Tag: summer camp activities

Where In The World Do We Wear Weequahic?

March 14th, 2016

 

Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 3.42.06 PMIn our first summer at CW in 2009, we had 120 campers from seven states and two countries. It was great – our campers came from lots of places and were thrilled to meet kids and staff from all lots of different places..

Over the ensuing eight years, camp has grown to include over 200 boys and 200 girls from sixteen states and eleven different countries. In fact, our campers fly or drive in from every continent on Earth (well… except for the big block of ice at the South Pole….)

When families ask ‘where do most of your campers come from?’, the East Coast is the best way to answer. We have pretty equal numbers from New York City, southern Florida, greater Washington DC and New Jersey. We have smaller but still vibrant populations from Westchester County, Philadelphia, Georgia, Long Island, and California as well as several states.

This allows our campers to build relationships with kids who they can see throughout the year either close to home or on a vacation to fun spots. We love seeing all the pictures of kids who get to see one another throughout the year!

In addition to our US kids, we enjoy campers from France, Spain, Belgium, China, Russia, India, Columbia, Sweden, Texas, Italy, and Equatorial Guinea among others. While our international campers make up only about ten percent of our total population, they add a wonderful ‘smaller Earth’ perspective for all of our campers and have been a joy to have at CW.

While our campers are our main focus, we could not have nearly as much fun as we do without our amazing staff. Two-thirds of our staff come from all over the US while the rest come from too many countries to list. Suffice it to say, our international night gets pretty rowdy! These staff members come for one reason alone: to create a remarkable experience for every person they encounter through Gratitude, Attitude and Courage.

We are so excited to have campers and staff of all sizes, colors, and backgrounds at CW each summer. Our diverse community has a blast learning, growing and laughing together.

So, don’t be surprised if you see Weequahic gear being spotted on the Champs-Elysees, Broadway, Cinque Terra, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Golden Gate Bridge or near the Great Wall. Our people wear Weequahic all over the world!

 

 

 

 

 

Constantly Learning

March 3rd, 2016

11816155_10153537806801419_5760822868319883540_oWe are firm believers in continual learning and challenge ourselves to get better each year. Thankfully, we are blessed to be in a field that is full of generous, smart people who are passionate about their work and happy to share.

At Weequahic, we’ve started our own book club. Each month, a different one of our year round team members picks a book and applies its lessons to camp. We have enjoyed learning from the likes of Brenee Brown, Charles Duhigg, and Andy Stanley among others.

In addition to our self-guided learning, we get to spend time each year with camp professionals both within Wayne County and from around the country.

The Wayne County Camp Alliance is made up of 30 diverse, engaging, and fantastic camps. We gather multiple times a year to share ideas, questions and plan for the future success of our partners. (Our campers who like to compete also get a kick out of being a part of this group as we join in tournaments in all of our sports and several of our arts!)

Recently, many of our year round team just returned from the ACA National Convention where we learned from great ‘camp thinkers’ like Jeff Leiken, Bob Ditter, Michael Brandwein and Kerry Plemmons.

We got caught up on the most recent research on working with kids, guiding teens, training and evaluating our staff and building a camp culture that thrives. We also go to poke and prod at these ideas and other with camp professionals from around the world.

The common comment leaving ACA Nationals was ‘Wow – that was kind of like our own pre-camp orientation. I’m so energized for camp!’ I couldn’t agree more.

The best learning, however, comes from the summer itself. Hosting 200 staff members and 450 kids from around the world gives us all innumerable opportunities to learn, grow and add to CW. Many of our best ideas have some from our community such as the Prize Wheel, amazing EAs, the Weequahic Competition Leagues, “Jinter” (the name for our fifth and sixth group), the Fort, and more.

Yes, there are some things that will never change at camp. The safety of our campers and staff will always be paramount. We will create amazing experiences for everyone we encounter using GAC. We will collect the best group of staff and kids we can find and have more fun than we thought possible.

Everything else? Well, we’ve still got a lot to learn….
Can’t wait for camp!

Holy cow! I’m going to camp!

February 24th, 2016

Screen Shot 2015-05-21 at 10.25.32 AMMany of our first time campers wake up around this time and think, “wait a second – I’m really going to camp!” This thought is normally accompanied by two seemingly opposite feelings – pure excitement and a lots of butterflies in the stomach. Both are completely natural, normal, and, to be honest, I’d be surprised if our newest campers didn’t feel the butterflies!

I had very similar feelings while preparing for my first summer as a camp director 15 years ago. I woke up one month before the kids arrived and thought, “Oh my gosh – what have I gotten myself into?” I knew I was excited about running camp since preparing for camp didn’t really feel like ‘work.’ Plus, I found myself smiling everytime I thought about the kids enjoying camp.

But, I was also nervous. I had never run a camp before and, seeing as this was an all girls camp and I had only one brother (and three sons on the way in the near future), I was more than a little concerned about my lack of knowledge concerning girls. Sure, my bride and co-director, Kate, is brilliant and would make sure I knew everything I needed. Still… the butterflies in my stomack felt large enough to get me airborne.

Luckily, I had spent several years working within the field of sports psychology and competing in golf tournaments and matches. I had come to realize those butterflies I was feeling before camp was just my body saying ‘Ok, you are getting ready to do something pretty amazing and unknown. Let’s get ready.”

There was a lot I did not know 15 years ago about running a summer camp. Thankfully, we had an amazing staff and our kids had a blast. (And, yes, I still feel like I’m learning!)

Of all the topics our first time campers think about, I find there are a consistent top four:

  1. “I don’t know anyone at camp. Will the kids be nice and want to be friends?“
  2. “What will my counselors be like?”
  3. “How will I know where to go?”
  4. “I’m going to miss my parents!”

As for answers, here’s what I think:

Yes, it’s a little daunting coming to a new place and not knowing anyone. WAY TO GO! That courage is the first step in expanding your world in all the right ways. Our campers and staff are super friendly and only want to make new friends. Most of our kids don’t know anyone when they first get to camp. It’ll take you about 15 seconds to make a new friend if you are open to it and about 30 seconds if you are not as open. Because…

Our staff members are amazing. The come to camp because they want to help our campers have an amazing experience and live whole our values of Gratitude, Attitude and Courage. You’ll hear a few interesting dialects as about 1/3rd of our staff come from places like England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.

Screen Shot 2015-05-21 at 10.17.20 AMAs soon as you arrive, you are going to meet your bunk counselors, go through a quick checkin and get some lunch. Then, you are off to the bunk and then you start running around camp with your bunkmates and counselors. It’s a 2 minute walk from the flagpole (the center of camp) to the beach or a 1.5 minute walk to the driving range. That’s the whole camp – it’s super easy to get around.

Finally: missing home: You will and THAT’S OK! I’ve visited almost everyone of our new campers families in their homes and I totally understand missing them. (To be honest, I miss my kitchen and bed at home from time to time during the summer, too!) The good news is you’ll be having so much fun that, given a bit of time, you’ll be so overcome with camp joy that it will drown out those missing home moments.

So, for our new campers, deep breath – it’s going to be an amazing summer and we can’t wait to get you to camp! See you soon!