Saturday Camp

Today began with all the campers following their second set of activities, with every area of camp humming along. For example, one of the arts and crafts activities is called “Painting and Drawing” and today they headed out to the hill for their activity. The project was to use water colors to paint the mountain view seen from under the big walnut tree. This photo shows a little of it— sitting in the shade of the tree, chatting with friends, and enjoying the view while painting. It’s another of those special experiences that is part of camp.

Before lunch, the equestrian staff planned a fun event for the girls that involved dressing up a few of the ponies like pop singers. I heard there was Katy Perry, Lady GaGa and Taylor Swift, for example. Dressing the ponies involved doing up their manes and tails with ribbons and braids, and to complete their “outfits” a couple also got to sport glitter and lipstick! This is a picture of Cloud Nine getting his treatment. Then for the game, the campers divided into groups to play an air band song for each artist (horse!) while then danced along and even lip synced the song (by moving the horse’s lips). It was pretty hilarious and lots of fun for the girls.

The biggest surprise of the day however came after lunch when Sofie and Frampton announced the evening’s activity— dancing with the boys of Camp Carolina. The roar in the dining hall after the announcement was virtually deafening as the girls squealed with excitement. Sarah then explained that the Juniors and Middlers would stay here at Rockbrook because the similarly aged boys from Carolina would be coming to dance in our gym. At the same time, the Senior girls would load up in the buses and drive over to Camp Carolina for their dance. It was two simultaneous dances going on. Sarah also announced that there would be a “dance alternative” for those girls who might decide the dance was “not their thing.” As the alternative, there were about 12 or so girls who joined a couple of counselors in Curosty to learn a new friendship bracelet pattern. These dances are fun for the girls because everyone takes them lightheartedly, all the counselors are right in the mix too, dressing just as goofy, and there’s virtually no pressure about boys being around. They are mostly about just being silly, jumping around with friends, and enjoying the music. Pure excitement!

Posters for Girls

Mark Frauenfelder alerts us to these really cool posters by the graphic artist Amanda Vissell. They are drawn especially for girls, each having a message inspiring confidence and independence. “I am my own Captain” is our favorite, but there’s also, “I can save myself,” “I am wild,” and “I am a maverick.” Click the image to see a larger version.

The artist explains:

I decided to make a line of posters for girls. In a world where girls grow up feeling like their value is how they look these are meant to be a friendly reminder that they can do anything. That they can dream up their lives and make it happen. In the end we all do, it’s just how big we dream.

Camp is another reminder that girls have untapped abilities, that they can do amazing things far beyond what they have even imagined thus far. Camp provides daily encouragement and support as girls step out in new ways. Over time, the girls who attend camp build up a book of empowering experiences from which they can draw later in life. Rockbrook is a place for girls chock full of moments proving each of these posters.

You are your own captain!

Camp Dancin’

Saturday began with Rick surprising everyone with a traditional Costa Rican Tico breakfast of black beans and rice, eggs, sliced avocado, salsa and fruit. This was a new culinary experience for most of the girls, but with the fruit, yogurt and cereal bar also available, everyone was able to find something familiar as well. Lunch was Mediterranean with homemade hummus, falafel, pita bread, feta cheese, tzatziki sauce and Greek salad. And to finish off our “International Day,” we had cheese tortellini, marinara sauce, fresh garlic bread and salad. Today, variety was the name of the game in the kitchen!

The morning was filled with campers enjoying their most recent set of scheduled activities. This allowed them to hone their shooting in archery and riflery, glaze a clay sculpture in pottery, or just work on their cannonball technique down at the lake. Campers can always find more to do in each activity— a new route to climb, a dance move to learn, a new trail to hike — so they look forward to going back each day, even signing up for a particular activity again. The sign up process at camp allows girls to follow their developing interests and not be locked into something their whole time at camp. If a camper finds herself really enjoying pottery, for example, she can spend extra time in the studio working with Katie and really make some cool stuff. Having that kind of self-directed choice is a big part of life at Rockbrook.

Our evening activity was a perpetual favorite, a camp-wide dance with Camp Carolina, nearby in Brevard. We’ve a long tradition of bringing our Senior girls over there, and their Middler and Junior boys coming to Rockbrook for a dance… two simultaneous dances. Splitting the dances like this allows each to take on different tones, with more age-appropriate music and dancing. As the older girls are more aerobic jumpers, the younger campers are more interested in their footwork than the boys when it comes to their dancing. The counselors help a great deal leading the way for both groups. It was a lot of good active fun. Also, for those girls who preferred it, we had an activity available separate from the dance… an art project in Curosty. It’s nice to have an option if dancing isn’t your thing.

We all were happy to return to Rockbrook for the night, back to our haven in the “heart of a wooden mountain,” with our camp friends now filled with stories of the night’s fun.

Girls Painting at Camp

There seems to always be some kind of painting going on at Rockbrook Camp. Everyday in the painting and drawing activity, of course, girls are painting, working on composition, color, texture, perspective, etc. In the drama activity, girls will be painting scenery for the end of session play. During one of the special afternoon events— like a carnival, for example —there’ll be face painting, of like in this picture, body painting to show your team spirit. In the “Hodge Podge” craft activity, chance are you’ll see girls painting fabric pillow cases, backpacks, or bandannas. The ninth grader CAs do tons of painting as they prepare decorations for the big surprise banquet at the end of each session. It’s really quite amazing how much painting we do at camp.  Bring your brush!

Outdoor Painting Fun

One of the camp art projects available for the girls at Rockbrook is painting.  As part of our arts program, the painting and drawing activity is always popular.  When the weather is dry, we’ll often meet for this activity outside, somewhere on the camp property that offers a unique subject or inspiring view.  It’s so nice to be outside with your friends working on your painting, getting the colors right, thinking about the composition, and experimenting with different textures.  These kinds of crafts and arts projects turn out awesome!

And of course, at camp there’s always a chance to add dressing up to any activity. “Let’s put on our most colorful clothes when we go to Painting.”

Painting and Drawing Camp Activity

Here’s an activity that’s become increasingly popular this summer— painting and drawing. It’s a wonderful time when we get together, often outside (like in this photo), and learn different techniques to improve how we paint and draw. Perspective, compostion, color theory, and shading are just a few of the important concepts we’ve covered. There are some amazing subjects to draw and paint at camp too… things like the mountain view from the hill, the blooming rhododendron bushes, or even something more abstract. It’s a lot of fun, no matter what!