Digital Detox

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The guest blog this week was first published to Camp Laurel’s blog on February 10, 2014. Want a digital detox? Read on…

Dani Ackerman, our friend from Elmwood Day Camp, wrote this great blog that we thought was worth sharing. Take a look:

Do you ever feel addicted to your phone or find that your whole day is spent staring at a screen? I certainly do! I recently returned from CampMinder Camp (a conference focused on camp technology) in Boulder, Colorado. At this conference, I attended a great session called “Digital Detox,” run by Levi Felix. In this session, it was stressed that this “addiction” to technology is not necessarily bad nor should we feel guilty about it. We should simply find time to “disconnect to reconnect.” He highlighted several strategies that offer us an opportunity to reclaim our “me time” and offer us more time to connect with others. Here are a few of my favorites….

  • Eat at least 1 meal a day without a device: Use this time for yourself or to be fully present with others.
  • Use the phone FIRST to contact people: There is a more personal connection when speaking with someone on the phone instead of texting or e-mailing.
  • Schedule mini breaks throughout the day or mini “digital detoxes” where you are not connected to your phone, television, radio, etc.
  • Give your eyes a break and follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes look at something that is 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
  • Set a technology curfew: Turn off your phone and television 60 – 90 minutes before bed. You will likely get better sleep as a result.
  • Avoid multi-tasking: No one is as good at multi-tasking as they think. Instead of multi-tasking, create a schedule for yourself each day.
  • Disable push notifications on your phone that are not critical: This will help eliminate unneeded digital distractions.
  • Create tech-free walls/areas in your home: There should be certain places in your home where technology is not used (like the bathroom, for example).

One of the things I enjoy most about camp is that I can digitally detox. I can be fully present in each moment of camp because I am not distracted by the many different forms of technology. At Elmwood, there is a no cell phone policy, we avoid using e-mail during the summer and we do not have any activities that involve video games or computers. No one is walking around camp bumping into each other because they are staring at their cell phones. (which often happens to me when walking around NYC). Everyone is fully present in the moment. I admit that separating from my phone during the day is always a bit of a challenge at first, but it feels great to be fully engaged in camp and building relationships with campers and staff all day long. I can be completely plugged into all the wonderful things that are happening… and then it is always fun looking at my phone at the end of the day (absence does make the heart grow fonder after all).

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Popular Sports at Camp

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There is a decided difference between popular school sports and popular camp sports. Most schools throughout the nation focus on key sports like football, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. At summer camps, campers have much more exposure to non-traditional sports that receive decidedly less promotion through school but prove rather popular at camp, in spite of—or perhaps because of —the fact that they are not widely promoted in school environments.

Tennis is a sport to which most children are exposed for only a few weeks of physical education class each year. At camp, however, it’s one of the most popular and beloved activities. Campers have the opportunity to play several hours of tennis each week on quality courts and even participate in intra and inter camp league play. Furthermore, the instruction is excellent. Many summer camp tennis directors are former tennis pros who have played at the elite level in premiere tennis competitions.

Lacrosse, although popular in New England and other pockets of the Eastern United States, is not widely played inmany regions of the country. Yet, it’s one of the most popular camp sports. Many summer camps offer extensive and ever growing (by popular demand) lacrosse programs. Most camp lacrosse specialists play at the college level and many lacrosse heads coach at the college level.  Campers who hail from geographic regions in which lacrosse is still an underdog sport have the opportunity to receive valuable, quality instruction that surpasses anything available where they live. In fact, many of these campers play lacrosse for the first time while at summer camp and discover a new favorite sport.

For children who love water, boating is another popular camp activity to which most campers receive little to no exposure during the school year. Camp waterfronts are a crucial part of camps, and campers spend a lot of time in or on the water at camp. To sweeten the pot, summer camps make various types of boats available so that campers can try their hand at canoeing, kayaking, sailing, and even stand-up paddle boarding. Waterskiing is another popular water sport on which many camps place a particular focus. Campers have the opportunity to waterski throughout the summer, and some of the most enthusiastic camper responses every summer are those of campers who get up on water skis for the first time.

Animal loving campers adore camp equestrian programs. Campers who live in urban environments and have minimal exposure to animals throughout most of the year enjoy learning to care for and ride horses. The experience is doubly beneficial when the fact that equestrian programs are virtually non-existent at the majority of schools is taken into consideration.

