank all of our families who came out, and we hope those of you who couldn’t make it will join us next year.

In the spirit of our STARFISH values program, North Shore Day Camp along with our sister camps, donated $25 for every family who RSVP’d to the event. We ended up raising almost $7,000, which was split between 3 charities (SCOPE, Autism Speaks and Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation). It was a great way to spend a wonderful day with our families while also making a STARFISH Difference in helping others.

In keeping with this giving and holiday spirit, we’re excited to inform our camp families that Hampton Country Day Camp, our sister camp, has partnered with the East Hampton Food Pantry to serve as their new, temporary location during the off-season months of November thru April.

For the past 5+ summers, as part of our “Helping Hands” community service initiative, HCDC families have donated an unbelievable number of items to the Food Pantry in our annual Food Drive. It’s very exciting to be able to build upon our existing relationship and give back to the local community to provide an off-season “home-base” to the Food Pantry which delivers food to 300-400 families weekly in the winter!
Check out the Newsday article below for more information!

Click Here!

Family Connect – Play It Forward

2016-04-28T12:45:53Z

FAMILY CONNECT’S
APRIL FEATURE
Play It Forward

Play It Forward is a non-profit organization with the mission of helping musicians make the world a better place. This charity was recently founded by Steve Mazza, a longtime Counselor and Division Leader at Hampton Country Day Camp.

Steve founded Play It Forward to serve as a web-based platform where musicians could sell their albums in exchange for charitable donations to non-profit organizations of their choice. Currently, musicians featured on the site are raising money for the Leukemia Research Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Feed the Children, among others.

We are excited to announce that TLC will be releasing an album of music written and recorded by ALL OF YOU! We are calling on all of our musically gifted parents, campers, and staff (past and present) to contribute original songs that they have written and recorded. Eligible songs may be previously recorded or can be written specifically for this project. Professional production is not a requirement.

Once we receive all of the submissions, we will compile them into a TLC Family of Camps album. Proceeds from the album will be donated to SCOPE, a nonprofit that gives the gift of summer camp to children from low-income families at ACA-accredited sleepaway camps, in celebration of its 25th Anniversary.

If you are interested in contributing a song, please e-mail Steve at steve@playitforward.com. And stay tuned – we will let you know as soon as the album is available for purchase/donation!

Family Connect – Reel Sports Productions

2016-03-11T17:03:52Z

FAMILY CONNECT
MARCH FEATURE

Reel Sports Productions

Timber Lake West parent, Jeff Ross, had every teenage sports fanatic’s dream job – producer for major sports networks. With over 20 years of experience at ESPN and NBC Golf Channel, Jeff had been at the helm of productions like Stanley Cup Final, Daytona 500, Olympics, and Super Bowl – with 3 Emmy® awards to boot!

But last year Jeff said goodbye to network sports – and also to great tickets for major sporting events – for which his two sons Paul and Jonny, a 3rd year West counselor and Teen 2 camper, respectively, are still mourning. Instead, Jeff opted to try his hand at a labor of love.

Jeff’s new venture is Reel Sports Productions – a production company that creates video resume reels for prospective prep school and college athletes. He believes student athletes are so much more than the sum of their academic grades, stats, and team records. That is why Jeff loves working with these young athletes to help put a face on the stats and let their individual character and performance shine through.

Reel Sports combines home videos with video Jeff shoots himself, and then has the athlete ‘host’ their own reels. The result is a small, convenient package that can be electronically blasted off to recruiters and coaches.

If you would like to check out Jeff’s videos or want to learn more about his services, click here.

And if you have a child who is interested in pursuing a career in sports broadcasting, feel free to have them reach out to Jeff for any questions or advice. You can contact him through his website or LinkedIn page.

Family Connect – Regents Review

2016-02-11T13:11:17Z

FAMILY CONNECT
FEBRUARY’S FEATURE
Regents Review

Wouldn’t it be wonderful for you and your kids if they could head off to camp with the peace of mind and confidence that they aced their end-of-year exams? Can you imagine the relief of knowing that all of their hard work and preparation for APs, Regents, and SAT II subject tests, paid off?

With this in mind, we are excited to introduce Regents Review – owned and operated by Tyler Hill Camp parents, Michelle and Harris Zakarin. Regents Review has been helping middle school and high school students excel on these exams for decades, and the feedback has been outstanding.

All of their courses are taught by top-tier teachers who are licensed, experienced experts in the subjects they teach. Their unique course offerings provide a complete review of the material in just one day! Students receive comprehensive instruction, practice exam-style questions, and time tested tips, strategies, and mnemonics, to maximize their study time and efforts and ensure test day success.

