A Dilemma We Can't Fix
Many of our Greystone families will face a difficult dilemma in August… they have daughters who are aging out of a short session and now must choose a longer session because of our age limits. This feels unfair… you wonder why do we don’t let older girls come to short sessions… often you ask us why.
It’s a good question. We sympathize with where you are coming from but also feel that it is a problem we can’t fix.
Greystone used to only offer one session (eight weeks, grades 1-11). Then we added a 3 week session for grades 1-7 and later added a 2 week session for the same age group (7th graders as the oldest campers). We soon reduced the maximum age for the 2 week session to our current 6th grade because 7th graders just didn’t respond as well with one less week. When we added the Junior session, we did so for grades 1-5 (reducing the maximum age to the 4th grade after a few years because 5th grade was too old for that simple experience). You see the point… The shorter the session the younger the girls. This is the formula that works best at Greystone.
Why is this true? We don’t know for sure. All we know is that when Greystone works, it is spectacular in an obvious way with every grade group. We double down on any policies that lead to great outcomes. We have found that camper age limits are an important component to a good camp experience.
We occasionally change this policy… we did so several years ago for August Camp (reducing the maximum age from 7th grade to 6th grade) and later at Main Camp (expanding the minimum age from 1st grade to 3rd grade). Both of these decisions arose after careful consideration. We do not have any plans to change the grade limits, but re-visit the policy routinely.
We thnk:
- Older girls flourish with more time. They need time for four-fold growth, quick sessions don’t impact teenagers very deeply.
- Older girls thrive with deeper connections, and more time is the best way to facilitate those connections.
- It works… We continue to set records with the number of senior campers who come to Main Camp (this year we have the most in history, for the third year in a row).
We ask that you trust that this is a good policy for your daughter. We ALWAYS want our campers to want more… to really want to return after their last year. This is how our 11th graders feel when they leave, and it is a good feeling to have for our 6th and 7th graders too.
A few details of the day:
- The Little Mermaid was fantastic! Technical problems with the Livestream not withstanding, it was an unqualified success!
- Breakfast: Sausage Biscuits
- Lunch: Meat Loaf and Mashed Potatoes
- Dinner: BBQ Ribs and Baked Beans
- EP: Council Fire and Closing Vespers
- Weather: warm temperatures with scattered showers
Talked about Spiritual growth for the last time today. Encouraged the girls to check out our online devotions which can be delivered to your email every day. A simple resource intended for year round growth that is enjoyed by MANY who never attended camp (we got an email from a non camp fan last week). At Council Fire we will talk about kindness and unselfishness, the secret of Greystone.