Campers race to suit up for roller hockey. It’s an action packed and fast paced sport that is fun to play and a key activity in many camp programs. Not only do a lot of campers embrace an otherwise unfamiliar sport in roller hockey, they learn how to skate as well!

Archery. Most schools don’t offer archery, even as part of a physical education program. But it’s a regular part of camp, and pretty much every camper who takes aim at the bulls-eye throughout the summer will tell you that it’s a fun one.

Golf. Yep, many camps offer golf instruction as well. Campers love to relax while driving balls and working on their strokes. They also like that golf is a sport in which it is relatively easy to measure one’s level of improvement throughout the summer.

Gaga is practically synonymous with camp. It’s serious business there, and it can get intense. Gaga is  practically unheard of outside of the camp realm. Still, ask virtually any summer camper to list their top five favorite activities at camp, and chances are that gaga will appear somewhere on that list.

Many a camper engages in what will become a favorite sport at camp for the first time. Perhaps it’s because some sports are a rare treat that, if it wasn’t for sleepaway camp, campers know they would never get to experience and, therefore, are eager to embrace. It can also be that campers find the newness of such sports refreshing in respect to the typical repertoire of school sports. Either way, summer camp is an excellent way for campers to receive exposure to and quality instruction in sports that may not be so popular at school but prove very popular at camp.

Coming Back Home

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The guest blog this week was originally published to the Camp Starlight blog on February 4, 2014, and is a heartfelt examination of the long term impact and benefits of camp, and highlights why so many people return to work at camp year after year and even later in life.

As counselors at Starlight we keep our camp memories alive by reliving the stories, the inside jokes, and the people we’ve met. We call each other weekly and send countless texts in an attempt to keep up with each others lives and remain as close as we were at our summer home. We spend hours “liking” and commenting on anything camp related in the hopes that it keeps the bond with both camp and the phenomenal friends we’ve made in the hills of Pennsylvania.

Being that we are for the majority at the mercy of opportunities at our age, we try to gain as much experience to move forward and be in a good position professionally after school; deciding to come back to camp can be hard. Internships, summer classes, and job opportunities can flip the script on returning for another fantastic summer. Fortunately, Starlight is not just for the counselors that are able to return EVERY summer, but it’s also for the people that have the ability to return ANY summer.

The beautiful thing about Camp Starlight is that it’s still home to many who haven’t been there for months, years, and in some cases decades, but it’s home nonetheless. Many of our staff have taken a year (in many cases more) away to pursue other goals or opportunities and then rejoined us feeling as if they hadn’t skipped a beat. It’s a truly special feeling to know that although the world is constantly changing around us, Starlight will always be welcoming us.

To those that have spent time away and rejoined us: we thank you. To those that are away currently: we will always welcome you. To those that were unable to come back: we miss you. To those that get to join us every summer: we cherish you. So if you’ve been away from our summer home for too long but find your summer calendar open…..give us a call and come back home!

The Other Camp Staff

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Summer camp employment is synonymous with “camp counselor” in most people’s minds. But there are a lot of non-counselor” positions at camp. If you’re interested in working at summer camp but don’t really think the role of camp counselor would be best for you, consider one of these alternatives:

Program/Activity Head: Are you or have you ever been a professional or college level athlete or coach? If so, and you’re interested in working at summer camp, then the Program/Activity Head role might be a perfect fit for you. Program/Activity Heads oversee a sport or activity at camp. They typically have a staff of counselor specialists who are also active in the sport or activity to assist with instruction and coaching. Program/Activity Heads plan daily activities, oversee instruction and assign campers to teams for intra and inter camp league play. There are also a handful of Program/Activity Head roles at camp for those who are not athletic but have some sort of niche expertise in areas like arts & crafts, music, dance, theater, cooking, science and communications.

Programming Staff: If you have a knack for scheduling, consider applying to work as part of a camp programming team. The camp programming staff is responsible for the daily camper and staff schedules. When creating schedules, they must keep in mind things like facility availability, staffing ratios and camper frequencies.

Special Events Staff: The special events staff at summer camp are responsible for all events that take place outside of theregular daily special. This is typically all evening activities and special days as well as (on that rare occasion) a rainy day. It helps if you have some sort of technical knowledge, such as connecting laptops to video screens, rigging microphones and operating (sometimes complicated) sound systems. But not everything you do as a special events staff member is hi-tech. You can also be charged with setting up a scavenger hunt, gathering and placing materials for game night or baking night, or a host of other things. The imagination is the limit. If you love fun and event planning and are detail oriented, special events might be the area of camp for you.

