More is Better
The girls are adjusting to camp very quickly, and good thing… August Camp is a very quick session. Blink and it is over, so we encourage the girls to soak up every minute. They take this advice literally, running to their next class as soon as the bell rings. We are giving the August campers twice as many classes as “normal”… yes, twice as many! In an attempt to improve the camper experience, we decided to try out a rotating schedule for August Camp. Rather than choosing 7 classes that they take every day, they choose 7 to take on MWF and 7 to take on TTS… they LOVE IT!!! With these girls, more is better!
Some girls are taking a favorite class every day, some even choose to take that favorite class twice per day (Waterpark is the class most often taken twice a day). Most girls take different classes all day every day, thereby squeezing more into their “dream summer”. The girls sometimes have their next class very close by (even in the same building if doing Arts), sometimes they have to run to the other side of camp. When the bell rings everyone takes off, running full speed with big smiles or intense looks of concentration. They stagger in quickly, FIRED UP for the next thing.
I find it delightful that the girls run when the bell rings! What exuberance! They might just be going 100 feet, but they will run every foot of that distance. They arrive at the next class so quickly it surprises the counselors who have gotten used to enjoying a quiet moment between classes to collect their thoughts. Their enthusiasm is off the charts, and such enthusiasm spreads like wildfire… It is an amazing experience to live in such a happy community. There are a lot of smiles. Other sessions are more laid back, with campers taking their time to walk and talk between classes. For older girls, the focus is on the people… for younger, the focus is the activity! So it’s good to learn more about our classes.
Let’s “focus” on High Ropes/Adventure. This is one of our most popular areas of camp, very well engineered and carefully optimized for safety. Campers are able to move at their own pace through the 30-plus stations on the ropes course thanks to the Bornack Smart Safety Belay system. The counselor’s attention is thus fully on engaging with the girls: encouraging them when they are tentative, cheering them on when they show exceptional skill, making them laugh, and getting to know them. Camper surveys always rank Ropes and Adventure (two separate activity areas) in the top 5 activities of camp… the classes are fun, and the girls gain a great deal of confidence mastering these apparently scary activities. We LOVE the adventure program and aggressively invest in this area of camp with intensive maintenance and upgrades whenever possible.
August is harvest time in the mountains and the blueberries, blackberries, and tomatoes are in. We will celebrate the moment with a summer lunch menu, serving BLTs for lunch. The homemade bread, local tomatoes, Farm & Garden lettuce, and thick-cut bacon make for a perfect summer meal. The counselors love this lunch… it is a huge morale boost whenever we serve it and this will be the last time we enjoy the best version of the best sandwich ever invented this summer. Not enough days left in camp for us to do another time… so we savor the moment!
The Daily Details:
- Breakfast Scrambled eggs, sausage, fruit & Cereal
- Lunch BLT Sandwiches
- Dinner Chicken Enchaladas
- EP Bungalow and Cabin Lip Sync
- Weather 85 degree high, sunny, 20% chance of afternoon showers.
Thank you for sharing your girls. They are awesome!
