Displaying items by tag: Overnight Camp
Every year, Kohl's recognizes and rewards young volunteers (ages 6-18) across the country for amazing contributions to their communities. This year we are recognizing more than 2,100 kids with more than $415,000 in scholarships and prizes. We know our SNC Camp kids are always getting involved. TELL US YOUR STORY and we will nominate you to Khol’s Cares Scholarship Program
Mid-states camping Conference was a wonderful time when 11 staff member all met to learn more about being a great camp counselor. There were many good classes running from 8am till 11pm. It was hard work but we did make a little time for some arts and crafts and a swim.... Do you see any folks you do not know? Look Close and See Tom -our new nurse, David and Emily (Zach’s little sister)see all the photos
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Learning lessons about self-reliance, self-confidence, exploration, and responsibility are all important metrics of a successful summer camp experience. At Swift we look to promote the below trits.
Self-Reliance
At Swift we steer young people away from dependence on their parents and toward independence and self-reliance. Because parents are not present to guide their children’s decisions, kids at camp must identify the resources that can help them meet personal and group goals, resolve conflicts, and find success for themselves.
When campers get on the bus or see their parents drive away, often this is a childs first time of being on their own. For others it does not hit till the next morning when mom wouldn't be there to wake them or make their bed. Our goal as Swift counselors is to introduced campers to something new but not hold a campers hand the entire time. Camp is all about active learning. Campers often try something the first time and if they can’t figure it out counselors would be there for guidance.
Self-Confidence
Campers gain self-confidence when they find meaningful, fulfilling educational and social experiences at camp, interpret those experiences correctly, and have reasonable, achievable expectations for success.
At Swift Nature Camp children are challanged to work toward getting Achievement Awards. Campers realize these awards serve as a much greater purpose than just handing out patches. It is not always essential for campers to become the best at whatever they choose to do, but it is essential that they feel they've accomplished something. Our Final Banqutte recognizes campers for their accomplishments which helps to build self-confidence. Yet, often for those who do not participate in the awards program just being away from home is an accomplishment that builds self-confidence.
Exploration
Camp is, in short, about learning: learning about oneself, learning about others, and learning about new ways to approach the world. Self-confidence leads to learning through exploration of one's interests, abilities, and relationships. To maximize exploration, young people need to feel safe — free from fear of ridicule, sarcasm, or insult. Creating a community of caring where young people feel comfortable moving beyond their "comfort zone" to the "challenge zone" promotes exploration.
Counselors at Swift are always there to make children feel safe yet, in their own ways they encouraged kids to step outside of their comfort zone and take a risk. This creates a developed of trust with staff and in turn with the entire camp community. Whether campers on the water, on a field, or in a cabin, they always know that the counselors and the camp would be there fore them.
Responsibility
Beyond the buddies, baseballs, and bonfires lies the true value of the summer camp experience: a heightened sense of personal responsibility for the well-being of others. Research from Students Against Destructive Decisions points out that young people who have attended summer camp are significantly more likely than those who have not to feel good about their relationships and to take positive risks.
At Swift our campers tell us that Swift is their summer home with the greatest people in the world. In fact, campers have made such real friendships that the time they spend at camp each summer was enough to make me feel good the entire year. One of many lifelong things most campers learned at Swift is a conscious responsibility to always be there for my friends and for others.
Life Lessons Learned at Camp
The benefits to young people of a summer at camp have long been discussed and more recently evaluated. What are they? Simply put, they are opportunities. Opportunities not exclusive to camps but rather concentrated at camp, where under the direction, supervision, and influence of caring counselors, young adults can learn to become more independent, more confident, more self-aware, and more giving toward others. These are just some of the life lessons learned at camp says
Stephen Wallace, M.S. Ed.
Swift Nature Camp works hard to promote these qualities in all children that attend. Our Tree of Values helps bring these values to forefront of each child. So much so that each cabin is given a value that they live daily and give skits about. THey even hang a sign on the from of the cabin. See more about this wonderful Children’s Summer Camp .
At camp, children are given ..........
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Enhanced Self-Esteem
Camp offers children many opportunities to become competent. Practicing both new and old skills on a regular basis, it makes sense that there will be improvement. Novices have chances to learn, while those who are more experienced can improve. Learning new skills and improving on old ones builds self-esteem. Children become more independent and self-reliant at camp with their new-found skills.