Photography/Videography: Camp photographer and videographer roles are highly specialized and extremely critical roles at camp. Every day, camp photographers take hundreds of photographs of daily activities and film many of the activities as well. If you’re a professional in either of these areas and are interested in working at summer camp, chances are there is a camp looking for you.

Camp Nurse: Summer camps maintain health centers and employ licensed nurses to dispense medication, clean up those inevitable scratches and cuts, and treat campers and staff who become ill during the summer. For those rare more severe injuries that sometimes occur, nurses also may be asked to accompany campers or staff to local hospitals or doctors’ offices.

Office Staff: If you prefer behind the scenes desk work and answering phone calls, then consider applying for a camp office staff job. Typically, office staff answer phone calls, sort mail, greet visitors, manage camper phone calls, prepare documents or mailings, and complete other administrative tasks.

Maintenance Staff: If you’re a handyman (or woman) who’s good with a hammer, loves landscaping and cleaning, and prefers being outdoors to inside, consider applying to work as a member of the maintenance team. Camp maintenance staff stay busy all summer long maintaining summer camp campuses, and no two days as a camp maintenance staff member are alike.

Kitchen Staff: Working in the camp kitchen is perfect for those who thrive in restaurant environments. If you’re a chef, caterer or member of a restaurant staff–or aspire to be one–then working in a summer camp kitchen is a fun alternative to restaurant work.

If any of these camp roles interest you, camps are hiring now. Many of the people who work in these role return year after year because they are a great way to integrate personal interests and specialized expertise with the fun and adventure of working at summer camp. Apply now and you just may find yourself returning year after year too.

The Importance of Evening Activities at Camp

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The typical image of evenings at summer camp involves campers sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows and singing songs. While campfires are an essential part of the camp experience and some camps enjoy campfires nightly or weekly —  they’re only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to after dinner activities. While some nights, particularly those following busier than usual days, are “chill” nights at camp during which campers watch a movie, enjoy a camp show or, yes, sit around that infamous campfire, on most nights when the sun goes down at camp, the action heats up and things get crazy—sometimes really crazy—and maybe even a little goofy.

Whether it’s a dance, an evening of games or a scavenger hunt, it’s important to dress for the occasion and costumes are often encouraged. Acceptable attire often includes tutus, crazy hats or wigs, temporary tattoos and face or body paint. When competition is involved, dressing in team colors is also a must. Friends or even entire bunks/cabins often try to mirror each other with matching outfits, and showing team spirit typically becomes a competition within a competition. Clever cheers (often involving inside camp jokes), singing, and loud encouragement provide the soundtrack to a night of activities designed to help everyone let loose, be themselves, and, most importantly, have fun. So what is the point of so much silliness after a full day of activities? It’s simple. Play. Play has long been touted by child psychologists as crucial to social and cognitive development. At camp, however, the kind of play that happens during evening activities takes on a much bigger role as an avenue for inspiring campers and staff alike to embrace camp values and put them into action.

At least one of these three key words consistently appears in camp mottos: “tradition”, “family”, “friends.” All three are emphasized during evening activities at camp. Whether it’s to win a competition or a race, playful evening activities are a fun way for campers to come together as a family to achieve a common goal. More importantly, individual age divisions often spend time together during evening activities. During the day, campers go in many different directions, depending on their interests and program schedules. In the evenings, however, they come back together as a group. In the midst of lighthearted moments, friendships are born and strengthened.

Sleepaway camp traditions don’t begin and end with campfires and sing-alongs. They are evident—or sometimes born—in even the wackiest moments of evening activities. Those activities become perennial favorites to which campers look forward all year. They spend time during the winter contemplating ways in which they can enhance tradition and future memories by building upon previous experiences of those activities. They communicate with each other, brainstorm ideas and even make plans. In short, through play, campers take ownership of their camp experience as well as their camp traditions. In doing so, they embrace camp values.

From Where Do Weequahic Campers Come?

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If you’re wondering about the geographic regions campers call home during the winter, the guest blog this week from Camp Weequahic offers up a pretty good picture of the diversity of campers at many camps, including America’s Finest Summer Camps.

