Year: 2006

girls camp swim team posing
• Girls Camps • rbc

What is the Best Girls Camp?

Best Girls Camp Lake View

What is the best girls summer camp in North Carolina? You’ll often hear claims of being the “best,” but what does that really mean?

It’s really hard to say, of course. There are so many great traditional overnight girls camps out there, ones with beautiful facilities, outstanding counselors, and a diverse program of activities, the differences can be subtle and often boil down to what’s emphasized and what stands out as a strength at any particular camp. All camps have a set of values that helps define its culture, and what it really feels like to be there, and often it’s that feeling that can make a difference.

Many people do consider Rockbrook (at least “one of”) the best girls camp(s) in the south, with its equestrian program, ceramics program, adventure activities, and historic wooded setting. The culture of Rockbrook— emphasizing kindness, caring, generosity and inclusion —also helps distinguish it.

Another way to put it is to say the best camp is the camp you love. It’s the camp for you, the one where you feel at home with good friends and fond memories. For a camp with a long history like Rockbrook, it’s easy to understand why so many consider it the best.  Poke around, and you’ll see why!

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young girls at summer camp
• Campers • rbc

Summer Camp for Young Girls

How old do you need to be to attend Rockbrook?

The youngest girls are 6 years old, and the oldest are 16.

This question comes our way quite a bit, and some parents are surprised to hear that we have a group of campers we call the “Juniors” who are as young as 6 years old. The youngest girls in camp, these are children who have finished kindergarten through the fourth grade. That might seem pretty young for a sleepaway camp, but the Rockbrook program is well designed for this age group, providing these young campers wonderful opportunities to try new things, explore the outdoors, and become more self-confident while away from home.

junior girl summer camp

We also take extra care to assign counselors to this age group who are ready for the care and guidance that young girls often need. The Junior have their own set of cabins, bathroom and showers.  They have a unique stone meeting lodge that happens to also have the best view in camp— miles and miles of mountains in the distance!

As long as they are ready for summer camp, Yes, even the youngest girls love camp.

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Nature Camp Writing Spider
• Nature • rbc

Nature Camps

Nature Camp Writing Spider

Yikes! What’s that?! It’s a spider Sarah spotted at camp a few weeks ago, and odds are it’s a female Writing Spider (Arigiope aurantia). It’s actually a very common spider in North America, and is also known as the “Black and Yellow Garden Spider” or (even cooler!) the “Golden Orb Weaver.” It’s famous for the intricate web patterns it weaves, the web it “writes” with X marks along the strands.

There’s lots to learn about these amazing spiders. Here’s a nice article (with photos) describing the Biogeography of the Writing Spider.

For young children to having a chance to marvel at creatures like this is one of the wonderful parts of nature camps like Rockbrook. You never know what cool critter you’ll find.

Oh, and don’t worry! The writing spider is not considered poisonous to people (even though it looks like it would be!).

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girl playing horse game
• Horseback Riding • rbc

Horse Games for Girls

Ready to learn about some horse games? I’m not talking about a video game, or something that’s only on a screen. What about a game that can be played with a real horse, riding it in the real world? That’s SO much better!

Toward the end of each session at camp, we have a day of “barn games.” It’s when we come up with fun activities a little different from the regular summer camp riding lessons. Here at Rockbrook we are learning to ride, but also having great fun playing games at the barn.

Girls Horse Equestrian Camp

Red Light, Green Light

A classic horse game is “red light, green light.” This is a mounted game where girls learn to control their horse, starting and stopping on command. The goal is quick responses to the commands.

Apple Hunt

One of the most popular games is the “Apple Hunt.” This is when the riding instructors hide several apples out in the fields, and the girls are challenged to ride around and find the apples. One apple is marked, and the rider who finds it gets a special prize. They’re all great fun!

Hand Painting

Another popular horse game we play at camp is hand print painting. Colorful water-washable paint goes into a tray and then girls take turns dipping their hands into the paint to paint hand-prints on a light colored horse. It can be really creative and fun to add your hand to the horse!

Relays

Finally, Rockbrook Camp girls really enjoy the horse game that is essentially a relay. Each rider takes turns carrying a baton or other object and then riding across the ring to hand the baton to another rider, who then rides it back to the original side. This game is fast and fun!

Do you know any horse games that are fun to play? Let us know.

Be sure to check out the comments for this post… More than 300! Wow!

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Columbia SC summer camp party
• Campers • rbc

Columbia SC Girls Summer Camp Party

Columbia SC summer camp party

This week we took the new Rockbrook slide show down to Columbia, South Carolina, for a visit with a great bunch of campers, both girls who have already attended RBC and friends who are interested in attending next summer. We really enjoyed seeing everyone. And what a treat to make s’mores! It’s always so fun for us to see our Rockbrook girls, and to help new families learn what makes RBC such a special girls summer camp.

