Category: Why Camp Woodland?!

When I look back on my teenage years, the last people I wanted advice from were my parents (sorry, Mom & Dad!). I can remember gravitating to a particular aunt and uncle throughout high school and college and having conversations that I struggled to have with two people I lived with. In fact, these non-parent mentors are actually a large part of the reason why I ended up at Camp Woodland several decades ago. When I decided I wanted to work at a camp for my summer job between my sophomore and junior years of college, I only reached out to programs in Wisconsin (via a typed letter in the pre-internet era!) because I knew the relatives who were instrumental in my life lived in the same state.

For the same reason finding a tutor for your child is usually a wise decision and brings peace to the entire family (instead of sitting at the kitchen table in a yelling match when your daughter/son is struggling in math or some other subject), having a non-parent mentor has its benefits as well. Please know that I am NOT suggesting that parents are incapable of being a mentor to their own children; however, there is value a mentor relationship outside of the immediate household can bring to the development of youth in a variety of positive ways.

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, shares research from a study used in her book, Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation, and in an article found in Psychology Today showing that adult mentoring during the teenage years:

• Models positive social skills and facilitates interpersonal connections beyond family.
• Helps young people interpret and manage life challenges, including relationships with peers and parents.
• Facilitates meaningful conversations that boost cognitive skills and provides perspective.
• Strengthens self-regulation, one’s ability to manage emotions and impulses—to think before acting.
• Promotes identity development, a key task of adolescence, through modeling core qualities that contribute to human thriving, like empathy, curiosity, resourcefulness, and resilience.
• Opens doors to new ways of thinking, resources, and opportunities.
• Fosters self-efficacy—a belief in oneself.

That is a pretty impressive list! We often think of mentors as teachers, coaches, grandparents, church leaders, and other adults in the lives of youth. Another obvious mentor (and possibly overlooked!) in the lives of teens are the counselors, staff and leaders who are instrumental to the growth and development of the entire camp community. This is yet another reason why the Woodland camp experience is a vital part of the overall growth and development for youth of all ages – especially for teens!

If we go back to the list from above, it isn’t hard to connect the dots to how this organically happens with the support of caring adults in the Woodland ecosystem. Adult mentoring in our camp community: 

Models positive social skills and facilitates interpersonal connections beyond family.

At Woodland, we practice how to engage with people never previously met and to apply the “be curious, not judgmental” mindset as we interact with those from different cultures and experiences. Many of the staff themselves are from a variety of geographic locations and backgrounds and help facilitate these connections.

Helps young people interpret and manage life challenges, including relationships with peers and parents.

Relationships can be challenging and messy at times. Woodland offers the opportunity to be open to and embrace the differences others bring to the community, navigate conflict that is normal with group living, and have empathy towards one another through the guidance of the staff.

Facilitates meaningful conversations that boost cognitive skills and provides perspective.

At Woodland we spend on average 16 hours a day having meaningful conversations (all the hours we are awake!). Meal times, especially, offer a unique opportunity for conversation because we spend them together with our cabin group. By the end of the full 6-week experience, approximately 126 hours around the table is spent with the same group of people sharing triumphs, growth opportunities, dreams, and ideas. This unequaled time anywhere else offers a unique opportunity to see the world through the eyes of others and to gain a perspective that might not be seen otherwise. The counselors in each cabin become masters at facilitating these meaningful conversations!

Strengthens self-regulation, one’s ability to manage emotions and impulses—to think before acting.

This is easier said than done! At Woodland we recognize the impact we have on others because we are sharing a living space with 8 or more people. While it would be tempting to yell at someone for borrowing something without asking, at camp (and with the support of the staff) being clear and kind with our requests is practiced should we want a different outcome next time.  

Promotes identity development, a key task of adolescence, through modeling core qualities that contribute to human thriving, like empathy, curiosity, resourcefulness, and resilience.

At Woodland we are pretty good at all of the above! Parents tell us that their campers return home in many ways better than they came because they have spent 6 weeks with unbelievable support and caring from the adult mentors in our community. I’ve already mentioned empathy and curiosity, and resourcefulness can be seen from coming up with new ways to use the limited items we brought with us to create a costume or prop for Lip Sync Contest or any number of special events. Resiliency is the outcome of learning to try again and not get defeated when something doesn’t quite go the way we would like it to. We celebrate the journey and not just the final result!

Opens doors to new ways of thinking, resources, and opportunities.