Most families ask a great question when learning about camp: From where do your campers come?

We are blessed at Camp Weequahic to have campers from 20 states and 10 countries. Rather one particular zip code or region getting up and coming to camp, we have pockets of campers from all over – up and down the East Coast as well as California, Colorado, Ohio, and Texas. We also have a small but vibrant population of campers from countries such as France, Switzerland, Venezuela, England, Spain, Russia, Mexico, China, Brazil, and Chile.

This diversity provides a couple of great benefits for our community. First, it allows children to get to know about other cultures both inside and outside of the US while all having a great time at camp. Campers not only enjoy keeping their camp friendships going with those in their local area but also across great distances.

The second major benefit of a diverse population is that new campers have a much easier time becoming an integral part of our community. Those first few days are so important and coming into a bunk with everyone except you coming from the same spot in the country can be daunting. With children coming from so many different spots for the first time, it makes those first few days much easier in terms of building friendships.

We are thrilled to continue to grow our diversity at Camp Weequahic while keeping everyone focused on building friendships, new skills, and having the best summer of their lives!

 

The Hard Part of Working at Camp

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A popular question that a lot of prospective summer camp counselors ask recruiters is about the difficult aspects of the job. After hearing about how much fun they will have, about the amount of time they will get to spend outdoors, about all of the friends they will make, and how much money they can save, it all sounds a bit too good to be true. Candidates want to know, ‘So, what is the hard part?’ It’s a good question because, while it’s true that a simple internet search will produce article upon article about all of the great aspects of working at a sleepaway camp, few highlight the difficult parts of the job. In the name of bucking the status quo, this blog is going to take a stab at it.

First, camp ends. That’s probably the hardest part. From an outsider’s perspective, a couple of months never seems like a long time, certainly not long enough to form any permanent bonds or attachments. What a lot of people fail to consider, because it’s just such a foreign concept to most people, is that those two months aren’t 9-5, 5 days per week months. They’re 24/7 months—including meal times. That’s roughly 1,344 hours of constant interaction with campers and co-workers compared to the 320 hours those people who just do that daytime thing get. A little basic math establishes that’s roughly eight months of regular work time crammed into two. Eight months is the better part of a year and plenty of time to get pretty attached to new friends as well as campers. That’s why tears are usually inevitable when it comes time to say goodbye. Goodbye is always hard. But it’s even harder when you know that you may never have the opportunity to see some of the people with whom you’ve just spent the equivalent of eight months of your life again.

Second, you have to be comfortable around children. This sounds like a no brainer, but if you’re used to spending most of your time around adults, spending most of your time around children requires a bit of an adjustment. It goes without saying that interacting with children requires a filter of sorts. Obviously, you don’t share everything with children that you would with other adults. Interacting with children also requires a great deal of discretion. They’re looking at you for answers. Not only knowing what answers to give but when to give them is important. Knowing when it’s not your place to answer but to escalate the issue is even more important. Also, successful interaction with children is all in the presentation. You have to be a good salesperson to a certain extent. Before signing up to work at summer camp, think about the fact that convincing at least one camper to do something he or she does not want to do and to have fun while doing it is likely going to be a daily occurrence. If you’re a person who is quick to lose patience, summer camp may not be the right fit for you.

Third, stepping outside of your comfort zone is difficult. Think about it. When you’re feeling like pizza, do you pick up the telephone and call a different restaurant to order each time or do you call that place that you know makes a killer pie? There is nothing wrong with comfort. It certainly makes life (and decisions) easier. But leaving friends and family and going to a completely foreign environment to live and work for two months is definitely taking a giant step out of the comfort zone for most people. A lot of first year staff members arrive at camp thinking they’re prepared…and then reality sets in. Just accept that you will feel disoriented for a few days and definitely out of your comfort zone, which is hard. But if you stick with it, you’ll find that stepping out of your comfort zone to work at camp is one of the best hardest things you will ever do.

Finally, working at camp is exhausting. Seriously. You need some serious stamina—both mental and physical–to make it through the summer. The days are long. The sleep is short. You will likely be given one day off per week, on which you will still find yourself spending time with the same people with whom you’ve been working for the past six days and with whom you will work for the next six days. Obviously, if you’re a person who values a lot of alone time, you might find working at camp a bit hard.

