Launching into Summer

After many months of planning, new building projects around camp, gathering supplies and equipment, hiring staff members, and for the last week, training outdoor adventure guides, equestrian specialists and cabin counselors, we have arrived at the opening day for Rockbrook’s 2013 summer season. It’s a very exciting day for all of us at camp. Like for your girls, it truly is the moment we’ve been waiting for. It’s the day when we can finally reunite with many old camp friends and meet great girls new to Rockbrook as well.

Overnight we had some heavy rain, and the rest of the day was forecast to be quite wet. So a little shuffling of our opening day schedule and procedures, a few tents and tarps, and plenty of raincoats and boots were required. It sprinkled a bit throughout the morning, and it did rain briefly now and then, but overall we had a great opening day. The campers met their counselors, moved into their cabins, and had a chance to decorate their name tags. These name tags, by the way, are made from a slice of a mountain laurel branch, and are just like those made for generations at Rockbrook. The girls use markers to decorate them and often add beads to the strings for another way to make them unique. In each cabin, the counselors had prepared a poster welcoming the girls and a “job wheel” outlining the daily chores and how they will be shared. It’s fun to settle into the cabin… Making beds, unpacking, arranging pillows and greeting everyone as they arrive.

Camper Games in Lodge

The weather cleared up nicely in the afternoon allowing us to send cabin groups on tours around the camp. These tours both orient the campers and get them thinking about the different activities they will be able to choose from. While some cabins were touring, others were playing group get-to-know-you games in the lodges, and others were down at the lake demonstrating their swimming ability to the lifeguards. Yes, it was plenty warm enough and, while cloudy, not raining during all of this activity.

Before dinner, we all assembled in the gym to learn more about the different activities at camp by watching the counselors perform skits. There were songs, dances with props like tennis racquets, climbing harnesses, and kick boards, and incredibly enthusiastic introductions. Watching these skits, you could tell the counselors were having fun and were going to be great teachers as well as role models for the campers this session. If you haven’t read through some of the staff profiles we’ve posted, I recommend it. You can see, even without meeting them, just how impressive these young women are!

Tomorrow the campers launch into their first activity schedule. It’s going to be big fun!

Friends Swimming Test

Rockbrook’s Katniss

One of the most appealing things about Rockbrook is the opportunity to try new things.  Many times  you’ll be able to try activities that you wouldn’t be able to do at home for one reason or another.  For example, you may want to learn how to roll a kayak, but you don’t have one at home.  Try it at camp.  You may have always wanted to climb a rock, but who has access to a rock face and a professionally trained outdoors crew on a regular basis?  Climb one (or two, or three) at camp.  You get the idea — camp is the perfect place to try new things!

This could be the reason that one of the most appreciated Rockbrook activities is archery.  Who has the resources/equipment to try an activity like archery on their own?  Not many, that’s for sure.  For years, Archery has been one of the most sought after activities at camp.  That esteem has only increased thanks to the fact that the most celebrated book-turned-movie series out right now is The Hunger Games, a story in which the main character, Katniss Everdeen, is depicted as an underdog, then champion, then heroine.  And, as we all know by now, the skill that sets Katniss apart from the rest — she’s a magician with a bow and arrow.  Katniss with a bow and arrow is like Michael Jordan with the basketball as time expires during the playoffs: GOLDEN.  So, it’s only fitting that archery’s popularity as an activity at camp has soared.  Suddenly we find ourselves thinking: I want to be like Katniss.

This is where Rockbrook and Katniss collide.  Longtime Rockbrook girl, Marston, decided early on that archery was one of her favorite activities at camp.  It didn’t take us long to see how much Marston enjoyed archery, and bullseye after bullseye proved that she was pretty good at it too.  Besides loving archery, Marston’s also a pretty big Hunger Games fan.  Check out the photos below of Marston, on the left, and Katniss, on the right.  I’m no expert when it comes to archery technique, but I think Katniss could take a few tips from Marston.  Such focus, such form!

