ILTC 2012

Posted on 07/01/2012 @ 11:30 AM

ILTC

This year at ILTC, participants teamed up together to form a media committee to portray the daily activities of camp life. In an attempt to help with communication a portion of the media committee has decided to focus on creating blogs several times a week. Three blogs are below: one focusing on Chofesh, one on evening programs and one relating to dorm life. The three advisors of the ILTC media committee hope you enjoy what our teens have worked on and that it can help you relate to what they are experiencing each day at Perlman. Along with the blogs below, click here to watch the first ever ILTC teen video newscast, “ILTV”. ILTV gives you an exclusive glimpse into ILTC 2012 here. You can also check out ILTC's participant made newsletter, The Perlman Post here. Also Check out all the latest ILTC photos here.

Freedom!!!!! A word that is commonly associated with Chofesh. For those of you that are not familiar with the term Chofesh it is a period of time everyday for the participants of ILTC to enjoy themselves through an activity of choice. Each day tends to provide for various different activities, and we are here to broadcast these activities to you...the valued reader. Tuesday June 26th was a rather interesting Chofesh since all participants were still unfamiliar with the camp and all other attendees. It featured a variety of different activities which included everything from an improvisational song session that featured a wide array of instruments to a humdrum pickup basketball game. The large quad is a popular hangout spot for groups of people as well as the common ultimate Frisbee game. The highlights of our very first Chofesh of ILTC 2012 included intense game of soccer tennis which went for almost the full length of Chofesh. The impromptu song session consisted of an ensemble of ukeleles and guitars. The music for the most part was improvised and uneventful but the magic moment was when Jessie Gorden played the guitar and harmonica simultaneously. The participants defeated the staff handily both basketball games (very low scoring games). Everyone enjoyed themselves to the fullest and are looking forward to tomorrow’s Chofesh. Signing off this has been, Sam Miller & Evan Dannenbaum Keep it classy y'all

Evening Program Blog #1 Welcome to ILTC 2012! You’re in for a hypnotic experience. Ronnie Baras, The Kosher hypnotist, visited Perlman Tuesday night. Over 200 teens and staff gathered for a performance from Oprah, the case of Glass and Luke Bryan. Dozens of teens volunteered to be put under the Kosher Hypnotist’s spell, but only a handful were successful and were put into a deep trance. Using his classically trained, soothing voice, the hypnotist convinced campers they were in a variety of performances and in a variety of places. Tamara Rizkalla was on Dancing with the Stars, Glee and believed she was at the holy Western Wall, causing her to begin sobbing. The hypnotized ILTC campers were under Ronnie Baras’ spell – singing, dancing, meeting celebrities and visiting foreign countries. The audience was under his spell as well, laughing hysterically and video taping their friends. Afterwards, Tamara said, “I felt overwhelmed because everyone was coming up to me saying, I was so funny, but I didn’t remember anything so I didn’t know why I was funny.” When those who had been hypnotized were woken from their trance they were bombarded with rounds of applause and questions about the time they spent in a hypnotic state. Ronnie Baras’ performance was a mesmerizing experience for the audience and the volunteers alike. With such an amazing start to our evening programs, we can’t wait to see what else is in store! Good evening! Allison and Mimi

Dorm Life Blog #1 It’s all right, because we’ve been Saved By the Bell! School is out and ILTC is in! We arrived at Perlman, each of us assigned to different dorms. There are four girls dorms themed after different time periods; girls dorm one is themed futuristic, dorm two is groovy themed after the 60s, dorm three is covered in scrunches and themed after the 80s, and dorm four is filled with TV shows and fun from the 90s. One of the highlights of the first night was when Dorm one literally “broke the ice.” Their dorm was given different utensils to break ice while learning characteristics about the individuals. Dorms three and four are using everyone’s unique taste in music to allow each girl to pick a song of the day and create dorm CDs; one of the many mementos that will be taken away from ILTC. By the basketball courts are four boys dorms. So far the dorms have been focusing on unique bonding experiences and building an AZA community at camp. These dorms are currently considered the most athletic “Men,” on Perlman’s campus. Dorm seven and eight are having a great time and have loved getting to know each other. Dorm six is quite comfortable with their newly renovated dorm. And Dorn nine could not be happier with the way each of their bonding sessions have gone so far. Even though the dorms are no Five Star Hotel, everyone is getting along fabulously. Girls bonding sessions have brought all the ladies together; the boys have also had interesting ice-breakers that have immediately created strong bonds. It is only a few days in to camp and already life long friendships have been formed both within dorms and throughout the ILTC community. Submitted with an undying love for ILTC 2012, We remain, Halle and Mara

