The summer is off and running, and we have our first highlights video to show you. Once again, we’re so glad to have Robbie Francis of FrancisFilmworks here with us— his eye seeming to find exactly the right moment, every time. Robbie has been a part of our summers since 2015, and by now he understands Rockbrook far beyond just knowing where to point his lens.
His videos are always special. Rockbrook is not easy to describe— there’s simply too much happening in too many corners of camp at once —but Robbie has a gift for distilling it into something you can actually feel. A glimpse of girls giggling, playing, and smiling. Sweet moments that make up our days.
We hope it brings you a little closer to what your daughter is living right now. Enjoy.
It happens predictably, and I’ve already seen it these first few days of camp. A camper or staff member arrives at Rockbrook not knowing anyone, and in a very short time, finds themselves making friends. What’s remarkable is how fast it happens. Ordinarily making a true friend is slow work, something that takes many weeks of testing the waters of a relationship, but at camp it often takes just a day. Especially for older campers and staff members, this is a pleasant surprise. There’s something special about camp that makes this possible and expected. I’ve seen some version of this “fast friends at camp” phenomenon so many times at Rockbrook, it’s worth wondering why.
After all, the wider world seems to be moving in the other direction entirely. Certainly, we’re more “connected,” digitally, to more people than ever before: hundreds, even thousands, of contacts saved in our phones. Multiple “social” media accounts feed us an unending stream of “updates” on the lives of the people and advertising corporations we might “follow.” Any time of day, a scroll of faces awaits. Yet in the middle of all this so-called connection, a great many of us feel more alone than ever. There’s lots of chatter, but how much real conversation are we having? And I think our children aren’t immune. Their days, too, are fast-paced, screen-lit, and only superficially textured by the real world. Camp runs against this current, and that’s why it feels so different here.
So why is making real friends easier at camp? I believe there’s a simple reason. True friendship requires authenticity. We are most able to make friends when we are most fully ourselves.
That sounds almost too tidy until you watch it happen, until you see a shy 12-year-old who arrived behind a careful shell decide that she doesn’t need that protection here. The culture of Rockbrook is what makes that decision easy. Experiencing genuine kindness, along with the smiles and caring that accompany it, lays the groundwork. No phones here means no audience to perform for. The regular dose of silliness, the shared experiences in the real world, the spirit of curiosity and adventure for trying new things, fuel the courage. In a place stripped of social judgment, girls can drop the assumptions they’ve been carrying about who they’re supposed to be and find the freedom to be, as the girls themselves put it, “the real me.” What they find, to their genuine surprise, is that the people around them still care about them, quirks and all. We’re all quirky in some way or another, and camp is one of the few places that treats this as good news.
That, I think, is why camp friendships are so strong. They form between people who have stopped performing. With no posing, no nervous angling, no strategy about which version of yourself to reveal, the real you can actually be known. And, because you aren’t busy managing your own image, it’s actually easier to take a real interest in someone else. Moving past constructed personas is the trick. What we find is a sturdier thing, a mutual affection that comes from genuinely understanding each other. It forms fast because there’s nothing in the way. It lasts because it was real from the start.
One lesson in all of this is that the trait of “being friendly” is not really about having a “sunny disposition,” or being attractive in some way. It’s not about charm; it’s about nerve. It’s being willing to let yourself be seen without the armor, and the kindness to make room for someone else doing the same. It’s two acts of courage meeting in the middle.
It can take a lifetime to figure this out. Fortunately, for the campers at Rockbrook, we practice this every day. Through countless real-world conversations and interactions, we discover how the “real me” matters, how everything is better in the company of genuine people, and the world is rich with possibility when we truly engage. Beyond all the action—the hiking, swimming, dining hall songs—camp is about the people, which is to say it’s about the friends.
We might call it a “regular” day around here, but for the girls who just arrived, today’s first full day of Rockbrook activities was anything but ordinary. Today was the first day to jump feet first into camp life and all that it offers. And compared with life at home, this meant jumping into all sorts of new experiences.
New places to wake up— in a rustic wooden cabin, cooled by mountain air, and filled with the sounds of forest birds and drowsy cabinmates stirring. New things to eat— the warm bowl of secret-recipe oatmeal with fresh berries, nuts, granola and brown sugar for breakfast, and the surprise mid-morning snack, a freshly baked cookies and cream muffin. New creatures to find on your walk down to the lake, like the tiny ring-neck snake dashing off to hide under some leaves. New smells— the earthy leather saddles on horses, the smoky campfire ready for marshmallows, and fresh mint growing in the garden. And so many points of natural beauty all around us— the bright granite face of Castle Rock high above camp, the sparkling creek tumbling behind the weaving cabin, the massive trees, delicate ferns, and blooming wildflowers popping up, just to name a few. Camp life is new and wonderful.
