April Update #5

by Ariella Rogge on April 17

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High Trails Leadership Team Meets via Zoom on #alohafriday

The sing-a-long last week provided us with so much joy. It was a wonderful reminder of the power of camp and the connections we have which reach far beyond the summer months. We are excited to announce we will have another Sanborn Sing-A-Long next Wednesday, April 22nd at 4:30pm MDT.

We recognize that the current uncertainty continues to be difficult for everyone, but feel that it would be a mistake to make a decision regarding camp too soon, when new information is emerging daily. The federal stay-at-home order and those of many states expire on April 30 and we expect that more guidance will be coming from the CDC and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment by early May.

Together with other Colorado camps, we are working closely with the Governor’s office to gain clarity on whether we will be allowed to operate and what group size and social distancing guidelines would be required. Governor Jared Polis will announce a decision next week regarding either an extension or relaxation of the Colorado stay-at-home order.

We have made the decision to delay our staff training until June 1. Although originally scheduled to begin on May 27 for our entire staff, we had scheduled some skills-based trainings beginning in mid-May. We have evaluated our training in detail and are confident we can cover the essential topics in a shortened schedule. We will also create online classes for a number of sessions which can be effectively learned in this way. We are extremely fortunate to have a significant number of returning staff this year. They are already certified in a number of important areas including Wilderness First Aid and will be extremely helpful in orienting our new staff members.

We will continue to delay our billing for camp tuition until we have made a decision regarding the summer. We understand that this continued uncertainty may not be sustainable for your family’s summer planning and that you may wish to move forward with a different option for your child’s summer plans. Please let us know if this is the case. You and your children are in our thoughts every day and we are looking forward to connecting again on our next Sanborn Sing Along.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely, Elizabeth, Ariella, Mark, Mike, and Matty

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Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two teenage sons, Lairden and Karsten.