There is a reason our theme for the upcoming summer is “Open New Doors in ‘24”. Being immersed in the Woodland community and surrounded by amazing adult mentors naturally opens our minds to thinking differently, repurposing what we have to come up with out-of-the-box uses for a hairbrush, pair of sunglasses, or a colored t-shirt, and opportunities never imagined. Every holiday season we are flooded with photos from “impromptu” camp reunions in Mexico and elsewhere. The opportunity to travel internationally or long distances to see the awesome friends made at camp often becomes reality!

Fosters self-efficacy—a belief in oneself.

Unfortunately, we often see youth lacking a true sense of self, especially during their teen years. It often stems from the need to be a “fake” version of yourself so that others will like you or to fit in. At Woodland, we work really hard to create a sense of belonging for all campers. This often brings a sense of relief, especially to our teens, who may find themselves living in a brutal world of comparison at school or on social media. After 6 weeks of spending quality time with the adult mentors at Woodland, the older campers are feeling more like their “true selves” again. Don’t believe me?! Join us for the Co-Ed Show put on by the CIT’s during the Final Weekend of camp come August. Confidence from each individual and the group as a whole is in abundance and is pretty cool to see!

The BEST Opportunity for Adult Mentorship?!

So, while the often tumultuous relationship with parents/caregivers during the teen years comes with the territory, the good news is that there are really awesome mentors who are able to build relationships with this age group and impact them in so many positive ways. And, even better news is that you don’t have to look any further…these people are waiting for your (teen) daugther/s at Camp Woodland. We are SO excited to meet her/them!

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

Now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s (especially TEENS!) for 2024 and reserve your spot/s so that your daughter/s have the opportunity to be supported by non-parent/caregiver mentors through the Camp Woodland experience! Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

I started working at Camp Woodland in 1986 between my sophomore and junior years in college. Before that I rode my bike to/from school by myself at a very young age. I spent countless hours out and about with the neighborhood kids on our block. My siblings and I played kickball (until my Dad requested that we go to someone else’s yard or change games because we had “run” down all the grass between bases). My Mom would ring a bell when we needed to come home to get ready for dinner because we were most likely out of earshot. 

We had a one hour limit on the amount of TV we could watch each day (and nothing after 8 pm). My sister and I would set up the playroom in our basement to be a restaurant, school, or swimming pool so we could pretend to be servers, teachers, or lifeguards. While in elementary and jr high school, our parents dropped us off at the roller skating rink every Wednesday afternoon for a few hours where we would hang out with friends. I remember my growing up years full of fond memories of organic play. Nothing scheduled or contrived, just in-the-moment, make-your-own fun with whatever we could find, dream or imagine. Sound familiar? (I hope so!)

Little did I know then that the period from 1980-2010 was the decline of what is known as play-based childhood. As adults saw more photos of missing kids on milk cartons, heard stories of child predators, and felt a sense of distrust in the world in general, children started spending less and less time outside and engaging in unstructured play and social time. Safety became the number one concern which drove adults to watch/supervise kids in what now could be deemed as excess. 

Thankfully, there are people way smarter than me who have been studying these trends over the years, in particular a gentleman by the name of Jonathan Haidt. Jonathan was a keynote speaker at the CODA (Camp Director and Owner Association) pre-conference event prior to the American Camp Association’s National Conference in New Orleans in early February. He visually represented the data that was collected throughout his research for his latest book, The Anxious Generation, so that it was easy to see the direction a particular variable took over time on a graph. 

Haidt laid out compelling evidence that clearly shows play-based childhood has been replaced with a phone-based childhood in the years 2010-2015 (and beyond). In doing a quick (and non-scientific) Google search myself, 2023 data from multiple sources suggests that over 40% of US kids have a phone by the age of 10. This increases to over 90% by the time they turn 14. Kids today are turning to online games, engaging on social media, and partaking in mindless scrolling instead of playing in a local park, spending time with friends in person, and using their imaginations to create their own fun. Haidt calls this the “rewiring of childhood”. Not surprising, this is also when adolescents became notably more anxious, depressed, and fragile. Haidt shares in his book that play, including “risky” play, is needed to help kids develop confidence and competence that can help overcome childhood anxieties!

The contrast between play-based and phone-based childhood is starkly noted by the slope of a line on each graph starting around the year 2010. Even more mind-blowing is that every graph that was part of Haidt’s presentation had a big black vertical line through the data that marked the year 2012. He looked at the numbers of self-harm cases in youth (even as young as 10-14), completed suicides, major depression and other mental health challenges in kids both in the US and internationally. The clear inflection point shown in each graph came around the year 2012 (good stuff decreasing and bad stuff increasing). 

