Meet the Young Alumni

Sam Landsman

Sam Landsman is a proud camper from 2002 – 2008, and an Oded in 2009. He was one of the loudest voices when the camp sang together, especially during Shabbat.

It’s no surprise that while he works as a civil engineer for the City of Bothell, WA during the day, Sam moonlights as a musician and songleader, leading the JConnect Band which focuses on Jewish music and communal singing in Seattle. Sam also leads the undergraduate Friday night Shabbat Services at Hillel UW. He has even released two albums – Transport (2015) and Learning By Doing (2021). He is a proud alum of University of Washington, UC Berkeley, and of course CSS.

Though he started his CSS journey more than two decades ago, Sam can still be found at Schechter, serving on the Young Alumni committee and leading services for retreats like our Young Alumni Weekend and Ruach, always carrying the Joy in Judaism through every song.

Hannah Diskin

Hannah Diskin was a camper from 2009 – 2014, and on staff for 5 years between 2016 – 2021. Her favorite activities at camp were always the evening programs, like talent show or lip sync night. She also loved any time spent at the river or in the bog.

She’s now a pediatric travel nurse and has been a nurse for almost 6 years. Nursing has given her so many amazing opportunities to travel the world and the country, and now it’s even taking her back to camp as a nurse for Summer Camp 2026!

Schechter gave Hannah such an incredible connection to the Jewish community and Jewish spaces. Growing up surrounded by such a positive Jewish environment every summer made her want to seek out Jewish communities wherever she’s been. CSS helped her feel proud to be Jewish, and drove her to educate others about Judaism, especially growing up and going to college in very non-Jewish spaces. It also helped her realize the importance of Jewish friendships.

Schechter gave Hannah lifelong friends who have gotten her through every phase of life.

Her favorite camp meal is either matzah ball soup or babka on Saturday mornings, and her favorite shira song is Yerushalim Shel Zahav.