Curing Community Deficit Disorder

There are many ways to describe the difference between camp life and the “real world” that happens elsewhere and throughout the school year. At Rockbrook, we might point to our living mostly outdoors and close to nature. We might celebrate our opportunities to experience adventure (hike, paddle, climb!), or to have time for unstructured play. We could describe how camp is a break from electronic technology, and from the social pressures of school revolving around our appearance, possessions, and status. We might highlight the true independence kids experience being away from parents and teachers.

These are all very clear differences, each helping to explain the benefits of a sleepaway camp experience for children. But there is another one, and it is community, the very real sense of being included, respected, trusted and loved by a group of people. Camp is, at its core, a special community built on central values like kindness, cooperation, compassion, care and generosity. It is brimming with enthusiasm and encouragement, wrapped tightly by a collective spirit. At camp, and certainly at Rockbrook, everyone is welcomed and included.

How different this feels from ordinary life! Camp is not about individual consumption, getting a grade, standing out as the best, or advancing at the expense of others. It’s not so ego-centric, nor blind to the people around us. At camp, where there is always support from friends, you’re never left to just fend for yourself.

And how wonderful it feels! Partly, I think joining a camp community, and other communities too, provides us such a powerful sense of contentment because it is so different from ordinary American life. Human beings, and especially kids, crave this kind of connection. We need to know wholeheartedly that we belong to something bigger than “just me,” that our “true self” is accepted and valued by those around us, and unfortunately it is all too rare these days. Perhaps we modern Americans are dis-content because we are dis-connected from an authentic community. Perhaps we are suffering from what could be called “Community Deficit Disorder.”

Thank goodness for camp and its ability to be a powerful and effective antidote for this disorder. It may not be the main reason we attend a sleepaway camp, but the joy of joining a camp community is certainly one of the most important reasons why we love it.

Friendship Animation Video

The digital photography activity at camp is always coming up with new projects and games for the girls, different ways to incorporate taking (making!) pictures with other active ideas. It might be a scavenger hunt, a color or texture study, or simply a collage of some sort. One cool example of this is making a stop-motion animation video. This involves taking a series of photographs and stringing them together in a sequence. If the objects in the scene change slightly in each picture, the resulting video looks like they are moving. One way to do this is to build something out of play-doh, a snowman for example. Using this stop-motion animation technique, you can make a video where the snowman comes to life!

Here’s an example of this technique used to create the illusion of people moving. This past summer, Hannah, Briana and Catherine made this short video about friendship. You can really tell they had a great time making it. Take a look!

Camp Friends

For years now, we’ve been talking about the benefits of a camp experience for children, the incredible rewards that stick with them long after the active fun of camp life fades back to the demands of home and school. We talked about the meaningful transformation kids experience, personally, socially, intellectually and physically. In so many ways, camp is educational, in the best sense of the word. It’s an experience that children can draw upon later in life as they encounter new challenges, meet new people, and branch out beyond the familiar. Camp is great for kids, in truly important ways.

If you ask the girls at Rockbrook why they love camp so much, they won’t hesitate to explain that it’s the people, their friends that make it so important. There’s no doubt about it; at camp you make your very best friends. There’s time to relax and plenty of super fun things to do, so it’s easy to make friends.

In addition to the real benefit of learning how to make friends, it’s also true that simply having these “camp friends” can be something valuable later in life. Campers share so much together and get to know each other so well, they naturally grow very close, and the camp becomes a close-knit community of supportive people. Years later, for example when they are looking for a job, or getting married, or moving to a new town, these connections (this “social capital”) can really make a difference. Camp friends are there for you!

Summer 2010 — The Last Day

It’s hard to believe it, but we’ve come to the last day of our third session, and the final day of Rockbrook’s 2010 summer season. Thinking back, it’s been a wonderful session. There are so many cool things we’ve done (kayaking, horseback riding, learning archery!!), amazing friends we’ve made, and unexpected ways we’ve grown, becoming more confident, more capable and just plain happy. Over these last few weeks, camp has proven itself, once again, to be a place where we can relax and be our true selves. It’s been a joyful place, surely overrun with complete silliness at times, but also something strong and significant for all of us.

