Month: May 2009

Camp Gymnastics Instruction
• Gymnastics • rbc

Camp Gymnastics Instruction

Gymnastics Instruction

Elaine Trozzo is returning this summer to head our camp gymnastics instruction program. Elaine has taught gymnastics for the Transylvania County (NC) Parks and Recreation Department for 14 years. She has coached a competitive gymnastics team for 3 years, and has served as a gymnastics competition judge for 4 years. She has been certified by USA Gymnastics and holds the National Safety Certification in gymnastics. This will be Elaine’s sixth year as the head of Rockbrook’s camp gymnastics instruction.

Also returning are some of our awesome gymnastics counselors from camp last summer. You’ll see Karen and Abby down at the gym. We’re also happy to introduce Jess Watrin. She has many years of gymnastics experience and will be one of our gymnastics main instructors.

Yea Gymnastics!! 🙂

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Girls Painting Camp
• Arts • rbc

Girls Painting at Camp

Girls Painting Camp

There seems to always be some kind of painting going on at Rockbrook Camp— paint, brushes, paper, cardboard. 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.  There’s no need to bring a brush (we’ll have those too!), but come ready to add color to almost everything you do!

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Child Kayaker
• Adventure • rbc

Kayaking for Kids

Kid Kayaker

Whitewater kayaking is really catching on with the kids at Rockbook, and not just with our Seniors. Our Middlers, kids in the 5th or 6th grade, are also excited about kayaking.

You might think that is a little young to start such a technical sport, but the camp girls are usually quick to catch on to what’s involved. They learn about the equipment and basic techniques in the Rockbrook lake, and when ready, then move to one of the local rivers.

Even on the Rockbrook Camp property, there is a short section of the French Broad river that provides a great teaching rapid. It’s a nice cove of the river perfect for learning to ferry, peel out, and catch an eddy— three important kayaking maneuvers. Next stop? The Green, the Tuckaseegee, and the Nantahala rivers!

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Horse summer camp two girls
• Horseback Riding • rbc

A Camp of Horses

horses riding summer camp

Let’s talk horses! Every summer at camp we have a herd of easy-going ponies as well as excellent, schooled horses for our riding program. Some of these are owned by Rockbrook and others by St. Andrews University Equine Program, but all of them work year-round staying in shape for their 12 weeks of summer riding in the mountains of North Carolina. Rockbrook is definitely a camp of horses!

So without further ado, here are some of the horses returning to Rockbrook this summer. Most of them were at camp last summer too. Do you recognize any of them?

Annie — black mare, 13.2
Danny — bay gelding, 14
Buddy — grey gelding, 14
Lacy — strawberry roan mare, 13.1
Moe — chestnut gelding, 16.2
Oliver — chestnut gelding, 16.2
Woody — bay gelding, 16
Special — chestnut gelding, 15
Louie — brown gelding, 15.3
Robbie — brown gelding, 15.3
Bruce Leigh — bay gelding, 15
Fritz — bay gelding, 16.2
Deacon — brown gelding, 15.2
Emma — bay mare, 14.3
Watson — chestnut gelding, 15.2
Bailey — bay gelding, 15.3
Quincey — chestnut gelding, 15.2
Gilmore — bay gelding, 16
Nikita — bay mare, 16
Gordon — grey gelding, 16.2
Profound — chestnut gelding, 16
Katie — grey mare, 15.3
Naxos — bay gelding, 16.1
Pepi — bay gelding, 14.2
Reagan — chestnut gelding, 15.2

Isn’t that exciting!!? So, which horse do you want to ride?

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Camp Girls Rifle Targets
• Riflery • rbc

Riflery Camp for Girls

Camp Girls Rifle Targets

Hey what’s your score? How’d you shoot? When girls select riflery as one of their camp activities, they first learn the basics of shooting. After some practice, camp girls develop their marksmanship skills and begin to shoot more evenly. When they can consistently hit higher scores, they can pass through a series of NRA ratings and earn special “Light Rifle Qualification” awards.

On these official targets, a bullseye earns a score of 10. That means the ordinary round of five bullets can total 50 in all. One “course” is 20 shots (4 rounds of 5 bullets) for a total possible score of 200. So if, from the prone, or lying down, position, you can shoot two courses that score 100, that earns you the “Pro-Marksman” rating. If you improve and can shoot two courses of 125, you earn the “Marksman” rating. And it goes up from there: 3 courses of 150 earns “Marksman First Class,” 4 courses of 165 earns “Sharpshooter,” and 6 courses of 180 earns the “Expert” rating. Wow!  That sure would take a lot of practice!

Learn more about these ratings over at the NRA website.

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camp helps make friends
• Summer Camp • Jeff Carter

Because of Camp…

What do Emma Roberts, Lisa Loeb, Blair Underwood, Frank Sesno, Ashlan Gorse, and Lisa Raye have in common? They all believe who they are today is, at least partly, because of camp. Take a look.

It’s hard to predict how children will benefit from the experience of summer camp, but there is overwhelming evidence that they do. The American Camp Association has studied this, and written about it, and now produced this great video illustrating what real people feel about camp. It’s heartwarming to see that a quality camp experience can be such a powerful force in the lives of adults, and exciting to know today’s children have the same opportunity.

camp makes friends
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summer camp female leaders
• Counselors • Jeff Carter

Being a Camp Leader

Leadership for Summer Camp Kids

One important mark of leadership for the staff at Rockbrook is their ability to model personal character for the girls at camp. We strive to hire cabin counselors and activity staff members who exemplify good character and thereby can serve as role models for the campers. It means a lot to children to see others they admire make good decisions. It’s just a crucial part of building character— having positive relationships with others who embody exemplary habits and attitudes. When we talk about “leadership” at camp, this is what we mean: being that sort of exemplary person.

But what is exemplary character, how do you recognize it, and how do you encourage its development? We’ve found the approach taken by the Josephson Institute to be extremely articulate and practical. It’s “Six Pillars of Character” is a well thought out resource. Essentially, the “pillars” are fundamental principles and values that serve as a core for ethical decision making. They are:

  • Trustworthiness
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Fairness
  • Caring
  • Citizenship. 

Without appealing to religion, politics or ideology, we strive to realize these six values in our camp community.

There’s a lot of good stuff in all of this, so go learn more about character.

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