When Tuesday comes around at North Star, you can be pretty sure our boys are up to some pretty exciting shenanigans. Tuesday was the first Cruiser Day of the session. Cruiser Days are when the cabins spend the entire day together, often participating in different activities than usual. We started off the morning with our first round of COVID testing, so we had our boys drooling before their breakfast of doughnuts, fruit, and cereal. And shortly after dinner we were able to find out that all of our results were negative! That allowed us to enter the second phase of our covid protocols including individual choice activities, which started today.
The weather was a comfortable 73 degrees, perfect for an assortment of activities ranging from sponge fights on the athletic fields, water games, softball, and constructing delicious “edible cabins.” Edible cabins was an activity out on our picnic tables in which each cabin was given graham crackers, frosting, candy, goldfish, and pretzels and made their own log cabins. Many of our campers made cabins, tents, and other recognizable structures. Many others took creative liberty with their creations, but also ended up with a delicious mess. Another popular activity today was zipline dodgeball. Our boys climbed to the top of the climbing wall and pelted onlookers with dodgeballs as they ziplined down the wall!
We wrapped up a fun-filled Cruiser Day with “tinfoil surprise.” Each cabin has a box filled with hamburger patties, carrots, potatoes, onions, bread, cheese and s’more makings. The boys wrap up their food in tin foil and cook it over a campfire. The boys build their own fire, cut up their own food, cook it, and taste the results of their efforts. They also have a ton of fun making different shapes out of the tin foil!
As we come off of our first few days of camp, today we jumped into the first day of our project areas! Our boys rank their top ten choices out of over 80 choices for activities. Favorite activities include archery, riflery, water games, climbing, soccer, stand-up paddleboarding, tennis, waterskiing, disc golf, and arts and crafts, to name a few. The boys are assigned three instructional activities for a three day period. This gives them the opportunity to work on a skill or project consistently and to improve in measurable ways.
At camp, we have three levels for project areas: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each activity has its own milestones for the camper to reach in order for them to progress up a level. For example, in archery, a camper must make a certain score from a certain distance before they can move up. Our objective based programming is a great way for our boys to stay focused and motivated, and to teach them to set goals and work towards them.
This evening was our staff talent show, which is an entertaining way for our campers to meet our counselors and staff. Assistant Directors Robyn, Brian and Kacy sang “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo, which has been a popular tune here over the summer. Some of our Junior Village counselors gave us a rendition of “Rocky Racoon” by The Beatles, and a few others had an intense rock-paper-scissor tournament. Erni juggled, Sergio solved a rubix cube, and Ari, Jeff, Brittney, and Charlie drank lots of milk. Noah B and associates gave a lecture along with an interpretive skit about the 2008 housing crisis. Talent comes in all forms here at North Star!
Morning Grace:
-Giannis Antetokounmpo
