Category: Here Comes the Sun in ’21

At the closing of another year, we had the opportunity to ask campers and staff what gets them excited for Summer 2021 and to share some goals they have set for themselves to make it the best summer yet! Among the top resolutions that are made at the start of each New Year, some of the most common goals can be met while having an AMAZING experience at Camp Woodland:

Eat Healthy: Instead of serving processed food, we provide meals made from “scratch” using the freshest ingredients. No powdered eggs here!

Amelia D. – Aquarius (age 17): be hostess of the year

 

Get Moving: Being a fixture on the couch is not an option during a Woodland summer. All of us are active at camp and get plenty of exercise in the great outdoors. We use our feet to take us just about everywhere we need to go!

Aria – Sunrise (age 7): pass out of swimming
Caroline C. – Treetops (age 13): My goal is to pass out of swimming too!!
Maddie -Sunrise (age 9): to pass my pony club

Reduce Stress: Camp is a great way to “unplug” from the constant “noise” of text messages, emails, and other social media. It is also a time to put the pressures of school and grades aside and just enjoy living in the moment. Above all, camp is FUN!!

Izzi C. – Driftwood (age 18 ): stay in the present and take it all in
Claire and Caroline P. – Aquarius & Treetops (counselors): To appreciate every second
Molly J. – Tamarack (counselor): Make it the best summer yet 🙂
Sam M. – 1st yr (counselor): Have an amazing summer with new and old friends!

Try Something New: With a variety of physical, recreational, and creative activities to choose from, campers have the opportunity to explore a wide range of interests. Who knows what spark will ignite and become a lifelong career or hobby?!

Sydney H. – Starshine (age 10): Learn how to do a backflip
Masyn– 1st year camper (age 7): Ride a horse
Sydney L. – Treetops (age 13): Try something new
Isabella S. – Tamarack (age 15): to try any activities I haven’t done and have the most fun I could possibly have

Spend More Time With Friends: Imagine spending 24 hours a day each week with a group of your closest friends…how AWESOME is that?! We believe in true “face time” versus “screen time”!

Tess W. – Tamarack (age 14): make a new friend
Maya S. – Tamarack (age 15): become closer with many people
Daphne B. – Sunrise (counselor): make someone smile everyday

Get Along With Siblings: Towering Pines and Woodland is the summer home for many brothers and sisters. The older campers typically take responsibility and look out for the younger ones and the “fighting” often seen at home vanishes for a few weeks. Siblings actually look forward to seeing one another on occasion when sharing a common camp experience!

New Year’s Resolution:
Enroll your child at Camp Woodland for 2021…we are VERY EXCITED about the upcoming summer!

Irene M. – Driftwood (18): Give my campers the best summer ever
Aubrie B. – Sunnyside (age 15): to be an amazing CIT
Tori N. – Sunnyside (age 15): be a good CIT
Abbey S. – Driftwood (18): To be an amazing counselor/ Sailing staff
Mera M. – Aquarius (counselor): Do my best to give my cabin their best summer ever

Enroll Now!

With the holidays upon us, I can think back to a time when there was a designated kid’s table for our family gatherings. I often sat at a separate, usually smaller, table with my younger siblings and cousins. We laughed. We joked. We cut up. We hung spoons from our noses. We liked having space between us and them (the adults).

At some point, I graduated to the “grown up’s” table and thought that I had arrived. It was some sort of rite of passage to “move up” to the place where I was no longer seen as a child. I quickly realized; however, that the grown-up’s table was not really all that I had imagined it to be. The adults were busy rehashing politics or telling stories about people I didn’t know. I did a lot of listening and very little talking. I glanced back at the kid’s table with envy. It looked to be so much more fun over there!

One of my favorite aspects of summer camp is that every table is a kid’s table. While there are counselors at each table who act as the adults to help with serving and clearing, these near-peer figures are really good at intentionally building community as we come together daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Campers are engaged in conversations with each other about their day, successes & challenges, goals & dreams. Table games are played, songs are sung, and inside jokes are formed. Laughter is the result of this shared group experience over an extended period of time.

In a 6-week summer, this adds up to around 5000 minutes of time during meals alone when a sense of belonging is created for the individuals within a group. Woodland staff are experts at bringing together 6-10 “me’s” and transforming unique individuals into a united  “we” one meal at a time. This is not accidental. Intention is the key ingredient for these mealtime gatherings away from parents and other adults.

