Camp Champions Blog

As I talk with returning campers and counselors, I hear many  messages, but two stand out as different from the past.

(Our Family in Tanzania)

(This is the third in 4 articles on the “Four R’s” that we stress at Camp Champions)

As you might have seen in a previous article, we focus on the “Four R”s:

(This is the second in 4 articles on the “Four R’s” that we stress at Camp Champions)

Warning - this blog is a little serious and not particularly amusing.  It is a short piece I wrote for counselor orientation.  Each summer, we have one of the longest and most elaborate counselor training and orienation programs in the country.  We spend roughly two full weeks (of 16 hour days) to help our counselors learn about running programs that are safe (physically and emotionally), fun, and "educational."  To be clear, I do NOT use the "E" word (education) around campers or counselors.  I love education, but most young people do not associate it with fun.  We instead talk about growth, skill acquisition, and adventure in the context of outdoor education and creative play at summer camp.

Last night, we gathered at the boys’ sail point for Vespers.  [Note: Susie Ma’am ran Vespers for the girls on the girls’ sail point.  As I was with the boys, I can only report on ours.  I am certain hers was more insightful and lovely.  I know that she talked about the 6 things that mentally strong people do:

Long before anyone took summer camps seriously as a growth opportunity for children, my grandmother told one of her friends, “The two best things I ever did for my child were summer camp and orthodontia”.  The years have proven her a wise woman.