Greetings from Hilltop. We’re at the midway point of Junior Session, and having a ball. These campers are getting into the spirit of camp incredibly well. They’re playing, having fun, using their imaginations, and having that great early experience of being away from home.
As I write this, the campers are in the middle of Pirate Day. Pirate Day is the Junior Session sized version of Gypsy Day, an all day themed scavenger hunt during our main Session. In the Junior Session version, Danielle, our Assistant Director, and I were kidnapped by pirates while making announcements after lunch. The campers are off doing pirate training (dodging cannonballs, learning sea shanties, telling pirate jokes, practicing on pirate obstacle courses) in order to get ready to defeat our captors and rescue us. It’s fun for them, and provides me with a little time to get a blog post done. Everybody wins. In all seriousness, these campers’ willingness to use their imaginations is a big part of what makes Junior Session so fun. Give them an eye patch and a pirate accent, and you’ve got an afternoon.
The week has been great so far. Our Rotation Morning went smoothly on Thursday, and we started off on classes in the afternoon. For Evening Activity, we had Capture the Chicken. Capture the Chicken is exactly like Capture the Flag, but we play with a rubber chicken, for extra fun. In our main sessions, we play all over camp. In Junior Session, we play on the Sports Field. Yesterday, we had a full day of classes, and Sports Night for Evening Activity. This morning, we had classes again, Pirate Day in the afternoon, and for Evening Activity, we’ll have silly songs and skits on Moonraker Point.
We’re at just about the halfway point of Junior Session. For those of us that are used to the rhythms of a month-long session, Junior Session goes at lightning speed. But, for our campers, this first (or at least early) independent experience is a very big deal. For some, there have been moments of homesickness. We don’t consider that to be a bad thing, even though it’s hard. We’re at the halfway point, and very soon even the most homesick camper will see the light at the end of the tunnel. They all will complete something that most kids their age never do – a week away from home, away from family. Families consistently marvel at the growth that occurs here in a relatively short amount of time. Growth doesn’t happen from doing easy things. These campers are accomplishing something genuine, and they will be proud of that. I’m proud of them already.
Thank you for sharing your children with us this week. They’ve been a ball so far, and I look forward to spending the next few days with them. I’ll update you daily on Twitter, and post here on Tuesday after the campers are on their way.