Only rarely does it rain in the morning at camp. It’s often wet feeling in the morning because the humidity combines with lower temperatures to cover things in dew and immerse us all in fog, and of course we often have thunderstorms roll through in the afternoon, but by mid-morning the sun ordinarily clears things out. Today though, we had light rain falling off and on throughout the morning until about 4pm. If you are ever curious about the weather at camp, you can check the Rockbrook Camp weather station. It’s mounted on our office, and it continuously monitors and reports current weather conditions to the Weather Underground network. Checking the stats, it looks like we received 1.13 inches of rain for the day.
Activities Carry On
Many of our activities carry on normally when it’s raining: all the crafts for example. Most of these happen outdoors on a covered porch, like painting and drawing, jewelry making, and needlecraft, while other have their own dedicated open-air spaces, like pottery and hodge podge tie-dyeing. There are more raincoats (sometimes called “dewcoats” at RBC… “my dewcoat is up in my cabin” as the song exclaims) cast about, and there’s a pleasant patter in the air, but all this craftiness hardly slows down when there’s a “heavy dew.”
The climbers headed to the gym to hop on the climbing wall. Gagaball became dodgeball in the gym, and the tennis players worked on their strokes in the dining hall playing pingpong. The horse girls could still ride thanks to the covered arena, but we will reschedule zipline rides for a few cabins, and those who couldn’t shoot archery today will get a chance another day in the session.
Rafting in the Rain
Six buses of campers (about 80 middlers and seniors) spent the day whitewater rafting today on the Nantahala river. We drove over to find similar weather— clouds and some drizzle, but also moments of sunshine. Rafting, as you can guess, is inherently a wet and splashy experience, so a little rain doesn’t change much. The girls had a complete blast bumping down the river, yes occasionally falling into the water (an “out of boat experience”), and exercising their talent for screaming through the rapids. Between rapids they sang, took turns “riding the bull” (sitting on the front of the boat like a hood ornament), and happily posed and waved for photos. So much fun!
The Circus Connection
We’re not sure what tipped them off, but Our State magazine, the monthly print magazine that celebrates the culture and history of North Carolina, just published a short article about Rockbrook. The article, entitled “Back in the Day: When the Circus Came to Camp,” talks about our founder Nancy Clarke Carrier, and her family relationship to P.T. Barnum, the well-known circus showman. Nancy’s mother was Barnum’s granddaughter. Being from a circus family, Nancy’s home was decorated with circus artifacts, including a famous small chair, one made especially for Charles Stratton, better known as Tom Thumb. Girls attending Rockbrook in those early years were excited to see “Tom Thumb’s chair,” and even more so to sit in it. As we celebrate Rockbrook’s 100-year birthday, it’s fun to recall this unique circus connection to the history of the camp, and throughout our sessions play with circus ideas during special events.
The community of camp is deepening with each passing day. We’re seeing the girls relax more and begin to feel more comfortable at camp, despite all the differences in their experience compared to home— no parents, no air-conditioning, and no electronic entertainment, for example. Rain or shine, we’re sharing so much, spending all of our time together, and strengthening our connections to each other and to Rockbrook along the way.
Today was one of those beautiful days at camp. I don’t mean just the weather, though it was nicely sunny and warm, a true dose of summer. The beauty came from the people here and all the diversity of their interests, activity, and conversations. There’s something inherently beautiful about a group of children being curious, soaking up new experiences, and finding regular flashes of joy from simply being together. As we all scattered ourselves around camp today, the feeling of camp was revived. It’s a relaxed, joyful busyness. It’s learning things, but for the fun of it. It’s sharing experience with friends, laughing together and growing closer bit by bit. It’s delightful surprises, natural wonders, and the authenticity of being silly. A quick look in any direction, at just about any time of the day, is to be struck by amazing points of this camp beauty. I wish you could see it firsthand!
Activities in Full Swing
Every activity was fully engaged today. The photo gallery again reflects that, all the adventure, creativity, sports, riding, and freedom to enjoy the lake. Together with their cabin groups, the girls rotated through 4 different activities, and three blocks of free time between our three meals and two snack breaks. By the way, I’d say our mid-morning “muffin break” is a highlight for many of us at camp. Today’s freshly baked surprise flavor was banana-coconut. Lunch brought us homemade tomato soup and “cheesy bread,” another camp favorite. Burgers and hand-cut fries, with lemon bars for dessert made our picnic on the hill extra delicious.