Columbia, SC is located only about two hours from Rockbrook, but in the summer, camp’s mountain climate makes it much cooler and pleasant. Girls from Columbia have been coming to Rockbrook for generations! Almost 100 years!

That’s Amanda, Katie, Anna, Virginia, Margo, Lauren, Betsy, Tillman, Lawton, Amelia, Carey, Mary Clyde, Annie. And thanks to Marjorie Ann and Burgess for hosting the party!

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Utah Camp Counselors
• Counselors • rbc

Camp Counselor Positions

Summer Camp Counselor

It’s not too early to think about next summer! In fact, we’re starting to hire all of our summer camp staff for the coming season— cabin counselors, outdoor trip leaders, horseback riding instructors, even folks to join to kitchen crew. Most positions are open, so head on over to the RBC camp staff page and start filling out the online application.

There are tons of perks to being a camp counselor… more than 101 benefits! If you’ve never been to camp and don’t know what it’s like to work at a summer camp, you’re missing out. But it’s not too late!

Hey, we’re hiring! 🙂

Not sure you are ready to take on a camp counselor job? Don’t worry! If you have an honest love for working with children, are energetic and a little outdoorsy, we will help you learn everything else you’ll need. We have a week-long orientation program for counselors that teaches all the important skills, provides tips and tricks for handling the job requirements, and makes sure everyone at camp is up to speed on how camp works. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but it is the most rewarding an fun work you’ll ever do!

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girls at sleepaway summer camp
• Girls Camps • Jeff Carter

What is a Sleepaway Camp?

You might be wondering how to define a “sleepaway camp.” It’s a very important distinction because summer camps that are not sleepaway offer very different experiences.

Sleepaway Camps

You can learn a lot about summer camp terms and definitions on this camp dictionary page. But let’s focus on what makes a sleepaway camp.

Sometimes a “sleepaway” camp is also called an “overnight” camp. This means that girls come and spend the night at camp for several days or weeks at a time, not going home for the night.

Another term you might hear is “residential,” but no matter which term— overnight, sleepaway, or residential —joining a session at Rockbrook means you’ll sleep in a cabin at night.

On the other hand, some camps have campers only during the day. These are called “day camps.” Rockbrook does not have a day camp.

How about this for an understanding… “At Rockbrook, campers are residents who sleep away from home overnight.” 🙂

But where do you sleep (away) at camp?

We have simple wooden cabins— nice and cozy dry, with screens on the windows to allow the sounds and scents of the forest to pass through. Everyone has her own bed, some top bunks and other bottom bunks.  There are lights, but no electrical outlets (no need for those!). Except for the counselors, most everyone in your cabin will be about the same age (finishing the same grade), which makes it easy to have lots in common.  You’ll also eat meals with your cabin mates, so it’s easy to become quick friends.

Are you ready for the fun and adventure of camp?

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teen girl campers
• Girls Camps • rbc

Teen Girls Camps

Alpine Tower Climbing

One of the great things about summer camp is its ability to help teenaged girls enhance their self-esteem. It does this, not only by providing all kinds of fun, active things to do, but also by encouraging girls to explore new things and providing them a wide range of opportunities for success. With just a little interest (in our Alpine Tower, for example), a little encouragement, and the right instruction, you’ll be surprised that you make it to the top even though you thought you might not. As those kinds of experiences build, succeeding at home and at school seems all the easier. And that’s very cool.

Don’t underestimate the power of camp. It’s so different from school, girls find themselves doing more, relaxing more, tapping into their bravery more, and feeling good all along.

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Painted hand print horse
• Horseback Riding • rbc

Girls Horses

Painted hand print horse

How many horses did Rockbrook have in its horseback riding program this past summer? With all those girls at camp wanting to ride horses, you might guess we had a lot! Some from St. Andrew’s College Equine Studies program, some from Sweet Briar College Equine Studies program, and some of Rockbrook’s own horses, we had 26 in all. Enough horses and ponies to let every rider, at every level of riding experience, ride almost every day.

Read more about the equestrian program at Rockbrook Camp.

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tetherball game
• Summer Camp • rbc

A Place to Grow

A place for girls to grow

In her book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, Wendy Mogel critiques what she sees as a troubling trend in parenting these days— an excessive tendency to shield children from any kind of discomfort.

“Parents are so busy protecting their children that they don’t give them a chance to learn how to maneuver on their own outside home or school.”

Spending time at summer camp serves as a welcome counter force to this trend. As they choose their own activities, sleep in rustic cabins, live with and make new friends, young people at camp are given a great opportunity to grow. Far beyond what parents might orchestrate at home, camp encourages kids to become more independent, to try new things, and to learn from the experience.

It’s a lot of things (like a really fun time!), but perhaps most fundamentally, camp is a setting for exploring who we really are.  Stepping out of our normal routines, we can try new things, endure discomforts and setbacks (try again), and marvel at unexpected accomplishments.

Seen this video? It’s more about how camp is a place for girls to grow.

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