Trying New Things
Sending your child to camp is giving them an opportunity to try something new. No matter how many after-school programs or lessons a child takes, its likely they will never have the opportunity to try all that is offered at summer camp. In a supportive environment, the child can try at something new. The interesting twist to these activities is that, since campers often don’t know anyone else at camp before they go, they are more willing to try activities that their friends at home might not expect them to. The athlete can try out for the camp play, while the artist may dabble in sports. At camp, children can try new things and set their own goals for success.
Life Skills
Though years later, your child may not remember capture the flag games or the words to a camp song, the life lessons learned at camp will remain. At camp, a child learns how to take responsibility. The child who has never before made a bed, will learn how to smooth out sheets and blankets and tidy up a cubby. Though counselors will remind and encourage, campers quickly take responsibility for personal hygiene, and for more minor health issues, a camper learns to articulate what hurts and how to get help. All of this personal responsibility further fosters a sense of independence and self-esteem. Camp also improves a child’s social skills by making new friends and learning how to reach out to strangers. At camp, children learn to get along with others, all while living together 24 hours a day, learning about courtesy, compromise, teamwork, and respect.
Hidden Benefits of Camp
The benefits of overnight camp are not limited to children, but extend to parents as well. There is relief in knowing that your child is in a safe, exciting environment for the summer. Even if child care isn’t an issue, it’s often hard to find suitable activities for the summer, as well as finding peers for children to interact with. Camp offers entertainment and constant peer company. For parents that have more than one child, camp can give a younger sibling a chance to shine in the older one’s absence. And if you Homeschool camp is a wonderful way to help your child socialize. For families where all the children go to camp, parents have a chance to do things that would not interest the children. When a child makes it clear how excited he or she to go to camp, these parental excursions are guilt free.
Summer Camps Make Kids Resilient
After all, summer camps are places where children get the experiences they need to bolster their range of coping strategies. There are the simple challenges of learning how to build a fire, going on a hike, or conquering........
a high ropes course. There are the much more complex challenges of getting along with a new group of peers, learning how to ask for help from others, or taking manageable amount of risks without a parent following after you.
The best camping experiences offer these opportunities for manageable amounts of risk and responsibility, what I term "the risk takers advantage" (see my book Too Safe for Their Own Good for more examples). The worst camps pander to children as if they are entitled little creatures whose parents are paying big sums of money. Children at camp can't be treated like customers if they are going to get anything out of the experience. They need to be treated like students whose caregivers, the counselors, know what the kids need to grow.
Camps that pull this off and make kids, especially teens, put away the makeup, stash the iPods, get a little dirty and even a little frustrated while having fun and making new friends, are the kinds of camps that offer children the best of what they need. Looking at those experiences from the vantage point of my research on resilience, I know that camps help our children develop great coping strategies when they provide seven things all children need:
1) New relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than their parents. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate on your own with an adult for what you need.
2) A powerful identity that makes the child feel confident in front of others. Your child may not be the best on the ropes course, the fastest swimmer, or the next teen idol when he sings, but chances are that a good camp counselor is going to help your child find something to be proud of that he can do well.
3) Camps help children feel in control of their lives, and those experiences of self-efficacy can travel home as easily as a special art project or the pine cone they carry in their backpack. Children who experience themselves as competent will be better problem-solvers in new situations long after their laundry is cleaned and the smell of the campfire forgotten.
4) Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camps is that every child starts without the baggage they carry from school. They may be a geek or the child with dyslexia. At camp they will both find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. No camps tolerate bullying (and if they do, you should withdraw your child immediately).
5) At camp kids get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, fresh air, exercise, a balance between routine and unstructured time, and all the good food their bodies need. Not that smores (marshmallows, chocolate and graham cracker treats) don't have a place at the campfire, but a good camp is also about helping children find healthy lifestyles.
6) Perhaps best of all, camps offer kids a chance to feel like they belong. All those goofy chants and team songs, the sense of common purpose and attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted.
7) And finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. It might be skit night, or a special camp program that reflects the values of the community that sponsors the camp, or maybe it's just a chance for children to understand themselves a bit more as they learn about others. Camps give kids both cultural roots and the chance to understand others who have cultures very different than their own.
That's an impressive list of factors that good camping experiences provide our children. Whether it is a subsidized day camp in a city or a luxurious residential facility up in the mountains, camps can give our kids a spicy combination of experiences that prepare them well for life. Add to that experience the chance for a child's parents to reinforce at home what the child nurtures at camp, and maybe, just maybe, we'll find in our communities and schools amazing kids who show the resilience to make good decisions throughout their lives.