Day Ten, by Rebecca B.

Posted on 07/06/2011 @ 06:05 PM

Working as regions outside

This morning, after breakfast, we split up into our Blueprint meetings. My group presented our Shabbat weekend programs that we had planned earlier. I was so glad everyone took it seriously because I felt that we ended up with some great ideas that I would love to take back to my region. We also started to plan our own Leadership Training weekend, which as a group we planned every aspect of to be presented and voted on the best by the participants. It's amazing how quickly we can plan something so huge, since we only had a few hours to plan our weekends. Our theme was "Jungle" and I can't wait to present tomorrow. After Blueprints, we split up into our regions to discuss things we wanted to take back home and implement in the real world. Since it was such a beautiful day, we met outside and enjoyed the sun while we discussed. Not only are the people from my region some of my best friends, but we work so well together that I know this year is going to be amazing because of ILTC. After lunch, I went to my creative arts elective, "Shabbat In A Box", where we learned about the symbolism behind wine at Shabbat and decorated our own Kiddush cups.

After dinner, the staff gave us an opportunity to ask them questions so we could benefit from their past experiences. Later, we participated in a teen led program that showed us the how important AZA and BBG are to one another and how synergy can make the two entities into a better BBYO. After sunset, we gathered around a campfire to roast marshmallows, make smores and to bond with our fellow participants. It was an amazing end to an outstanding day and, as always, I'm excited for tomorrow.

Gathering around the campfire

Next, we learned about an international initiative to "Stand Up" for each other. We had several different rotations, each teaching us different aspects of acceptance. We ended the day with a competition of making origami stars with out blueprint groups. Although at first most groups struggled, most were able to get into a groove and successfully make a good number of stars. This day was one of fun and learning, and I cannot wait to see how ILTC ends up.

Written by Rachel Baer, Mountain Region

As always, feel free to check out our other sources of ILTC Updates, Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/ILTC2011 ), Twitter (@ILTC2011 or #ILTC2011), and Smugmug (bbyo.smugmug.com/2011/ILTC-2011/ ).

Post Color War Return to Normal, by Andrew A

Posted on 07/05/2011 @ 06:00 PM

Learning about religious freedom from other participants

Greetings from Camp Perlman! For all those keeping track back at home, we have just finished day 8. The day started off with breakfast, where the room was incredibly exhausted from yesterdays color war escapades. Shortly after breakfast, participants met up in their blueprint groups to learn how to plan meaningful events for their chapters and regions. The boys and girls then split up to make a BBYO bucket lists. These lists were done reflecting back on our experiences in BBYO, with both our past and future in mind. The ultimate goal was to see what our bucket list in BBYO would have been years ago given the knowledge we have now.

Pasta for lunch set the mood for the second half of the day. Creative arts rotations got us back into the creative planning and thinking mode. Leadership classes then continued, where the theme for the day was the elevator pitch. We were given 1-2 minutes, the time it takes to travel in an elevator, to sell BBYO and what it offers to someone completely new and to sell ourselves as leaders.