At Camp Woodland, one doesn’t have to wish to sit at the kid’s table. Regardless of age, the kid’s table always has room. Don’t be surprised if we hang spoons from our noses (or put them in our hair for the greatly anticipated game of “Spoon Tag”). No need to become a grown-up too soon!

In a blog I read recently by Growing Leaders (excerpts are italicized below), Dr. Tim Elmore talks about how parenting, teaching, and coaching are different today, not because kids are different but because the culture is different. We are raising them in a society where Siri and Alexa offer quick answers, creating eight-second attention spans and expectations that solutions should be instantaneous and that life should be entertaining.

It’s not our kids’ fault, but it is our kids’ reality. (most definitely!)

We are at a fork in the road. We can either choose to compete with today’s on-demand, instant access entertainment or we can choose to offer what the digital world cannot. We must adapt to the world they’re growing up in, but we don’t have to adopt every new trend that surfaces along the way. Adapting simply means we recognize what kids gain from this new world and we complement it.

Kids today experience a Google reflex. (I have a Google reflex myself! You?)

Kids are asking Google questions they used to ask adults in their world. What we must recognize is kids don’t lack information. They don’t need us for that; Alexa actually knows more than I do most of the time. They need us for interpretation. All the sources of content they access can offer information, but not a worldview with which to interpret that information. Young people are drowning in information but starving for wisdom.

There is no downtime. They’re screenagers, always on and always online. They spend more time reacting to content than reflecting on content. And because there are so many posts, it leaves a little margin to invest time in any one issue. A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. So, our responsibility is not to compete against this but to compliment it by offering what they still lack.

Dr. Elmore states that “Our goal should not be to compete but to complete.” To this end, he gives a list of 7 things that young people need more than ever today. It just so happens that every item on his list represents one of our core values, the very foundation for our program at Camp Woodland for Girls since 1970.

1. Authentic and transparent relationships.

We provide opportunities for genuine connections to form within the Camp Woodland community. Cabin groups allow for a special bond to occur between similar aged campers and 2-3 counselors. Younger campers look up to and are mentored by older campers in activities. There is nothing but “real” face time as we engage in conversations where it is important to read and interpret social cues and communicate compassionately.

2. Interactive learning experiences.

We learn to sail, ride a horse, shoot a bow, do a forward roll, take care of farm animals, create in arts & crafts, paddle across the lake, dance, put together a play, and so much more without a single YouTube video or Zoom lesson. We navigate the ups and downs that come with the creation and duration of friendships.

3. Empathy.

“You think your backpack is the heaviest until you pick up someone else’s by mistake.” (Cynthia Copeland Lewis)

4. Significant people in their lives.

Being around near-peers (5-10-15 years removed), campers make connections with counselor and staff role models who by their example inspire confidence and growth towards what is possible.

5. Travel experiences to someplace they’ve not been.

We bring campers and staff together from all corners of the globe. Our camp community represents a variety of geographic locations, ages, backgrounds, values, interests, and socio-economic status. Being exposed to different cultures makes us more empathetic and understanding. As a result we are better able to work collaboratively with those who have a different view or perspective.

6. Growth guided by questions.

We provide hands-on learning through discovery and exploration. What if…?, how about…? and why? are always welcome. Guided trial-and-error mixed in with developmentally appropriate challenges are the best teachers of both the technical and people skills gained from the Woodland experience.

7. Autonomy in the goals they set.

Having the opportunity to make decisions that are not influenced by parents and teachers gives campers a sense of independence in their voice and choice. Selecting activities, pursuing friendships, setting and reaching goals, planning camp-wide events, and caring for self are just some of the ways campers have a vote in their overall experience.

Camp today. Thrive tomorrow.

We never take for granted the unique role we play in the lives of our campers. Camp Woodland is a place where kids learn, grow and develop in a positive community (we spend a good chunk of our time OUTSIDE and without the pressures of society and technology!). The skills campers learn last far beyond their years at camp and specifically help them in school, when they attend college, and in their first jobs (and there is research to back this up!). Camp Woodland is an experience that sets up young people for success as they enter adulthood.

Camp Woodland does what Google cannot.

To read the entire Growing Leaders blog: What Parents and Teachers Can Do that Google Cannot

We have been grateful for the opportunity to interact with staff, counselors, campers and parents through the virtual medium over the past several months. Zoom chats, virtual game nights, virtual campfires and even virtual alumni camp tours provided a way for the camp connections we all crave to happen. It’s a way to support one another during a time when, perhaps, things seemed far less than normal.