Regents Review offers classes in Long Island, Westchester, Manhattan and Rockland County. For more information and to access their schedule of classes, feel free to visit www.passtheregents.com or call (631) 491-0075.

Best of luck to everyone starting their spring semester – and remember, that light you see at the end of the tunnel . . . IS CAMP!!!

Family Connect – Mending Kids

2016-01-14T16:01:07Z

Dr. Jason Frischer is the director of the Peña Colorectal Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. His daughter, Elle, is a Sophomore at one of our sister camps Timber Lake and his son, Cal, will be participating in his first Rookie Day this summer.

Over Thanksgiving, Jason led a medical mission to the Bugando Medical Centre in Mwanza, Tanzania. The surgical team was sponsored by the non-profit organization, Mending Kids. The team volunteered their services to provide 15 children suffering from congenital colorectal malformations with life-changing surgeries & trained the local surgeon, Sister Massenga, a nun, to perform these surgeries in the future. As a result, many of these children who had previously been shunned and shamed for their conditions are now attending school for the first time.

Mending Kids provides free surgeries to children across the world and empowers local medical communities through training and support. And to that end, Jason and his team will be returning to Tanzania again next year to train and mend more kids.

Jason’s humanitarian work is closely aligned with the mission of the TLC Family of Camps Foundation – a not-for profit that is dedicated to promoting the health and welfare of children throughout the world. The Foundation is proud to support Jason’s upcoming mission to Tanzania with a $2,500 donation.

If you are interested in learning more about Mending Kids or donating to Jason’s mission, please visit www.mendingkids.org. Donations can be directed to “Tanzania/Dr. Frischer.”

Keep checking the North Shore Day Camp blog for new Family Connect posts!

To join our brand new Family of Camps Linkedin group click here!

Family Connect – Artistic License

2015-12-10T15:15:38Z

With the holiday season upon us, we’re excited to introduce Artistic License. Founder Bonnie Schwartz has been a Timber Lake Camp mom for more than ten years. Her sons Scott and Marc were campers until they graduated – and this past summer Marc (now back as a counselor) served as the Color War general. Bonnie, who has always had an artistic flair, started her own company for which she creates art from license plates.

Each picture that Bonnie creates has its own history and tells its own story. She has created customized logos of prominent celebrities, sports teams, university mascots, comic book heroes, automotive motifs and most recently has figured out how to capture any portrait. In fact, Bonnie’s first two camp logos pieces art were made for Tyler Hill & Timber Lake. You will be amazed at what Bonnie can create with license plates.

If you’re looking for a truly unique holiday gift, not to mention an extraordinary piece of art, check out Bonnie’s website by clicking HERE. She can do anything custom and is a pleasure to work with. You’ll be thrilled with your results AND you’ll be connecting to a long-time member of our TLC Family of Camps!

Bonnie has something for everyone; Her work is more than simply a conversation piece. Like any great piece of art, it defines the room that it graces.

Family Connect – The Chord Club

2015-11-19T16:12:58Z

FAMILY CONNECT – TLC FAMILY OF CAMPS
Family Connect regularly features new or unique ideas, businesses, ventures, philanthropic or other endeavors that our camp families are involved in. Camp parents send us their submissions. Items are selected for either a feature article or for our directory of businesses, services and events. With over 3000 camp families, our hope is that finding out about what’s happening in our greater camp community will create synergies and benefits far beyond the already tremendous benefits your children get from a summer experience at camp.

FEATURED NEW VENTURE OF THE MONTH
The Chord Club by Billboard

Tyler Hill Camp parent, Ian Behar, becomes the first to submit a “new, exciting and unique” venture to our FAMILY CONNECT blog with the opening of The Chord Club by Billboard, a state of the art recording studio, recreational music school and private event space. Along with his partners, Ian is proud to showcase this 5,700 square foot studio, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side (207 East 94th Street) JUST opened and TLC Family of Camp members are welcome to take advantage of an exclusive VIP PASS to the studio.

As described by The Chord Club:
“The Chord Club is designed for the child who dreams of becoming the next music sensation. The facility consists of two large recording studios, private classrooms and a sunlit event space – perfect for high-octane birthdays and memorable milestone celebrations. The class offerings are modern, edgy, and driven by current music trends, designed for families with children from ages 5 months to 17 years. In addition to scheduled classes during the week, the studio offers one-on-one private music lessons (voice, guitar, bass and piano), recording studio sessions and unique event experiences, all led by notable and passionate professionals in the music industry. As an example, Hailee Steinfeld was just in the studio rocking out with her fans. Their DJ classes are off the charts and the venue is a great place to create the coolest birthday party celebrations in town!”
In celebration of its opening, The Chord Club invites TLC Family of Camps families in for a complimentary trial class during the months of December or January and priority class registration for their Winter Semester. Families will receive access to The Chord Club’s “VIP Services” upon booking a private party in the space. For more information or to learn more, please visit the www.thechordclub.com or Call Guest Relations at (212) 246-7369.