It’s also packed with action, with nearly 30 different activity options. After making their selections, every corner of camp seemed to hum with the energy of girls flipping in gymnastics, climbing the alpine tower, and zipping through the trees on the zipline. They were smacking tennis balls, bouncing basketballs, and swinging tetherballs. They were swimming and paddling kayaks in the lake. They were weaving on looms and stringing colorful beads onto necklaces. They were shooting arrows and aiming rifles. They were painting, gluing, and collaging paper, exploring what they might make with simple materials. They were hugging horses and chickens, jumping off the diving board and gliding down the waterslide during the free swim period. At other times, they were simply relaxing and soaking it all in.
Most remarkable, and wonderful, is all the laughter of the day. Being surrounded by all these new experiences and activities, and being joined by so many easy friends, we can’t help but laugh and smile. We’re chatting all the time, telling stories, and whooping at every success (nice cartwheel!). We’re enthusiastic about wearing a costume whether it’s diamonds or denim. When kindness sets the tone— and it does at Rockbrook —it’s easy to be silly and find yourself having fun in the moment, laughing and singing, clapping along to whatever the group is doing. Meals in the dining hall are a daily example of this with hilarious cheers, dance numbers, and songs with hand motions. Yes, we’re eating, but it’s also a party, three times a day.
By the end of the day, camp life is already feeling good, less new and more familiar. The girls seem to understand better that this place is different. It’s beautiful and relaxing, thrilling and silly, playful and friendly, here for them to explore.
It’s very different from home. But that’s entirely the point.
Western North Carolina has always been a place of beauty, with its small-town communities, pleasant climate, and rolling Blue Ridge Mountains. By the 1920s, this area had become a genuine center of the youth camping movement, quickly becoming home to the largest concentration of summer camps in the southeastern United States. With so many camps, there’s an interesting story to be told, and now a new digital exhibit tells us that story, and a great deal more.
The Cashiers Historical Society has just published a wonderful, carefully curated online exhibit called “Campfires & the Embers of Youth.” It sets out to explain how summer camps in western North Carolina shaped young people in America, educational trends, and regional NC culture for more than a hundred years.
Gathering an incredible collection of documents, photographs, audio and video clips, and artifacts, it paints a detailed picture of why the mountains here became central to the growing summer camp movement in America. The exhibit traces the origin of organized youth camping to 19th-century social changes: urbanization, evolving ideas about childhood and development, a growing distrust of formal schooling, the rise of child psychology, and generally as a response to the anxieties of modern life.
Where Rockbrook Fits In
The exhibit moves from origins through evolutions, culture, and daily life. It’s very informative and fun to see how Rockbrook appears throughout all of it. For example, Rockbrook’s archive of original song recordings is one of the exhibit’s richest resources. On the Camp Culture and Camp Life pages, you’ll hear “Way Down in Brevard,” the “Rockbrook Pep Song,” “Hiking Song,” “Canoeing Song,” “Are You a Camel,” and others. There is also a 1960 camper’s quote about the Spirit Fire, photographs from the 1930s and 1950s, and a 1920s camping magazine describing horseback rides through Toxaway and Sapphire.
Rockbrook Camp founder Nancy Carrier
Rockbrook’s founder, Nancy Carrier, is featured. In the women’s movement section, a photograph shows her proudly gathered with a sign reading “Votes for Women,” and another from the 1930 edition of Camps and Camping Magazine shows her listed as Vice President of the national Camp Directors Association. In the WWII section, the exhibit notes that Nancy closed Rockbrook during the war to support the war effort, and opened her home to a Brevard community group sewing bandages for troops.
The exhibit is honest about camping’s complexities, too. It acknowledges that early camps mainly served middle- and upper-class white Protestant boys, and traces the long, uneven expansion toward girls, immigrants, religious and ethnic minorities. It describes camps as insular “small worlds” with their own rules and traditions, with both positive and challenging consequences.
The exhibit received a 2025 GDUSA American In-house Design Award, and the care in its production shows. The American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) has also recognized the exhibit with a Leadership in History Award of Excellence. The overall exhibit is organized around five main sections: Camp Origins, Camp Evolutions, Camp Culture, Camp Life, and a Museum Gallery. It’s beautifully rich, and you can spend a few minutes or easily an hour following threads or just listening to the songs.