Mask Wearing at Camp
I should say a little something about mask wearing at camp this session because it might be confusing about our policy when you see photos with girls sometimes wearing masks and other times not. Whenever the girls are with just members of their own sleeping cabin (their “cohort”), they can remove their masks. They may choose to wear them, but whenever the cabins are not mixing— like during the scheduled activities, meals, and when inside their cabin —wearing a mask is not required. When within six feet of someone from another cabin, however, we are asking everyone to mask up. These encounters tend to be when larger groups are gathered for events like LIne evening programs, or during blocks of free time when the girls can visit friends from other cabins. Today I saw two girls chatting in the red rocking chairs on the dining hall porch, two girls from different cabins, and they were wearing their masks. This policy is fairly intuitive, and most of the campers seem to have no trouble remembering when to apply it.
Send Mail!
Let’s also mention something about mail at camp. Send it! But send it with these tips in mind …though no packages please…The USMail can be a little slow around here, but nothing beats a real letter in your mailbox. I know it’s hard to find the time, and emails are a lot easier, but your girls will really appreciate something more meaningful from you. The girls check their mailboxes right before rest hour, so what you send can inspire a letter in return. Parents love mail from camp too!
The girls are starting to settle in at camp. As you can see we’re all staying happily busy, and well-fed. Already, we’re making the most out of each day, finding that life in this camp community feels really good. There will bound to be a few bumps along the way, challenges that we will work on together, but there’s good to be found there too. We’re all here to help each other, encourage each other, and appreciate each other as we dig into all the fun. Stay tuned!
It’s always exciting to start a new session of camp, exciting for the staff at Rockbrook and of course very exciting for the girls arriving. This summer, after skipping a year of camp and enduring the social restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, you can imagine this would be even more so. In addition, today we opened our longest, 4-week session which is chock full of the most enthusiastic campers, many of whom have been coming to Rockbrook for years. It’s true; all morning as we checked girls into camp, we saw a blazing excitement to get started with camp, smiling faces of gratitude from parents, and scores of fidgety eager girls. After all, we’ve been waiting a long time for this day, for camp to bring us together, to get us outside and playing, to let us be real again. It’s just exciting!
Our check-in procedure went well overall, despite a bottleneck later in the morning when the seniors began arriving. Thank you for your patience if you had to wait in line longer than you expected. And thank you for following our pre-camp precautions— all the forms, quarantining, and testing —all important. Our nurses were impressed by how organized and prepared everyone was with their medications. Here too, everyone seemed ready for camp.
Settling Into Cabins
Settling into the cabins turned into a fun group project. Along with the counselors, the girls helped each other make their beds, arrange their trunks in the cabin and add extra touches like “fairy lights,” pillows and stuffed animals to make their new home a little more cozy. The girls start to get to know each other through this simple activity, and as they sit down for their “cabin meeting,” they already have ideas about how they will work together throughout the session. These cabin groups will be eating their meals together and taking their scheduled activities together, so the feel of the group is important to establish well. The counselors understand this and do a great job facilitating the discussion.
Treetop Dining
At lunch, we launched right into our new seating arrangement that takes advantage of our two new porches. To help maintain some distance between cabin groups while eating, and to increase the amount of outdoor eating areas, this spring we doubled the size of our dining hall porch and extended the gable-end porch of the Hillside Lodge, which is one of the historic stone activity meeting lodges in camp. We effectively doubled our dining space at camp! Both of these new porches are really nice places to eat too. As you look out, they feel like you are high in the nearby trees, breezy and cooler. “Treetop Dining,” we call it. For lunch, Rick and his kitchen crew served us a classic meal of camp comfort food, his homemade mac-n-cheese, steamed broccoli, and freshly cut watermelon slices. The girls loved this warm cheesy dish making a second helping completely natural.
Swimming Demonstrations
Warm sunny weather in the afternoon made our “swim demos” a welcome opportunity to cool off. We ask all of the girls to demonstrate their swimming ability to our team of lifeguards so we know where in the lake (shallow end vs. the deep end!) they can safely swim. No matter what their ability, we have a way for the girls to enjoy the lake at camp. Everyone gets a buddy tag! Our mountain stream-fed lake is always surprisingly chilly, and can be shocking even for confident swimmers who are used to warmer water. But with some getting used to the “refreshing” water, most girls do well after a few trips to the lake. Everyday, except Sunday when there are special events happening, there are two “free swim” times, when girls can take a dip in the lake if they like.
