The Outdoor Jewish Experience (OJE) is a unique program for 3rd-6th grade students, offering a Jewish camp-like experience in lieu of traditional weekly classroom sessions. Students spend three Sundays with the larger JEC Community (9:00-11:30) and nine Sundays at a beautiful local camp (from 9:00AM-1:00PM), engaging in meaningful Jewish learning infused with adventure and fun.
Throughout the year, students explore a wide range of Jewish topics including God, Israel, Jewish history, holidays and more. Each topic will connect to a specific Jewish middah (value) of the day. Our goal is to help students explore the question: How can we all live out different Jewish middot (values) at camp, in school, and at home? We end our day with a beautiful Tefillah (prayer) service and celebrate the students named Mensch of the Day.
At the heart of the OJE are three essential questions mirroring our JEC On-Site Curriculum:
- What does it mean for me to be part of a Jewish family?
- What does it mean for me to be Jewish?
- What does it mean to be part of the Jewish community?
Judaism is thoughtfully integrated into every part of the day. In additional to engaging learning, students enjoy a wide range of camp activities including:
- Rock Climbing Wall
- Vegetable Garden
- Gaga
- Zoo
- Arts & Crafts
- Archery
- ...and more
In additional to the 12 OJE sessions, students also receive 24 half-hour sessions of one-on-one Hebrew tutoring.