Camp Champions Blog

On behalf of the staff and counselors at Camp Champions, let me welcome everyone that is joining us for our 50th continuous summer of camping fun!

We wait each year for this day: the smiles, the hugs, the laughter and the opportunities for growth! 

We have had our two-week orientation and we cannot wait for the first campers to arrive.  But we know that this is YOUR session at camp and we cannot wait to share our excitement and love with your campers.

I am delighted to say that this was unquestionably the best group of counselors I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  During orientation, they were focused, attentive and enthusiastic. We have a record number of international counselors who provide a fun, different perspective to camp (over 20 from the UK alone).   This group has been in sync for the past 2 weeks and are ready to practice everything that they have learned. They are deeply committed to our mission of helping children find their inner champions.  They understand the importance of safety as a foundation to fun and growth.  

They also know that they are not just serving campers, but they serve entire families. 

Susie Ma’am and I are both so excited to be working with this group.

After you dropped off your children, we had swim tests and tours.  The campers came together to write the rules for their cabin.  We believe that campers behave best when they believe their voices are valued and they collaborate.  

We just finished our first torchlight ceremony (I will explain this more in a later blog).  The picture I share shows campers walking with their cabins to torchlight.  We sang some songs, saw a skit featuring Susie Ma’am and enjoyed a short fireworks display.  We took time to assure our new campers that the odd traditions and songs will soon become familiar and loved.  I also stressed that we are all delighted to have them join our camp community. We love watching our returning campers reach out to their new friends and cabinmates. As my mom used to say, all campers have one thing in common on Opening Day – they all want to make new friends.

Now, your children are in their cabins.  They are enjoying their first “nightly ritual” – a time for reflection, conversation and sharing.  We started this tradition 4 years ago.  Since creating it, we have found that cabins are more cohesive and happier with each other.  They cultivate respect and gratitude.

The evening is cool with a slight breeze.  The stars are winking at us.  Simply stated, it is lovely.

Tonight, your children will sleep with their new friends and counselors.  Tomorrow, we will wake at 7:30 and embrace our first full day of activities.  It will be a full one, so we need to make sure that we all get a full night’s sleep.

Susie Ma’am and I have had the joyous pleasure to do this for 23 years.  We look forward to a full night’s rest as well.  After all, we need to keep up with a camp full of energetic campers!

I hope you enjoy this website.  Enjoy the photos and take time to read the articles.  We will provide you a nice one-way mirror into the life of camp.  Some of these articles are new, but many are tried-and-true favorites.  If you are a returning parent, please do not think we are getting lazy.  Instead, we want to give our new families a chance to see what we value and what we are striving to accomplish at camp.

Until we see you at closing day – have a wonderful few weeks!

Steve Sir

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/05/09/can-sleep-away-camp-give-kids-a-competitive-advantage-in-life/?postshare=3011462810660315&tid=ss_fb-bottom

 One of the unique aspects of sleepaway camp is the cabin experience. Living with a group of 10 or so of your peers – and the supervision of two or three college-aged counselors – provides a critical opportunity for growth in many areas. Kids learn to communicate with each other effectively and positively, to collaborate and share their space and their time, and navigate conflict both on their own and with the assistance of their counselors. Every child benefits from practicing these skills, but perhaps none more so than an only child.

 

More and more these days, families have seemingly countless opportunities and commitments each summer. Academic camps, sports preseasons, family trips - so many things that on the surface might seem more important than "just" going to summer camp. After all, wouldn't an academic camp better prepare a child for their next year in school? Wouldn't a family trip provide kids with irreplaceable memories with their family?

Both of these things are likely true, and valuable. But they do not have to come at the cost of summer camp, and we believe they should not, considering the specific growth and learning that can happen more at summer camp than almost anywhere else. Including academic camps, sports preseasons, or family trips.

For example, there is growing evidence to support the conjecture that overnight summer camp increases a child's ability to thrive when they leave home to go to college. While there has been no large-scale study that we are yet aware of, many writers, college administrators, and parents are beginning to believe that previous camp experience offers an advantage to students when they arrive at college.

 

 

Last week, I shared the first half of a letter written by one of Steve Sir's college bound sons (http://blog.campchampions.com/success-in-college-and-a-personal-letter-part-1). Here is the final part of his essay about his experiences at camp and how it has prepared him for the next four years and onwards.

From Steve Sir:

During the second semester of his senior year, I asked my son Liam whether he had a case of “senioritis”.  He responded that he did not like being idle and that high school did not provide the same challenge that it once had.  He even suggested that he would not mind a little more homework (yeah, I gasped too).

With that, I asked him if he would be interested in writing an article about camp. 

“Sure, what is the title?”

“How about ‘how camp prepared me for college?”

“I’ll think about it,” was his reply.

Four hours later, he sent me the following article. I'll split it into two different posts, as it's quite the letter.

I hope you enjoy it.

Steve Baskin 

 

“How camp prepared me to leave home and thrive in college.”

Liam Baskin

 

When you are growing up – or indeed, at any time in your life – one of the worst things imaginable is the idea of being alone.