Camp Rising Sun

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Contents 1 History 2 Famous Alumni 3 See also 4 External links

Camp Rising Sun, or CRS, is operated by The Louis August Jonas Foundation, Inc., a publicly supported non-profit organization that has been in operation since 1939.

CRS is an international scholarship summer program for teenagers selected for their character, leadership potential and promise. The camps bring together a highly diverse group of gifted, highly motivated young people from all over the world to participate in eight weeks of program carefully designed to promote personal growth, leadership skills, a service ethic, and intercultural understanding. Attendees are given full scholarships and come from over 20 different countries around the world. All programs are nonpartisan and nonreligious and is funded and operated by the Louis August Jonas Foundation, Inc. The program for young men is located in Red Hook, New York, USA. The program for young women is located in Clinton, New York, USA. Both programs are organized by the Louis August Jonas Foundation, Inc. Camp Rising Sun Europe is a camp for young women located in Stendis, Viborg County, Denmark, and is organized by the George E. Jonas Foundation, established by the Camp Rising Sun Alumni Association of Denmark in 1996.

The summer program is based on experiential learning. Students are given leadership and other responsibilities in running the program. They are challenged to explore areas in our program that are unfamiliar to them and develop their outlook. Staff plays a major role in challenging students and making them reflect on their experiences in order to develop in promising young people from diverse backgrounds a lifelong commitment to sensitive and responsible leadership for the betterment of their communities and the world.

[edit] History

The Louis August Jonas Foundation, Inc. was created in the early 20th century by George "Freddie" Edward Jonas, son of a successful businessman Louis August Jonas. This Foundation was created to operate Camp Rising Sun. "Freddie" ran the camp personally for many years, and the camp has consequently from the beginning been uniquely idiosyncratic among summer camps.

Around the turn of the 20th century, Louis August Jonas created an international business that produced and sold felt hat material. The business was quite successful and the Jonas family amassed a fair amount of wealth. Using the resources and connections of his father's enterprise, George Edward Jonas (son of Louis and commonly known as "Freddie") started an experiment in international living called Camp Rising Sun. It was a residential summer program for intelligent, perhaps somewhat unusual, boys. Originally it focused solely on boys from the US, mostly from the New York City region. The program took on its current international focus shortly after World War II to include students from all regions of the world. In 1989 a program for girls was started in Clinton, New York, eight miles from the boys program. Both programs continue today in addition to new initiatives in Europe and around the world. [[Image:http://lajf.org/images/HLogo1.jpg ]] Freddie died in 1978 leaving his fortune to the endowment of the Louis August Jonas Foundation, Inc. (Rhinebeck, New York) that now operates Camp Rising Sun and administers the International Scholarship Program.

The program participants range in age from 14-16 with approximately 60 girls and 60 boys attending the New York programs and another 50 girls in Stendis, Denmark. Each year a handful of participants return to the camp and help carry on the traditions from one year to the next.

Selection for the program comes in many forms. In the New York City area many schools and, typically, the school guidance counselors have relationships with the Louis August Jonas Foundation and nominate candidates who submit applications and attend interviews. It is the same in other parts of the United States of America where Alumni function as Selectors while maintaining close relationships with target schools. In other parts of the world the process is often very different. Candidates may learn about the program from its alumni, education journals, and other resources.

[edit] Famous Alumni

Camp Rising Sun has been a host to a wide range of distinguished individuals.

• Darren Aronofsky
• Pete Seeger
• Greg Giraldo
• Samuel R. Delany
• David Botstein
• Hameed (Herukhuti) S. Williams

[edit] See also

• summer camp
• Red Hook, New York
• Clinton, New York
• Stendis, Viborg County, Denmark
• Democratic school

[edit] External links

• Camp Rising Sun, The Louis August Jonas Foundation
• Camp Rising Sun Europe