Cheering on the yellow team

After dinner, we watched a few short videos featuring BBYO members from around the world and heard our Bulgarian participants speak on their experience with BBYO overseas. Then, everyone split up again by region and council and received a first hand look at the globalization of BBYO and how their regions can get involved with regions far away. To wrap up the night, the StandUp! committee held an event to help raise money for the StandUp! campaign, while the participants went through rotations to lean about religious freedom and what we can do to help promote it. Events included a soccer game, which used small trashcans as a goals. The ultimate message of the game was that you can fight and cause wars over religion all you want, but all you are doing is wasting time (the soccer ball didn't actually fit into the goal, so even if a team did somehow manage the near impossible task of scoring a goal, they still ended in a stalemate). Overall, the day was amazing and everyone can't wait until tomorrow!

Written by Andrew Arbogast, Eastern Region

As always, feel free to check out our other sources of ILTC Updates, Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/ILTC2011 ), Twitter (@ILTC2011 or #ILTC2011), and Smugmug (bbyo.smugmug.com/2011/ILTC-2011/ ).

Color War!!!!

Posted on 07/04/2011 @ 06:00 PM

Cheering on the yellow team

Everything has erupted at ILTC! Every single year, ILTC presents an all out Color War and this year was no exception. Last night, we all gathered together for what we thought was a normal evening program. All of a sudden, the world of Mario came to life as Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach in front of the whole ILTC body! We were all divided up into teams and started right off the bat. We immediately changed into our team colors and started a game of Find the Staff Member. We devoured Perlman trying to find every staff member. After that, an all camp capture the flag game was started. After the night we had, I was incredibly excited to see what would happen the next day.

Waking up this morning was difficult, but decked out in all Yellow, I ran to the dining hall for our first challenge. We had to sit at our tables with our hands tied to our teammates. It was actually a lot harder than it seemed. The rest of the morning was full of Water Challenges, cheer sessions, and an all out relay race. Lunch was a silent one. The team who kept quiet the most won the points. Post-lunch challenges were all sports all the time. I played dodgeball and soccer for my team, along with swimming in the wet clothing relay. We were given a chance to change, then reported to the dining hall for dinner. At dinner we presented our team banner and songs.

Cheering on the yellow team

Our day ended with Fireworks and a dance to celebrate the Fourth of July. At the dance, it was announced that the Green team had emerged victorious. All in all, I had a ton of fun at Color Wars, although I was completely exhausted and sore when it ended.

Written by Nate Schloss, Michigan Region

As always, feel free to check out our other sources of ILTC Updates, Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/ILTC2011 ), Twitter (@ILTC2011 or #ILTC2011), and Smugmug (bbyo.smugmug.com/2011/ILTC-2011/ ).

Day 6, By Hilary B

Posted on 07/02/2011 @ 06:00 PM

Creative Arts groups headed outside to enjoy the weather

Shalom from ILTC! This weekend we had our first Shabbat! Everyone was running around our dorm getting ready for Shabbat. It was crazy! Girls were sprawled all over my dorm trying to straighten each other’s hair and perfect their makeup. Then everyone congregated to the small quad where we took pictures. On Saturday we continued the exciting Shabbat atmosphere with three different choices of Shabbat services. I attended the “Creative Service” where we listened to music from our childhood and shared memories. It was fantastic! I continued my Shabbat with electives where I attended Genealogy with Glenn. It was so interesting to talk about where all our families are originally from. Most of us were from some of the same places too! I continued my day with Leadership 202 where I learned all about my leadership style. It was so cool! I found out I am “Human Resource.” This means that I care a lot about everyone else’s feelings. I thought that was so cool because I’m Regional MIT-Mom of Gold Coast Region and this will help me so much for this year! I have learned so much here at ILTC and I can’t wait to bring it back to GCR. Everyone here is so friendly and I can’t believe I have met so many new friends! From Los Angeles to Bulgaria there are people from EVERYWHERE! It is such a diverse and spirited group of teenagers! I can’t believe we only have 9 days left! The friends I have made here will last me a lifetime and I truly believe some of these girls will be bridesmaids at my wedding.

Written by Hilary Blank, Gold Coast Region

As always, feel free to check out our other sources of ILTC Updates, Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/ILTC2011 ), Twitter (@ILTC2011 or #ILTC2011), and Smugmug (bbyo.smugmug.com/2011/ILTC-2011/ ).