Parent, Alexandria, VA

You folks do this beautifully. We’ve tried two other camps, and THIS was what we’d been looking for the whole time. The people + the tradition + the philosophy = spectacular experience.

Parent, Black Mountain, NC

RBC has got to be the most fun and rewarding summer experience a girl could have! Thanks to all the staff for their energy and talents, and willingness to work so hard to make Rockbrook such a wonderful place. We could write a book describing the positive aspects of RBC!

Back to School

This time of year, as we head back to school and the memories of our time at camp can seem far away, it’s a good idea to reflect upon some of the important habits and skills we learned during our stay at Rockbrook, and to realize how important they can be throughout the rest of the year.  But what are some of those values? What are some of the surprising things camp taught us that can still serve us well at school?

At Rockbrook this summer we learned:

—things are more fun when we include everyone
—you can be creative with just about anything
—making friends is easy when we respect and care for each other
—everything is better in a costume

Of course there are a lot of other ways camp helps kids grow too.

Peg Smith, the CEO of the American Camp Association, also wants kids to remember what they learned at camp, in particular the “Three Cs” — Confidence, Curiosity, and Character. Pack all these great things in your school backpack. You know camp is awesome; now make that true for school too!

A July Sunday

One way we punctuate the week at Rockbrook is to change the pace on Sundays. We follow a different schedule and plan special surprise events for the whole camp. It began today by sleeping in, which felt wonderful after the very full week we’ve been enjoying, but even better, the girls and their counselors came to breakfast in their pajamas and robes. Rick arrived much earlier in the kitchen and baked for us his yummy maple cinnamon coffee cake to complement the regular yogurt, cereal, and fresh fruit bars.

After breakfast the girls returned to their cabins to clean and sort things, as today is also the day laundry goes out. You can imagine how that might take a while! Around 10:30 the whole camp, dressed in their red and white uniforms, then assembled in cabin groups around the flagpole on the hill for a flag raising ceremony led by the Hi-Ups (10th graders). This included presenting the flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing “America the Beautiful.” As we stood in the bright morning sunshine, overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance, and flanked by the historic camp buildings, this was a very neat scene.

Next, the girls walked down the lower line to a special wooded area of camp for our chapel service. For years now Rockbrook has been explicitly non-denominational and ecumenical with no religious affiliation. It’s been a place where girls from all cultural and religious traditions (and non-religions!) can feel comfortable. Instead of specific religious texts or ideas, our chapel services are more thematic, focus on general human values (things like honesty, friendship and community), and are led by the girls themselves. For example, today the Middler line presented their chapel on “Simplicity” by leading several songs, reading a poem, and talking about what simplicity means to them. Sarah read (paraphrased actually) a short book to the girls called “Crispin: The Pig Who Had it All” by Ted Dewan. It’s about a spoiled pig who, instead of receiving the kind of big gifts he’s used to, gets an empty box from Santa. He naturally struggles with this at first, but in the end learns about imaginative play. Sarah connected it with camp, of course, noting how being at Rockbrook also encourages us to simplify (no technology!), yet equally inspires our imagination, sense of wonder and connections with others. The chapel is intended to be a quiet time for reflection and an opportunity to gather together as a camp community. It’s a nice balance to the zany fun we enjoy the rest of the week.

After lunch, which was a classic combination of baked ham (or tempeh), green beans and mashed potatoes, and after rest hour, which included a brief, welcome thundershower, the whole camp geared up for the Rockbrook Olympics. We divided into 3 teams, anticipating tomorrow’s holiday— red, white and blue —so that teams included girls from all three age groups. Each team, dressed and painted in their color, came up with a cheer and assigned participants for different relay events to be held down on the landsports field. We had a water balloon toss, a sack race, three-legged race, dizzy lizzy, spoon and egg carry, army crawl, sponge relay, frozen t-shirt thaw, a wheelbarrow race, and a huge, group hula hoop relay. The energy level was intense as everyone raced from one event to the next, stopping now and then for a drink or snack under the tents. For the final event, we all headed back up to the lake for a greased watermelon relay. Even more cheering! As is typical around here, we’re not really sure who “won” because we didn’t keep score. There’s just no need, and it’s really not that important, when you’re having this much fun playing and cheering everyone on.  So much fun!

Farewell First Session

Thank you First Session girls for another great opening at Rockbrook! Today we had to say farewell to our first session Rockbrook girls. With our trunks packed, camp crafts gathered, and plenty of memories stored, we had our final breakfast together before the parents started arriving to pick up their girls. It’s certainly sad to bring such a wonderful time together to a close, and likewise to say goodbye to our camp friends. But it’s also a great feeling to recall all the fun we shared and how much we’ve grown closer. For everyone at camp I can say, we are already looking forward to being together again at Rockbrook.

Ready for Equestrian Fun

Any day now, more of our horses will be arriving at camp. We’ve been getting ready too! New fences and gates are up, the fields are lush and green, and the new equestrian office is set. We’re positive sitting on that porch will be very popular. There will be plenty of action with both camp barns full and 28 horses in all. Many of your favorites are coming back— Danny, Lacy, Buddy, and Cool Beans —and there will be a few new equestrian surprises as well.

Are you ready to ride? It’s going to be great! And fun!

Tennis at Camp

Forehand! Backhand! Lob! Volley! Groundstroke! Cross-court! Serve! It’s all tennis.

And at camp there’s plenty of chances to play tennis. Campers can sign up for tennis as one of their scheduled activities, which gives them about an hour on the courts. They can grab a friend and hit a few balls around during their free time before lunch or dinner. They can even get in a quick game after dinner during the “Twilight” time before evening program. And finally, girls can look forward to the end-of-session tennis tournament with Camp Carolina, a long tradition at Rockbrook.

With all this tennis going on at camp, Rockbrook girls can really learn a lot. They can build their tennis skills and become much better players if they want. But at Rockbrook, no matter what we do, the most important part is to have fun doing it! That’s why tennis can be pretty silly. It can turn into some kind of relay game, a trick shot contest, or even a new dance move. No pressure. No intense competition. No worries about whose the “best.” It’s a girls tennis camp dedicated to having fun, even when that means mostly playing around. Yes it’s all tennis, and it’s all fun.

Camp Estivation

Word of the Day! estivate. This is a great word that applies to camp. You’ve heard of “hibernate,” which basically means to “spend the winter in a dormant condition.” Well, estivate means the opposite— “to spend the summer, as at a specific place or in a certain activity.”

Looking it up here, you find that estivate is derived from the latin word aestīvāre meaning “to reside during the summer (akin to aestīvus of or relating to summer).”

So, what’s the best way to estivate this year? At Rockbrook Camp! Are you a camp estivator? Are you ready for some seriously fun estivation?!! Oh yeah!