Oh sure, I remember the days when I was a camper but over the last 40 plus years
I know my mind has altered the memories. Here in the enclosed info is the story line
of an overnight camper and how his story is much like that of a Hero form a book.
New Campers: A Hero’s Journey
I was first introduced to the story pattern of the Hero’s Journey when I took a screenwriting course in college and read The Writer’s Journeywhich uses the Hero’s Journey concept to help storytellers create their story. The Hero’s Journey describes the stages the main character (the hero or heroine) goes through in nearly every story in existence from plays to books to film.
The Hero’s Journey can also relate to our own personal lives and the lives of those around us. In fact, using the Hero’s Journey a person can find inspiration to create their own extraordinary life story.
But this is not a post about you or me. It’s not about creating or bringing meaning to our own story. Instead it’s about the journey that first time campers take, how they go through the stages of a hero’s journey. The next post I write will be about how we can enhance that journey and help our young heroes and heroins to grow and become better people through this experience we call summer camp.
The Stages
Stage 1 – Ordinary World
Every Hero starts off in the mundane world. They go to school, participate in activities, etc. But many times they have this feeling that something is missing, that there is more out there. Most kids have this sense of adventure and exploration that isn’t met at school or in the city. With dangers all around, parents don’t allow their children to stay out of the house and explore their surroundings like they used to years ago. That sense of adventure stays inside them, laying dormant.
Stage 2 – The Call to Adventure
In every Hero’s journey there is a moment when they get the Call to Adventure. For future campers they may hear about camp from an enthusiastic friend or from their parent who has sent away for a brochure. Some kids may have found information online. No matter how they found out about camp they have been Called to this new Adventure that awaits them and all the exciting opportunities it brings.
Stage 3 – Refusal of the Call
Now, our Hero, our future camper, has heard the Call to Adventure but is nervous about it. There are so many unknowns; will I make friends, will I have to shower with others, I’ll miss home, what if I don’t like it, will there be spiders in the cabin, will the other kids make fun of my snoring, will I like the food, are there bears, etc. This new adventure can be exciting but it can also be dangerous (and possibly life-threatning). It wouldn’t be a real adventure otherwise. Our Hero is refusing the Call to Adventure.
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Creative License
Here is where I change the pattern of the Hero’s Journey a bit. In the classic version the Hero meets a Mentor that guides him or her to heed the Call to Adventure. So step 4 would be Meeting with the Mentor. Step 5 is Crossing the Threshhold where our Hero commits to the Adventure. In my structure those two steps are reversed as the Mentor in this typical scenario is the camp counselor that helps our Heros and Heroines through the tests of the Journey.
Now back to our story…
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Stage 4 – Crossing the Threshold
Our Hero is now encouraged to answer the Call by parents, other family members, friends and even camp videos. Through this encouragement many children finally decide to commit to the Journey. They are going to camp. This commitment leads to all kinds of feelings and emotions. The camp fee has been paid and our Hero is gathering his/her gear for this Adventure (sleeping bag, toiletries, camera, clothes, etc.) and the feeling of excitement mixes with dread and anxiety. But our Hero must have courage (taking action in the face of fear). They must go forward. And our Hero does. They take the drive to camp and cross the Threshold onto the camp property where there are new sounds and sights. This is an unfamiliar place that is scary. Our Hero is committed though.
Stage 5 – Meeting with the Mentor
Now our Hero meets their Mentor, the camp counselor. The Mentor is confident, wise and protective. The Mentor knows that our Hero must face challenges during this Adventure but is there to help guide them through. The Mentor understands that our Hero will have to stretch him or herself, that they will grow as people through this experience.
While the Mentor may want to shield our Hero from adversity by letting them sit out of the challenges a camper faces (community living, camp competitions, high ropes course, swimming, performing, etc.) they also are wise enough to know that these challenges, these trials, are improtant to the Hero’s Journey.
Stage 6 – Tests, Allies and Enemies
Our Hero will face tests during this Journey. Our Hero may not know it but he/she is on a Journey for Treasure. That Treasure is completion of the Journey. It’s like a treasure chest filled with all the experiences, personal growth, relationships and memories that the Journey brings. But no treasure is worth having if there aren’t obstacles, challenges, tests, adversity.
