Weekly Update: June 9th, 2024

Your kids are so cool. Think about it. This morning, almost three hundred 8-17 year olds loaded into planes, buses, shuttles, vans and cars to come to camp. They came from as far as Jakarta to as close as Florissant. Some traveled alone, some arrived with an entourage, but all of them were experiencing what a camp mom today called, “skited”–a combination of “scared” and “excited.” It’s a combination platter of curiosity, apprehension, possibility, joy, nervousness and hope.

Yesterday, during our final professional development “mini-conference” as a staff, we hosted an “Ask the Directors” session during which one of our staff members asked, “How can I be more like I am at camp in the outside world?” After a robust discussion in the group, we realized that it isn’t what we “are” at camp that feels so elusive, it is actually being “with” the sheer density of really cool, amazing individuals (including your kids) who make the choice to be a little bit “skited” and a little bit outside of their comfort zone both here and in other places in their lives…because that is where living and growth occurs.

This is a community built on respect and belonging. At Big Spring tonight, the entire lodge sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” to a brand new camper on his very first day at camp. At High Trails, the JCs led the “state” song and people across the lodge jumped up and down cheering and pointing at each other every time their shared state was named. Later, during the cabin and ridge meetings, campers and staff established community norms, played icebreaker games, met their JCs and Outbackers (the oldest campers who are near-peer role models and outdoor leaders), and talked about the days ahead. Structure and planning is important to help lead fantastic, safe and engaging trips and activities, yet when the natural world makes other plans, we have to surrender our desire for certainty and just figure it out.

While Big Spring campers were playing field games and High Trails campers were singing songs in Heisler Hall during Vespers (our non-denominational weekly community gathering) we had our first major rainstorm of 2024–the last big precipitation we had here was about 14 inches of snow in May. There was lightning, thunder and lots of rain and as we were driving a group of campers back to their cabin, one of the campers said, “At least this means we can have campfires and s’mores on our overnight.” “Yes!” cried her seatmate, “LOTS of s’mores!’

There WILL be many campfires later this week as campers head out on their cabinside/unit overnight, a foundational trip where campers will learn and practice LNT camping skills which they will use for the rest of camp. Tomorrow, campers will hike with their cabin and tent mates, take living unit photos, continue to define their community norms and, for the month-long campers, fill out their trip sign up sheets so they can craft their own individual summer experience.

Along with the overnight, Sanborn Junior campers will ride horses, swim at the pool, go rock scrambling, and explore the learning centers like our authentic 1890’s Quick Homestead, our Ute Tipi Camp and the Interbarn, our hands-on nature and science center. They will also participate in the evening and all-camp events within their camps…just wait until you hear stories about the Counselor Hunt or the Adventure Race! Check out the calendar in your Camp InTouch “Forms and Documents”tab to see a sample overview of the Sanborn Junior experience (there is an overview month-long calendar for those campers, too).

Speaking of calendars, we post photos every Sunday evening so we can try and capture and collect as many experiences as we can both on and off of the property during our very busy weeks. These photos can be accessed and downloaded for free via the Campanion app (download via the app store or Google Play) or on your computer via your Camp InTouch account. As we shared yesterday, when you upload a recent image of your camper(s), the Campanion app does a better-than-average job of finding photos that include your camper and the app will push those images directly to your phone for viewing, downloading and sharing.

The individuals here aren’t necessarily “cool” in the traditional, exclusive, wanna-be, fit-in, trendy cultural model of“cool.” We are cool because everyone around us at camp lets us be who we are, which makes all of us cool because we aren’t trying to fit in. And, when you get to be yourself in a supportive, respectful community like camp, you will discover that YOU are cool and that YOU belong.

Thank you for helping us build such an incredibly cool community this summer, we are so glad your camper is making it an even cooler place to be.