There you have it. The hard part. The fine print. The ‘What’s the catch?’ If you’ve read all of that and are ready to take on a bit of difficulty in exchange for a whole lot of fun, then a summer at camp just may be the right fit for you.

My Summer Home

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If the cold weather has you exploring summer job options or you’ve been considering working at sleepaway camp this summer, this week’s guest blog is for you. It was contributed by a Starlight staff member and originally posted to the Camp Starlight blog on January 6, 2014.

I’ve spent the last three summers at Starlight as both a counselor and assistant division leader. It’s hard to remember who I was before I came here, considering how much being at camp has changed me. As cliché as it sounds, I have truly grown as a person and met some of the most wonderful people while doing so. Every summer, since making the decision to join the staff, I’ve had opportunities to do other things, but never really considered being anywhere else….this is where I am supposed to be.

I have talked my friends deaf about my experiences and attempted to share with them the magic that Starlight holds, but it is something that needs to be seen first hand to fully grasp. The want for everyone to have this experience I have been blessed with has made me one of the biggest advocates for my peers on both trying and returning to camp.

We use the term “summer home” quite a bit, but it is for good reason. As soon as I venture up the camp road for that first entrance of the summer, I immediately check any stress and outside pressures at the door. Starlight is where I am with my friends, amazing campers, and a community of once strangers who I now consider family.

-Banner W.

The Laurel Camps’ Melting Pot

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The guest blog this week was originally posted to the Camp Laurel and Camp Laurel South blogs on January 1o, 2014, and speaks to the tremendous diversity of the campers who call sleepaway camp their summer home.

Walking around the Laurel Camps on a typical day, you may not notice the vast geographic diversity of Camp Laurel and Laurel South.

We welcome campers from all over the United States and overseas. In 2013, The Laurel Camps welcomed campers across 16 countries, 5 continents and 42 out of the 50 states in the U.S. (Yes… 42!!)

Not only do we have campers from every US region, there’s vast diversity within each region. Take the Empire State of New York: we have campers from 34 different towns and cities. And from the sunshine state of Florida, campers hail from as far south as Key Biscayne all the way up the interstate to Gainesville! The northeast often leads the charge in terms of critical mass, but we also welcome campers from Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas and Ohio – to name just a few.

And what about staff? In 2013, our staff represented 43 of the 50 states. Not a bad representation!

Our geographic mix impacts the camp experience in so many ways.

We’re a break from “the neighborhood” and any prior stigmas. It’s a community where you can explore new interests and make new friends with less preconceived notions of who you are “supposed to be.”

Our campers and staff have a chance to learn the necessary skills to successfully get along with others from different cultures.

And of course, Laurel’s vast geographic diversity allows our campers and staff to make lifelong connections with friends across the world.

Camp provides so many different life skills; independence, problem solving, self-confidence – the list goes on and on. Let’s add encountering and embracing diversity to that list.

Looking through Camp Photos…Again.

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Admit it. During the summer, you just scroll through the camp photos looking for any part of your child—a pose with friends, a smiling face, an arm, a shoe, a finger—anything that you can bookmark and study intensely to see what information you can garner using every technique you’ve ever learned from Law & Order. But have you ever gone back through the photos months after camp ends and just browsed at large, not just at your children, but at camp at large? If you haven’t, you should.

Camp photos aren’t just random shots caught by the camp photographer as he or she casually passed by. They tell a story. The story of camp and how the summer unfolds. The camp photographer is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest working people at camp. In fact, the work is so difficult, that many camps employ more than one, plus a videographer or two. Camp photographers are some of the first people out of bed each morning and some of the last to go to bed each night. Daily, they are charged with capturing the spirit of camp in pictures. If that sounds easy, try making around several hundred acres to capture about twenty activities happening simultaneously. On top of that, you’re taxed with trying to capture images of each and every camper each day. It’s a task. But a valuable one. Because, at the end of the summer, what a camp photographer leaves behind are images of the best moments at camp.

If you look back through the camp photos, you see friends enjoying time together in arts & crafts, sports teams in action, candid shots of campers living in the moment of whatever activity in which they are participating, being reflective, or just taking it all in. You also see moments of true surprise, awe, joy, and even disappointment. You can literally relive the summer by looking through the camp photos. If you want to know what your child is up to, scroll for the photos of our child. But if you want to know what is happening at camp, take the time to look through the camp photos…again.