The good news is that our Hero will not only have a Mentor but also Allies that will help our Hero get through it all. If our Hero goes to the pool for swim instruction their Ally will be the swim instructor. On the archery range it’s the archery instructor. Our Hero also has a cabin or group full of Allies (and possibly a few Enemies, which is also part of the Journey). These peer Allies will be important when it comes to camp competitions, ropes courses and team building, performing skits and evening activities such as camp dances.
Stage 7 – Approach to the Innermost Cave
On the first day of camp our Hero has met their Mentor and Allies, heard about the upcoming tests and challenges and have possibly met some Enemies (bullies, inner fear, bad food). At some point during the Journey our Hero will venture into the Innermost Cave, the darkest place they can imagine, the ultimate test. For many first time campers at resident (sleep-away) camp that Cave is night time where they will face their worst enemy - homesickness. As night approaches our Hero feels a knot growing in the pit of their stomach. They begin to think about home and mom and the safety of their rooms. Even their little brother, who they fight with constantly, is being missed right now. If our Hero has not created Allies or has created more Enemies than Allies at this point then homesickness will be strong.
For other campers the Innermost Cave can be the fear of heights on a ropes course, the fear of drowning in the pool, the fear of body image when in the community shower, the fear of not making friends, the fear of being made fun of or losing a camp challenge.
Stage 8 – The Ordeal
Our Hero must now deal with their fear. Hopefully the Mentor has recognized that our Hero is in the Cave facing his or her ultimate camp fear and is able to give our Hero advice on how to deal with it. Allies can also be a big part of getting through the Cave. For example, if our Hero has a fear of heights then his/her Allies will encourage our Hero to persevere as our Mentor gives clear, calm instructions. If our Hero does not face his/her demons then the Treasure may be lost to them. If homesickness leads to the parents taking our Hero home, if our Hero never leaves the gound at the high ropes course, if fear keeps our Hero from entering the water, then the memory of the Journey will be tainted, the sense of accomplishment will be lost, our Hero will not have stretched himself/herself and will have the hole in their soul to prove it. They MUST accomplish the task.
Stage 9 – Reward
Our Hero has conquered the fear, climbed the mountain, seized the sword, vanquished the dragon. They have emerged from their Ordeal. This was their initiation. They should now be recognized as special, a part of the select few that have conquered their fear. Now is the time for celebration. This may be an ending campfire, a group celebration of cheers and whoops, a token or trophy of their accomplishment or even a proud look from a mentor.
Stage 10 – The Road Back
Our Hero has done it – gone through all the experiences camp has to offer (and then some). The Treasure has been earned. Camp is over. Now it is time for our Hero to leave this Special World and return to the Ordinary World. But our Hero is not the same person they used to be. The Journey has strengthened them. Camp is no longer an unknown and scary place. It is a place of wonder filled with friends and Allies – a place where our Hero has learned that he or she can be courageous and do things they didn’t think possible. It is a place that taught them they could be without electronics, a place they found independence, a place they stretched and grew.
Stage 11 – Resurrection
But the story does not end there. Now that our Hero is home they must cope with a new Ordeal – the Oridanary World. The excitement fades as the Special World is out of site. Our Hero wants to return to the place of wonder, but they cannot. They have left a place of acceptance, encouragement, love, peace, challenge and accomplishment only to return to a harsh reality. This seperation anxiety is tough for many Heroes. Their new friends and Allies are missed, as is the Mentor who guided them through so much.
Camp is a place where kids can be someone else, someone better. They can start fresh. When they come home they return to the people that know them and their weaknesses. These people (family and hometown friends) weren’t there to see the strength our Hero used and the accomplishments our Hero made.
This is a time of rebirth, where our Hero sheds the personality of camp and builds a new one suitable for the Ordinary World, taking the lessons they learned on their Journey and fusing that with the best parts of their old selves – like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.
Stage 12 – Return with The Elixer
Now that our Hero has returned to the Ordinary Life and has ressurected into their new selves they bring back with them the Elixer – stories, pictures, momentos of their Journey, their Adventure, that they can share with others. This may inspire friends to go on journeys of their own. This may be the Call of Adventure for others that hear our Hero’s tales. The Elixer is the final part of our Hero’s Journey. It is the proof that our Hero was there, that he or she vanquished the dragon showing all others what is possible and that it is a Journey worth taking.