You go, Marston!
You go, Marston!
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

So Marston’s a super archer and she likes The Hunger Games.  Cool coincidence?  Here’s another awesome addition to the saga: Jennifer Lawrence, the Oscar award winning actress who plays Katniss, seems pretty hip by any standards, and Marston met her!!!!!!!!!!!!  Exciting, huh?  Archery, Katniss, Marston, and Rockbrook all coming together.  I wonder if Jennifer got any good shooting tips from Marston?  Maybe the two can set up a meeting on the range.  I have my money on the Rockbrook girl, our very own version of Katniss!

Martson and Jennifer Lawrence pow-wowing on the red carpet.
Martson and Jennifer Lawrence pow-wowing on the red carpet.

Ditch the playground- come to camp!

come to camp
We’re not afraid to get our hands dirty

An interesting article written on the Tennessee Today webpage sheds light on the importance of playing outside.  A University of Tennessee research team recently conducted a study to determine whether children who play on traditional playgrounds or children who play in natural settings are more active and/or more creative.  It turns out that children who play in a natural setting are both more active and use their imagination more than they do while playing on traditional playground equipment.  In fact, the children who participated in the study played nearly twice as much in the ‘natural playscape’ than they did on the regular playground.  This came as no surprise to us at Rockbrook.  We love playing in nature!

playing at camp outside
Run girls, run!

So what is it about nature that inspires us to play more than we would on a playground set?  Maybe it’s the freedom that we have to use our imagination and get creative.  Maybe it’s being able to decide what to do on our own.  Maybe it’s the excitement of the unknown.  Whatever it may be, we believe that the landscape that surrounds us fosters Rockbrook’s mission to allow girls to explore the beauty of nature and to try new things.

playing in the creek
We love to play in the stream!

Playgrounds are great and all, but who is ready to ditch the swing set and monkey bars and head into a fairyland of beauty? We can’t wait to play outside with you all this summer! To read the full article about the mentioned study, click here.

The Ineffability of Camp

Girl shooting archery at summer camp


With summer drawing to an end and so many kids returning home from summer camp, Talya Minsberg writes in the New York Times about What Parents Don’t Get About Camp. The piece is partly a fond memory of life at camp for both campers, who “find the joy of growing and exploring on their own,” and as a staff members, who are the “warmest, silliest, most fun (and responsible)” people they can be. It’s one author’s recollection of how summer camp is a magical place bubbling with experiences for positive transformation. The article hints at the features of camp life that make it difficult to describe, that make kids’ stories from camp seem so inadequate— the close friendships, the freedom and independence, how hilarious things were —but in the end suggests it’s OK for parents and noncamp friends to not fully understand “camp.” You have to experience summer camp, to really “get” it.

And since camp is “a place of their own” (as Rockbrook’s mission recognizes), it’s perfectly natural, even preferable, for others to mistake what camp really is, to grasp only a faint sense of what it means to the campers and staff members who live it. We have to agree; it’s hard to describe the magic felt from living like we do at Rockbrook (despite our attempts to describe it all summer long), but that’s just part of it, and in the end, a very good thing.

More Reasons Kids Need Camp

Excited Camp Kid

Around here at Rockbrook, we’re big fans of discussing why summer camp is so great for kids. There’s no doubt that spending time at camp is super fun and kids love it, but it’s also important for their personal, physical and social development. In so many ways, camp is something our modern kids need more than ever because it provides relief from unhealthy habits. It serves, as we’ve said before, as a “haven” for children.

Over on the Web site What’s Up for Kids, Kathy Alessandra just posted an article entitled, “Five Reasons Your Child Needs Camp.” Reporting information from the American Camp Association and several well-respected studies, the article is a nice reminder of some very significant ways kids benefit from camp.

Here are the 5 reasons listed.

  1. Campers gain positive life skills like “making friends” and “trying new things.”
  2. Campers stay in motion, enjoying physical exercise.
  3. Campers have experiences that help them back at school.
  4. Campers reconnect with nature.
  5. Campers engage in creative free play.

Of course, there’s a lot to each of these, but perhaps most importantly, this article is another reminder of how rare and valuable a summer camp experience is for our kids. Definitely a great thing!

