Parent Update #5

by Ariella Rogge on May 28

Staff training began in earnest this week with our wranglers going out on an overnight horsepacking trip on Wednesday and our staff members leaving for a four day backpacking trip this morning.

We have had some recent questions from parents regarding the impact of camper/staff vaccination on testing, quarantine and the individual camper and community camp experience. Vaccination, in addition to our layered NPI use (mask-wearing, testing, etc.) is another means of minimizing the possibility of viral spread among community and cohort members. We recommend vaccination if your camper is eligible, but it is not required. Please see the attached chart for camp-specific modifications based on vaccination status.

We are very excited to share that all of our seasonal counseling staff who live and work directly with the campers will be fully vaccinated (>14 days beyond their final COVID vaccination) shortly after the arrival of our first term campers. This, in concert with their agreement to engage in low to no risk activities throughout the summer, will provide them with additional opportunities to enjoy Colorado while remaining as safe and healthy as possible.

Since Opening Day will be different this year, we have made a video to show what it will be like for both campers and parents. A few key reminders for campers arriving by car to camp:

  • You have a scheduled arrival time based on your listed preferences and our time slot availability.Campers will be arriving throughout the day (from 7am-5pm). If you need to change this time, or still need a time assigned to you, please email cheryl@sanbornwesterncamps.com
  • Parents and camper visitors will not be able to come into the main camp area on Opening Day or at any time during the session. Parents WILL be able to pick up campers from their living units on Closing Day.
  • On Opening Day, regardless of your vaccination status, we ask that you and your camper/s wear a mask when communicating and interacting with Sanborn staff members and nurses.
  • Camper medications should be kept separate from camper luggage and handed directly to the nurse upon check-in to expedite the process.
  • Pre-camp PCR test results should be printed and given to the nurse upon check-in. This is not required for fully vaccinated campers (>14 days beyond their final COVID vaccination) or those who have had COVID (verified with a positive test result) within 90 days prior to Opening Day.
  • If applicable, please upload your camper’s completed COVID-19 vaccine card into your camper’s Camp InTouch account prior to arrival.
  • In lieu of an Opening Day face-to-face conversation with our nursing staff, our nurses will reach out to discuss medications, medical needs and just to touch base with all camper parents via phone in the next two weeks.

We recognize that the CDC just released new guidance for camps on May 28th. As a childcare licensed facility in the state of Colorado, we are guided by state regulations and not by CDC guidance. Regardless of vaccination status, all campers and staff will need to wear masks in certain situations.

In these next two weeks leading up to Opening Day, we truly appreciate the additional care and caution you are taking to avoid high risk situations and to help keep your camper, and your family, as healthy as possible.

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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.