Once everyone back home has heard the tales our Hero has brought back – the time is right to plan the next journey.
this article is from http://summercampprogramdirector.com/new-campers-a-heros-journey/
Our kids will need to find a way to reconnect with our natural environment to become participants in a global effort to restore ecological balance. Environmental awareness begins with a sense of personal connection to nature.
How do parents bring back balance to a child’s experience? One answer has been around since the 1920’s: summer camp. Modern summer camps can guide kids back into a natural alliance with nature through the pure fun of movement. The challenges of summer camp are fun rather than stressful, but they are no less effective for developing a child’s sense of confidence and independence.
One good example of a modern “green” summer camp is Swift Nature Camp near Minong, Wisconsin. The directors have developed policies that promote camper experience perfectly attuned to the needs of the times, without sacrificing the great fun and memorable friendships that are the classic benefits of summer camp.
Jeff and Lonnie Lorenz, directors of Swift Nature Camp, begin with their policy on electronic devices. “We do not permit cellular phones, BlackBerries, pagers, radios, iPods, cassette or CD players, laser pens, TVs, Game Boys or digital cameras. They simply are not what camp is about.”
Swift Nature Camp combines traditional camp activities with ways to immerse themselves in and learn about nature is likeliest to succeed in inspiring environmental awareness in campers.
The Sierra Club, through its volunteer John Muir Education Committee, operates the John Muir Youth Award in the U.S.A. Interested schools, nature centers, youth camps, or individuals are welcome to participate! The first John Muir Youth Award recipients in the USA were 19 students from the John Muir School in Portage, Wisconsin, located near Muir's boyhood home, and was awarded in June, 1997. Read on to learn how to enter!
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Hey!
Jacob here, I will be in the Nature Center this summer teaching you all about the big beautiful outdoors.. I like to fish, hunt and play sports. This is my first summer at camp but at school I’m studying youth programming and camp management. I love being outside and making new friends... ( this is my new friend here in the picture :) It is going to be a great summer!
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Modern times have come to call for change in the way we prepare our children to live life in the world they will inherit. Our kids simply must find a way to reconnect with our natural environment as they grow up. The global effort to restore ecological balance will need aware participants at every level. Environmental awareness always begins with a personal sense of connection to nature.
Parents can bring back awareness of nature to a child’s experience. Summer camp has been around since the 1920’s and is still an effective way to bring back balance to a child’s life. Trained staff members of modern summer camps can guide kids back into an alliance with nature through the pure fun of camp activities. The challenges of summer camp activities are fun rather than stressful, making them even more effective for learning how we are a part of nature.
Most directors of quality modern summer camps have developed policies that encourage camper experience that reconnects the camper to nature without sacrificing the great fun and memorable friendships that are the classic benefits of summer camp. One such policy is simple and sweeping: beginning by not permitting cellular phones, BlackBerries, pagers, radios, iPods, cassette or CD players, laser pens, TVs, Game Boys or digital cameras. Children forget that life is possible without these ubiquitous accessories. Not including them in the camp experience brings children a revelation: they find out that they can actually have fun and enjoy themselves living without those things.
A camp that combines traditional camp activities such as hiking, canoe trips and horseback riding with modern ways for campers to learn about nature will succeed in instilling environmental awareness in campers. Learning is potentially much more effective because it is associated with fun and friendships.
Summer camps have added modern awareness of health and nutrition to the established means of meeting physical needs such as good hygiene, exercise, and teamwork. Modern summer camps can offer a healthy menu that still includes foods that kids enjoy. A salad bar at lunch and dinner that includes a choice of fresh vegetables and salads is an example of this. Vegetarian meals should be made available to campers who have that preference. Fresh fruit can be made available all day for snacks. Nutrition is a part of a modern summer camp’s “green” approach to total wellness that includes providing means to develop of a camper’s positive self esteem, build friendships, and promote having FUN.
When they are discussing a possible choice of a camp with a camp’s directors, parents should ask about the sustainability of that camp’s own day-to-day ecological practices. How do they conserve energy and water and recycle? What is the camp doing to take responsibility for its own environmental footprint? Learning is a combination of information and participation. If a summer camp’s practices don’t reflect their talk, campers aren't going to absorb important messages about their own relationship with nature. Summer camps are becoming aware of the effects they are having on their immediate environment. Camp directors should be looking at the big picture and showing care for the earth as well as their campers.