A Refuge from Advertising

Summer Camp Child

We’ve written before about how the average American child spends 53 hours per week consuming electronic media— television, computers, cell phones, video games, ebook readers —interacting with various screens. One consequence of this media consumption is all the advertising it includes. Woven throughout these hours of electronic entertainment is a flood of ads and product branding, to the extent of about 3000 ads per day, according to one study. Just about everywhere our children go, including their schools, they are exposed to carefully crafted advertising messages. Advertisers know that children constitute not only a large market themselves, but also a powerful force capable of influencing their parents’ spending. Even more insidiously, they know exposing children to brands very early in life can have lasting brain effects that influence their buying habits as adults.

Recognizing this trend in America, researchers have begun to study the effects pervasive advertising and branding have on children, their (cognitive, social and personal) development, and their overall physical and psychological health. Unfortunately, it’s not good, with links to tobacco, alcohol and drug use, to obesity, to premature sexual activity, and to fostering negative body image ideals. There is strong evidence that advertising and even subtle branding messages have profoundly negative effects, so much so, several European countries, Greece, Belgium and Sweden for example, have banned advertising that explicitly targets children.

Fortunately for the children that attend summer camp, there is a true break from media consumption and from its accompanying advertising. Spending time at Rockbrook, playing outside, and enjoying real friends and relationships, function as countering forces. Back to the basics of childhood, girls at camp find they are more creative, more imaginative and more adventurous. We all know camp is a refuge; it is in this way as well— a refuge from advertising and branding.  And that’s a great thing.

Back to School

Camp Lake Swimming

This time of year, as we head back to school and the memories of our time at camp can seem far away, it’s a good idea to reflect upon some of the important habits and skills we learned during our stay at Rockbrook, and to realize how important they can be throughout the rest of the year.  But what are some of those values? What are some of the surprising things camp taught us that can still serve us well at school?

At Rockbrook this summer we learned:

—things are more fun when we include everyone
—you can be creative with just about anything
—making friends is easy when we respect and care for each other
—everything is better in a costume 🙂

Of course there are a lot of other ways camp helps kids grow too.

Peg Smith, the CEO of the American Camp Association, also wants kids to remember what they learned at camp, in particular the “Three Cs” — Confidence, Curiosity, and Character. Pack all these great things in your school backpack. You know camp is awesome; now make that true for school too!

A Fantastic Summer

Today we closed Rockbrook’s 90th season and said farewell to our Third session and August Mini session campers. After these weeks together, it’s astounding how close we’ve all become, girls of all ages and staff members sharing experiences and growing together as a family. We’ve laughed together and cheered for each other. We’ve learned together and helped each other. All this proving once again a remarkable thing about Rockbrook: everyone here is part of a loving community, supported, encouraged and appreciated. Being a part of it is a marvelous feeling.

Smiling happy summer camp girls

That’s one of best reasons girls develop such a deep love for camp. They not only get to do so many amazingly fun things and live with so many great people, they cherish the feeling of freedom and the regular moments of excitement every day brings. Life at camp is different from the rest of the year. It’s of course missing modern comforts (and technology), but also, strangely, feels more real.

Thank you everyone! Rockbrook is magical because everyone— our great girls, counselors, directors, support staff and families —makes it that way. Thank you for your efforts and support this summer. It’s truly been fantastic!

Camp Life is Handmade

harry potter costume pottery camper

There was a little bit of Potter Mania at Rockbrook today. Marking the release in theaters of the final Harry Potter film, we decided to decorate RBC in all things HP. We of course had plenty of campers and counselors dressing up as characters from the series— lots of maroon and gold, green and black stripes, Harry Potter shaped eye glasses, and lightning bolt shaped scars (drawn with dark eye liner or paint) on dozens of foreheads. Some of the campers clearly planned for this day because their costumes included more elaborate hats, capes, wigs and make up. Girls were decorating magic wands, and carrying them around, would shout out spells now and then with a sly giggle and in their best English accent. Several of the counselors and the Hi-Ups really pulled out the stops by decorating the dining hall like the Great Hall of the Hogwarts Castle: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw, all represented. The equestrian staff even put together a game of Quiddich for the girls, keeping the theme going. This involved riding around a series of cones and, from atop their horse, trying to toss a small ball through a hula hoop at one end of the ring. The whole day was very imaginative and fun.