What else happened around that same time that can be linked to the sharp turns? His conjecture/observation is that it coincides with the birth of Instagram in 2010 and growing popularity of the social media app (especially in girls) in the following years. Here is a YouTube video of a similar presentation Jonathan Haidt gave at a different conference several months prior so that you can dive into this more and see/hear for yourself. You will probably want to hit pause and take notes frequently as there is a lot of information to take in and digest. If his talk had conference goers in New Orleans literally “buzzing” for several days (I’m not kidding!), it is well worth your time. 

Without turning this into the longest blog post ever, I’m going to jump to the important role camp plays as a solution to the “childhood rewiring” phenomenon. In his presentation to camp directors/owners, Jonathan Haidt recognized that camp offers a period of time for youth to get reprieve from a predominantly phone-based environment by being immersed in a play-based environment. Camp Woodland was founded by a family of educators who wholeheartedly believe that “play is the work of children.” Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, and Fred Rogers are a few names that come to mind as having a similar sentiment. 

In his book, Haidt talks about several important features of human childhood, some of which include slow-growth, free play, attunement, and social learning. A play-based childhood fosters each of these important features, whereas a phone-based childhood does not. 

At Woodland, we like to say that “it takes a lot of slow to grow” and is a large part of the reason our full program is designed for a 6-week experience in order to receive the maximum benefit of allowing kids to develop at their own pace without being rushed or hurried. Once kids have acclimated to camp, we see growth accelerate as they now have a foundation in place to “take off” in both their physical (activities being learned) and social/emotional development (relationships being navigated). 

While we follow a schedule with campers taking six different activities at Woodland over the course of a typical day, free play is mixed into everything we do. Kids have a choice over which activities they are going to take and that in turn gives them autonomy for a large part of their time at camp. Another menu of choices is offered for evening activities several days a week that are usually centered around a given theme (Nature Week, Water Week, etc). There is a lot of free play that happens organically during activities (singing), transitions (running or skipping to the next activity), and down time spent with cabin groups as they often make up their own games (just ask the girls in Driftwood during 2023 about their “puppy parties”!).

Attunement can be described as the process by which we develop relationships. It is how we become “in tune” with others and build connections. Learning social cues for turn taking and timing of a response is an important aspect of attunement that is hard to come by when kids are interacting on their devices vs in person. By being part of a larger community at Woodland, kids are able to practice the art of listening to the stories and opinions of others and also contributing to the conversation without interrupting or dominating. This happens in the cabin, at meals, during activities, and walking with a friend to the next exciting adventure. 

We see social learning at Woodland as kids are in close proximity to really great role models and mentors. Counselors are a good example of this as they are “near peers” with a unique opportunity to have a positive influence on the campers (without being their parents – more on this in my next blog!). Kids really look up to the staff and even the oldest campers as they learn how to traverse the complexities of friend relationships, act in a group setting, and contribute to the overall camp community. 

It makes me sad to think that the rewiring of childhood through over-exposure to experiences that are detrimental to youth development is now part of a new “normal”. I am hopeful; however, that **choosing camp for kids is one of the solutions to this challenge**. The ecosystem we have at Woodland gives kids back their play-based childhood for up to six weeks of the year. We have always been rooted in play and always will be!

Coincidentally, the day I began writing this blog, I received an email with an introduction to the release of a book written by Bryn Lotting (a Wisconsin author) called “No Child Left Inside.”

You may also want to check out a previous blog, The Device Dilemma, that relates to the topics of this post.

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

Now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s for 2024 and reserve your spot/s so that your daughter/s have the opportunity to get back their play-based childhood through the Camp Woodland experience! Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

A camp parent recently shared a guest essay from the New York Times (02-16-24) that gives insight into seasonality as a much needed break from the never ending cycle of working 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week, month after month, for a large portion of the year. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, when it was necessary to secure food by hunting and gathering (and later with the development of agriculture), there were periods of time (typically during the winter months) when there was a lull from the busier seasons of planting and harvesting.

With the onset of factories and mills, the seasonal periods of downtime became no more. This carried over into “office” jobs as well when the mindset became the more you worked, the more you could potentially produce or create. I think it is safe to say that the interruption of this during 2020 and 2021 caused a lot of people to “wake up” and realize that this never ending cycle of work without periods of rest is not sustainable. We witnessed first hand how those who were working full-time became (and probably already were) burned out.

So, you are probably wondering what this has to do with camp?! The summer break in the education world has been a topic of conversation that goes back decades with the introduction of year round schools. There have been a number of organized attempts to “save our summer” in various states for various reasons. Of course, the “summer learning loss” is a point that is argued as a reason not to take a big break from school during the summer months (I have been known to counter this notion and that spending time at camp actually contributes to a “summer surplus“!). If you follow the line of thinking around the benefits of seasonality that the NYT essay offers, it is easy to connect the dots to the reason why camp is absolutely the perfect solution to the rat race of school, activities and busy schedules from September to May.