TLC FAMILY OF CAMPS:
*Timber Lake Camp * Timber Lake West * Tyler Hill Camp
*North Shore Day Camp * North Shore Day School
*Hampton Country Day Camp * Southampton Camp & Club

Mixing up some Madness with Mad Science at North Shore Day Camp this summer!

2015-05-12T20:40:07Z

Are you ready to get Mad about Science?! We hope so because Mad Science of Long Island is coming to North Shore Day Camp this summer as part of our Camp Within A Camp program. Mad Science will run a week-long science camp from July 20^th – July 24^th for campers in 1^st through 6^th grade.

Mad Science operates franchises around the world, bringing millions of kids the fun, amazement and wonder of all things science. Mad Science is the leading science enrichment provider on Long Island and we are excited for them to work with NSDC campers this summer! Mad Science’s energetic Mad Scientists are trained professionals who come with awe-inspiring equipment, ready to engage and educate children in an interactive and entertaining way that kids will love.

We sat down with Mad Scientist, John Clements (aka Professor Soda Pop), to learn more about Mad Science’s programs, their philosophy on teaching science to children and what we can look forward to this summer!

What is your background? When did you start (or get involved with) Mad Science, and what inspired you to do so?

My background is in entertainment and the arts world. Outside of Mad Science I am a full time musician and writer, also doing some on and off work in the art world and film/tv. I’ve been involved with Mad Science for 2 years now. The job was greatly intriguing so I decided to look into it and it’s been a great 2 years!

What are a few different types of programs you offer during the year?

We offer a variety of programs that we divide into 5 main categories:

School Programs
Workshops
Birthday Parties
Summer Camps
Shows & Special Events

What is unique about your program?

The best thing about Mad Science is that the kids who come to see us have a blast while learning about the exciting world of science. We really “put on a show” to make it a fun time, so we keep the kids interested.

All of our programs are very hands on, which keeps the kids engaged and helps with their learning curve. We also have a great bunch of people that work for the company with lots of cool, fun personalities. We truly believe Mad Science is the best of its kind.

What is your philosophy/approach in teaching and working with kids?

Well, for me, I’m just a big kid. I can connect with them on many levels from talking about their cartoons and current toys and all the in between. I’m also patient and have a kooky personality, which basically allows me to be myself and they really appreciate it. The sillier I get the more fun they have, I keep their attention and we have a great time. These characteristics are what we look for in all of our Mad Scientists.

What can camp families expect their kids to get out a week-long workshop with Mad Science this summer?

The camps are awesome; we do a variety of activities, which again are very hands on. The kids get a take home an experiment each day to further enhance what they have learned that day in camp.

We build robots, launch rockets, and work with catapults. It’s literally a blast!

CLICK HERE for more information and to enroll in our Camp Within A Ca mp program—please note there will be a limited enrollment so if you are interested please do not wait to enroll.

“Hoop It Up” this summer with Hoops 101 Basketball at NSDC!

2015-04-08T13:31:46Z

North Shore Day Camp is excited to introduce Hoops 101 Basketball as the latest group that will be part of our fantastic Camp Within A Camp program this summer! Hoops 101 will run a week-long basketball camp on NSDC’s campus from July 20^th – July 24^th for campers in 1^st through 6^th grade.

Hoops 101 is a premier youth basketball organization on Long Island, with truly cutting edge philosophies and coaching methods for children of all ages and abilities.

Mike Kelly, the founder of Hoops 101 has coached at the highest level as a Division I basketball coach. Mike spent countless hours thinking about how to utilize and package many of the coaching techniques, skills and drills delivered to our country’s best basketball players. We believe Mike has “cracked the code” and developed a program that is fun and relatable to young children. NSDC could not be happier to have Mike and his team working with our campers this summer!

We sat down with Mike to learn more about what led him to create Hoops 101, his philosophy on teaching basketball to young athletes and what we can look forward to this summer!

What is your background? When did you start Hoops 101, and what inspired you to do so?
I played basketball and ran track at Haverford College, where I graduated with a degree in Mathematics.

I was a Division I Assistant Coach for 7 years (5 years at Hofstra University, 2 years at Fordham University)

I am currently a Division II Assistant Coach, in our first year as a staff, at Adelphi University.