Saying goodbye is hard also, and yes a little sad. But we’re grateful for the time we’ve spent together and for the awesome experience we’ve shared. And while we’ll miss each other, we know the Rockbrook Spirit will stay with us and we’ll most likely see each other next summer back at camp.

It has been a real privilege for all of us at Rockbrook to spend these weeks with your camper. Thank you for sharing such marvelous girls!

Welcome New Campers

Today we welcomed a new set of campers to Rockbrook as we opened the 2nd July mini session. Most of these campers are returning from last summer and a few are new to RBC, but regardless, you could feel the excited anticipation everywhere. The 4-week campers were also thrilled to see their old friends returning to camp and to meet the newest Rockbrook girls. It sometimes surprises people when they arrive at camp an see how friendly everyone is. We get the comment all the time, “Everyone is so nice here!” It’s true; Rockbrook is a down-to-earth, friendly place, quick to welcome new smiling faces. It takes about 5 minutes for a new camper to find a friend and head off to explore the camp. It may seem odd, but it’s a good feeling for parents, when their daughter tells them, “OK, bye mom,” effectively saying everything is fine and she’s ready to begin enjoying camp. Fostering a sense of independence is a big part of being at camp, and with friendly people all around to provide encouragement, this is a lot easier to accomplish.

RIght before lunch, the entire camp assembled on the hill. This is a chance to sing camp songs, learn about the camp activities through a series of skits, and today, enjoy the warm sunshine and mountain view. The Hi-Up girls lead most of the songs taking time to teach everyone several of the most important ones. The Line Heads also present their “Mop Awards” to the cabins that have done exceptionally good work keeping their cabin clean. This year, and different from last year, the three Line Heads decorated their mops (really brooms) as the three ships from the Christopher Columbus expedition: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Why? Well, just for fun of course!

Lunch really hit the spot. We had homemade macaroni and cheese casserole, fresh local steamed green beans, and bowls of blackberries. The salad bars and peanut butter and jelly station saw a little action, but that Mac and Cheese was popular. Good stuff.

For the afternoon, a group of counselors organized a fun Hawaiian Carnival down on the landsports field. They set up several activity stations all around the field: slip-n-slide, snow cones, pace painting, hula hoops, and coconut bowling. We also had a huge inflatable water slide and another inflatable obstacle course set up. With grass skirts and colorful leis for everyone, and music pumping it was an excellent summer afternoon party. To top it off, we just had to have a shaving cream fight too. When you’re already wet, and maybe a little messy from running around, it’s so good to “clean off” with shaving cream… crazy designs on your friend’s back, outrageous hair styles. It’s all great fun, and hilarious for the girls. A quick rinse under the hose, dip in the lake, and shower before dinner, and the girls were feeling good. Be sure to scroll through the photo gallery to see more.

A great first day in the “Heart of a Wooded Mountain.”

A Case for Summer Camp

Head on over to the Chicago Tribune web site and read a fantastic article by Josh Noel entitled: Making a case for camp: This summer institution is old-fashioned — and as relevant as ever.

Describing a camp in Michigan, the article reminds us of why camp is so important to kids. As we’ve mentioned before, the benefits are so crucial given how most children these days find themselves at school and at home.

Anyone who has been to summer camp knows that the relationships are like few others. Friendships form quickly, intensely and with open minds. Even if camp friends don’t keep in touch long-term, what has been shared is long remembered.

Camp is an open and friendly place. It’s where you can put aside your reputation from school, avoid a lot of the drama, and just relax into who you really are. That’s a big part of why you make your best friends at camp; you’re not trying to impress or be someone else. It’s just you, and you soon see, that’s just fine.

Once you experience it, you understand it, and you too will be coming back to camp for the friendships it provides.