Camp Champions Blog

Every August after camp ends, we spend several days brainstorming ideas to improve camp.  We read the parent surveys, share comments from our staff and make our own observations.

We then create a list of potential projects.  From there, we call colleagues from other camps to ask about their summers.  We read articles and we call experts.

After all of this, we come up with a final project list.

This year, it was ridiculous.  Most of you already know about the physical improvements.  I will not go into detail, but let me briefly outline them:

1. The Outdoor Cooking Pavilion – I told you about this yesterday.
2. Herb Garden at the OCP – With a great facility, we wanted great ingredients.
3. Petting zoo – pygmy goats, pigs, tortoise, box turtle and bunnies.  I am already getting great stories from the campers.
4. Rainbow Serpent – new element at the Ropes Course.  We will show pictures later.
5. New Rookie Bathroom – we finally demolished the original bathroom and built a brand new, highly attractive one.
6. New Entryway – you saw some of it at opening, it will be finished by closing!
7. Rebuilt Boathouse – bigger, more slips, more solid, really cool.
8. New top-of-the-line Nautique Ski Boat – featuring the colors of the Jamaican flag, this 22.5 foot v-drive boat is the best we have ever had (and is now the pride of our 5 boat fleet).
9. The Jungle Joe Inflatable Water Toy – I hope you have seen pictures – much fun.
10. 10. Bigger and more buoyant Lily Pad on the girls side – the girls love to hang out and chat on the lily pad during free swim.  The new one just makes it better.
11. 11. Rock-It Inflatable Water Toy (in the pool) – the campers have adored this addition.  I am sure you have seen pictures of the campers climbing on, rocking and playing.
12. 12. Improved Indy Track – over the past 4 years, we have bought new go-carts, added a tunnel, signs and flags.  This year, we widened the course, laid down a better surface and banked the turns slightly.
13. 13. New Horse Corral- the fence around the corral had become tired and unattractive.  We put in a massive welded pipe structure that is safer and better looking.
14. 14. Trees – we always plant between 8 and 12 trees each year.  We were on the high side this year.
15. 15. Stand-Up Paddleboards – We are so excited to add a new water activity this year.  I tried one last year and loved it!
16. 16. Resided all rookie cabins and several girl cabins.  We also added new doors.
17. 17. Fillin’ Station extension – No camper will ever see this, but it makes live easier for the kitchen crew, giving them more storage and a break space.

Whew!  We have never taken on this many projects in one year.  As you might imagine, we have been busy.  During January, we had 5 different crews working at camp.  We called it the Camp Champions’ Stimulus Program.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about a scheduling change we made this year that is making for a lot of happy campers!!!

Steve Sir

Opening the OCP

It is almost 11:00 and your children are in bed and resting for another day at camp.
Camp is peaceful. A light breeze blows through the screens and the cabins are cool and quiet. I often take this time to share some thoughts with you.

Yesterday, we had a powerful guest speaker, Shawn Achor.  He is an international consultant, author of The Happiness Advantage and the teacher of the most popular course at Harvard for 3 years.

What he shared with us was both powerful and useful.  Here are some of the highlights.

I came to the summer camp experience late in life.

After over 40 weeks without campers, our first little ones will arrive this Sunday!  All of our counselors are here and cannot wait for camp to start.

This Sunday afternoon, think about all the Kindergarteners and 1st Graders that will be arriving.  I hope that puts a huge smile on your face - it does mine!

It is May.

Camp starts in May.

This is cool.

In less than 2 weeks, our Leadership Team and all of our counselors will be arriving to bond, train and ready camp for our campers.  We have a fantastic group coming in.  I know the Leadership Team will be as good as any we have ever had.  We are also excited about the counselors that will join us.  It is a wonderful mix of returning favorites, senior camper graduates and new-to-CC folks.  We are putting the finishing touches on Orientation.  This is going to be fun.

We have had to do a little extra hiring.  We have been elated by the excitement and interest in camp this spring.  The phones are ringing all the time and we are signing up new families in the few slots that we have left.

We mostly cannot wait to see the campers!  We are all passionate about the powerful benefits of camp on children, but we only get to work with the campers for 3 months.  The rest of the year, we are planning improvements, recruiting counselors and learning how to be even more effective.  We are particularly excited about some of the improvements this summer:

• The Screamer!
• The huge (24 foot!) fan in the Parthenon
• The modifications to the schedule that has more morning classes than afternoon classes
• The new Fire Truck (we are constantly thinking of new ways to use this thing)
• Hampster Balls, booger wars and lazer tag (during All Camp Fun Day)
• A few other surprises

So, if you are a camper or counselor, start planning your Dance outfits and practicing your favorite camp songs, because CAMP IS COMING SOON!!

Here at Camp Champions we think it's important to make sure that camp is in great shape for the upcoming summer, but we also spend time giving back to the community in many ways. We take care of our adopted 2 mile section of Highway 1431 by maintaining it throughout the year. We clean this portion of the road a total of 6 times a year. During each of the 3 terms throughout the summer, our Senior Campers go out and pick up trash and make the road a prettier site to see. Our counselors also do a cleanup during orientation. In addition to this, our Outdoor School Staff go out to beautify the road twice a year.

We at Camp Champions usually do not publicly support one team versus another.  We have campers that are fans of all major teams, so we want to respect their passions.

Not this year.  Not this Super Bowl.