For six glorious weeks at Camp Woodland, kids are able to enjoy the benefits of seasonality. Cal Newport (essay author) shares that, “Intense periods of cognition must be followed by quieter periods of mental rejuvenation. Energized creative breakthroughs must be supported by the slower incubation of new ideas.” Each minute at camp is a much needed break from the intensity of school and all that comes with that (homework, projects, tests, sports, clubs, music/art activities, etc. and sometimes a part-time job is added to the mix). Once campers settle into the routine of camp (the slower pace, regular meals, an active lifestyle, more sleep, a built-in friend group, no phone, etc.), it is amazing what the opportunity to regroup/recharge/reboot does for the overall health of each person!

Spending a summer at camp is literally a prescription for naturally combating stress and burnout. It truly is “what the doctor ordered.” The camp experience organically gives our young people the opportunity for mental rejuvenation. An important contributing factor to this vital mental rejuvenation is the sense of calm and peace that being in nature and the outdoors provides. After 40+ days of being in surrounded by the forest trees and natural lakes, you can’t help but downshift to a more reasonable pace and rhythm that reenergizes the spirit and allows for creativity to come out of hiding within individuals (and even flourish in the group setting!).

This quieter period during the summer allows for campers to return to the demands of school and family life having had time to unwind, reset, and enjoy the benefits of seasonality by being at camp in the Northwoods!

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

Now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s for 2024 and reserve your spot/s so that your daughter/s have the opportunity to reap the benefits of seasonality through the camp experience! Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

It is conference season, and several of us have been traveling to meet other camp professionals in various locations for a chance to network and learn together. I happen to be someone who leads educational sessions at conferences, and while creating PowerPoint presentations for these opportunities, I found myself having the need to put a slide at the beginning that says, “This presentation was prepared for you by a real person.” Included with this is an image of “ChatGPT” with a giant “X” through it along with my bitmoji showing a fist in the air and the words, “Game On.” I then go on to challenge the people in the room to tell me at the end if they think that a robot could have put the presentation together to the same degree. Their response?! A resounding, “NO WAY!”

When people ask me what is it that do, my elevator “speech” is “I’m in the business of developing emerging leaders with the skills that robots can’t do.” It is super fun to see what kind of response this statement brings. It usually takes a moment for people to comprehend what I just said, and it is often accompanied by a quizzical look (the kind where someone stares off into space and is trying really hard to imagine what this looks like). This is in part because I didn’t answer with the typical, “I’m a camp consultant,” or “I do staff training for camps.” It is also in part because it may not be crystal clear what I do, but it sounds really cool. And, it generates a need for someone to want to know more!

Since I am a camp professional with a strong background in education, I can confidently say in my humble (and unbiased!) opinion that camp is hands down the BEST place for youth (ages 7-97) to learn and practice the people/life skills that will set them apart from the jobs that robots (AI) will and are already taking over. Not to say that schools don’t have their place; I just find that camp is better because of all the things that are missing in the summer camp experience that make room for opportunities to practice and learn the skills that are vital to us as people. This is largely in part because through subtraction at camp, we are able to employ addition. I realize this seems counterintuitive or even unlikely; however, camp is the perfect ecosystem for the skills robots can’t do to be nurtured and developed organically!

According to Forbes, there are 10 skills that robots can’t replace in the workplace (May, 2022). LinkedIn has its own list of 7 crucial human skills that AI can’t replace (March, 2023). If we look at the crossover from these (and other) lists, it isn’t a stretch to make the connection to camp as being the place where critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, and collaboration/teamwork (just to name a few!) are an integral thread of the fabric for this unique (and real!) experience that is hard to replicate anywhere else.

By taking just one of Woodland’s traditional camp activities (I will use the annual Song Contest for illustration purposes), a line can be drawn to each of the skills mentioned above for both campers (and staff!). Song Contest is when cabin groups are tasked with changing the words to a popular song so that it tells a story about the current summer. The entire camp comes together on a Saturday evening to enjoy the highly anticipated performances of each individual cabin. There are special judges who have the honor of determining the “winner” and runners-up for this friendly, yet somewhat competitive (let’s be honest!), event.

Critical thinking shows up as each group thinks on their feet to rewrite the words, choreograph dance moves, and choose costumes to match the theme of their chosen song. Emotional intelligence can be found in the interactions between the girls from each cabin group; it takes self-awareness to take notice and monitor one’s own emotions and it takes empathy to pay attention to the emotions and feelings of others. It wouldn’t be unusual for someone’s feelings to get hurt when their idea isn’t incorporated; it takes resolve for a camper to be OK with that and to also support the other person for their contribution to the group.