We were amazed by the creativity and ingenuity that our camp community summoned in order to surpass cyber boundaries to bring a bit of camp into our lives when we all needed it. Campers created skits, performed challenges, and sang songs while zooming from different parts of the world. CIT’s stepped up to facilitate parts of campfires and game nights showing that they truly are learning spectacular leadership skills that transfer into areas of life we may have least expected.

Counselors created the “Dining Hall Bracket” on social media to decide what the most delicious meal is at camp. Lasagna won, but the competition was fierce!! Other fun events were camp bingo and some challenging camp trivia. Finally, who knew that we could actually try our hand at virtual Gold Rush?! Again, when camp people come together, creativity abounds. We found ways to share positive vibes with our camp family even if that meant doing so through cyber space.

We are thankful for the opportunity to stay in touch through Zoom, social media and even “snail mail,” However, what we are REALLY and TRULY looking forward to is seeing all of you in person next summer! There is nothing better than the sights and sounds of campers and counselors engaged in learning and having fun while doing it. The echoes of laughter amidst the quiet whisper of the white pines is an almost magical sound. There is so much amazing growth that happens during those six weeks of camp, and we can’t wait to share it with campers again next summer.

As many different versions of school are beginning in the next few weeks, we are hoping for positive experiences for our camp families. We will stay in touch throughout this year, and as always, we love to hear from you!! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and look for e-mails and monthly mailings from us as well. We are currently taking early enrollment for our camp families. Early enrollment tuition remains at the 2020 rate through Labor Day, September 7, 2020. Use discount code OLDFAM to receive 2020 tuition rates. Click here to register!!  If you’d like to share the “awesomeness” of your camp experience with other potential campers, we are extremely appreciative of any referrals.

We are looking ahead to many positive adventure-filled moments at Camp Woodland and Towering Pines where these children can grow as individuals and members of a community. The future looks bright…Here Comes the Sun ’21’!!

Some of you might recognize this photo being at the end of the Woodland “dew” post with our news to suspend programming for the summer of 2020. We decided that it is appropriate to begin this post with the same scene and a promise of better days ahead. As the weeks of July march on, we have seen the clouds dissipate and rays of sunshine start to peek their way through the pine trees and cast a warm glow on Sand Lake.

While the easy thing to do would have been to take a “vacation” from camp this summer, we decided to do the exact opposite. We brought our leadership team together for what we called “Summer Summit 2020”. With an end goal of 2 camps – 1 mission – no divide, we have worked towards bringing Woodland and Towering Pines together in a way that allows us to unify our message and plan for the success of the next 25, 50, 75 years and beyond. We have also agreed to disagree. Without straying from the mission, there may be programs and systems that look different or are carried out differently at each camp, but we are on the same page with why we are here and what is fundamental to both camps (community, growth, respect, responsibility, and safety).

We looked closely at the camper and staff experience, programming, our business and marketing plans, and alumni outreach as broad strokes. We got into the weeds a bit and had conversations about the CIT program, staff time off, length of activity periods, social media, and camper/staff recruiting/retention…just to name a few. We spent time training on Camp Brain (our new database) and gathering content for winter engagement with our camp community (holiday card photo – check!). We even had a pitch from two of our current staff on how Farm Zoo could take on a new look in future summers.

We rolled up our sleeves and dug into projects to make facility improvements. Several bathrooms have been updated, walls have been painted, cracks in the volleyball court filled, and the deck on the way to the beach has been given a new shine. We are grateful to Jeff, Evan, Jon and other camp friends who pushed through some pretty warm (bordering on HOT) days to make this happen.

All work and no play is NOT what camp is about. We had FUN together, too! We began our Summit with a game of Bunko so that we could ease into some topics on our list and begin conversations. We ate meals in the lodge at Woodland (thank you, Drinka!), enjoyed the TP and Woodland waterfronts just about every afternoon (JoAnne and Kim went for a spin on a paddle board in windy conditions and have decided that more “board” meetings are in order next summer!), took daily hikes/walks/runs in the woods or on County D, made s’mores, and gazed at the stars while hanging around the campfire at the site by Treetops.

This summer has been like no other. While we have spent this time at 8080 Camp RD and it looks like camp (the cabins and buildings are still here), sounds like camp (we ring the bell to keep us on schedule), and smells like camp (we may have had a skunk grace us near the barn), it doesn’t feel like camp. We miss every single camper and staff member who breathes life into the place of camp. We miss the people. We miss YOU. We can’t wait until we can be  together again. Here comes the sun in 2021!