I am the Office Manager here at camp full time. I love camp; I have always loved camp since I first stepped onto this property in 1999 and I will continue to love camp forever. Over 15 years and four or five different titles, three things remain constant and keep the magic of this place alive:
*Caroline completed her M.S. in Clinical Social Work from The University of Texas in 2013. As part of her degree, she studied the health and developmental benefits for children of having opportunities for creative play.
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We get to talk with lots of prospective parents throughout the year about whether Camp Champions might be a good fit for their family, and that means that we get to answer lots of good questions.
One question that comes up frequently is how siblings handle being at camp together. Will they get to see each other? Will they be able to have time away from each other? Does camp help with sibling rivalry or exacerbate it? What if we have two, three, four, or more kids coming to camp? What about twins?
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**This is a continuation of our Counselor Skills Series, where we share some of the specific training we do with our counselors to make sure that your children enjoy the benefit of getting to know exceptional role models while at camp. You can find the other articles in this series here: Homesickness, Discipline, and The First 48 Hours.
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Girls starting as young as four and five are asking, “Am I fat?” The correlation between concern over self-worth and body image is becoming more pervasive and more problematic. Girls are comparing themselves against the unrealistic measuring sticks of magazine models and movie stars. They are not finding pride in their athleticism, their humor, their communication skills, or their resilience. Young women are defining their self-worth based solely on the size of their skirts.
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Every summer, we hear the same question from parents:“When can WE go to camp?”
Well, there is an answer – FAMILY CAMP.
Each fall, we open camp to families for a weekend. This fall, we will have family camp from September 28-30.
Family Camp is your opportunity to jump on the glob, go down the zip line, climb a wall, ride on water toys, ski, shoot archery, eat s’mores and attend a torchlight. You get to share the experiences of camp with your whole family.
There are a few modifications. The biggest is food. We will be having some camp favorites for the kids, but we also augment the menu to reflect adult tastes.
Also, unlike camp, we allow Family Campers to have adult beverages. Of course, our counselors will not be drinking while they are working, but Susie Ma'am and Steve Sir truly enjoy sharing a glass of wine with dear camp friends.
If you think you would like to join us for Family Camp, please check out this link (2018 Family Camp). We hope to see you there!
Steve Sir
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This is always an odd blog to write – the last of the summer. Since parents are coming tomorrow, it does not make sense to write one for Saturday, so this is the final one.
The blog is a bit of a mixed blessing. It gives me a chance to share thoughts and feelings with our treasured parents. I think of it as a small gift to you. We know that we serve families, not just children, and the articles and photos are our effort to share with you.
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A parent shared the following article with me this week: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/parents-put-down-the-cellphones/2014/08/08/0fb48ba4-1db8-11e4-82f9-2cd6fa8da5c4_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opnsat&wpmm=1
In it, the writer (a pediatrician) describes a situation where a father came in with his 2-year-old. The toddler was suffering with an ear infection. During the entire examination the father was glued to his phone. When the doctor gave the pair his diagnosis, the toddler picked up his iPhone and asked, “Siri, what is an ear infection?”
As you might imagine, the writer was shocked that the little boy opted for Siri rather than his own father to answer this simple question. While this is a very extreme example, it points to a trend that is worrisome: while many of us are spending more time with our children than our parents did (various studies have the number between a 40% increase to a 400% increase), we are spending much of it digitally distracted.
The writer observes “the undivided attention that children need from us is in jeopardy. Most people just don’t realize how much time they’re spending online; what feels like a few minutes is often a half hour or more. When we are with our children, we need to be with our children — not with them except for the part of us that’s reading e-mails, tweeting and checking Facebook.”
I do not know about you, but I felt a pang as I read this. I take my role as a parent very seriously. In fact, it is the most important calling in my life. But I could not read this without seeing myself making the same mistakes. I have given my children less than 100% of my attention because of a text or email comes in. While I do not look at the phone during meals, I have found myself engrossed in an email during a vacation when I should have been simply focused on one of our four children.
It does not happen a lot, but enough to send them very mixed signals. We have prided ourselves as the parents that gave their children phones after all their peers and have managed their “screen time”. But here was a chance to model face-to-face time and I was missing it.
I am fortunate that I was raised by parents that got most of it very right. In particular, I see my mother (the Silver Fox) as perhaps the wisest person I have ever met and my parenting role model. When I think of my interactions with her, I remember her as always fully present. When we spoke, she was completely in the room with me. Her complete attention made me feel loved and valued.
I was missing chances to do that consistently with my children.
Do not get me wrong, I do not want our kids to think they are the center of the universe (a parenting mistake that also raises its head a lot in modern America). The Silver Fox did not make me feel like royalty, but instead she modeled a way to respect and acknowledge others.