Tomorrow we’ll get to apply all this enthusiasm and excitement as the girls fill their day with camp activities. We’ll be shooting arrows, climbing rocks, and riding horses right after breakfast. There’ll be action everywhere. Be sure to visit the online photo gallery, which is available after you login to your parent account. Each day, we’ll post photos of what’s happening at camp. While we can’t promise we’ll get a shot of every girl everyday, we’ll do our best to give you a sense of life at camp. Just as it’s a joy for these girls to be here, it’s a real treat to peak into this world from the outside. I hope you are looking forward to it!
When the 9th graders arrived at camp, they knew their task would be challenging, but they didn’t really know the details of how COVID-19 precautions would affect their Banquet. “Banquet” refers to the all-camp party we hold at the end of the three main sessions. It’s a long tradition at Rockbrook for the “CAs” (9th grade girls) to plan and present this party for the rest of the camp, but also to select a secret theme for the decorations, costumes, skits, dance numbers, music and food. The girls pick their theme and work throughout their session painting decorations, gathering costume materials, and practicing skits and choreography. For the whole camp, anticipation and excitement builds for the banquet.
It’s Da Rewind: A Disney Theme
So what was the banquet theme this session? It was titled, “It’s Da Rewind” (with the ‘D’ stylized like the first letter of the Disney logo) and was a multi-location presentation of Disney characters and stories loosely grouped into “classic” Disney, “modern” Disney, and “Disney Channel” topics. Having three topics came about because we wanted to keep the different age groups in camp (the Junior, Middler and Senior lines) separate, yet still give them each a banquet experience. The CAs devised a plan to have the lines rotate from one location to the next with each location having a “mini-theme.” And what a great plan it was! A banquet first!
Three Locations, One Celebration
One location was the Hillside Lodge where the campers met some modern Disney characters like Flynn Ryder from Tangled, Ana from Frozen, and Maleficent. This stop had the campers playing games: Disney trivia, corn hole, and a ball toss game. With music from the movies playing, the costumed characters helped each cabin take turns playing the games.
The other new location for the banquet was the gym, where Disney TV characters Troy Bolton, Sharpay Evans, and Hannah Montana were waiting to perform. The girls know and love the songs from these popular TV shows, so this fun dance show quickly turned into a sing along dance party. Dancing to favorite songs is always a big part of Banquet, so the campers were ready to party, making this great fun.
The third location was the dining hall where we met classic Disney characters Snow White, Peter Pan, and Beauty and the Beast. There was a short skit and a choreographed dance for all the characters. The food was served here too: “Troy Bolton’s Fav Mozzarella sticks,” “Peter’s Pan Pizza,” “Timon and Pumbaa’s Fruit grub,” “Ariel’s Kelp salad,” and “Poison Apple tarts” for dessert. Plus, like all banquets the tables were decorated with stickers, confetti, and of course candy. Painted paper panels, streamers, balloons and fairy lights helped make the whole setting festive and more fun.
After all the groups had rotated through all three locations, everyone came together outside on the hill for more dance songs and celebrating. This is also where the CA campers sang a song to their counselors, and afterwards the counselors to their campers. Similarly the Hi-Ups and their counselors sang their songs. This is another banquet tradition where these now tight groups express their gratitude and affection for each other. It was a sweet moment for all of us to witness, as the girls laughed and cried at different points in the songs, jumping up at the end to share hugs.
Overall the banquet proved that these girls can be creative under any conditions, adapt to new circumstances, and have a great time working with each other. Their dedication, pep and energy created a memorable celebration for everyone at camp. The first session banquet was a huge success!
It’s been great to see all the action at camp this week. It’s not too surprising since there’s always a lot of activity at Rockbrook— 28 different groups of kids all doing something different, simultaneously. Scattered all around the camp, there are sports for playing, experiences of adventure that await, and opportunities for creativity for the girls at camp. Our absolutely gorgeous, perfect weather of the last few days, though, has somehow made this buzz of happily busy girls seem even more lively than usual.