Hoops 101 started in the summer of 2012. Over the years I had observed a number of youth basketball organizations, programs, and camps that lacked substance, in regard to the amount of teaching that was going on. I observed a lack of effort when it came to the genuine engagement that staffs had with the players participating in their event. In addition to this, I observed basketball learning environments where aspiring players were being yelled at, screamed at and spoken down to, more often than not, as opposed to being educated in a positive way.

Our goal was to create a program geared towards giving aspiring players the best basketball education possible, in terms of learning how to improve their individual skills and in terms of learning how to play.

What are a few different types of programs you offer during the year?
We offer a variety of programs throughout the year that consist of the following:

1 day clinics that run on a particular day of the week for about an hour or so.
2-3 days clinics where we work with a group of players for 2-3 hours per day.
8 to 9 weeks of summer camps in a variety of towns on Long Island. Each camp is a week-long and structured as a 3 hour mini-day or a 6 hour full-day session.

What is your philosophy/approach on how to coach kids?
At Hoops 101, we “talk” to our players. We do not yell and scream. We emphasize the importance of making mistakes and understanding that it is okay if they do not do everything correctly or perfectly. We emphasize the PROCESS as opposed to the end result. We want the “pressure to be perfect” removed from our learning environment.

We believe that players who are able to get out of their comfort zones will better realize the potential they have. Hoops 101 prides itself on being an organization that uses basketball to build self-esteem and self-confidence.

What makes your program different than the numerous other basketball programs out there?
Hoops 101 combines a fun and positive learning environment, with a high level of skill development training/basketball education. Our goal is to ensure that each player leaves a Hoops 101 event feeling good about his or herself. We also pride ourselves in helping players to better understand how to take what they have learned at our events, and then go work on it by themselves when they leave.

What qualities do you value most in coaches who work for your organization?
Our coaches have a passion for working with aspiring players and a passion for the game of basketball. Our coaches are genuine people and believe wholeheartedly in the Hoops 101 project and what it is all about.

What can camp families expect their kids to get out a week-long camp with Hoops 101 this summer?
NSDC campers will have a lot of fun with the different drills and games that we use in order to help them to improve as players.

NSDC campers will leave feeling good about themselves. Basketball may not be their favorite sport, but we pride ourselves in making sure that even if this is the case, players leave wanting to come back to learn more, and have some more fun!

CLICK HERE for more information and to enroll in our Camp Within A Camp program—please note there will be a limited enrollment so if you are interested please do not wait to enroll.

Camp for the Camping Professional with a Special Guest Speaker!

2015-03-25T13:26:29Z

This past week we attended the the Tri State Camp Conference in Atlantic City, NJ, which is the largest gathering of camp professionals in the world! It is the most important “off-season” event for camp professionals, camp staff, youth development professionals, and “out of school” experiential educators. We attened educational sessions, found new products and services and best of all, got to spend time with like minded people who are dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of children.

Each year the conference is bookended by the Opening and Closing Keynote Sessions. This year’s closing Keynote was delivered by Former Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton. Clinton spoke to thousands of camp directors and year round camp staff, attending the conference. She was relaxed, warm, funny and relatable.

She spoke of her time as a doting new mother, recalling memories of how she would sing “Moon River” to her daughter, Chelsea, until “she developed an ear.” “No sing,” is what her infant daughter would say to her mom to get her to stop, according to Clinton.

She spoke of being a worrying mother, recalling the first time she dropped Chelsea off at camp. “It was the worst week,” she cringed, before adding a bit of humor. “I’ve had a few bad weeks.” Laughter filled the convention center. “It was up there, it was hard,”

She spoke of her own childhood when she reminisced about how her mother instilled in her tenacity during a bullying incident. After an altercation with a girl and her siblings across the street, Clinton came running back into her house for shelter, only to meet her mother at the door who told her flatly, “There’s no room for cowards in this house.”

Clinton raved about how camps provide “the essential building blocks for young people” and exposing children to different races, religions and cultural perspectives. Then she pointedly drew a larger analogy around the summer getaways to the current political paralysis.

“We could have the red cabin, and the blue cabin have to come together and actually listen to each other. Wouldn’t that be a novel idea,” she said. “We really need camps for adults.” “I don’t think there’s any substitute to building relationships. I just don’t,”

She credited her mother with an enduring piece of advice that keeps her poised. “She said, ‘You know, you have a choice to make every day. You can be the lead actor in your own life. Or you can be a bit player reacting to other people,’” Clinton recalled.

In addition to her prepared remarks, Clinton sat down for a chat with our own Executive Director, Jay Jacobs, Director of Timber Lake Camp and also Chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Party on Long Island. At the end of the Q & A, Jacobs handed her a gray sweatshirt emblazoned with “Camp David” He said, “You will like the activities and be well supervised.” To which Clinton replied, “Where do I get an application?”