Greetings from Hilltop. It is a truly wonderful day. Don’t get me wrong, for many of us, it’s been a long one. Many of our campers were up at unseemly hours to catch flights that let them arrive at camp by dinner. Our staff, too, worked extraordinarily hard to make a great travel day happen, bringing the campers to the dock to be welcomed by cheering counselors holding signs, along with those campers who’d been dropped off by their parents.
Though it certainly was a long day, it’s wonderful to have this long-anticipated day finally arrive. I know many of our campers spent much of the year looking forward to this day. Our staff has been preparing diligently, all of them for at least nine days and some for as much as three weeks, for the campers to arrive. We’re all thrilled. It’s going to be a wonderful session. Campers will make new friends and renew old friendships. They’re going to try new things, push themselves, navigate a different environment than the one they’re used to at home, and have a ball. While they’re doing it, they’re going to grow in immeasurable ways, ways that will serve them well at home, in their friendships, at school, and in years to come.
As parents, we often struggle because the things we know our kids need (vegetables, study, quality time, face-to-face interactions, challenge, and hard conversations) are often not their favorites. They’re easily pushed aside in favor of screens, sweets, and the easier path. Camp is that extraordinary thing that kids love and is also great for them. It’s a huge part of why I love this work so much and why every First Session opening day feels so full of possibility.
Tonight, the campers are unpacking and getting settled. Tomorrow, we’ll have Rotation Day, where we’ll take care of some beginning-of-camp business, like checking in with the nurse, taking the swim test, picking the second half of our class schedules (the first half having been assigned by the forms that you all filled out in the spring), and so on. We’ll end the day with a great all-camp game in the sports field.
On Tuesday, we’ll jump into classes, get into the routine, and make the most of our new home for this month.
Parents, I want to thank and congratulate you for taking the leap to send your kids to Four Winds this summer. I know it’s a significant sacrifice of time and treasure, but perhaps the biggest sacrifice of all is overcoming our own anxieties. Four Winds’ old-fashioned, tech-free ways can seem like a remarkable departure from the constant-notifications norm. We know that it takes adjustment, but we also know it’s for the best. These campers in this session will gain independence that’s not possible with a digital tether, and they’ll end it able to navigate the world a little more confidently.
That’s not to say that you won’t get any information about what’s going on this summer. You will get quite a bit. The first and most important way to keep up with your camper is the good old-fashioned letter. As archaic as letter writing is these days, we hold on to it here at camp. It’s honestly the perfect way to communicate with home and for home to communicate with you during your time at Four Winds, so we would encourage you to write your child a couple times a week and ask questions, as that will give them something to respond to you about (sitting down in front of a blank page can be a little intimidating when you’re used to texing). Certainly, some kids are more prolific writers than others. We will do our best to encourage all kids to write at least a few letters home this month, and if you’d like to give your child a specific nudge, don’t hesitate to call us. Secondly, I’ll post here once a week on Sundays. Thirdly, every day we’ll post Instagram stories with small updates about what’s going on every day. Finally, you’re more than welcome to call the office, check in with Daphne and her team, and they’re happy to check on your camper and get back to you with an update on how they’re doing.
Thank you once again for choosing to send your children to Four Winds this summer. We don’t take your trust for granted, and we know that at the end of their month here, these campers will return home full of laughter and song, bolstered by the deep and genuine connections they will make with each other and with their counselors. They’ll be more independent, more able to navigate the world, better friends, citizens, and family members. It’s going to be a great month.