Lessons at the Riding Center
Down at the Rockbrook Riding Center, dozens of girls have been taking their mounted riding lessons. There are 32 horses in the barns this summer, some smaller, gentle ponies, and others larger and more schooled for our advanced riders hoping to improve their jumping skills. Our covered riding arena is large enough to be divided into two sections, comfortably allowing two separate lessons at the same time. Outdoors the round ring is the perfect place for beginners to simply walk their mounts, and down in the large lower ring, you’ll find the faster rides and jump courses being set up. This means there can be times during the day when four different lessons are happening, each with 4 or 5 horses and riders. The equestrian staff have a big job keeping all of this organized, the horses well cared for, and the eager campers involved.
New This Summer: Woodworking
A new activity this summer (one that was planned for last summer, but as you know did not happen) is woodworking. Using hand tools, the girls are learning basic woodworking skills like measuring, cutting and joining. They are making picture frames, candlestick holders, and tic-tac-toe boards. In addition to staining the final projects, they are using wood burning tools to decorate. The newly renovated wood shop area is turning out to be a nice place to work on these projects.
After a minor delay resurfacing our clay tennis courts at the start of this session, we are back to hitting and playing this classic racquet sport. The girls love playing on these courts. They are shaded much of the day, and the clay surface helps keep them cool. The tennis instructors plan drills and fun tennis exercises, always trying to keep things lighthearted. While the girls are learning important tennis skills— racquet grips, strokes, serving —our first goal is to have fun. We’re not competing; we’re playing. It’s not a tennis match; it’s a tennis game.
Flying Through the Zipline Course
Ziplining is something that almost every camper does at some point during her session. All the age groups can do it. Zipping is certainly optional, but when you see how much fun the girls are having as they fly by high above the office, it’s hard to resist. The whole course takes about an hour to complete. It includes a zip that crosses in front of a waterfall, another that lands on a gentle slope in the forest, and a third, the fastest, that flies 450 feet down from a rock cliff. The course also has three bridges: a burma bridge, a suspension plank bridge, and a fun “missing plank” bridge.
It’s worth repeating that our days at camp are filled with action. Unlike much of our time during the school year, we’re not inside, sitting down, staring at a screen trying to focus. We’re not bored at camp, even without electronic entertainment. We’re not lonely, even without updates from our social media “friends” or “followers.” At camp, there’s always plenty do, and plenty of great people to do it with. It can be as simple as soaking your feet in the creek or as exciting as paddling through a whitewater rapid in a kayak, but the life we lead at camp is lively and real.
Welcome to camp! “We welcome you to Rockbrook Camp, we’re mighty glad you’re here!” …as the camp song goes. Today the girls attending our June Mini session arrived to begin their long awaited time at camp. Driving through our new check-in procedure, we saw plenty of excited girls eager to hop out of their cars and get started. There may have been an occasional dose of nervous butterflies, both for some campers and their parents— which is completely normal even for seasoned campers —but all the smiling faces and enthusiastic people to meet helped smooth things along nicely. Thanks to everyone for helping make this opening so smooth. Arriving on time, having your forms completed, and organizing medications and other medical needs, benefitted everyone.
Mountain Laurel Name Tags
When they arrived, every camper received a personalized name tag made from a slice of mountain laurel strung on a length of lanyard. We’ve made tags like these at Rockbrook for generations. The girls decorate them further over the course of their session, and over the years build quite a collection. I’ve even seen alumnae return to camp years later wearing the name tag they personalized as a child.
Setting Up Rustic Cabins
While our maintenance crew moved luggage to the cabins, the counselors played get-to-know you games with the girls who had already arrived. The name tags help with that! The rest of the morning was spent setting up the cabins, each group of girls and their counselors making beds, arranging trunks, and hanging decorations. Our cabins, most of which are original to the camp, are simple and rustic— all wood, screened windows, and a couple of lights. No air conditioning! No electrical outlets! But they are cozy! Once the girls settle in, comforters go on beds, books on shelves, and towels hung in the “dog trot” area, the cabins are quite comfortable. Something tells me that despite starting out clean and organized, they won’t stay that way for long!
Learning the Camp Landmarks
With getting to know their cabin mates underway, we also spent some time getting to know the camp environment. Groups toured about learning the major landmarks like the dining hall, activity locations, and the office. While the entire camp property covers 220 acres, most of that is forest with the core part of camp being tucked into a valley easily navigated by foot. When the camp bell is rung to change activity periods or to call everyone to a meal, it can be heard everywhere.