I hope you’ll take some time and visit “Campfires & the Embers of Youth.” What you’ll find is the broader history of Rockbrook, and how it and other camps in western NC have made a difference in so many lives.
It can take some time after camp ends to reflect on the experience. Camp life is so completely absorbing, it helps to have a little distance from it to really understand what it meant. Back home, we can see our time at camp differently, perhaps see more clearly how it was special, how it was more than just fun.
My first thought is to be incredibly thankful for the summer, for the joy of being together at Rockbrook. It’s hard to imagine a more incredible community of friendly caring people, all contributing to the lovely spirit that defines Rockbrook. From the cabin counselors and activity instructors to the kitchen, nursing, and maintenance staff, I’m so grateful for everyone’s kind attention to making camp this summer great. I also want to celebrate our amazing campers, the bright enthusiastic kiddos that enliven everything we do. Every day, I was impressed by their love of camp, their full embrace of the many adventures to be found here. We always say it; it’s the people that make Rockbrook. Thank you everyone!
Carrying Camp Into Ordinary Life
Next, I’d say it was remarkable how both the campers and counselors grew personally from their Rockbrook experience this summer. Camp provides exactly the kind of refuge (It’s a haven!) young people need to relax and be themselves, explore new experiences, and develop all kinds of real-world skills. We watched shy campers find their voices during evening programs, saw new friendships form through simple face-to-face conversations, and newfound confidence and independence blossom beautifully. Along with all the laughter, alongside all the muffins, and dressed in the silliest costumes, girls discovered their own resilience, creativity, and capacity for kindness. Camp life simply fosters our best selves each and every day.
Now back at home, as the rhythms of regular life return, my hope is that our best selves can still shine. Let’s be the sort of friend we were at camp— caring and curious. Let’s look past what’s obvious and find the magic in even the simplest things. Let’s remember that who we are is strengthened through our relationships with others. We all know that being at camp feels really good, and we can certainly look forward to returning next summer. But in the meantime, our camp experience can inspire and guide us to connect and enjoy life more.
Thank you again to everyone who made this summer such an unforgettable success. Every summer the Spirit of Rockbrook deepens. Thank you for being a part of that.
This past summer, teenage campers introduced me to “Internet Brain Rot,” a term for how excessive social media use fragments attention, reduces thinking to hashtags, and leaves them feeling mentally drained. But the real damage goes deeper than cognition. Online life erodes something fundamental: our capacity for authentic human connection.
Despite promising to connect us, digital environments separate us physically and emotionally. They fragment our shared reality into algorithm-driven feeds, promote zero-sum competition, and reduce relationships to transactions. Young people are losing practice in the face-to-face work of navigating differences and finding identity through community contribution— suffering from too much “me” and not enough “we.”
The African concept of Ubuntu— which recognizes that we become fully human only through relationships with others— helps us understand what’s being lost. Ubuntu places compassion, mutual care, and relational identity at the center of human flourishing. That interdependence is exactly what gets eroded when we live online.
What Camp Teaches That Screens Cannot
Summer camp offers an antidote. As a lived example of Ubuntu principles, camp provides essential practice in relational skills that digital environments can’t teach. This reframes camp as crucial developmental work, and suggests that youth development programs focused solely on individual achievement may be missing opportunities to cultivate the “Ubuntu consciousness” that helps communities, and individuals within them, truly thrive.
Robbie Francis of FrancisFilmworks spent another day this past week filming at Rockbrook, and now has one last highlights video for us. Once again it’s a lovely glimpse into life at camp. The video does a great job of depicting the mood of camp right now, the warm friendships, the joyful laughter, and the huge variety of fun.
Take a look, and see a little more of camp in action!
Sometimes the weather is worth talking about. Like now, here at Rockbrook. We’re seeing a very unusual few days of cooler temperatures and misty light rain. Instead of 80s during the day we have 60s, and instead of the occasional thunderstorm rolling through, we have grey misty skies blanketing the mountains. Here’s an interesting chart of data from the Rockbrook weather station that shows the contrast. It looks like this slow moving front will be with us for a while.
Safe from Flooding at Rockbrook
I should mention that flooding is not a worry we have here at Rockbrook. While the French Broad river adjoins the horseback riding area, all of our camp buildings are further up the hill (more than 100 feet higher in elevation) safely away from the flood zone of the river. The record setting flood level caused by hurricane Helene last fall only touched one of our barns causing no damage. For us, this kind of rain increases the flow of our creeks and improves the waterfalls we can visit, but over the years, we’ve learned to channel rain water through culverts and down various gutters and ditches. The camp facilities do quite well, even with what seems like a lot of rain.
