Weekly Update: July 9, 2023

You all have remarkable kids. They climb mountains, tack up horses, play instruments, climb sheer granite rocks, set up campsites, wash dishes, hang bear bags, make their counselors laugh, hug friends when they’re sad, overcome and make the best of challenging situations, zip down a zipline when they are afraid of heights, catch enormous trout, make their beds (sometimes), work with others to accomplish a goal, stay true to their word, apologize when they make a mistake or hurt someone, and, most often, want to help each other and others succeed.

We have learned that when you notice and praise the characteristics and behaviors in others that you hope to see them cultivate, those are the very behaviors and traits those individuals will model back to you. By naming these attributes, we can not only see them in others, we begin to see them in ourselves. This is why the BOOM program at Big Spring and the GROW STRONG initiative at High Trails are so important–they help campers understand, in new ways, their individual strengths and contributions.

Over the last two or four weeks, campers have had multiple supportive adults who have seen their strengths and supported them as they navigated uncomfortable situations. These adults have said things like, “I know this is Type 2 fun…but we will get through this together because you have a phenomenal sense of humor. You always know how to make everyone laugh.” Or “I really appreciate your initiative down at the barn, the wranglers have told me that you do a great job helping other campers saddle their horses.” Or “We can always count on you as a leader and a doer in this community.” Or “Thank you for being so helpful.”

Being helpful and hopeful is what we try and cultivate in this respectful community. Tomorrow morning, both lodges will raise their voices and yell, “What can I do to help?” It is both a reminder to keep moving and focus on the goal (get packed and living spaces cleaned) and also a clarion call that echoes a quote from Fred Rogers, “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”

Your kids have been living in a world of shared responsibility, self-efficacy, autonomy, humility and community–and all of us are better for it. On the Elbert/Massive Big Spring long trip last week, the false peaks and long hike had begun to wear down the campers’ motivation to reach the summit and, suddenly, one of them said, “We’ve got this guys! Just a little bit more!” and one-by-one the encouragement grew until they were the tallest people in Colorado. Today, coming down from High Trails Vespers, a first year camper said, “I didn’t even want to come to camp…and now I don’t want to ever leave.” And, not wanting to be left out of the random walking conversation, a Junior camper who was very homesick last week chimed in, “When I have kids, I want them to BURY me at Sanborn!” (That was just to remind everyone that we do work with children…they DO say the most amazing things…and, even though we wax philosophical sometimes…we love the day-to-day interactions with and authentic inspirations from the campers the very most).

It has been a fantastic two weeks with our Sanborn Junior campers and a remarkable four weeks with our month-long campers. The Big Spring long trips last week were incredibly successful with summits across the full north to south stretch of the central Rocky Mountains and miles upon miles of trails ridden by a large group of enthusiastic riders. High Trails campers climbed multiple mountains–including a day-long, 14 mile round trip “Bomber” hike of Pikes Peak–hit the trail on Horseback 2 Days, zipped down our new zipline at the high ropes course, and were treated to an incredible Mamma Mia themed JC dinner where the singing almost never stopped. Our Sanborn Junior campers went tubing, dug for fossils, slept out under the stars, and enjoyed seeing themselves as part of the All Camp Slideshow last night at the final dance.

The slideshow is always an amazing experience for us as a director team. It is absolutely astounding to see everything that has happened over the month and the hundreds upon hundreds of discreet experiences every camper had while they were here…and, in a 10 minute slideshow, we have still only seen a fraction of those moments. But your kids will be bringing them–and all of their own personal growth and remarkableness–home very soon.

Thank you for sharing them with us this summer and thank you for your confidence in our camps, in our mission and in our youth development goals. You have remarkable kids.