Swim Demos at the Lake
After lunch, these new campers were introduced to the lake area too. Each cabin group took turns coming down to learn the lake protocols and to take the “swim test,” which we soften a bit by calling it the “swim demonstration” or “swim demo.” Showing the lifeguards that you can be comfortable in the water, swim confidently, and tread water without struggling is the goal. But no matter what a girl’s swimming ability, if she wants to enjoy the lake, we have a way for her to do it safely, perhaps by avoiding the deep sections of the lake or by wearing a PFD while in the water. As temperatures heat up during the day, the free swim times at the lake become very popular with the girls. Most days right before lunch, the lake is the place to be!
Freedom from Ordinary Pressures
Walking around, seeing campers happily engaged with each other, laughing and smiling at the simplest things, I can already tell this is going to be a great session. There’s such a sense of freedom. And what a relief that is after the COVID restrictions of last year, not to mention the regular academic and social pressures of ordinary school life. It’s a joy for all of us at Rockbrook to have kids being kids here at camp, singing and playing, challenging themselves with new activities, and connecting with loads of good friendly people. There are stories to be shared, natural wonders to discover, and so many avenues of growth to explore. There’ll be a surprise everyday, perhaps an entirely unplanned encounter, but there’ll be something marvelous that will make your girl smile.
Life at camp will bring all this and more. Stay tuned!
Our daily schedule at Rockbrook includes four 1-hour blocks of activity time where the girls go to a specific area of camp to climb, shoot, create, ride, swim, and so forth. Meals, of course, are also scheduled, but in addition, there are three hour-long periods of free time where the girls can explore camp on their own, head to the lake for “free swim,” play tennis or gaga ball, or just take a leisurely shower, for example. There’s a good balance of “things I know I’ll do” and “things I might decide to do.” This balance of scheduled activity time and regular free time is true this summer too, even though for “COVID reasons” we are assigning activities by cabin group. So a camper might take climbing and pottery with the girls in her cabin, but during the first free swim period decide to play tetherball with other girls on her line.
By the way, this system of rotating activities as cabin groups is what allows the girls to remove their masks (if they feel comfortable doing so) during the activities. When the only campers present are girls from the same sleeping cabin, masks are optional, even though we ask our staff members to model good masking when when assisting a camper up close. If you page through the daily photo gallery online (and I hope you will!), you’ll see a whole range of girls wearing and not wearing masks. During free time, when the campers have more freedom to interact with girls outside their cabin group, mask wearing is more common, just as it is less common during the scheduled activities involving a single cabin group.
Activities Burst Onto the Scene
Today that new activity rotation system burst onto the scene scattering every cabin group in a different direction. Every part of camp came alive with excited action. We had juniors shooting rifles, and a group of middlers riding the zipline. There were some seniors kayaking and others weaving. One group took a hike to a waterfall in the nearby Dupont State Forest. Another stretched, balanced and pulled themselves up the indoor climbing wall, while still another found themselves learning about color theory by mixing tempura paints on paper. These girls were busy! A full slate of camp activities filling our day.
Another reason to spend time scrolling through the photo gallery is to get a sense of our staff members. You may have guessed this if you read their staff profiles, but seeing them in action is truly impressive. More than 75% of them are former campers who have grown up coming to Rockbrook, or are former staff members from previous summers. Missing last year, there were many of these young women eager to return to camp, and now after last week’s orientation and training, they are doing an amazing job. Kind and enthusiastic, patient and fun, these are great folks that your girls will really admire.
CAs Plan the Banquet
The 9th grade campers, who we call “CAs,” took a hike to discuss their ideas for the end-of-session party known around here as “Banquet.” These girls plan the entire party from the food, decorations, music and entertainment, which can include costumed dances and skits. They also select a single theme for their banquet plans, so this hike was to discuss and ultimately select their secret theme. Starting with more than two dozen ideas, they narrowed down the list and landed on something that will appeal to all the ages in camp. It’s always fun to see how they bring together all their ideas and present a really fun event for the entire camp. In just a few short weeks, we’ll all find out!
This session is off to a wonderful start. It’s an absolute joy to see.
Hello from Rockbrook! Today we opened our first session of the summer 2021 season. After months of planning, and really two years of thinking about how camp would be this summer, the opening day arrived. Finally, we can welcome girls to camp, introduce them to all the other amazing campers and staff members that make up this community, and begin to experience all the special aspects of camp life. “More than ever” seems to be the phrase of the day. Given the feelings of loss, and many struggles imposed upon everyone by the coronavirus pandemic, we all need camp more than ever. The time outside, the laughter and smiling faces, the closeness of friendship, the hilarious silliness, the opportunity for fresh, real-world (tech-free) experience— yep, more than ever. You can already see it on the girls faces and hear it in their voices. They’re so happy to be here, so ready to play, to be carefree kids, and to enjoy the fun of camp. For the staff too, they missed this place and the simpler, more genuine life camp provides. This has always been true at Rockbrook, summer after summer, but this year, it’s even more so.