Creativity is present from start to finish when taking on this challenge to put together an original entry for Song Contest. Imagination comes to life with the final performance! The week leading up to Song Contest is one giant exercise in teamwork and collaboration. Working together does not mean the absence of conflict; however, groups are able to move through and past any differences and disagreements in the spirit of having a unified effort towards a common goal.

This one example (and there are many more where this came from!) shows how camp fosters the development of REAL people skills in the normal day-to-day happenings that occur when immersed in an experience with peers when away from the typical distractions of home/school. So, when someone asks you why you send your child to camp, you can confidently say that you are giving your daughter the opportunity to develop the skills that robots can’t do! I’d love to know what response you get…you can email me at kimdaycock@gmail.com!

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

Now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s for 2024 and reserve your spot/s to give your daughter/s the opportunity to develop REAL people skills. Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

As I struggled to straighten the sheets, blankets and pillows on my bed this morning, I am reminded that one of the first things I do at camp each day is make my top bunk bed. I stand on the frame of the bottom bunk and wrangle the thick comforter (that is out of view at the foot of the bed in the photo below – gotta love the often chilly Northern Wisconsin summer nights!) and other bedding items into place. I then get dressed and place my PJ’s on my pillow so they are in position for my evening routine. Now I am truly ready to start my day!

We often hear from parents in those first days/weeks after camp, that their camper/s is/are faithful about making her bed every morning, picking up clutter around the bedroom/house, brushing teeth, and pitching in with daily chores without batting an eye. My question is…is your camper still in the habit of doing those beginning of day routines?

Truth be told, I can honestly say that I am not great about this particular ritual once I am home from camp. For one, there is a good chance that my husband is still sleeping when I get up (especially on weekends), so it is kind of hard to make a bed when someone is in it! Then I get busy with other routines: making coffee, assembling a yogurt parfait for my husband’s car ride to work, taking the dogs for a walk, exercising, etc. By the time I get through with all of that, I may straighten out the sheets a bit and take a quick pass at the top cover with a lint roller to remove the excess of dog hair, but that is about it. Many days, I completely forget about my unmade bed and jump into other tasks and projects (which usually does not include taking a shower!).

In listening recently to part of a commencement speech given by Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven and reading the first chapter of his book “Make Your Bed,” I am rethinking the importance of what often seems at surface level to be a very mundane and insubstantial task. McRaven even goes so far to say, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” Wow, what?! How does making my bed help me change the world? Explanation, please! As you may know, Navy SEAL training is some of the toughest training around, both physically and mentally. Each day starts with an inspection of the uniform and bed by an instructor with a critical eye for neatness and perfection.

McRaven actually didn’t mind the simple task of making his bed while in the Navy – he came to appreciate that it was the one constant he could count on every day. It was the one thing he knew he could do without fail. And, he could do it well. It was something to be proud of. Being the first of many tasks in a given 24 hours, sometimes success can be measured just by completing something (even if it is small). If one task is completed, then follows another and another. Next thing you know, a whole string of tasks have been executed, and from that comes a sense of pride and accomplishment. Sometimes in a world where there is little control, making your bed IS the one sure thing in your control. Why not begin each day with a win?!

All campers and staff start the day by making their bed (and why snuggling up in a sleeping bag is a fun change of pace on a canoe overnight adventure as you see in the photos). It is even part of the “scoring” for when the nurse and CIT on duty come around to “inspect” cabins. Having a neat bed may be the difference in earning a pizza party or trip to Cathy’s for being the cabin with the high “score” at the end of each week. Making your bed is the beginning of many opportunities to be successful throughout the camp day. From there it might be that a bullseye is hit in archery, a horse can be approached without being nervous, a mooring is made in sailing, a new food is tried at lunch, water-skiing is attempted during Rec Swim, and participating in skit at campfire becomes fun (and not dreaded).

Being away from camp at this moment in time, what if we get back to the routine of starting the day off with a simple, yet achievable task? The mere act of making the bed can then lead to turning in homework on time, asking a question in class, sitting by someone outside a friend group in the cafeteria, feeling confident before a quiz or test, finishing a report a few days before it is due, complimenting someone on their effort on the field or court, and so much more.

I know I’m going to work at doing better to make MY bed each morning. A win in the first 5 minutes of the day sounds like a no-brainer! Will you and your camper/s join me? It might just be a little thing that turns into some BIGGER things that change how things go in life AND in the world.