It’s been nothing short of a great week here in the North Woods. We’re right in the middle of our new activity picks now and “Regularly Scheduled Program” never sounded so good! Everything still feels so fresh, for both the campers and the counselors, because really it’s only our second set of activity picks since the quarantine phase ended. This allows the kids to really dive into their individual choices. To hear the cheers and laughs around camp from waterskiing, climbing, tennis, softball...you name it...is as good a soundtrack as you could want for a summer. It’s just great to see camp look so normal during what are very not normal times.
Our regular program also means the boys can work towards their goals through our Objective Based Programming. At every project area, each boy has at least one goal that they are working towards as part of our curriculum. Introductory goals include learning the safety rules and the procedures of the program. Then from there the boys learn the first steps of the activity like how to hold the bow and arrow or how to get up on skis. From there they work towards more advanced skills and techniques. This works great at the traditional sports as well where the boys will have different objectives for the different skillsets. At basketball, for example, the boys will have shooting, dribbling, passing and defense objectives. At each activity the boys will know exactly what the next objective is that they are working on. This keeps them motivated to improve and grow individually, without using competition against other campers as the motivation.
But normal days always leave fun for goofy nights of course. With last night being our first ever PetCo night. Which was about as goofy as it gets. If you’ve ever seen a dog show, well, we’ll do you one better. Pet Rock Show! (And you thought Fido can sit and stay?) Each cabin, designed, named, decorated, made a backstory for - and ultimately presented their Pet Rocks to the camp. Think a cabin mascot if you will. But, you know, a mascot that doubles as a paper weight. It was goofy. It was silly. It was camp.
And tonight, the campers are excited for breaking out a classic for the first time this summer, which again, now feels fresh after the quarantine wait: Capture the Flag! By Village of course to maintain our village pods. Can you really call a summer summer without a game of Capture the Flag? Great to have it back!
Today’s Grace:
“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”
-Vince Lombardi
Be seated.