Thank You, Parents
Thank you parents for helping make our new opening day procedure so smooth. Your attention to the details of our pre-camp protocols and instructions (so many forms! emails! text messages!) really helped make this new check-in a success. We especially appreciate all the effort you put into keeping your girls healthy before arriving. We know the symptom monitoring, and the testing was an added burden, but we think it is well worth the benefit it provides the whole camp community. Thank you! If you have any feedback about your check-in experience, we’d love to hear from you.
One worry about this new procedure was that the campers would not have their parents to help settle them into their cabin. From the camper’s point of view, his turned out to be unjustified. Since we had campers stagger their arrivals by age, this helped the girls in each cabin arrive close to one another, and that allowed everyone to set up their bunks together. A fun new group project was born, with the counselors and bunkmates helping make the whole cabin more comfortable. We were able the launch the whole cabin group into action right away. A great thing!
As campers arrived throughout the morning, those cabin groups already settled enjoyed playing tetherball, snacking on homemade banana bread, and exploring the main areas of camp. Sunny skies made this wonderful. By noon, everyone had arrived and were ready for our first dining hall lunch— Rick’s famous mac-n-cheese. Over the years (This is Rick’s 11th year managing the Rockbrook kitchen.), this has become a favorite opening day meal. With roasted broccoli, and bowls of freshly cut fruit, this meal is a true crowd pleaser. It think the secret is the 3 different kinds of cheese he uses, but it’s bound to be more than just that!
The girls had time for cabin meetings after lunch. They discussed general rules and good habits for getting along in such close living quarters. They talked about their “cabin contracts” that can help address disagreements, and guide their interactions positively. For example, they agreed that you should ask permission before sitting on another person’s bed.
Swim Demonstrations
The afternoon brought everyone to the lake. The lifeguards and directors took time to explain the safety procedures of the waterfront area and answer everyone’s questions about how to make the most of the swimming opportunities at camp— the “mermaid” (lap swimming) club, the water slide, floats, and free swim times. Then, cabin by cabin, the girls took turns demonstrating their swimming ability by jumping off the dock, swimming and treading water for a minute. Each camper received a “swim tag” based on that ability which determines where in the lake they can swim. We have ways to allow everyone at Rockbrook to enjoy the lake, no matter what their swimming ability. With fun music playing, and the encouraging cheers of friends, these “swim demos” were a fun way to spend the afternoon. Was the water cold? Let’s just say it was “refreshing.”
At its core, camp is about connection. It’s about taking a break from our screens, and discovering the beauty of nature that’s been there all along. It’s about the joy of friendship found in simple shared experience. In these ways and others, camp is such a relief. And yes, this summer, that’s true more than ever.
It might only be February, but we are so excited about welcoming girls back to Rockbrook in 2021! After all the challenges and sacrifices everyone has faced this past year, we’ve been thinking about camp, dreaming about camp, and feeling really good about what a summer in the heart of a wooded mountain will provide.
Hello from Jeff and Sarah
As the coronavirus pandemic conditions have been changing, we have been considering how every aspect of life at camp might be affected. Working with guidance from the American Camp Association and our state Health Department, we’ve been identifying essential principles and protocols that will guide us as we adjust how certain things are done at camp.
If we are to protect ourselves from being exposed to the coronavirus, there will most likely be new ways we sign up for activities, take out-of-camp trips, eat our meals, and gather for evening programs, for example. We will have to be careful in several important ways.
While there is some good news on the horizon as vaccines are becoming increasingly available, it’s difficult to predict every detail of what will be different this summer at camp. Even so, while we ask for your patience, we would like to share with you what we are anticipating so you can begin planning and thinking about the summer.
Questions!
Here are a few of the questions we’ve been hearing, along with our best answers at this time.
Some of these answers may change as we get closer to the summer, but for now, this is what we know. We will certainly keep you informed when we have updates!
How will we practice “social distancing” at camp?
