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02/14/2018 11:01 PMMy summer camp experience in the mid-1960s was not good. There were basically two choices back then—science or sports camps. My brother happily attended science camp. He loved it, but was labeled a nerd and laughed at by the sports camp kids.
It wasn’t so much the sports but the highly competitive nature of the all-girl’s camp I attended (all summer long for four years), the two-week-long Color War that was all-out war—winning at all costs, making enemies of the Green Team if you were on the Gold and vice versa.
Counselors would shout at us to keep our bunks spotless—if you didn’t have perfect hospital corners on the beds, you’d lose points for your team and be publicly humiliated, I kid you not. And my parents spent a lot of money for this.
I adapted, as I learned to do as a child, and found happiness paddling in a canoe or swimming in the lovely lake. I even found the camp newsletter to write for—yes, I was just a nerd of another stripe than my brother.
So when I discovered the summer camp offerings had in fact changed dramatically by the late 1990s when my sons were teens and that there were choices for every kind of kid with every kind of talent and interest, I was thrilled.
Young People’s Institute, best know as YPI, a co-educational two-week residential summer camp held at Suffield Academy (in Suffield) for all the creative arts, with classes taught by professional artists, came onto my radar. I immediately signed up both boys, who were artistically inclined. They happily explored and developed work in the visual arts, photography, drama, and writing. It was a far cry from my camp experience back when.
All these years later I recently crossed paths with Jeff Ostroff, the director/president of YPI since co-founding it in 1981 with his ex-wife Karen Rift. He is also former principal of the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.
Ostroff has had a home in Old Saybrook since 2001—although for the past year he’s been testing out living in Florida, returning to Connecticut in warmer weather to run the camp. He says some of his original campers, a number of whom are from shoreline towns, are now old enough to be signing up their own kids for the program. Where does time fly?
Ostroff directed a sports camp in the Pocono Mountains for 10 years and describes himself as being a “big jock,” but that he always also hung out with jazz musicians and artists in high school, and, a writer himself, understands the importance of tapping into one’s creative side.
He points out that in addition to personal satisfaction, there are very practical aspects to developing creativity in young people.
“The business world today, the society we live in, requires people with a variety of intelligences,” Ostroff says. “[New York Times columnist] Thomas Friedman talks not only about IQ and EQ [intelligence and emotional quotients] but PQ and CQ—passion and curiosity quotients.
“Creativity,” Ostroff stresses, “is key to people who can think outside the box. We used to be an industrial society and now we’re a people and communications society. The most successful businesses are not only those that can work collaboratively, but can present ideas in a clear, concise fashion to communicate with their clients.”
One thing that has drastically changed since the camp first opened is the Internet and cell phones.
Ostroff says students use technology as tools for research, as part of the creative process, “but at some point as an artist you have to put down the phone and put paint on the canvas or as an actor you have to be in the scene, paying attention.”
Offstroff says of his campers, “They’re pushing the envelope, getting outside their comfort zone, and so they forget about technology, they’re so concentrating on trying to be creative individuals. I tell parents they can reach me if they have to get in touch with their kids. Parents will call me and say, ‘Is my daughter alive? She hasn’t texted me all week!’”
Another important aspect of YPI is that it’s a not-for-profit and Ostroff has never taken any salary for himself nor has his daughter, Jessica Ostroff, who “grew up” at YPI, was a counselor for six years, and is now marketing director. Ostroff prefers to encourage diversity and put money back into making the camp available to all eligible youth, offering about $20,000 in financial aid annually.
Ostroff believes the most positive thing parents and grandparents can do is lead by example,
“Make sure your own passion is ignited—find your passion, even if it’s not a vocation, make it your avocation. Show them you’re reading books. Bring them to a school on Dr. Suess Day and read to the kids with them. Take them to museums, concerts. Wherever you can, find common ground to share.”
He applies these principals to his own new “third act” of life.
“Knowing how hard I worked as a principal, 24-7, when people ask me now, “What do you do all day long?’ my answer is, ‘I’m working on myself: wellness and fitness, playing guitar better, speaking Spanish, things that will make me a better human being,’” Ostroff says.
“I wrote another poem the other day. These are the things I should have done while I was working, to make me a more well-rounded principal,” he admits. “I’m still figuring out how to best utilize talents I’ve cultivated over the years. That’s what I think Baby Boomers should be doing: finding new ways to find the third chapter and be productive. We don’t do enough for ourselves to grow.”
To find out more about YPI, visit www.ypicamp.org. If you’re interested in learning about how you can sponsor a kid in need this summer, contact Jeff Ostroff at 860-918-3155 or email jeff@ypicamp.org.
Amy J. Barry is a Baby Boomer, who lives in Stony Creek with her husband and pets. She writes theater reviews for Shore Publishing newspapers and is an expressive arts educator. Contact her at amy.j.barry@snet.net or www.aimwrite-ct.net