At the end of the summer, we sent all of our families a survey about their children's experiences at camp in 2010. We thank you all for taking the time to fill this out, as it is a very important tool for us to gauge our successes and challenges. This survey was created and facilitated by the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC). 66 North American Jewish overnight camps were lucky enough to be able to participate in this project. Besides reporting on Pinemere Camp's individual responses, we were also compared to the national responses from all of the participating camps.

These statistics were compiled by the Summation Research Group, and along with the FJC, they presented us with the results a few weeks ago. The results were incredibly interesting and will definitely help us to plan as we move Pinemere forward in the coming years. We'd like to take this time to share some of the findings with you.

1.       Approximately 60% of Pinemere's families responded to the survey. This is an outstanding response

        rate!

2.       We found that Pinemere's performance in almost every "dimension" asked about (social 

         environment, programming, leadership/communication, spiritual/cultural/religious life,

         facilities, health/safety/security and cost) measures almost identical to all of the other camps' 

         averages.

3.       Pinemere's top three major strengths, according to the survey, are:  sense of

         community/belonging, Judaism/Jewish identity/Jewish values and staff/leadership.

4.       Pinemere's top three areas to improve, according to the survey, are: facilities (especially

         bathrooms), sports programming and food.

The feedback from this survey has helped us to shape our "to-do" list for this year. Our first big project is the renovation of the "Palace" (the older boys' bath house). This project is already underway and our campers can look forward to new toilets, sinks and showers in 2011. We are also continuing to update our other bathrooms around camp.

In the programming area, we have had many requests to continue with our clinics, but to also offer more options and during both sessions. We are in the process of seeking out qualified coaches and teachers for a higher level of sport instruction. We continue to listen to you and will strive to make Pinemere even better!

AND, THE WINNERS ARE...

We entered all of our responders' e-mails into a big raffle and randomly chose four lucky families to receive Pinemere baskets - lots of great Pinemere gear and give-aways.  Those families are (drum roll please)...

 The Cantos Family (Brendan Cantos of bunk 4 - 1^st session) 

The LeFrock Family (Rachel LeFrock of bunk J - 2^nd session and Madeline LeFrock of bunk K - 2^nd session)

 The Cramer Family (Hannah Cramer of bunk J - 1^st session) 

The Plastrik Family (Alex Plastrik of bunk 5 - 1^st session)

Congratulations to all!