Carrying On Despite the Weather
The people at camp are well too! We’re making good use of long-sleeve sweatshirts and hoodies, and finding rain coats and shoes that are OK to get wet. Despite this “heavy dew,” the girls are still zipping around camp to their activities, still being creative, playing and enjoying each other’s company. All of our craft activities have continued as normal since they already meet in covered spaces, with the gym and dining hall becoming central locations for groups of girls who would have been outdoors (like swimming, for example). We’ve built fires in the fireplaces of the three lodges at camp to create cozy spots to warm up and hang out. We served hot chocolate during muffin break this morning.
We’ve taken some adventure trips in and around camp too. A few girls hiked out to Rockbrook Falls (the largest of the two major waterfalls on the camp property), and a couple of groups still navigated the Rockbrook zipline course, flying by through the drizzle and mist. Another group carried hammocks on a hike up to an area we call “The Nest.” This is a unique spot under Castle Rock where there is an overhang sheltering you from the rain. We added special hangers for the hammocks there allowing the girls to set up a “nest” and enjoy amazing views of the forest (totally dry!).
Building Resilience and Grit
This weather, despite it being a little uncomfortable, invites us to shift gears a little while still feeling like a regular part of camp life. The girls here show their grit and carry on, some completely oblivious to the differences. The girls are loving the freedom to be outside, to get a little wet and maybe a little muddy. They’re immersed in nature in a way that makes everything feel more vibrant and real. Most importantly, they’re with their friends, having a chance to sit a little closer and savor just being together. Having time like that, away from their usual sources of entertainment, is something they crave.
Take a look at this article in the Atlantic, and you’ll see what I mean. “What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones,” By Lenore Skenazy, Zach Rausch, and Jonathan Haidt. Here’s the punch line: they want more freedom out in the real world to be with their friends. The authors claim our kids need more time with real friends in the real world.
Rockbrook Camp alumnae will tell you there’s one special all-camp event that gets campers more excited than any other, and that’s the dance with Camp Carolina. It’s been a long tradition stretching back to the 1940s that gets the girls of Rockbrook and the boys of Camp Carolina together once a session for a camp dance. Last night we continued that tradition of big excitement for a big night out with the CCB boys… a night for dancing!
Keeping It Silly
Both to tease the idea and to minimize over-preparation, we keep the exact day of the scheduled dance a secret. It’s more fun to keep the girls guessing, and we don’t want the event to be too serious. Just the opposite! We want it to be silly, light-hearted and fun! That’s why you’ll see our counselors dressed up in wild costumes, and the girls wearing plenty of shorts, tie-dye t-shirts, traffic vests, and even animal print pajamas. The older girls spend more time brushing their hair, but “getting ready” essentially means finding a clean shirt or putting on something brought especially for the dance.
Two Simultaneous Dances
For years now we’ve held two dances simultaneously, dividing the children into older and younger groups, and allowing the girls to feel more comfortable around boys their own age. The Senior girls and Hi-Ups loaded up our buses and vans to travel to Camp Carolina for their dance, while the youngest boys came to Rockbrook for a dance with our Middlers and Juniors in our gym. At Rockbrook, we had our friend Marcus (aka, DJ Dawg) spin up the music.
Both dances last night were a blast! As favorite pop songs followed one after another, the crowd jumped and sang along, mixing with screams of excitement. The playlist included classics like “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, and the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.”, plus well-known group choreographed dances like the “Cha Cha Slide” and the “Macarena.”
For the most part, the younger girls have groovier dance moves to show off, with limbs fluttering, flashy twirls and shakes. The older girls prefer a simple move of jumping up and down to the beat of the music, clustered together and with hands raised high. Everyone is laughing and smiling, enjoying themselves only to take short water breaks or to enjoy a homemade Rockbrook cookie.
It's Really About the Girls
Our dances proved once again that these events aren’t all about the boys. Sure, they are to one degree or another “interesting” to the girls, but it’s the zany energy of our Rockbrook girls that brings the fun. For both the younger and the older girls, the dance means grabbing a friend, or a group of friends, sticking together and letting loose to the music. There’s an impressive power to this when you have the right conditions to let it out. Camp dances do exactly that.
We wrapped up the dances around 8:45 p.m. Even after about an hour of jumping around, the girls were reluctant to stop the party. On the ride home, the older girls were about as excited as you’ll ever see them. It was non-stop chatter on the bus, comments about “yo-yo boy,” the music, and how “it smelled funny in there.” Still, I could tell everyone seemed to have really enjoyed our night of dancing.