Last night, I picked up one of our 17 year-old sons from the airport (he had been at debate camp for 5 weeks in New Hampshire) and I resolved to be better. I had the radio off and we both pocketed our phones. We simply reveled in our conversation. I now know MUCH more about modern high school debating techniques, tricks and tactics than I imagined existed, but that is not relevant. What is relevant is that for the 80 minute drive, we were fully present with each other.
I am striving to create a series of habits going forward. Rather than look to my phone in “down” moments, I want to look up around me. I want to schedule times to be tech-free and times to answer correspondences. I suspect I will be a less available texter, but that might simply be the price of my new resolution.
This comes naturally at camp, but the post camp months are harder. I think I am sharing this now so that I will feel an extra level of commitment.
Several years ago, some of our Senior Campers resolved to adopt “No Text Tuesday” as a way to manage they phone dependence. Ironically, I think I need to follow their lead and have some arbitrary rules to remind me that face-to-face trumps screen-to-screen.
Steve Sir
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As the summer goes on, I find myself lacking insight. I have had a chance to comment on so much of camp over the past 8-9 weeks and I fight the urge to become redundant. I realize that few of you read anything I wrote previously, but I still strive to provide fresh thoughts into life as a camp director.
Lacking a clear inspiration, I decided to answer this question – what are the best parts of being a camp director?
My friends from school often ask this question and are a bit surprised at the answer. I think they assume that I will saw I love the active life and the waterskiing. Or maybe they expect me to comment on the silliness of camp life.
Instead, I share my two great joys: watching campers grow and seeing counselors shine.
Because camp is such an unusual environment, it facilitates a lot of growth in a short period of time. We grow most when we are out of our comfort zones and when confronted with unusual challenges. Camp does both. Campers leave the familiarity of home, parents, pets, siblings, TV, school and “normal life” for something entirely different. They are no longer in bedrooms by themselves or with just one sibling, but now have 9-13 cabinmates. The activities are novel and exciting, but they are also often challenging. The schedule is new and the location unfamiliar. Even the language is odd. They will hear about the “Fillin’ Station” (dining hall), the Parthenon (the boys’ gym), Acropolis (the girls’ office), the Ill Eagle’s Nest (the health center) and Home Plate (the main office).
All of this throws even the most confident child into a little disarray. But from this disarray, growth follows. Once the camper understands the lingo, knows the schedule, makes friends, bonds with counselors and conquers a few activities, he or she beams with a new confidence. The fact that parents are not around only makes these victories sweeter and more significant – they belong solely to the camper.
Growth starts in these moments, but it continues every day. As campers resolve conflicts with friends, they hone interpersonal skills. As they reach out to others, they become more selfless and also more optimistic. Overcoming a fear of heights (or boats or bugs or anything else) fosters confidence in the ability to navigate future challenges.
I see the growth continuing every year. In fact, the high school years (our Senior Camper program) might be host the most opportunities for growth as the Senior Campers learn to lead, work as a team and serve something other than themselves. This group is also fun to work with because they are cognitively capable of articulating their growth.
I simply love watching campers develop competence and confidence.
My second joy is the opportunity to work with the young people who are part of our team. We often hear that this generation of teens and college-aged students are self-absorbed with a weak work ethic. While this might be the case in the aggregate, I see something completely different here.
I see passion and complete commitment. Our counselors work 16+ hour days, 7 days a week. They get one full day off every 3 weeks. During the week, they will get 3 evenings off and 2 lunches off. If my math is correct, that ends up being around 90 hours “on”. By the way, this does not include anytime they might need to wake up in the middle of the night to help a camper.
They put in these hours while in close quarters without the traditional comforts of technology, like computers, TV, AC or their phones.
Yet they do so because they have a sense of purpose and mission. They want to impact their campers in powerful, positive and (the hopefully) lastly ways. They are engaged, optimistic and fun.
Our Leadership Team of 27 is the cream of this already great crop. They have all been honor counselors in the past and are now working as supervisors and mentors. Susie Ma’am and I meet with each morning to discuss the day and any triumphs or challenges that we are facing. Even when tired, their default approach is “what does the team need me to do?”
At the top of this team is our directors and full timers: Leah Ma’am (the girls’ director), Craw Ma’am (Leah’s assistant), Erec Sir (the boy’s director), George Sir (Erec’s assistant), Kirksey Sir and Robbie Sir (the activity directors) and Moak Sir (the associate director). Between the 9 of us, we have over 120 summers of camp experience. But what really excites me about this group is the fact that they are both committed and fun. They make us feel young and they keep us excited to attach each day.
With all of this in mind, I find myself having mixed thoughts about the next two weeks. I am SO excited about the campers here, but I am somewhat ruing the end of the camp season.
So – consider yourselves warned. I might get a little sentimental during the last week.
Steve Sir
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