This summer we will consider every cabin group a “family” where the campers and counselors sleeping in the same cabin do not have to socially distance. These cabin family groups will eat their meals together, do daily activities together, and go on out-of-camp trips together. We will, however, practice distancing between cabin family groups. Partway through each session, as we are effectively managing the coronavirus (keeping it out of camp!), we hope to allow these family groups to form larger “neighborhoods” for evening programs and other special activities.
How will we sign up for activities?
At this time, we are planning for girls to attend activities with their cabin group. We will create an activity rotation for each group that will include a range of adventure-, arts-, and sports-related activities. We hope campers will be able to enjoy their favorites and try a few new activities as well. There will still be swimming, ziplining, and opportunities for free time most days. Horseback riding will remain an individual signup.
What about meals?
To provide more space between cabin family groups while they eat, we are expanding our outdoor dining space by renovating the hillside lodge porch and dining hall porch. We anticipate eating outside most of time, either picnic style on the hill or at tables properly spaced in the dining hall and on these covered porches. Rick, our long-time chef at Rockbrook, will be back this summer to provide our favorite meals (and muffins!).
When will we have to wear a mask at camp?
Right now, we anticipate campers and staff needing to wear a mask whenever they cannot properly distance themselves from a member of a different cabin family group. At the same time, if you are only with members of your own cabin group— for example, at meals, during most activities, and when inside your cabin —you will not need to wear a mask. We will ask that campers bring with them to camp several of their favorite masks.
What about the vaccine?
We are hopeful that our adult staff members will be vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to working at camp this summer. As “out-of-school time” workers supporting children, camp staff have recently been made eligible for vaccinations like others in education settings (like teachers). At this time, it seems unlikely that a COVID-19 vaccine will be approved for children in time for camp. While helpful, having a portion of our camp community vaccinated does not eliminate the need for social distancing, mask wearing, and enhanced sanitation protocols.
What COVID-19 testing will be required?
We anticipate requiring all campers and staff to provide the negative results of a recent COVID-19 molecular (PCR) test prior to arriving at camp. Along with a few pre-camp precautions (limiting unnecessary travel and exposure to non-family members, and some symptom monitoring), we hope to increase the odds of beginning each session covid-free. As an additional check, we will use rapid antigen testing to screen anyone with COVID-19 symptoms. Since the availability and methods of coronavirus testing are rapidly changing, we will provide more details in the spring about how we will utilize testing. We understand the notion of testing is unpleasant, and we will do everything we can to minimize that.
What else will be happening to guard against COVID-19?
Above and beyond our regular American Camp Association standards, we will be implementing more rigorous cleaning procedures, regular hand washing and sanitizing, expanding our on-site medical facilities and staff, and ongoing self-reported health checks. Maintaining a healthy camp community will be our top priority!
Will there be changes to opening day?
Yes. We are planning to assign each family a staggered arrival time, creating “drive-thru” stations for all our regular opening day activities. We will ask that parents stay in their cars as our staff helps with your daughter’s luggage, you meet the directors and counselors, and your daughter is welcomed to camp. We will take great care helping every camper settle into her cabin comfortably.
Will there be any travel restrictions?
Currently, there are no restrictions against traveling into North Carolina, but to help socially distance while traveling, we prefer that campers arrive at camp by private car. We believe campers can still fly, but we ask they be extra cautious by wearing a face covering and maintaining proper social distancing while traveling. International campers should stay in touch with our office about travel plans.
What if there’s a positive case at camp?
While we hope to maintain a relatively closed camp community, one bolstered by many layers of protection, it will still be possible for someone to contract COVID-19 while at camp. We will be monitoring everyone’s symptoms daily (campers and staff), and when someone exhibits convincing COVID-19 symptoms, that person will be isolated and tested. Our medical team is developing a screening, testing, and quarantining plan, but at this time, we believe campers who test positive will need to be picked up from camp as soon as possible.
Gosh, should I still come to camp with all of these precautions?
If you have significant concerns about your daughter attending camp this summer because of underlying health issues, or for any other reason, please reach out to us to discuss things. We know camp will be a bit different this summer, but our goal is to keep everyone healthy while at the same time recreating the core of what we love about Rockbrook— the zany surprises, the fun activities, the incredible natural beauty, and that special feeling that comes from just being together at camp.
Thank you again for your support, cooperation and trust as we prepare for another amazing Rockbrook summer!
If you have questions not covered here, or you need clarification about anything, please let us know.
