We often struggle to convey just how active and engaged the campers are during an ordinary day at Rockbrook. We can list activities and do fairly well capturing things in photographs for the online gallery, but nothing beats a video. Take a look at this third video (1:48) highlighting the session. Robbie shot it last […]
Earlier this week I had an interesting conversation with our Education Intern Hayley about motivation, specifically about how we as educators can motivate children. This internship is focused on the concept of “Social Emotional Learning,” an approach to education that holds central both the emotional lives of children and the social landscape they navigate as […]
Here’s another glimpse into life at camp these days from videographer Robbie Frances. Once again he’s done a great job capturing simple moments around camp, some of the action, and many of the heartwarming smiles we’re seeing everywhere. It’s not quite 2 minutes long, but has such a nice feel, it deserves to be watched […]
You may already know about “muffin break,” that time each morning between the first and second activity periods when the whole camp thinks about one thing. For some of us, though, it’s our favorite time of the day, or at least a moment we look forward to with glee. The muffins themselves are obviously the […]
If you take a look at Rockbrook’s original catalog, the one published in 1922, the daily schedule includes something a bit startling. First of all the reveille was earlier, 7:15 instead of our 8am wake up bell today, but then at 7:35 there was the “Dip.” That’s right; originally at camp all the girls took […]
I hope you remember the fantastic short videos Robbie Francis of Go Swan Filmworks filmed during camp last summer. We heard great feedback from parents about how much they enjoyed seeing and hearing all the action at camp. Robbie’s videos wonderfully convey the sweetness of your girls’ ordinary camp experience, so they’re a real treat […]
It’s the 4th of July! And that means an incredibly action-packed, colorful day marked by celebration and special events. Right away in fact, it began with an odd alarm bell: members of our equestrian staff riding horses up into camp, and exactly at 8am, down into each of the cabin lines yelling “The British are […]
It’s sometimes difficult to describe life at camp, to convey how the girls at Rockbrook feel about the experience overall. They’ll tell you they are having fun, or they’ll say things like, “I love camp!” or “This is great!” But what are some of the emotions that go along with it? What are the campers […]
It’s been an amazing few weather days, with everyone surprised by how cool it’s been. If you’ve been checking the Rockbrook Weather Station, you know what I mean. For example, this morning it was a chilly 51 degrees (!), which means overnight we had perfect sleeping weather (in our open-air cabins), and in the morning […]
Today we opened our second camp session of the summer welcoming a little more than 200 girls to Rockbrook with what can easily be described as explosive results. Starting with the very first camper arriving, you could feel a special energy that rapidly expanded all morning, reaching its height around 10am. In what seemed like […]
The last few days of a camp session have a new momentum, a slightly accelerated pace and intensified rhythm that feels a little like the finale of a fireworks show. There’s a flurry of events that cascade into a blur of activity and emotion. The whole session culminates with different moments of celebration and reflection […]
Our friend and videographer Robbie Frances returned to camp late last week to film, and now a couple days later, he’s edited a new video for all of us. In just two minutes, the video wonderfully depicts the joys and accomplishments our Rockbrook girls are experiencing each day camp. Take a look, and let us […]
Ordinarily after the first week of a camp session there’s a subtle change. Like in a song when the key slides up a half step, there’s a modulation of the feeling, a change that’s both an elaboration and a settling. Life at camp begins to take on more energy and feel more comfortable at the […]
One of the fascinating points coloring the history of Rockbrook is the lineage of Nancy Carrier, the camp’s founder. Nancy was born in 1889, and before marrying Mr. Henry Nash Carrier in 1913, her full name was Nancy Barnum Clarke. Yes, Barnum: that Barnum, P.T. Barnum, the famed circus promoter and showman. Nancy’s mother was […]
A little bit of rain mixed with mostly sunny skies is really the ideal weather for summer camp. We need the rain, of course, to cool things off now and then, sustain the complex biome of the forest and to replenish the creeks that feed our lake as they pass through camp. But since the […]
