Dear CYJ Midwest Family,

I am thrilled to announce that Hannah Wallick is our new Camp Director! 

After an extensive national search that yielded interest from many strong and highly-qualified candidates, the Search Committee recommended Hannah for the position of Camp Director, and the Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint her.

Jewish summer camp for Hannah was her most formative experience, where she spent time as a chanicha (camper), madricha (counselor), merekezet (unit head), and in various specialist and leadership roles. She pursued the rabbinate early on as a way to “be a camp counselor” for the Jewish community. She earned a BA in Jewish Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary with a focus in education. 

Hannah’s rabbinate has included singing, dancing, and learning her way through congregational life and serving as a Vice President at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. She is an ardent aspirational Zionist and a proponent of Jewish pluralist communities, self describing as “joyfully Jewish.” Hannah’s daughter is a current CYJ Midwest camper and is eager for Hannah’s new role to begin!

During the survey portion of the search process, we repeatedly heard that our community cares about building on CYJ Midwest’s values of pluralism and creating a tight-knit camp family each summer, while bringing in new campers and providing an innovative, safe space in Waupaca. Hannah has the skills and experience to do this, and she will make everyday a special day at CYJ!

Please join me in welcoming Hannah to CYJ Midwest and in expressing our deep gratitude to the hardworking members of the Search Committee: Dan Shulman, Jessica Morris, Adina Frydman, Scott Aaron, Barry Finestone, Bekki Harris Kaplan, Nicola Jacobs, Brian Nagorsky, and its wonderful chair, Cheryl Wilson Hanson. 

Warm regards,

Barbara Baumann

President, CYJ Midwest Board of Directors

P.S. Hannah starts as Camp Director on November 14, 2022, and would love to hear from our community at hannah@cyjmid.org. Please be sure to mention whether you’re a camper, parent, grandparent, staff, alum, Hadassah member, and/or friend of camp. As a “housewarming” gift from the CYJ family near and far, we’d like to give her a virtual vision board. Please click HERE to add a photo, short video, or text that answers the question: “What does CYJ Midwest mean to you?”