Si vous vous demandez où habitent nos enfants l’hiver, le blog de cette semaine de Camp Weequahic offre une bonne idée de la diversité des origines des participants des nombreux camps, y compris les meilleurs camps d’été américains.
La plupart des familles se pose cette question lorsqu’elles entendent parler de nos camps : d’où viennent les participants ?
Au Camp Weequahic, nous avons de la chance car nous avons des participants provenant de 20 états et de 10 pays. Plutôt que d’avoir des enfants d’une région ou d’une ville en particulier, nous avons des petits groupes de partout – du long de la côte Est ainsi que de la Californie, du Colorado, de l’Ohio et du Texas. Nous comptons aussi un petit groupe dynamique d’enfants venus de la France, la Suisse, le Vénézuela, l’Angleterre, l’Espagne, la Russie, le Mexique, la Chine, le Brésil et le Chili.
Cette diversité offre plusieurs avantages à notre communauté. D’une part, cela permetaux enfants de découvrir d’autres cultures à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur des États-Unis tout en s’amusant. Les participants restent amis avec ceux de leur région mais aussi avec d’autres qui habitent loin.
D’autre part, cela facilite grandement l’intégration des nouveaux enfants. Les premiers jours sont en effet très importants et se retrouver le seul à ne pas venir de la même région peut être intimidant. Comme les enfants viennent de régions tellement différentes et pour la première fois, ces premiers jours facilitent l’établissement d’amitiés nouvelles.
Cela nous fait vraiment plaisir d’élargir notre diversité au Camp Weequahic tout en gardant nos participants concentrés sur l’apprentissage de nouvelles habilités et l’établissement de nouvelles amitiés et occupés à vivre le meilleur été de leur vie!
Even though camp is three months away, snow covers the ground in many locations and you just barely finished making spring break plans, if you’ve committed to working at a summer camp, it’s already time to begin thinking about the summer. Here are five camp things to begin thinking about in the spring:
1.) Make travel arrangements. How will you be getting to camp? Will you drive, fly, carpool? If you plan to fly, airline tickets are often less expensive in the early spring before the weather warms and people begin making summer vacation plans. Carpooling is a great way to get to know co-workers while splitting the cost of fuel. If you plan to carpool, reach out to other camp staff through your camp’s Facebook page or other resources offered by your camp and begin to get to know others from your area who may be interested in traveling together. If your camp offers travel reimbursement as part of your contract, it’s also very important that you understand the reimbursement process prior to making travel plans.
2.) Set goals. Camp is a work experience like no other and it can be a bit overwhelming at first. Setting goals prior to arriving helps minimize culture shock. When setting goals it’s important to keep an open mind. Summers at camp tend to have a lot of twists and turns. Your list will likely evolve as you familiarize yourself with your new environment, and there are some things that will probably not pan out quite the way you initially envision them. That’s okay. The importance of setting goals is that they help you mentally prepare for the camp experience and arrive with some sense of direction.
3.) Begin stockpiling…but not too much. Packing for camp is an art. Living space is very limited. At the same time, camps are usually in rural places that don’t have a lot of nearby shopping options, and limited access to computers and the internet make online shopping a bit more challenging too. So it’s extremely important to pack the right combination of items that can be easily replaced with those items that are difficult to come by or require a bit of a drive to acquire. Chances are, you will have several opportunities throughout the summer to replenish basic items such as shampoo, deodorant, sunscreen, etc. So if you need to maximize luggage space, pack just enough of these items to get you through the first couple of weeks. It’s a good idea, however, to begin thinking about acquiring certain items, such as bedding, towels and socks, that people tend to overlook until the last minute. By beginning to accumulate those items a few months ahead of time, you’ll avoid that last minute binge shopping trip in which something essential and perhaps not easily acquirable is inevitably forgotten.
4.) Complete forms. In the spring, your camp will either mail or make available online a series of forms. These forms may include a contract, standard employment forms, forms requesting information about how you intend to travel to camp, and forms that require medical and insurance information. Although completing paperwork is never the most exciting task, it is essential that you complete and submit these forms prior to your arrival at camp. First, the camp must have these completed forms in order to pay you or treat you for any medical emergencies or conditions. Second, many camps will not issue you id badges or uniforms until they have received these completed forms. Orientation is a very busy time and few staff members love the idea of having to take some of their downtime to complete paperwork.
5.) Learn about the camp. Presumably, you learned at least a little bit about the camp prior to accepting a job there. But now that you’re actually going to be part of it, really get to know it. Watch the camp video if you haven’t already. Re-watch it if you have. The camp video is a great way to preview the camp culture. Also, if your camp participates in any social media outlets (and many do these days), begin following them to get a sense of who your co-workers are as well as your camp’s values and traditions. Also, a lot of camps provide tips and updates for staff through their social media outlets as camp draws near. Of course, it’s impossible to get a full sense of what your camp is all about until you get there, but arriving with some sense of what (and who) to expect is a lot less disorienting than arriving with none.
Si sientes curiosidad sobre los lugares geográficos donde viven los campistas durante el invierno, esta semana, el blog de huéspedes de Camp Weequahic ofrece un buen pantallazo de la diversidad geográfica de los campistas en distintos campamentos, incluso los Mejores Campamentos de Verano de los Estados Unidos.
La mayoría de las familias se hace una buena pregunta cuando se entera del campamento por primera vez: ¿De dónde provienen tus campistas?
En Camp Weequahic tenemos la bendición de contar con campistas de 20 estados y 10países. Más que provenir de un determinado código postal o región en particular, tenemos focos de campistas provenientes de todas partes – de toda la extensión de la Costa Este como así también de California, Colorado, Ohio y Texas. También tenemos una pequeña pero vibrante población de campistas provenientes de países como Francia, Suiza, Venezuela, Inglaterra, España, Rusia, México, China, Brasil y Chile.
Esta diversidad otorga un par de buenos beneficios para nuestra comunidad. Primero, permite que los niños entren en contacto con otras culturas tanto dentro como fuera de los EE. UU al tiempo que están pasando un buen momento en el campamento. Los campistas disfrutan tener amistades del campamento al mismo tiempo que mantienen aquellas que tienen en sus lugares de origen y aquellas que provienen de grandes distancias.
El segundo gran beneficio de contar con una población diversa es que los nuevos campistas pasan un momento mucho más fácil al convertirse en una parte integral de nuestra comunidad. Aquellos primeros días son muy importantes y compartir un catre con muchas personas, excepto con las que provienen de la misma región del país, puede ser intimidante. Con tantos niños que vienen de lugares diferentes por primera vez, aquellos primeros días se hacen más fáciles para formar nuevas amistades.
Nos emociona que nuestra diversidad continúe creciendo en Camp Weequahic al tiempo que nos mantenemos enfocados en la formación de amistades, nuevas destrezas y ¡en tener el mejor verano de sus vidas!