Girls making ceramics at summer camp

You may have noticed this from checking the online photo gallery, but one of the neat things about life at Rockbrook is how much time the campers here spend doing things with their hands. Everywhere the girls are making things, building things, and decorating things. All of the arts and crafts activities are examples of this (weaving, painting, sewing, ceramics, etc.), but so are the adventure activities (climbing and paddling, e.g.), the sports (archery and riflery, e.g.) and even the horseback riding. These girls are working with all kinds of physical materials, manipulating, shaping and arranging real, not virtual, things. They are, in this way, connecting to the physical world, often to nature, and to their own sensations and feelings.

Girls playing hand game with summer camp friends

What’s important about this “hands on” experience central to camp life is how much the girls really love it. This may be because the rest of the year lacks the same opportunity for kids to do much with their hands, and it’s simply novel and fun, but it could also be because camp is feeding a hunger. Perhaps kids need chances to work with their hands, to make things, to forge real connections with the physical world, and modern life, with its pre-processing of almost everything, is making “hand work” (working “by hand”) less common. The manual character of camp is satisfying an important need kids don’t even know they have. Instead, they simply know it’s really fun, really satisfying, to make stuff, whether it be a clay pot, a tie dye t-shirt, or even a magic wand. Maybe, we as human beings need this kind of manual experience, and we’ve forgotten it. Thankfully, there is camp to remind our children! As they grow older, we can hope they’ll remember the satisfaction they gained from working with their hands at camp. If so, I suspect they’ll be happier.

Don’t Forget to Write!

Girls receiving mail at summer camp

Receiving mail at camp is a huge deal to the campers. Everyday, someone from our office drives to the Brevard P.O. and wheels out a shopping cart full of cards and letters addressed to the girls at RBC. Even with our “no package” policy, there are usually a couple of hundred pieces per day! Then during lunch, we sort the mail and deliver it to the campers’ mailboxes so it will be ready once they’re dismissed from lunch. It’s always so exciting to check your box and see something there. Part of this excitement, I think, has something to do with the simple (mostly) technology-free living we enjoy at camp. Being away from screens and the external stimulation they provide, camp is more immediately interactive. It emphasizes real relationships and sensuous experiences, but is also completely “here and now” and relies very little on the outside world. Receiving mail reminds us of what’s going on outside in the “real world.” It provides some reassurance that everything is fine back home and it’s OK being at camp. Mail shows us that the folks back home are just as excited we are about us having this much fun at camp. Oh, and can you see why a real, hand-written letter is vastly superior to a “quick email?” Mail can really mean a lot!

Girls weaving baskets by the creek
Yoga Camp
girls eating muffins at summer camp

Today was a perfect summer day (warm, dry and sunny) for a perfect camp day (packed with action, plenty of giggles, and bright-eyed surprises). Clyde, Kristen and Abby took a group of Middlers out kayaking on the French Broad River. Jeff and Leslie took a big group of Juniors hiking to John Rock in the Pisgah National Forest. Thalia offered one of her very popular yoga classes to the seniors. Everyone paused for a cinnamon streusel muffin. And then it was back to weaving baskets in the creek near Curosty, working on backhands on the tennis courts, flips in gymnastics, and climbing to the top of Castle Rock. There always seems to be time to squeeze in a quick game of tetherball too. During the free swim time before dinner, the new water slide was running nonstop.

Tonight’s evening program marked the return of Auction, a special all-camp event we haven’t had in a few years. This session we went traditional and decided to make it a “Western” themed event. This meant all the girls came dressed in their best western garb… cowboy hats, boots, overalls, hair bows, bandanas and plenty of plaid. Each cabin sat together in the dining hall and was given a handful of RBC bucks to make bids on mystery prizes. Jerry, our Director Emeritus, ran the event as the auctioneer. Some of the prizes were sweet, like a cake or ice cream treat, while others were a little less exciting, like a tray of veggies or new toothbrushes. There’s plenty of suspense once a cabin won a bid, and just as much laughter and cheers when the prize was revealed. It’s funny how there were enough prizes for every cabin to win both a yummy and a silly prize… 😉  Good fun.

Auction game dressed in western garb